by J. N. Pack
**Killian**
She thinks it’s over, but I’m not done with her today. I wait until school is over and corner Ada Jade and Maddie.
“Where’s Luna? We need to finish a conversation.” I growl. I can feel Hux and Bishop at my back.
Maddie tenses, but Ada Jade, the ballsy bitch, growls, “Fuck off Lucian.”
I’m seriously about to lose my patience and I think Maddie can sense it because when Ada Jade starts her bike up and pulls from the parking lot, she sighs and says, “Look I don’t know what’s going on with you guys, but chances are she’s at the beach.” And she throws her leg across her back and glances back at me one last time before driving away. Hux has something to take care of so he drove today and takes off. Bishop and I drive to the beach.
I’m stalking down to the bon fire when I hear the familiar sound of a bike pulling in the parking lot. I’m ready to brawl if that’s what it comes to, but I’m getting some answers.
I can hear eleven minutes by Halsey and Yungblud coming from the speakers of her phone. When I get close, I realize somethings off. Her colors not right. There’s an empty bottle of vodka on the ground close to her hand and her eyes are closed.
A sickening feeling fills my stomach and I hear Ada Jade ranting from behind me and I’m unable to move. Bishop sees her seconds after I do and stops moving. I rush to her side and when Ada Jade sees her panic starts to take over and Bishop wraps his arms around her waist dragging her to the ground with him.
When I get to her side, she starts having a seizure and I shove everything away from her. I turn her on her side and wait for it to pass. Once she stops seizing, I pick her up in my arms and run to the truck. I climb in the backseat with her and Bishop shoves Ada Jade in the front seat and tears are spilling down her cheeks. Bishop climbs in the driver’s seat and drives as fast as he can safely get us to the hospital.
“What the fuck is she on?” I growl at Ada Jade.
She yells, “I don’t fuckin’ know. She hates pills. She was… She just fuckin’ hates pills.”
“Call Hux and tell him to get to the beach and search her bike and everything there that belongs to her and find out what the fuck she took and flush it.” I order.
Bishop picks up the phone and gives Hux the order before hanging up.
Her beautiful face turns into my chest and a tremble rocks my body.
What if she fuckin’ dies?
Bishop swings the car in the emergency entrance to the hospital and I quickly climb from the truck pulling her out in my arms. And handing her over to the doctors in the emergency room telling them everything I know.
The doctors put her on a gurney, and she is shoved through the double doors. When I try to follow them through, they push me back out and say, “You have to wait out here. You wanna help? Find out what she took.” And they disappear into the back. I shove my hands through my hair and growl in frustration.
Ada Jade shoves at my chest and yells, “This is your fuckin’ fault why couldn’t you just back the fuck off?” She’s crying and Bishop wraps her in his arms and holds her while she cries. When his phone rings I grab it and answer, “What’d you find?”
Hux says, “There’s a bottle of Xanax bars, looks like twelve are missing.”
Fuck!
I pass the message along to the doctors while Ada Jade calls Frank and Maddie. I overhear Ada Jade telling Maddie that Luna had been acting weird since Saturday morning. She doesn’t go into details about it, but just that she wasn’t acting herself and it hits me. Broadway!
Panic has my stomach in knots. What the fuck has this mother fucker done to her or threatened her with?
I hear him before I see him. He slams through the hospital doors and his eyes land on me. He sneers and then goes to the counter and growls at the receptionist. “Where’s my fuckin’ kid?”
The woman is terrified. “Lunatic Marlow? Where the fuck is she?”
The woman tenses and I step forward and say, “They have her in the back. They are pumping her stomach. She OD’d on Xanax. She took twelve on top of a full gallon of Vodka.”
Frank looks up at me and says, “You’re the Lucian boy, aren’t you?”
I nod but stay silent.
He grimaces and says, “Make sure nothing that happens with my kid gets back to Gina! The cunt doesn’t deserve to know anything about Luna.”
I nod.
