Dead by Morning (Rituals of the Night Book 1) (10 page)

                                                                      Chapter Sixteen

Luna walked slowly to the school, feeling as if she was in a trance. She felt no emotions and noticed nothing around her. A bird chirped from a nearby tree, but she barely heard it. She slowed down and looked around carefully for Violet. Luna stopped walking when she realized her friend was running towards her. Violet stopped running a few feet away and stood there with her hands clutching at her sides.

Luna stared at her for a moment. She looked terrible, she wouldn’t lie. There were black half-circles under her eyes like she had been sick last night.

“Are you okay?” she asked her.

Violet nodded and looked up at her. “Yeah, just fine.”

Luna could tell there was something wrong with her, but she knew Violet wouldn’t say. She wondered if she should tell Violet what she knew. If she did tell her would Violet believe her? Would anyone believe her if she told them Chance’s secret?

“I found out something about Chance last night,” Luna blurted out to her. “I think it’s really important.”

Violet looked up at her from her crouched position. “Oh yeah, the dance was the other night, wasn’t it? I almost forgot to ask you, how did it go?”

“What happened at the dance is not important,” Luna said looking back at her.

She sighed. “What’s the point of asking you questions? You never give me details.”

“Just listen to me, after the dance he took me to his place and it turns out he lives in an old run down house just outside of town. He lives there alone- I think illegally- and in the back room he has a bunch of bones and there was a pentagram drawn on the wall,” she gushed.

“He took you back to his house? What was it like?” Violet asked interested.

“It’s not what you think, Violet. The house was terrible; boards were missing and there were big spider webs,” she said. “I don’t think the lights worked either because he used candles to light up the house.”

“Wait, wait. Chance lives alone in a rundown house?” she asked in disbelief.

“Violet, that’s what I just said.”

“Are you sure his parents just weren’t home? Or maybe he ran away there or something.”

“No, he told me he was emancipated from them. I don’t think he’d lie about that,” Luna said shrugging.

“Wait, what’s ‘emancipated’ mean?” Violet asked.

“It’s when you’re legally separated from your parents,” Luna explained.

“You can do that?” Violet asked and her voice was skeptical. “I should try because that sounds like Heaven.”

“Yes, it’s possible, but that’s not important either. I think he drew the pentagram on the wall because he’s Satanist,” Luna said.

“What does that mean?”

Luna sighed in annoyance.

“He worships the devil,” Luna told her. “That’s why he’s so obsessed with death and hunting. It’s probably why he’s always wearing black too.”

Violet stared at her for a moment without speaking and Luna wondered if maybe, just maybe, she believed her this time.

Suddenly she began to laugh and clutch at her sides. “That’s a good joke,” she said between gasps of air.

“I wasn’t being funny!” Luna said in disbelief. “I am dead serious! That really freaked me out when I saw it yesterday!”

Violet took in a gasp of air and finally managed to calm her laughing. “Right, Luna, like Chance, the hottest guy at our school, is some freak worshipping the devil and sacrificing things. That’s a good one, Luna, you should consider being a novelist, you’re ideas are amazing.”

“Satanism is no joke! Some of them do human sacrifices and if Chance is that kind of Satanist then he could be a real danger to the school!” Luna said as she stared her down.

“You play your part so well,” Violet said smiling.

“This isn’t a joke!”

“Okay, I’ll level with you then. Satanism is a religion right?” she asked. “Chance tells everyone he’s atheist, he doesn’t even believe in that stuff.”

Luna balled her hands into fists, Violet was so stupid sometimes that it was unbelievable. “Don’t you see that he’s just trying to cover it up? What better way to do that then by saying he doesn’t believe in it?”

“Luna, he really doesn’t believe in that stuff,” Violet argued. 

“Why don’t you believe me?” she asked her.

She shook her head.

“Then why won’t you just listen to me?” Luna asked her saying each word slowly.

“Because I believe that going to that dance against your will made you stressed and you got upset and had a bad dream and now you’re mixing up reality. It happens,” she said shrugging.

