Dead by Morning (Rituals of the Night Book 1) (24 page)

“Don’t look so frightened, Luna,” he said, reaching a hand out to her. He stroked her hair gently and pulled it back.

Luna stared at him speechless. He watched her through wide blue eyes; expectant. He was waiting for her answer.

“I won’t tell a soul,” her voice came out a shaking whisper that she hardly recognized.

“Good,” Chance said and his eyes flashed. “Now, head home, Sweetheart, I don’t want you getting sick.”

She swallowed her fear unevenly as she looked at him. He would let her live tonight. Once again, she had to wonder why he was letting her live when he was killing off his friends (and hers) like they were mosquitoes.

                                                                      Chapter Forty-Two

Luna walked down the hazy sidewalk with her head bowed to the wind. Images of Chance on the bridge flashed through her mind. She remembered what he had said, that he had been responsible for Susan’s death. It was a confession. She shuddered as she remembered that he still had her hair ribbon tucked away in his pocket.

Her morning had passed by slowly. David had tried asking her questions to cheer her up. He hadn’t mentioned a word about her escape from the truck last night. He was steering clear of the shark filled water, Rose would have put it. David’s questions had been friendly, but she didn’t answer a single one. It wasn’t because she was mad at him, she just couldn’t seem to think of a thing to say.

She was walking to school, possibly alone since she didn’t know if Violet would join her. Each day made them more and more distant. Luna turned a corner and gasped in surprise as she almost ran right into her.

Violet looked at Luna wide-eyed like she was surprised to see her as well. “Hello, Luna, how are you today?”

Luna looked up at her. “I’m fine, I guess, how are you?”

“Good,” she said but then she frowned like something was bothering her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Chance came over to my house yesterday,” Violet said slowly like she didn’t quite know how to say it. It was a lie since the Chance incident had been at least a week ago, but Luna didn’t know that.

She stopped walking instantly and stared at her in disbelief.

“Why!?”Luna asked.

Chance had never been over her house before. Like Amy, Luna hadn’t thought that he had even known where they lived. She was wrong. He was crafty, and he seemed to know how to get to everyone when he needed to.

“He said he was worried about you. He said that I’m your best friend, and I might be able to help you get better,” Violet said. Violet didn’t know what she was trying to do by making things up, but maybe Luna would tell her what’s been happening.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked her without moving.

“He says you’re not right in the head, that you believe he killed Susan,” Violet said and she looked past her like she was trying to remember what exactly he had said. But really Violet was trying to keep up her lie.

“That’s the truth!” Luna said outraged. “I went to the park, and he was there. He dropped Susan’s hair ribbon, and it was covered in blood. Before that, Susan told me he threatened her because he told her that he killed Kate. He followed me with that dagger, and Amy saved me from him just in time.”

Violet frowned again. What Luna had said fascinated and disturbed her, but she remembered what Chance had said about staying distant. “He warned me that you’d be difficult about this.”

“Violet!” Luna said exasperated. “I am telling the truth. He’s tricking you because he knows he can get you to listen.”

“You need to let me help you.” 

Luna stared at her, and it seemed like all her feelings of bondage towards her had vanished. She took a slow step away from her. “You know what? Forget it, there’s no point arguing with you over this anymore. You’re just like David. You’re not my best friend. You’re helping someone who’s out to destroy me, out to destroy everyone. If you won’t listen to me, then go, I won’t stop you. But trust me, you will realize that you made a mistake some day. Maybe you’ll realize I’m right when you’re looking down the barrel of a gun that Chance is pointing at you!”

Luna turned away from Violet and began to walk down the sidewalk alone.

“Luna! Don’t do this,” she heard Violet say behind her.

Luna didn’t turn around to look at her. There was no point to waste her energy. If Violet was determined to help Chance then she was no longer a friend of Luna’s.

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

Violet stared after her, knowing she had made a mistake. Threat or not, Luna was her best friend and obviously something bad had happened to her. She should’ve been supportive, but instead she had saved herself. She had seen on the news that Susan had disappeared, but Luna seemed to know details beyond that. Violet wanted to ask her about it, like the friend she used to be, but she had to keep up this charade if she wanted to live. Violet watched as Luna walked away. She seemed to have lost her friend for good this time and part of her felt as if she deserved it.

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

Luna stared out the window of the cafeteria absently. On the table in front of her was a tray of food that she hadn’t bothered to touch. The food didn’t look appetizing and even if it did, she wasn’t hungry. Around her, the seats at the table were empty. Luna didn’t know where Violet was, but she didn’t care.

She hadn’t seen her since she had yelled at her. She knew that she should feel bad for saying what she had, but she didn’t. All she felt was relief that she had lost a traitor.  Suddenly, the seat next to her creaked as someone sat down. She turned expecting to see Violet, but froze when she realized who it was.

“Hi, Luna,” Chance said, and Luna could tell he was unsure of her.

She stared straight ahead out the window and tried her best to pretend that he wasn’t there. He set his hand on hers. The gesture was probably meant to be kind, but she felt the fear inside her grow. What did he want?

“You told Max about my secret, didn’t you?” he asked quietly.

Luna didn’t answer him. How in the world had he found out so quickly? It was impossible! Her heart was pounding so hard that she was scared it might burst. She was sure he could hear it from where he was sitting. From the corner of her eye, she could see his eyes flash. He knew she was ignoring him.

“Answer me already!” he growled, and Luna could feel the cold metal handle of the dagger press into her side as he shifted closer.

“What do you want me to say? I didn’t break my promise,” Luna finally whispered, and turned to look at him. There was no way that she would admit that she actually had told. He’d make good on his end of the promise.

