“I’ll try.” Luna sighed, turning back to the television.
The movie was already nearing the halfway point, it was a good thing that she had already seen it, otherwise she would be lost. Not that she was really calm enough to watch it anyway, her brain was still spinning, racing at a mile a minute, trying to process everything that had happened over the weekend. She wrapped the blanket around her, letting the warmth sink in. She was finally starting to get tired, all curled up on the couch doing nothing.
Luna’s eyes were starting to grow heavy, the scratching of her mother’s pen on paper and the quiet sounds from the movie calming her as she started to close her eyes.
There was a flash in the backyard past the tree line, the open curtains on the back door allowed the light to filter into the room for a brief moment as Luna’s mom sat upright, startled into action.
“Luna.” Her mom edged forward, shaking Luna’s leg. “The portal.” Her eyes were wide, she was holding back a full blown panic.
Luna jumped up, suddenly wide awake. She stared at her mom for a second, knowing what she needed to do.
“Lock the doors, check the upstairs.” Her mom whispered, rushing towards the back door to check the lock and pull the curtain across.
Luna tossed the blanket onto the couch, racing down the hallway towards the front door to check the lock. Her heart was racing like she was back in the Gateway.
That flash from the woods could mean anything. The Knights could be coming after her, or her father might have returned. He had been kind to her in the end, but the form that he took when the sun set still reigned over her nightmares.
She checked the lock and turned towards her mom’s office, the curtains were already drawn from their talk earlier, but she checked the window lock before she closed the door anyway.
She knew that her mom would take care of the rest of the downstairs, so Luna hit the stairs two at a time, running up to her room to look out the window.
She was sure that nothing from the other side would be climbing up the side of the house to get in, but she couldn’t help herself from edging through her dark room towards the window to look out into the backyard.
She pulled back the curtain, just enough to see into the back yard without being seen by whomever had traveled through the portal.
Though her heart was still racing with worry, she was curious and couldn’t help herself.
For a moment she wondered if the portal had just flashed by accident, there was nothing in the yard, nothing moving in the woods. She could barely see the glow from the grove of fireflies, even though the leaves had almost all fallen in the woods. There were no dark shapes moving across the grass, no sign of rustling in the trees. It didn’t seem like anything was there at all.
If it was a false alarm she would be relieved, but the terror in her mother’s eyes told her that she should be worried that someone or something would eventually come through the portal for her.
Why her mother had chosen to buy the house that backed onto the woods was beyond her, there were so many empty properties in River Falls, her mom could have picked any of them. And she had chosen the one house that had a portal in the backyard.
Worse yet, she had known that the portal was there and still chosen the house. Though on some level her mother had always known that they would come for Luna, she had probably picked the house so they wouldn’t cause too much chaos in town. A person from Eranox wandering the streets of River Falls was enough to make the front page news for sure.
Luna was about to give up and go downstairs to tell her mom that it had been a false alarm when she finally caught a movement from the corner of her eye.
She waited with bated breath at the window, watching as the shadow moved through the trees, sure that it wasn’t a branch caught in a breeze as it moved towards the edge of the woods.
She couldn’t tell if it was one person or a group, it could still be the Knights that had followed her. But she knew that there was something there, it wasn’t a false alarm.
Luna tugged the curtain closed, her heart racing again, she hadn’t realized that for a moment she had been calm; that moment was over.
Without thinking, she dashed back down the stairs, nearly tumbling the whole way down in her hurry to get back to her mom.
“They’re coming.” She gasped, sliding back into the living room, losing traction with her socks on the hardwood.
Her mom turned, startled by Luna’s sudden appearance, her eyes were still wide, she was gripping the couch, trying to drag it towards the back sliding door in an effort to re-enforce it.
“Mom, they’re coming.” Luna repeated, grabbing the other end of the couch and pulling it towards the door. “I saw them out the window.”
“You saw them? How many?” Her mom whispered, her eyes darting to the back door like she wasn’t sure that it would hold.
“I don’t know,” Luna racked her brain, “I just saw the shadow moving through the trees.”
“Your father?” Her mom’s voice had taken a panicked pitch beyond her normal terror.
“I don’t know.” Luna hissed, she felt frantic, she didn’t know what to do. It was too late to leave and there was nowhere in River Falls that they could go, nowhere that they would be safe. She wasn’t going to try for the car again, last time it had failed her.
“To my office.” Her mom hissed, reaching for Luna’s hand and tugging her up the hall, “We can lock the door.” She added, she sounded like she had a plan.
“Mom?” Luna whispered as they closed the office door behind them and her mom locked it.
“Yes Luna?” She ushered her to the other side of the room where they both ducked behind the desk to take cover.
“What if they find us?” Luna whispered, she could hear something outside, moving around the side of the house.
Her mom didn’t answer, instead she held her finger to her lips and listened to the sounds outside of the house.
Crunching leaves, the howling sound of wind echoing through the open garage door.
Luna knew she had forgotten something, there was still a way in.