“No I’m not mixing things up. I know what happened last night.”

“I think you’re just stressed out,” Violet repeated.

“Okay, I’m stressed, but not that bad,” Luna replied. “I know what I saw.”

“I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about a dream.”

“Oh, speaking of dreams, I had that dream again last night,” Luna said. “The one I had before where you get shot and all that. That was my dream, what I saw at Chance’s house wasn’t!”

“And how do I know that you’re not just saying that to prove your point?” Violet asked.

“Because I know for sure I had that dream again! And you’re my best friend so you should believe me when I say this,” she said. “That was
after
I was done researching the pentagram that I saw at Chance’s house.”

“That dream is really getting to you,” she said. “Just stop thinking about it.”

“But what if it can come true? What if it’s some kind of warning?”

Violet looked at her and Luna could read her thoughts. “What’s wrong with you? Did Chance put something in your drink last night?”

Luna looked back at her. Even though she felt mad, she suddenly didn’t feel so sure she could answer her.

“I don’t know I just feel like the dream needs to be taken seriously,” Luna said. “It just felt so different.”

Violet sighed in agitation. “For the last time, Chance doesn’t have a secret. It was all just part of your crazy dream.”

“No, it wasn’t, Violet. I know what I saw and I know what I dreamt. If it was part of my dream then how come it wasn’t in the dream the first time I had it?”

“Maybe it was but you just don’t remember it the first time,” she replied shrugging.

“I’m not changing my mind just because you don’t believe me.”

“Fine, then be serious about it,” Violet said nonchalantly and shrugged once again. “Doesn’t mean I have to be.” She knew well that Chance had anger issues, but she wouldn’t admit it.

Luna looked away at the path ahead. Violet was so calm. What if she had been mistaken for what she had seen in that room? Maybe the bones had been plastic toys. The house was old maybe the pentagram had been there before Chance had moved in. Luna frowned, maybe Violet
was
right. Chance could be perfectly normal. Why
was
she being so serious about that dream? If the dream was true then Violet wouldn’t be walking alongside her right now, she’d be in a morgue somewhere.

Luna frowned again, no matter what she thought, or tried to make herself think, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something deeply and utterly wrong with Chance. In her heart the knowledge weighed that he had a secret and now she knew what that secret was. Even if she couldn’t convince Violet to believe it, she knew that what she had seen was real.

Luna felt like there was something she needed to understand in that reoccurring dream. Maybe it was stress-induced, but there was a good chance that it wasn’t. If it wasn’t then she needed to understand what exactly it was trying to tell her before it was too late. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Luna guessed no one would believe what she had to say about Chance…especially the people that believed he was perfect in every way. They’d be in worse denial than Violet.

Luna frowned as they kept walking. When they reached the school, Violet split away from her and disappeared into the crowd. Luna sighed and walked down the long crowded stone path that led to the door. She noticed the popular kids that she passed stopped talking to stare at her like she was some kind of otherworldly creature. She knew that was because they had seen her with Chance yesterday.

Since Chance was the most popular boy in the school, they didn’t know what to think of her anymore. They didn’t know if she should be among them or remain an outcast. She snorted, personally she’d rather just stay an outcast…friends of Chance were definitely no friends of hers. She had learned that the hard way.

Luna sighed and started to walk faster; hoping their curious stares would fall off of her. There was no way to avoid the attention that would come from going to the dance. Luna kept walking with her head bowed. Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her stomach and the smell of heavy cologne flooded her nostrils and her mouth. She screamed at the sudden surprise and then coughed as the scent began to gag her.

Luna turned to see Chance laughing at her.

“You scared the Hell out of me. That
wasn’t
funny.”

He smiled widely.

“Why?”

“Well, because I can,” he replied shrugging.

Luna she turned to walk away from him. “Geez, what did you do before coming to school, bathe in cologne to hide the smell of death?”