They send us all down the hall to a family waiting room and since I refuse to leave Frank allows me to stay in the waiting room with them.
Chapter 11
Luna
When I peel my eyes open, I’m a whole lot confused. I glance around and then the antiseptic smell of the hospital assaults my nose. I try to speak, but my tongue is sticking to the roof of my mouth. I don’t understand what’s going on. I moan, not necessarily in pain, but more or less in frustration. What the fuck happened? Why am I here?
The last thing I remember is arguing with Killian. Or not really arguing with him and then going to the beach. I moan again and Frank appears at my side. He looks tired.
“You almost did it this time girl. You’re lucky the Lucian boy found you in time.” He says quietly holding back the rage I know he feels.
What Lucian boy?
Ada Jade appears at my side and I try to talk, but it feels like razor blades in my throat. She says, “Shhhh, you had a tube down your throat, its scraped and raw. You’re okay now.”
I see movement behind them and find Killian standing in the corner behind them. Panic grips my chest and I pray he hasn’t said anything about what he saw. He’s got his arms across his chest and his eyes never leave me. His face is a couple shades paler.
I try to talk again, “What am…I…. doing… here?” It comes out raspy because of my raw throat.
Bishop asks from behind Dad, “You don’t remember?”
I shake my head no and Franks says, “You OD’d on Xanax bars because you took twelve and downed a whole gallon of fuckin’ Vodka.”
My eyes widen and I glance around the room. My eyes freeze on Killian and I know what’s coming.
“Killian Lucian found you at the beach and you started seizing. The boy saved your life, you owe him some fuckin’ gratitude.” Frank says.
I start trembling and Frank grips my hand. Killian hasn’t moved any closer to the bed and I’m grateful for it. He saved my life, but right now he also has the power to ruin it. I hope he didn’t go to Broadway.
Frank squeezes my hand and says, “I talked to Doc Griffin and he wants you back on the stabilizers.”
I tense and start shaking my head no and he growls, “Fuck yes! If I have to shove them down your throat you will take them.”
I snatch my hand away from Frank and sneer at him and growl, “Fuck you!” in a scratchy voice. I glance at Killian who hasn’t taken his eyes off of me. The tension in the room is palpable.
Frank leaves the room to talk to the doctors about when I will be able to go home, and Ada Jade and Maddie leave to get something to eat. I was left in the room with Bishop and Killian. I sneer at them both. “I didn’t try to kill myself.” I rasp.
Bishop rolls his eyes and says, “Good luck making people believe that.” And leaves the room shaking his head.
Killian drops in the chair beside the bed but doesn’t say anything. He leans back in the chair with his hands folded behind his head. He still doesn’t open his fuckin’ mouth.
“I didn’t! Why the fuck would I kill myself?” I growl after taking a sip of water.
He leans forward with his elbows on his knees staring in my eyes. “Then why the fuck are we here Luna?”
“Fuck off Lucian! Why the fuck are you even here?” I say as the rage comes back full force.
He sneers and says dryly, “If I wasn’t, you’d be fuckin’ dead. Do you not fuckin’ get that!” He stands and is pacing from the bed to the door. “What the fuck is going on between you and Broadway?”
I growl, “None of your fuckin’ business!”
Frank looks at me and rolls his eyes. “He the one that put that mark on your neck?”
I smirk and whisper, “Like I would tell you!”
He grins and says, “What was he yelling about? You could hear him out in the hall.”
I shrug and say, “Does it even fuckin’ matter?”
He drops his head and gives it a little shake.
**Killian**
I had to get the fuck out of there before I rung her neck. I could fuckin’ help her if she wasn’t so fuckin’ stubborn. When my phone buzzes I check the text.
Hux: You still at the hospital?
Killian: Nah! I’m going home.
Hux: You good bro?
Killian:
Hux: Maddie said they are going to let her go home tomorrow.
Killian: Yeah, I know. You talking to her now?