Her heart was racing, it was too late to lock the door to the garage, they were already locked in the office, as safe as they could be given the circumstances. If the intruder found the way in, at least they could still escape through the window.
A shadow passed behind the curtains, Luna and her mother watched, tucking themselves into the desk like it would save them from the shape.
Luna could hear the footsteps walking up the front steps, there was no one else out there, only one person.
That didn’t mean the others weren’t waiting in the woods, surrounding them, waiting for their attempt to escape.
Luna was panicking, the confined space beside the desk made her feel like she was already trapped, the darkness in the office was like she was back in the Gateway waiting for a creature to pass.
She knew she was panicking, her breaths coming out ragged as she tried to calm herself. Her mother was staring at her, a hand on her shoulder, her eyes calm and serene, trying to ease Luna.
Her breaths started to slow, then there was a knock at the door.
CHAPTER THREE
THREE
The knock echoed through the house, Luna found herself holding her breath to stay quiet. She felt her mom growing tense, afraid to move to look at the window, afraid to make a sound.
“Is the front door locked?” Her mom whispered, still staring at Luna, her hands resting on her shoulders.
It did little to comfort Luna, she nodded, “It is, I checked it.” She finally answered, staring past her mom at the window.
She didn’t know who was out there, but she knew where they had come from, and that was enough to keep her heart racing. Luna stared at the window, waiting for another shadow to cross. She knew it was the Knights, they had come to take her away and lock her up in the castle, “It’s them.” Luna whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.
Part of her
hoped that they would take her mom too, so she wouldn’t have to be alone.
“Shh.” Her mom leaned forward, pressing her forehead into Luna’s and closing her eyes.
The knock sounded again, more impatient this time. Knuckles rapping sharply on the door. The doorbell rang twice to accentuate the sound.
“Hello?” A faint voice sounded from outside, “Is anyone home?”
“It’s human.” Her mom sighed, leaning back. She sounded relieved. Luna realized that she had feared one of the creatures had escaped the Gateway like her father had.
“It’s human.” Luna agreed, following her mother’s gaze to the office door.
“Should I answer?” She turned back to Luna.
“I don’t know, it could be anyone.” Luna frowned, “There were Knights following me, they wanted to take me back to the castle… they were in the Gateway, chasing me…”
“Knights don’t announce themselves like that.” Her mom chuckled, “They would have kicked the doors down if they wanted to get in.”
“Really?” Luna wondered if the knocking on the door was just a decoy, there could still be others, waiting for them outside.
The knock came for a third time, followed by another chime of the doorbell.
“Luna? Are you home?” The voice grew louder, “It’s Lucas, we need to talk.”
“Lucas?” Luna hissed.
She didn’t want to talk to him, she was surprised he had come back at all.
“I’m going to have to answer.” Her mom stood, walking to the office door.
“Really?” Luna moaned, following her to the hall.
Her mom stepped out of the office and towards the door, pulling back the curtain to check who was standing on the front step.
“It is Lucas…” She turned to Luna, “I’m going to let him in, we can’t leave him out there.” She had already decided.
“Fine.” Luna crossed her arms over her chest, waiting behind her mom while she unlatched the door and swung it open.
Lucas was standing on the other side, poised to knock again. He let his arm fall to his side, staring past Luna’s mother at her in the hallway.
“Hi, Luna.” He mumbled, looking relieved to see her.
“Please, come in.” Her mother waved Lucas through the threshold in a strange way, formal and stiff.
Luna stared at her as she tipped her head while Lucas passed.
“Prince Lucas.” Her mother bowed deeply, holding the door open for him to enter.
“Thank you for allowing me inside.” Lucas stepped into the hall, nodding to Luna in greeting. “You may want to lock the door, in case I was followed.” He added quietly.
Luna’s mother nodded and closed the door over, quickly checking the locks.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” She asked, though Luna sensed a trace of hostility in her mother’s words.
“You can talk to me normally,” Lucas rolled his eyes, “we’re on Earth, I’m not a Prince here…” He trailed off, walking towards Luna.
“Are you okay?” He seemed afraid to startle her.
“I’ve been better.” Luna answered, the words coming out sharper than she had expected.
“How did you make it…” He shook his head, “I’m glad you were okay, you shouldn’t have gone back in there… not alone like that.”
Lucas looked the same as she remembered, though she knew now that he was more. It was hard to think of him as a friend that she had met at school when she knew now that he was from Eranox. He had been traveling through the Gateway regularly, pretending to be her friend to keep an eye on her.
The truth was, she didn’t know where they stood. Were they really friends? Or was Lucas a different person, had he merely been pretending all along to get close to her so he could take her away?
Lucas seemed uncomfortable under her gaze, he shuffled his feet, looking down as a thick silence hung in the air.
He smelled of Eranox, Luna hadn’t realized that there was a scent, it was earthy and smelled of damp stone and fire. She recalled the Gateway vividly.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, knowing that he wouldn’t have traveled through the labyrinth unless he had a good reason, and he appeared to be alone, Luna didn’t see any other shadows.