Chance tensed in immediate disbelief. That was the second time she had mentioned him being a murderer. Had she seen something in his house? His other half took control as he realized that he had left the door to his special room unlocked.

Chance grabbed her suddenly, holding her in a way that looked almost playful to the kids that they passed. She stared at him terrified as he dragged her with his full strength through the crowds and into the school. No one noticed as he kicked open the bathroom door and drug her inside. He pushed her against the beige wall, pinning her by her wrists and glared at her. His blue eyes flashed with flickering anger.

“What did you mean by that comment?” he growled an inch from her face.

Luna looked back at him feeling real fear as he pressed her against the cold tiles on the wall. He didn’t like the way that she looked at him, but he wouldn’t let her go until she told him what she knew.

“It’s just that you’re a hunter…and to me you’re a murderer. You know it was a joke, ha...ha,” Luna said quietly. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

He growled. “No, you know something. You haven’t been acting right since you ‘went to the bathroom’ at my house. Now tell me where you really went because I’m not buying your lie anymore. You saw something and you better tell me what before I find out on my own.”

“I-I-“Luna started to deny him as she felt him let go of her wrists and grab the collar of her clothes. She knew it was truth time. “I found a room with a pentagram on the wall and bones on the floor.”

Chance’s eyes widened and his grip loosened momentarily. “Shit, you are to tell
no one
about what you saw, okay?” he whispered to her. “If you do then I’m going to make damn sure you never leave your house again,” he threatened.

“I’m not even really sure what I saw, honest,” Luna said and began to tremble slightly.

Chance let go of her suddenly and took in a deep breath of air. He was still fighting his guilt, but he wouldn’t show her he had a weakness.

“Okay, good. One day you’ll know about it, but for now just keep quiet,” he said to her. “Act like you never saw it.”

Luna opened her mouth to ask him a question, but he turned and walked away without another word.

                                                                      Chapter Seventeen

Luna pushed her way out of the bathroom. She instantly spotted Chance leaning against the lockers. He narrowed his eyes at her and she looked at him nervously as she froze in place. Luna swallowed and mentally built the courage to run past him. He watched her pass but didn’t follow her.

Without stopping once she went to study hall. She trudged over to the nearest table where she noticed Amy was already sitting. Luna pulled out a chair and sat down quietly. She looked up at her from her science book as if she was surprised Luna had sat with her.

“Hello, Luna,” she said quietly.

“Hi, Amy,” Luna replied.

“So, are you dating Chance?” she asked her nervously.

“What? Where did you hear that?” she asked her.

“It’s the rumor going around school. Is it true?”

“No, it’s not true,” Luna finally answered her. “Violet’s just being stupid again.” She assumed that Violet was the source.

“Are you okay? You seem a little stressed,” Amy said and her voice sounded sympathetic.

Amy was a fragile girl. Luna decided that maybe it would be best to
not
tell her what she had discovered about Chance.

“I was up late studying for anatomy, and I barely got any sleep is all. I’m fine,” Luna tried to assure her.

“Yeah, I heard that’s a hard class,” she said again in that sympathetic voice and returned to reading her science book.

“It is,” she replied and they fell silent.

Luna was glad that Amy wasn’t one to pry. She knew that if she wanted to talk about it, she would. Luna glanced up at the clock and realized it was almost time for class to start. She stood up and Amy looked at her questioningly.

“I got to get to class.”

Amy nodded.

Luna turned away from her and headed to class as quickly as she could. When she got there she noticed the class was almost completely full. She sat in her usual desk in the front of the room and drew absently on her notebook as the class filled in the few open seats all around her. The bell rang and the teacher immediately jumped into a lecture without a single pause in between.

“What’re you drawing there, Luna?” Chance asked curiously.

Luna didn’t know when he had come in, but he always had to make his presence known. She sighed and dropped her pen to the desk with a clang, the sound of his voice had scared her more than she had thought possible. She looked at the drawing she had just made on the blue cover and realized she had drawn the five pointed star that she had seen in Chance’s house. She stared at it shocked before she realized that Chance was waiting for an answer. He must’ve already known what she had drawn before she had.

