Alive at Sunset (Rituals of the Night Series Book 2) (14 page)

“Of course, but it does us little good when we’re being systematically hunted,” Luna pointed out.

“So what if we are? We aren’t dead yet,” Max said.

Luna stared at him. To that she had nothing to say.

“Go home and sleep on it,” Max said. “We’ll meet tomorrow to come up with a plan.”

Luna sighed. “I guess.”

“You’re still upset…aren’t you?” he asked.

She closed her eyes for a moment. “I thought I knew you, but I just can’t get over the fact that you won’t tell me how you know what you know. Maybe there’s something that we can learn that might help us if we go back to the source!”

“Alright, fine,” Max said. “If it’ll balance our friendship again, I’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?”

Luna looked at him for a long moment. “What’s wrong with right now?”

“Take it or leave it.”

“Fine,” she agreed and stared her old friend down for a long moment. She knew that whatever he had to say wouldn’t be good.

T
hunder rumbled as lightning tore across the clouds of the night leaving gaping holes in the sky. Rain poured in bucket loads from the weeping Heavens and splashed to the ground below with enough force to bounce up before the grass could absorb it. The storm was strong and to most people it was too overwhelming to leave the warm safety of their houses.

It was the perfect night to Chance. The perfect night to accomplish the things society frowned on. Sitting in his pitch black truck, he was perfectly dry. The rain splattered against his truck and the water rolled down the sleek black metal with no resistance.

He pulled a silver lighter from his pocket and clicked it open to watch the tiny orange flame flicker and burn. He didn’t smoke anymore, he found it too cliché, but watching the flame reminded him of the anger he felt blooming inside. He clicked it shut and tucked it away into its place again. Chance looked up through the window as he narrowed his eyes and stared through the heavy rain with hatred.

He pulled his snake-handle dagger from his pocket and held it up to look at the blade in the faint light. It was hard to see all the detail through the darkness of the night, but the moon presented enough light to see. The trusty knife would come to his aid, once again, like it always had for him in the past. It was his only ally, the only one that he could ever rely on. He stared at it, pouring his hatred into it before he slowly tucked it away into his pocket.

He popped open his door and slammed it shut after he got out. The sound radiated throughout the dead night. Though there were houses around the apartment, they were a bit off in the distance. No one stirred at the sound. There would be no possible witnesses to worry about which would certainly make his night a lot more fun.

The second he stepped out of his truck, rain soaked him through to the bone. It soaked through his blond hair to his scalp and ran off as easily as it had from his truck. His black clothes were plastered to his skin within seconds. It was cold, and he was shivering within a few seconds. He paid no attention to his discomfort as he ducked across the street through the waterfall of rain.

Overhead, the thunder rang out again. It was loud enough to make him jump, but the hesitation only lasted a short second. The sound of the rain hitting the ground was all that could be heard as Chance crept up to the house. He made sure his footsteps were as silent as the wind. The window nearest to him was hard to see through since the blinds on the inside of the house only left a few cracks. That was a minor inconvenience to him, but it certainly wouldn’t slow him down.

There was a dull light on inside, but there weren’t any sounds of life coming from within. He wondered for a minute if anyone was even home. Chance smiled to himself as he pulled his dagger out of his pocket and wedged it in the window frame. He’d check for himself if anyone was. He wiggled the knife for a moment knowing exactly what he was doing from experience. He popped out the screen suddenly and quietly threw it to the dark, soaked ground.

He ducked out of sight of the open square for a second, unsure if anyone in the apartment had heard him pop out the screen. After a minute, no one came to investigate, and he was sure his advance was going unnoticed. He stood to his full height beside the open window, peeking through the cracks in the blind once again. He put his head through the frame, and the blind raked against the side of his face as he prepared to climb into the room. Inside, the coast was clear.

Chance hauled himself up into the warm, lit room. The rain water poured from his frame to the floor, ruining the yellow color with dirt. He began to creep, leaving muddy footprints on the linoleum tile as he went. It was a trail documenting each of his movements. In his mind, he knew he had to clean them up, that they could be used as evidence later on, but it didn’t matter to him. He only had one goal in mind, and until he accomplished it, nothing else even mattered.

He tucked the blade of his knife between his fingers as he crept to the edge of the room. He would admit that it wasn’t safe without his knife ready to use at a second’s notice. He had to be ready and willing to fight to the death, and he was. Finally, he made it outside the kitchen.

The apartment divided into a hallway and a darkened living room. He stood there for a moment, thinking of possibilities. Where would his target be? Napping peacefully in front of the TV in the living room after a long hard day, or sleeping in a room deeper in the apartment?

He decided to check the living room first. With Max’s figure, it made the most sense that he would be there. Instantly, he noticed that the reclining chair had a decent sized lump on it. The lump was illuminated by flashes of the TV, but in the darkness of the room, it was hard to tell what it was.

Was it Max sleeping or someone else? He frowned as he wondered if other people lived in the apartment. He chuckled to himself, if it was someone else than he could use them to get to Max. Almost the way he used Violet to get to Luna. There was also the possibility that it
was
Max. If it was then it would be easier than he thought. As carefully as he had made his way through the kitchen, he crept through the living room until he reached the chair.

He sunk the blade into the lump and laughed in triumph. But there was no blood, no fighting, no screaming. His laughter died away instantly. If he killed his biggest rival then the lack of a struggle was a shining disappointment to him. He pulled his knife back to survey the damage, and a light feather drifted from the blade. He growled in frustration as he realized he had fallen for a decoy.