“I needed to know you got out.” He answered, still looking down at his feet, “The Knights came back empty handed, and I thought… well you were okay…” He shook his head, “And there was something I need to talk to you about…” He added sheepishly.
Luna stared at him. She couldn’t believe him, he had traveled all that way, not to check up on her, but because he had some other motive. She shook her head, her frustration growing by the minute.
“Would you like to come in, have some tea?” Luna’s mother cut the silence.
Luna had almost forgotten that her mom was still standing there, she had been so quiet.
“Yeah, sure, that would be nice.” Lucas nodded, passing Luna one last pleading look before he followed her mom into the kitchen.
Luna watched as they disappeared around the corner. She checked that her mom had re-locked the front door and peeked out the window. It didn’t look like Lucas had been followed, but it didn’t hurt to check. You never knew what might happen when you had a portal in your back yard.
By the time Luna followed them into the kitchen her mom had already cleared the table and Lucas was sitting while her mom set the kettle on the stove.
“Are you okay Luna.” Her mom whispered, glancing at Lucas with a side stare, “You weren’t expecting him, were you?”
“No.” Luna answered quietly, following her mom to the table.
Luna sat with her mom across from Lucas. He looked up, and she could sense that he felt guilty about something.
“I’m sorry.” Lucas looked down at the table away from Luna, “I don’t know why you left, but I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that alone.” He glanced up, staring at Luna with pleading eyes. “Why did you leave?” He asked. “I told you the Gateway was dangerous…”
“I didn’t leave…” Luna reminded him, “I escaped.”
Lucas stared at her a moment longer, the realization filtering through his eyes, “They weren’t holding you Luna, you weren’t a prisoner. If you had just asked, I would have brought you home. We were going to bring you home…” He sounded sincere.
“Really?” Luna crossed her arms, “The door was locked, I heard them talking…” She shook her head, “They weren’t going to let me leave.”
“For your own safety, until we figured out what the cursed wanted with you, that thing was chasing you, it knew your name…” Lucas turned to Luna’s mother.
“Someone was after her.” He explained. “I wasn’t supposed to take her there, not yet, not before she was ready.” He sounded like he was trying to apologize. “But the cursed arrived on your doorstep, I had no choice, there was nowhere else to run. I didn’t know she had a stone…” Lucas wasn’t making any sense to Luna, but her mother seemed to understand him.
“She didn’t have a stone Lucas, not until she came back with the ring.” Luna’s mother pointed at her daughters hand.
“She had a necklace.” Lucas looked at Luna, “Here.” He pulled it from his jacket, “You left it at the castle, I was afraid you would be stuck in the Gateway without it.”
Luna’s mother stared at her, “Where did you get that?” She asked, inching closer to look at the necklace and the red stone dangling from the chain. “That is carnelian… that was the necklace we had when…”
“It’s nice,” Luna let her mother look at it, “I got it for my birthday.” She recalled.
“From who?” Her mother had taken the necklace and was inspecting it quite closely.
“It was hanging on my window with a note.” Luna shrugged, she had thought that it had been from Lucas, or her mother even, but they both seemed to wonder where it had come from.
“Do you still have the note?” Her mother asked carefully, sharing a
look with Lucas like she had a suspicion.
“I might.” Luna turned to leave the room, “Is it really that big a deal?” she asked before she left the room.
“It might be.” Her mom called after her.
Luna walked up the stairs slowly, tracing her hand on the banister while she wondered why Lucas was really there. He hadn’t gone through the dark maze of beastly creatures just to return her necklace, there was more to it.
If her mother was right, Lucas and the rest of Eranox expected her to break the curse. He wanted her to go back to Eranox, and she wasn’t sure that she was ready.
Or that she would ever be ready.
Luna found the note in her nightstand drawer, a small scrap of old paper with the simple words Happy Birthday written on it.
She returned to the kitchen and handed it to her mom, “Here, that’s the note.” She sat at the table, waiting for her mother to come to the same conclusion as her; that it was just a necklace, probably a birthday wish from a friend, maybe Jess was the one that had delivered it, Luna had never bothered to ask.
“As I thought.” Her mom clutched the paper carefully, then she passed it to Lucas. “It’s his handwriting.” She sounded sad.
“Are you sure?” Lucas stared at it, but it was clear to Luna that he couldn’t tell who her mom was talking about.
“Who’s?” Luna asked, “Who’s handwriting?”
“Your father’s”
“The necklace was from my dad?” Luna stared at her mom, she knew what that meant.
“Which means he had been here before that night that you and Lucas saw him. He has been able to get out of the Gateway the whole time…” Her mom sounded worried.
“That was your dad?” Lucas shook his head, “I had no idea…”
“He was cursed.” Luna’s mom confirmed. “He didn’t make it out with me…”
“He’s been there the whole time?” Lucas looked scared, “He isn’t here, he didn’t find a way… he isn’t looking…” Lucas cut himself off like he couldn’t find the words.
Eranox- Cursed Page 3