Heart of the Moon Chapter 1

Heart of the Moon
Chapter One - Heartbeat

It was a calm, cool autumn night, as birds quieted and the people returned homes from their days of labor. Silence lavished the streets of the small town as the sun fell away and a bright, quarter moon rose on the horizon.

The silence was awakened by the sounds of running, frantic steps. A young girl was fleeing, clutching something close to her breast as she gasped for hair. Her pink hair undone, it fluttered behind her in droves as she staggered to a stop, clutching at her burning side. She gasped in air, gulping like a suffocating fish and nearly collapsed. But her head jerked up at a sound not too far away and she took off again, seeking refuge somewhere she knew that would be safe.

Lunette Vala didn’t expect this sort of turn out. She only planned on having fun at a local concert of the popular pop singer, Icy Beat. But she had become dizzy halfway and had meant to come back after getting a drink of water.

Until once out and alone, she was targeted by things. She couldn’t name them for they were nothing human. They seemed like shadowed monsters, cloaked in black with dripping jaws and soulless eyes. She had screamed or at least attempted to when someone, oh yes, a someone resting on top of the building’s edge, blazed a beam of freezing night into her body and something ripped from her. She had never felt such pain and she watched a glass diamond form. It was lifeless, cold and dead as it clattered to the ground.

That someone approached slowly as Lunette fell to her knees in a slump. The figure was hard to distinguish as Lunette was fast approaching blackness. But the crystal ignited when the figure was no more than a few steps away and a scream of utter pain echoed. Lunette opened her blue eyes, watching the monsters turn to dust and the figure stagger back. For a moment, she was graced by a female face, pale skinned and blackened hair that strewn messily down. Instinct made her grab that gem and she fled.

Her hair, unused to such movement, as well as the various beams of dark energy barreling at her, singeing her, became undone. She finally came to a stop in front of a apartment complex, running up the stairs hurriedly. She didn’t have the patience to use the elevator.

She unlocked the apartment door and slammed it shut, breathing shallowly. She looked around and heard silence reign. She inched toward the kitchen, paranoia sinking in, thinking she was going to be killed at any moment.

There was nothing but a white paper, a note left by her mother. It told her that she had gone out on another date and she’d be home very late. Lunette crumpled the sheet, her breathing evening.

She went to her bedroom, dropping the crystal onto the wooden desk, hearing the nearly hollow clack as she rubbed her head. She felt feverish and agitated, very much freaked out and she still don’t know whether or not to believe that what happened really had happened.

She sat down on her armchair, staring listlessly at the crystal until her eyes were too heavy. She was too exhausted to walk the short distance to her bed and she fell into a dreamless state.

Noise echoed in her mind, not quite connecting until she was jolted awake by something being dropped on her lap. She gasped and saw her mother beaming at her. Her mother, Henrietta, was a young mother, with the same pink hair cropped around her shoulders unevenly and her bangs tied by barrettes. The green eyes were obviously not where Lunette got hers though the two could still be seen as twin forms due to their similarities.

“Isn’t he cute? I thought you might like a pet,” she offered. Henrietta was always trying to help her daughter. Often more than not she tried to be her friend than her mother. It caused strain in their relationship that Lunette sometimes attempted to bring up. It wasn’t her mother’s fault, she surmised. She was a mother at too young an age.

Lunette stare down at the feline. She couldn’t tell the breed which told her it was a mix of many things. It had long, thick hair with a even thicker undercoat. It was colored a deep brown on the tips but if you pushed to the undercoating, the color lightened to nearly orange. The black eyes looked out, almost with a stoned glaze to them as it began to cough and gag.

“Gross!” Lunette shoved the cat off. “Mom, it’s sick! It needs to go the vet!” She protested.

“Honey, we can’t take it yet! Wait till Mommy has the money, all right?” She patted her daughter’s head with a charming smile and left. Lunette tried to relieve the tension in her jaw but gritted teeth were getting in the way. She turned and found the cat curling, still coughing.

“I know someone who can help you,” she told the cat, feeling foolishly. She, after all, was talking to a cat.