He looked back at her through blue eyes. “Really?” It was hard to tell if he believed her.

“I’m serious.”

Chance frowned. “Well…that’s good.”

It was silent for a minute as they stared each other down. Both of them were unsure of the other.

“Violet thinks I’m crazy now, thanks to you,” Luna said finally looking away from him.

“Hey, don’t blame me for that. You make your own impressions,” he said shrugging.

Luna noted the tiny smile on his face. She ripped her hand away from his. “You told her I was crazy, and you know damn well that she’d believe you.”

“I protect myself however I see fit,” he replied. “You can’t blame me for that.”

“Protect yourself from what? Nobody’s doing anything to you,” she hissed.

“You and Violet were far too close in opinion. I added some input,” he said shrugging again.

“Thanks to you I don’t have my best friend anymore!” Luna said, moving away on the hard, plastic chair.

“Thanks to me? This isn’t my fault; it’s yours for having a big mouth,” he snorted. “If you would just keep quiet, things wouldn’t get so bad.”

“It
is
your fault,” she growled at him as she stood up.

Luna didn’t want to listen to him anymore. She knew he had purposefully used his charm to drive a wedge between Violet and her, and he had been successful in doing so. It was the same thing he was trying to do to stop her from talking to Max.

She knew that he thought that if she had none of her friends left to support her then she’d be weak, possibly more willing to help him. He could take all her friends, and her family, and that would never happen.

She would never willingly help him.

“You’ll always have me,” he called out suddenly from his spot at the table.

He watched her go. She shuddered at the thought as she left the cafeteria far behind her.

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

Chance sighed and turned back to the table after Luna disappeared from the cafeteria. She was upset with him, and the longer it took for him to work his plan, the more she seemed to hate him.

It wouldn’t be a problem when his fusion was finished. 

As he turned back to his own table, his eyes caught with Violet’s across the room. She looked back down at her plate, but Chance didn’t look away. He narrowed his eyes at the side of her head. He knew that she had been watching them. Even with his threat she wasn’t minding her own business. He plunged his hand into the pocket with his dagger and ran his finger down the edge of the blade. When he was done with fusion, he wouldn’t have to worry about Violet anymore.

He’d finally be able to take care of all of his problems, her included.

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

Luna threw her books into her checkered backpack and gratefully got up from her seat. It was finally the end of the day. She walked down the hall and outside. She took in a breath of air and started to walk home. Suddenly, a red car pulled up beside her. She turned to look at it curiously. She noticed Amy in the driver’s seat as she rolled down her window.

“Want a ride?” she asked in her soft voice.

Luna thought about it for a minute. She wondered if it was a good idea. She knew that Amy might question her why Chance had been the one to take her home. She looked back at her waiting for an answer. Amy’s energetic attitude might just cheer her up, and after all, she was a friend. So what if she asked about Chance? She was just asking what half of the school wondered anyways.

“Okay,” Luna agreed finally.

Amy smiled at her as she climbed into the passenger seat. “You look pretty stressed. Are things going okay at home?”

“They’re okay,” she replied.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, I think.”

“Are you sure?” Amy asked. “I saw you eating lunch with Chance today, and I remember that he picked you up from my house the other day. What’s going on with him?”

Luna winced at her words. How could she explain to her what it was that had happened between her and Chance? If she even attempted to then she might tell her Chance’s secrets on accident. What if he ended up hurting her because she knew?

“I do hate Chance, I just…” Luna frowned.

There was no way she could even try to get her to understand.

“You don’t want him to make the preps hate you?” she guessed. “I understand what you mean.”

“Yeah, and it’s just that David really likes him and wants me to try dating Chance. He never listens when I tell him that I don’t like him,” she said. “That’s why I ran away. I didn’t think he’d have Chance come and get me since he was the source of the problem.”

“That sounds like a handful,” Amy said shaking her head. “I hope you get him to realize that you don’t care about Chance that way.”

Luna sighed. “Yeah, so do I.”

“I noticed that you haven’t been talking to Violet as much as you used to,” Amy said suddenly.

“Yeah, that’s because she’s been…busy,” Luna said trying to invent an excuse for Violet’s difficulties.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.”

Luna shrugged. “It’s okay, really.”

Amy nodded gently.

Luna felt the car slow down to a halt. Luna looked out the window and recognized her yard. “Thanks for the ride, Amy,” she said as she opened the door.

“No problem,” she replied.

“See you at school tomorrow,” Luna said and closed the door.

Amy nodded and drove away. Sighing, she walked towards her house. She froze in her tracks as soon as she reached the sidewalk. Sitting on her porch in the shadows was Chance, and he was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

As she stared at him, he stood up and walked towards her. His face looked blank. It was impossible to try to guess what he was thinking. He stopped walking when he reached her, and neither of them spoke as they stared at each other.

              “What are you doing here?” Luna asked him finally. She looked at him through wary and tired eyes. It didn’t matter what she did anymore, it just seemed like she couldn’t avoid him.

              “I wanted to see if you were okay…you left the cafeteria in such a hurry that I didn’t have the chance to ask you,” he said.

              She narrowed her eyes at him. Was he actually trying to use his charm on her?

              “We have fourth hour together, but you said nothing to me then. If you were so concerned you would’ve asked me already.”

              He looked away for a minute before his gaze returned to her. “I take it you’re not okay.”

              “I was pissed. Of course I’m not okay.”

Chance stared at her for a moment without speaking, and his eyes looked blank once again. She was amazed that she had lived to see the day.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally.

Luna stared at him in disbelief. She scrunched up her eyebrows as she tried to decide if he had really said that or not.