Hux: She’s the calmer of the three and she’s fuckin’ HOTTT! Don’t get me wrong she is fuckin’ ruthless but she ain’t as fuckin’ nuts as the other two.
Killian: Tell me about it!
Hux:
Ten minutes later I’m pulling in the driveway to our beach front condo. I throw my stuff on the table and when my phone pings again it’s a pic of Luna walking out of the hospital with nothing on but the fuckin’ gown. I shake my head and growl. Frank’s fuckin’ got this!
Hux: Maddie said Frank followed her for two blocks sneering at everyone who looked in their direction before throwing her over his shoulder and shoving her in Russo’s truck.
Killian: Better him than me!
Killian: I’m going for a ride!
I grab my helmet from my room and go to the garage. I open the garage door and throw my legs across my Flat black Ducati 899 with red rims and pull out of the driveway. I pull to the stop sign at the end of the road we live on and then pull onto the main road. I push the bike faster and faster. Easing the tension inside my chest. It fucked with my head finding her like that at the beach.
Dad’s called a dozen times wanting to know if I was getting any closer with her. Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that. She’s hard to read and when it feels like I’m making some lead way she goes and does some stupid shit like this. When she woke up, I watched the light slowly come back into her eyes and I wanted to choke the life out of Broadway. The only reason I haven’t gone to the mother fucker yet is because of the little girl. I still don’t know where she comes into this. She’s definitely not Luna’s kid. She’s too old and Luna would have been a little girl when she was born.
I take a turn sharp and speed up around the curve. I will find out what’s going on between Broadway and her. She may hate me for it in the long run, but I have to find out before he pushes her past the point of her coming out the other side alive.
***
Friday when she walks into the school, she looks like a zombie. She stares down at the floor never looking up. Maddie and Ada Jade are walking behind her. When she stops at her locker Ada Jade and Maddie both stop by us and shake their head at her.
“What’s wrong with her?” I ask.
Maddie just shakes her head and walks off to her locker. Ada Jade glances at me and then at Luna and then back at me and says, “What’s your deal?”
I shrug and turn back to my locker. I glance at Luna again and she is like a completely different person.
When Broadway approaches her at the end of the hall before she walks in her class. He puts his hand on her hip and she tenses, but there is absolutely no fight in her. I growl and slam my locker shut drawing the attention of Broadway. He drops his hand from her hip when he sees me watching. He leans forward and whispers in her ear. She glances back at me but drops her look to the floor to her side after realizing my eyes are on her. I can feel the tension beating off of her in waves. Broadway finally walks away, and she cuts into her class. I drop into the seat beside her and cut my eyes at her.
She looks over and when she realizes it’s me, she says, “You’re not in this class.”
I give her a smug look and whisper, “I am now!”
She looks away. She flips to an empty page in her notebook and doodles in the margins. When class is over, she shoves everything in her bag, and I cage her in. She looks up at me and I say, “If he touches you again, I’ll break his fuckin’ hands.” And I turn and walk away.
I hear her blow out a breath as I leave the room. She has absolutely no fuckin’ fight in her.
At lunch I watch her walk out of the school and I drop down at her table with Ada Jade, who has anger rolling off her in waves, and Maddie.
“So, which one of you are going to tell me what the fuck is going on with her?” I growl.
Ada Jade turns her angry eyes on me and starts to stand with her fork in her hand. Bishop pries the fork from her hand and drops down beside her. Hux straddles the seat beside Maddie.
“I’m not the bad guy here. If I were, she wouldn’t be here walking the halls of Lux today.” I growl.
Ada Jade looks at me from under hooded eyes and growls, “We’re the fuckin’ monsters, not you!”
Maddie glances over at me and says, “You can’t fuckin’ save her. You can’t save any of us. We’ll ruin you for even trying!”
I smirk and roll my eyes, “Maybe I don’t want to save her. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Ada Jade smirks and says, “You can’t do anything about it so yeah, I’ll tell you what’s going on with her. Frank put her back on Lithium and she’s a complete cluster fuck in the head. When she’s not walking around like a fuckin’ zombie, she’s sleeping.”