It staggered down to it’s folded knees. Her eyes widened.  There was just no way the cat would make it through the night, she realized with a sinking stone in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes welled up with tears. “Just like Henrietta to bring in a dying animal.” She rubbed her eyes, catching a glint.

The crystal seemed to throb in the moonlight, a pale silvery glow alit from inside out. She pick it up and thought, for just a moment, there was a sliver of warmth. She carried it to then kneel down to pick up the cat.

She settled in bed, feeling the cat against her chest to curl weakly. The crystal lay in between the feline’s paws as the breathing evened out. “If you die, at least you won’t be alone,” she whispered to the cat, her tears spilling. “I’m sorry. She means well but she’s just not...”

She trailed off, her eyes closing in resignation. She couldn’t help her mother, she couldn’t help the cat, she hated that helplessness.

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At the concert, Icy Beat, the famous young pop star finished her duet, her final song for the night thankfully, and exited the stage. She instantly tore off the wig, revealing Tuscan red hair, cut evenly at the base of her neck. Her hair had a far left part, the bangs curled inward to end nearly to her nose. She heard her stomach grumble as she attempted to fix her disheveled hair. She was steaming, she was so hot and sweating from the bright neon lights, she was surprised she could still see.

A helper appeared with the contacts carrier as she took them out. She had true blue eyes versus the icy blue that Icy Beat’s appearance had.

“Vox!” A hand wove frantically in a tight group compromising her two agents, even more helpers, and finally, her twin brother. He fell on his face as he emerged, snorting. He sat up, looking ashen at his carefully prepared late dinner, now all over his black sweater. “I’m.. sorry.” He looked up with tearing eyes.

She didn’t understand sometimes, why he was the one that acted so girly while she liked to be so boyish. She figured either something went wrong with their genes or it was just all personality. Even so, she mused as she fluffed her ruffled dress, she was starting to like her performance outfits. “It’s all right, Sander!” She grinned, wagging a finger at him. “First one to order means the second has to pay!”

Sander zoomed off and promptly fell down the short stack of stairs. “Ouch..”

“Or,” she stated with a raised eyebrow. “I can pay?”

“Please? I haven’t gotten my allowance yet.” Came his voice, a sheepish tone to it.

“What happened to last week’s?!” She started toward the stairs.

“Remember that series I was telling you about?”

“About the times of before? Those boring history books?” She stared down at him from the top of the stairs. “I didn’t think you were a nerd!”

“I can be a lot of things. Right now, for instant, I am stuck.”

He was as she finally realized his leg had busted through the last step. She wondered if it was because the material was cheap or because Sander was hiding super strength.

She was always wondering stupid things like that.

Her and her twin weren’t alike. They looked similar alike to be seen as siblings but no one ever thought they were twins. He had pale apple green hair strewn over his eyes and down the nape to curl upward slightly with silver-blue eyes. His skin was as pale as her and he wasn’t that much taller than she though she was average height. He was lanky and almost gawky. She, on the other hand, was considered fair skinned, petite in the weight but very much blossomed.

“Is anything broken?” She asked, climbing down to grasp an arm and tug at it. With a bit of wiggling, Sander was free save he had a limp.

“It’ll go away,” he offered at her glare. “What?”

“Are you sure?” She asked suspiciously.

“Absol...” He tripped on the same leg he hurt, catching himself as he flushed. “Absolutely.”

Vox rolled her eyes.

The two had left the building, guards following at close range. “So, are you excited?” He whispered in a conspiratory tone.

“About what?” She blinked, not really paying attention.

“About going to school,” he drawled. “And learning.. and all those fun things you love..”

She knew it as well as he did that she was none of the above. She hated her tutors, hated to learn about anything, and the only thing she tolerated was math. She loved numbers but hated everything else. She was not a school person.

So having her parents sign her up for a public school felt like a betrayal. She had first been home schooled then once her fame began, she was tutored. The how and why her parents got this idea was a mystery to her.

Not like she had a choice. It was either that or divorce them and while the rates were high, she didn’t think being forced to go to school was a strong enough reason for divorcing.