“Nothing, I’m not drawing anything. I’m just waiting for the lecture to get interesting,” she replied nervously.

Luna frowned down at the drawing on the blue cover, and quickly she picked up her pen. She scribbled lines over them and then stared at the mess on her notebook, wondering when Chance had first noticed. 

Luna found that today she couldn’t focus on a thing that the teacher said. Chance was sitting in his usual desk behind her and even though he was quiet, he was still the loud-mouthed, over-cocky boy he turned into when he was around a lot of people. Instead of talking a mile a minute, he had found a new way to be annoying.

Luna could hear him rip another piece of paper and felt something hit the back of her head the next second. She knew what it was that hit her and every piece made her more upset. She quickly grew angry at the thought of spit wads. She reached up and pulled her hand down her hair, pulling the crumpled wads of paper that had stuck there. She shook her hand in disgust and they fell to the floor by her desk. She was glad no one had noticed it as she wiped her hand on her clothes.

She tried to focus, but every ounce of patience was quickly draining from her. Suddenly she felt another piece hit her hair and that sent her over the edge. She whipped around in her chair to look at him.

“Stop doing that!” she hissed angrily.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, honey,” Chance whispered and smiled at her innocently.

As she looked at him she realized that his desk was clear of paper. She guessed he had it on his lap and out of view.

“Then how-“ she began. If she could have finished her sentence she would have said. “Did the paper get in my hair?” but she didn’t have a chance to.

“Miss Ketz,” Mr. Katerwall’s voice boomed from the front of the room.

Luna winced and turned away from Chance slowly at the angry sound of his voice.

“Do you have important information to share with the rest of the class?” he demanded angrily and the kids around her turned to look through curious eyes like they were surprised that the teacher was yelling at her.

“No, I don’t,” Luna whispered feeling instantly embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

Mr. Katerwall gave her one last warning glare before he turned his attention away and pointed at something on the board as he continued teaching. For a moment his lecture was the only sound that filled the room.

“Nice going, Loon,” Chance whispered in her ear suddenly. “You know you shouldn’t be causing trouble. Remember what happened last time you did?”

Luna doubled her hands into fists at his words. Once again he had managed to make her look like a trouble maker. She wanted to let her anger fly, but instead, she said nothing. He had gotten the best of her once and she wouldn’t let him do it again. She looked down at the scratched out drawing on her notebook once again as she remembered what he had been so desperate to hide. If he kept getting her in trouble, then she’d let the whole school know the secret that only the two of them shared.

                                                        ~~~~~~~~~

Chance stared at the back of Luna’s head waiting for her to turn around again. He couldn’t believe that he had slipped into That mind and almost hurt her. Maybe she wasn’t repellent to it. He wasn’t sure how it worked, but he was ashamed of himself. He wanted her attention, wanted her to forget about earlier.

But mostly he guessed that he just wanted her to talk to him. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle it if she decided to ignore him completely. When That mind took control he was helpless to his anger.

She didn’t understand that he actually cared for her a lot. He barely even understood it; the chemistry just never seemed to make sense. He was sure of one thing, however: she couldn’t stop talking to him. It was vital for her health and safety.

Not to mention whatever was left of his sanity.

                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Violet stared in shock through the crack in the stall wall. She could see Chance pinning Luna to the wall. His hand seemed to hover dangerously close to Luna’s neck as if he debated strangling her. Violet recognized the look on his face from how he had talked to her after Luna had rejected him.

Chance slammed Luna into the wall, growling words into her face that Violet couldn’t quite make out. Luna’s were just as hard to hear since they were stifled by her fear. But she seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.

Suddenly Chance dropped her and stormed out without another word. Luna stood there rubbing her wrists, looking terrified and sick to her stomach. Violet stared at her in shocked disbelief and resisted the urge to leave the stall to ask.

Had Luna been telling the truth about Chance the entire time?