Maddie sighs and says, “The shit from the other day has Frank so fucked up he can’t see he’s fuckin’ suffocating her.”
I sit back with my arms crossed over my chest. “Lithium, huh?”
Ada Jade sneers and says, “Yeah. Twelve hundred milligrams in the morning and six hundred milligrams in the afternoon. You think she’s bad now, check her out when she takes her afternoon dosage.”
Maddie grumbles, “She’s like a fuckin’ puppet.”
I glance at Bishop and Hux then back at Maddie and Ada Jade, “What’s the deal with her and Broadway?”
Ada Jade and Maddie both shrug, “Ask her. I didn’t know anything was going on with the pedophile.”
My eyes snap to hers, “Pedophile?”
She sneers and says, “Yeah he’s been screwing students here for the past seven years.”
I sneer and now I know I have to do something. I can’t let him smother what little light is left in her. I’d give anything to see her standing in the hall of Lux with blood dripping from her chin again.
Chapter 12
**Luna**
After school Friday I work in the shop until almost midnight. Frank asks, “Not going to the beach tonight?”
I shake my head no and keep fiddling with the last part I needed to put on the bike. My fingers tremble and I grasp the wrench in my hand tighter. I loosen my grip and Frank says, “Meds keeping you level?”
I nod without another word. I stand and drop the wrench in the tool bin and tell him I’m heading home. I throw my leg across my bike and start the engine. I drive back to my house at a slower pace and once I get home, I lock it in the garage and crash into my bed.
At nine the next morning I walk to the park. I’m in jeans, a hoodie and my DC’s. I make it there with five minutes to spare. I drop into a swing and swing slowly in the swing.
I hear someone clear their throat and look up to find Killian standing there watching me. I panic and jump to my feet. “You can’t be here. You have to hurry and leave. You've got to leave.” And I shove his chest again and again.
I hear a quiet voice behind mine and freeze too afraid to move, “L? You okay L?”
I look up at Killian who is watching me closely.
When I don’t say
anything, she walks around me and sticks her hand out and says, “I’m McKayla. Who are you?”
Killian slowly takes her hand and is assessing her closely. He kisses her little fingers and squats to get eye level with her, “I’m Killian, L is a friend of mine. I was walking by and saw her and thought I’d stop and say Hi.”
She glances up at me and I nervously nod. I don’t know how much is about to be revealed to him and I’m terrified of what will happen once the truth is out. Before I could get the thought out completely McKayla says, “L is my big sister. She comes to see me on some Saturdays.” My whole-body tenses and I refuse to look up.
Killian squeezes my shoulder and says, “Well, what do you guys do? I don’t want to stop you from spending time together.”
I glance up at him and he is watching me closely. McKayla shrugs and says, “We talk and sometimes we play. She promised me one day she was going to take me to the beach. Brian won’t take me. He says it’s for people who don’t have anything better to do.”
Killian smiles down at her and says, “I don’t believe that. I happen to live at the beach on the water and it is the most beautiful thing you will ever see.”
She smiles brightly at him and he says, “I’m going to go wait in my truck and let you girls have some alone time. I hope to see you again McKayla.”
She smiles brightly and says, “I hope so too. Maybe we can go to the beach at your house one day.”
Killian nods and say, “Anytime.
She waves as he makes his way back to his truck.
**Luna**
I try to get out of my head and spend time with McKayla, but I know all hell is going to break lose when Broadway gets here. He’s going to lose his shit when he sees Killian. If Killian comes over when Broadway is here, things will get a thousand times worse.
McKayla asks, “Is he your boyfriend?”
I smirk, “No.”
She grins, “He’s pretty though.”
I laugh at her and she says, “You could do worse.”
I groan and say, “I don’t need a guy McKayla. I just need you. He’s just a…. a… friend. He’s a friend.”