So she was going, no if ands or buts.

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Lunette shifted, a soft light falling over her and eventually landing on her eyes. The sun gazed down upon her as she cracked an eye open. She rolled over, not ready for the day to start.

“Hello?”

She jumped off her bed and crashed with a shriek. She grasped the first thing she could hold and hoisted a pillow over her head in what she prayed was a threatening position. A boy’s voice had spoken, one unfamiliar and somewhere in her room.

Where there was nowhere to hide. Everything was stuffed with things she had no idea unless the guy was outside the window. It’d be pretty hard since there were no trees that went this high near her window.

“Down here.”

She looked down at the feline, sitting on it’s haunches with cleared eyes. Her eyes bugged out as she raised the pillow in earnest. “TALKING CAT!”

It began to descend. The cat shrieked and jumped away. “Still sick cat!” He protested, shuffling backwards with wide, frightened eyes.

She saw the look and felt shame fill her. She was trying to attack a cat, one that obviously wasn’t going to hurt her, even if it could talk.

“Who are you?”

“Terrain.”

“What?”

“Terrain, my name is..”

“Okay, okay,” she raised a hand, realizing something. “Where is it?”

“Where’s...”

“That stone! Where is it!” She began to panic, ripping her blanket off. She heard a loud clank against the wall as she flushed. “I broke it!”

She found it laying whole. “Wow.. tough as a diamond.”

“Well, duh. It’s THE diamond.”

They had a momentary staring contest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. In fact, I have no idea how you’re talking!”

“I am a White Moon feline descendent of the great and..”

Her eyes stared blankly at him.

“Don’t you... I guess.. well, of course, there’s nothing in the books, you’re not exactly old, and..”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“Lunette!” A singsong voice echoed from the hallway. Lunette jumped, watching the stone dangle in midair before she grabbed and stuffed it in her bra just in time for her mother to swing in, clad in nothing more than the lower half of underwear.

“MOM! Where’s your top?” Lunette turned beet red, trying to look everywhere else than near her mother. “Please! Get dressed!”

“I’m making my girl breakfast! For her first day of school!” Henrietta beamed.

Color drained from Lunette’s face. “My alarm..”

“Went off. I turned it off for you!”

“I’m going to be late!” Lunette howled. She shoved by her mother. “Late, late, late!” She melted into the bathroom, her mother laughing at what she thought was a comedic scene.

Lunette did her thing in record time. And even then, she missed her first class. Sitting in the central office, she glared forward, trying to devise a way to get back at her mother. Good intentions or not, she just wasn’t cutting it.

Lunette was silently wringing a slab of notebook papers, unaware of the tearing and thrashing it was getting.

“You all right?” A pale, sickly girl approached. She was short and had light umber  straight hair, cut in a long bob. With bangs curving into a slight heart over wide apple green eyes, the girl looked almost too young to be going to high school.

But Lunette recognized the girl. “Ceri, hey.” Lunette’s gaze dropped to the ruined papers. “Uh.. just trying to clear my head.”

“So why are you here on the first day?”

“Late. My mother turned my alarm off before I woke up for it,” Lunette said sheepishly.

“Ah.”

“So why are you in here?”

“I’m late too. I had a doctor’s appointment today. I tried to get it changed but my grandmother was insistent.”

“I see..”

“Lunette Vala?” The vice-principal’s assistant called her. A large man with a balding head of silver white, feathered skin, and gray eyes, he looked forever plastered to his plastic chair. “Here’s your schedule. And Ceri Calantha.” He handed the two their schedules. “Don’t be late next time,” He offered lamely.

“Of all the nerve,” Lunette grumbled the instant the door to the office was closed. “Well, what class do I have now?”

The bell rang as the horde of students emerged from their first classes. Lunette lost sight of Ceri but gave it no other thought. Not like she was friends friends with her, Lunette thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Vox was having difficulty. “We only have one class together!” Fingers grasped in Sander’s shoulder as he tried to smile and carefully disengage from his twin’s grip.

“You’ll be fine. You like people!”

“When I’m performing! I can’t actually talk to them!” She hissed. She was dressed smartly, a bit too fancy for the likes of the other students who even in the first period, avoided her like the plague. They all swarmed over Sander whose casual and shy smile seemed to win the girls over.

‘He’s a nerd!’ Vox glowered, stomping to her next class with resignation. ‘Not fair! He’s not even that cute!’ Her head fell down in defeat. ‘And I am such a sick...’

“Ouch!” Vox turned to glare at the person who was shoved into her. The dark  brown hair, up in long slender tails looped up into rounded aquamarine clasps at the sides of her head, just above her ears, made the fair skin stand out as well as the true blue eyes. The girl was taller than Vox, who was still glowering at the girl. The girl was dressed plainly, no inch of fancy clothing or dab of makeup to be seen, versus what Vox was wearing.

“Hello,” came a shy, sweet voice from the girl. “Is this your class too?” She enquired.

“Yea, English,” Vox turned her glare to the general area of desks.

“Want.. want to sit together?” The girl asked hopefully.

Vox blinked. “You.. want to sit with me? Why?”

The girl blushed. “The outfit, the detail.. did you make it yourself?”

Vox blinked slowly. “Oh.. well, no. It was specially ordered.”

“Girls!” The teacher stood outside the door, barred because of the two. “Enter please?” She asked dryly.

“Come on,” the girl waved Vox to follow. They fell into their seats as the teacher began to write on the chalkboard.

Sander was fiddling with his history book, reading the intro as instructed. Another guy was trying to read over his shoulder. The guy had wavy sienna brown locks that made his light cerulean eyes pop out with a soulful gaze. The face was smooth of lines, as if very little emotion ever passed over. He was taller than Sander by nearly a foot but his build seemed similar save that the other guy didn’t have a gawky but more dignified look to himself.

“Where’s your book?” Sander asked, feeling stupid and a little ticked about sharing his book. Conflicting emotions of wanting to help and yet keep what was his tended to be a problem for him.

“I have it,” the guy stated. “But I left it in my locker.”

Sander fumed but silently offered his book for the two to read.

Sander thought he only had to see that guy once. He ended up in all but his first class, which bothered him because the guy seemed to be glued to him.

“Vox!” Sander never felt so happy to see his sister. He was surprised to see the other girl tailing his twin.

“Sander, this is Hazelle Laramie,” Vox presented the shy girl.

“This is Caius Brennan,” Sander waved his hand listlessly.

“This is your sister?” Caius offered a dim smile. “How do you do?” He offered a hand and Sander glared when he kissed the back of Vox’s hand.

“Wow..” Vox giggled. “Where are you from? Italy or some other romantic place?”

Caius offered a mysterious smile.

Sander was studying Hazelle, who fiddled with her book strap. “Shouldn’t we go eat?”

The group gathered at the table. It was nearly full though everywhere else looked full too. Lunette claimed the far edge away from the group, Ceri joining her with a small smile and nod.

There was absolute silence from Lunette and Ceri as the bigger, talkative group was rambunctious and free spirited.

A new face sat down in the last spot, in between Lunette and Caius. She looked to one side slowly and then back to the others. “Why can’t they join you?” She poked at Caius. The girl was average height but busty with sienna brown skin and grass green eyes. Her black hair, with it’s far left part and single right strand that followed the flow of the falling hair to her shoulder while the rest fell down in layers to the middle of her back, gave her an even more exotic look.

Caius eyed her. “Ah, Aideen. Wondered where you were.”

Aideen was ignoring him. “Come here, come ‘re!” She grinned at the two loners at the end. “We got plenty of room for you both!”

It was a hesitant joining. Ceri stared down at her food as Lunette rubbed at her right ear absently.

“Name’s Aideen Astin. This here is Caius Brennan. He’s my next-door neighbor.”

“I’m Sander Aira and this is my twin, Vox,” Sander smiled at Lunette.

“And this is MY new friend, Hazelle Laramie,” Vox pointed out. Hazelle’s face burned with shyness.

“Lunette Vala,” Lunette offered in the silence.

Ceri was met by silence. She peeked up, her pale skin even more sickly pale. “Ceri Calantha.”

“Great!” Aideen smacked the table. “There, was that so hard? I know it was for you, Caius!”

Caius gave another nearly faded smile.

Lunette was fiddling with her pocket when her fingers grasped the crystal. She had forgotten all about it and realized how warm it was. As if it were responding, she thought with confusion. She shook her head and the bell rang for the end of lunch.

The group was once more divided, though they all saw each other in passes in the hallway. Lunette had three classes with Ceri, who was a lot more fun when she relaxed, and she had her last class, her biology, with Caius and Sander.

She sat in between them at the shared table top desk. She kind of liked the attention Sander gave her but also liked Caius because he seemed so sweet even without a beaming smile.

As the day finally gave out into the afternoon, Lunette worked through her locker, organizing her textbooks for the next day. She was intent on riding the school bus from that day on in because she couldn’t count on her mother for anything.

“Did you hear?” A voice, a bubbly senior with her gaggle of friends, spoke in hushed tones. “People were attacked last night. Thugs who tried to attack their chests! Eww! Sexual harassment much?”

Lunette stared forward. ‘I wasn’t the only one?’ Lunette thought weakly.

“Luna?” Lunette turned to find Caius watching her. “Walk you out?” He asked. He sounded thoughtful, though his face still remained remarkably expressionless. His eyes seemed to shine brightly as Lunette turned pink.

“Uh. sure,” She tried to stop the giggle that still emerged. Caius only gave a slight smile.

“Damnit!” Sander peeked around a corner, muttering to himself.

“And this is the lovesick fool,” Vox announced to Hazelle who giggled.

“I am not!” Sander turned red. “And it’s not nice to laugh!” He retorted, pointing to Hazelle. Vox flicked the finger away from her new friend. “Ouch!”

“Such a big, bad boy,” Vox cooed.

“At least I didn’t cry about going to school!”

“You lie!”

“Ha!”

He howled as she stepped on his foot. “Come on, Hazelle. Let’s leave this loser here!”

“Hey! Mom’s not going to leave with just you, you know!” He followed with a limp. “God, why’d you have to be such a..”

“HI!” He jumped out of his skin as Aideen grinned brazenly. “Saw the look on your face. Love at first sight?” She encircled him with a free arm, the other carrying a tote bag. “I got all the solutions you need!”

“You’ll need them,” Vox snickered.

“Please, God. Shoot me now,” Sander told the sky in defeat.

Ceri was one of the last to exit the building. She spotted Terrain who was resting in the warm sunlight. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”

Terrain opened an eye slowly. He gave a tiny mewl as he rubbed against her legs. His eyes sparkled as his nose breathed in.

“So pretty..”

“Ceri?” Her grandmother honked the wagon with enthusiam. “Come on, honey! I have bridge night!”

“Okay!” Ceri tripped over what she thought was a stone. She sat up, looking behind her. Sun glinted off a half buried item. She pulled it out and saw the mood ring it was. The stone was utterly black but as she held it, it turned an vibrant orange to fade into calm blue. “Pretty.” She put it in her pocket to take home and wash.

Terrain watched from a distance as the girl left. Soon the whole area was void of life as Terrain walked to the back. He lumbered on until he came to a batch of trees. It hid  a small cave that dropped sharply downward. He continued inward, unafraid into the suffocating darkness.

The area became eerily alit by light from the walls that soon revealed into a high-tech room.

He jumped up with practiced ease, typing in the password. “Elysium.”

“-Password accepted-. -Transmission auto-received-. -Response, open screen title Guardian-.”

“Terrain,” a soft voice spoke, a gentle, musical voice of femininity. “So the search has started?”

“Yes, Goddess,” Terrain answered. “They’ve all met already.”

“Good. That is the best news I have heard in such a long, long time. It is time to finish this.”

“Yes, Chaos will not survive,” Terrain sounded pleased. “And then it will all be save for the rest to return home?” His voice was hopeful.

“Oh yes,” the voice laughed. “We will all... return.”