Max was far too smart to be taken by surprise. Chance was mad at himself for a moment for thinking he had won that easily. Max knew his tricks like he was sure that Max knew his. The use of the decoy was proof to that. Chance knew that Max was expecting him. He had heard him warning her at David’s funeral, but she walked away from him easily.

She didn’t believe it. She was too stubborn to face facts. For once, Chance was glad of that. He didn’t know why Luna decided to visit Max, but after he was finished, he knew she would believe the warnings. He had to kill Max first to get his point across. It was the only thing he could think of to separate Luna from the herd and make most of the past wrongs in his life right once again.

With a careful glance around, he retraced his steps to the fork between the living room and hallway. His laugh had been loud, and he wasn’t sure if he had alerted anyone to his presence. He traveled down the hall; one step at a time, making sure every step was quieter than he had ever walked before.

Outside, the thunder roared and shook the skies; Zeus was clearly as angry as he was. It was good to have people to connect with. Inside, Chance’s heart was somersaulting as he crept through the hallway. It was too dark to see ahead of him, and he had no idea where Max was waiting for him.

He kept walking; he could see a door coming up along the hall. It was cracked open a bit revealing the dark light inside. Chance smirked; maybe it would be easy after all. If Max was hiding, he hadn’t hidden well. Chance crept up to it, his hand almost on the knob as his other hand clutched the handle of the knife tightly. Suddenly, he felt hands on his back, fingers digging into his skin, and an earth shattering battle yowl sounded out behind him as he was pulled backwards to the ground.

Instantly, Chance jumped to his feet. Another blow was aimed at him; he could see the outline of the attack as another hand grasped his shoulder tight. He ducked in time and elbowed his attacker in the gut. Instantly, the hand released him, and Chance turned to see the face of his enemy. Max was gargantuan. He easily towered over Chance, a heavy set build with an awkward tuft of brown hair. He was strong; the hatred was blazing in his eyes as he stared Chance down.

Chance knew that he wouldn’t win the battle by brute force alone; Max was far too big to be overpowered. Chance needed his wits. Max moved to punch him again, and Chance easily ducked out of the way. His speed was a match for Max’s strength. He’d have to be strategic. Max’s fist collided with the wall behind Chance, and he roared in pain as a crack raced up the drywall.

“You won’t win, Chance! I’m avenging Violet’s death by taking yours!” Max growled, full of pain and rage.

Chance chuckled thinking idly that that monster of a man reminded him of Luna’s fiery attitude. “Cute. But I don’t think so. I’ve been waiting years for this moment. I’m not gonna lose my life to
you
.”

“I’ve hit you before, and I’ll do it again! This time I won’t stop until you’re dead!” Max said confidently.

“I don’t think so,” Chance said, “because this fight is personal. She’s mine.”

Max understood instantly. “You better leave her alone,” he said as he charged forward to ram his shoulder into Chance.

“I’ve let you live long enough,” Chance said as he jumped out of the way and ended up behind Max.

He could plan the perfect back shot. In a fraction of a second, he brandished his sharp dagger, and in the rest of the second, he sunk it into Max’s lower back. At first, he felt resistance, but it didn’t take too long to puncture his skin.

Instantly, Max lost his balance as he swatted to remove the knife. Chance jumped out of the way as Max toppled forward into the door that had been cracked open. If it had been closed, he would’ve been able to get up again and continue the fight, but it had been open a bit too far. It couldn’t support his weight. It swung open easily, leaving Max to topple down the stairs that lie beyond it. Chance crept to the door and watched with a sadistic smile on his face as he watched the thick body of his enemy roll down the stairs like a carpet.

That had been a stroke of serendipity. He thought for sure that tackling his enemy would’ve taken much more strategy and effort. It seemed that Lady Luck was smiling on him.

He stood staring into the darkened stairwell, wondering if Max was finally dead. A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky outside once again. A ground level window at the top of the basement shed the light throughout the base of the stairs. At the edge of the last step lie a massive body crumpled with limbs at awkward angles. He watched it cautiously for a long moment, but nothing twitched.

Max was finally dead. After all the time Chance spent plotting his death, it was over in less than five minutes.

Triumph ran through Chance’s veins throughout the length of his entire body as he looked down at what he had done. In that moment, he felt accomplished. Carefully, he crept down the stairs to Max’s body. He kicked it roughly with his heavy boot to make sure that he was gone.

Max didn’t move. A puddle of blood soaked the gray basement floor from the opening in his back. His neck was twisted at an awkward angle from the tumble down the stairs. The fall down the stairs was the straw that broke the camel’s back…or in Max’s case, his neck. Chance smiled as he waited for another bolt of lightning to light up the dark room. When it did, he sought out his knife and pulled it free from the pile of flesh on the floor. He bent over Max to wipe his blade clean of all traces of blood.

He whistled a happy tune as he turned to head back up the stairs. He crossed another enemy off of his mental list. There were two more people that he had in mind that had to pay. One of them more than all of his victims combined.

T
hat night, Luna found she was unable to sleep. The thought of Chance’s evil face twisted in fake emotions was burned into the back of her mind. Real triumph shone in his eyes. He had found her. After three years of being free, he had found her again. She couldn’t get over it. She tossed in bed and the shadows in her room surrounded her. They were haunting her. Lies and secrets waited in shadows. That was materialized in Chance. She felt the shadows shift- they seemed to come closer as if they had something to say. As if they wanted to remind her of her dark past.

She turned again, but no matter what, she couldn’t escape them. She was alone, and they knew it. They knew they could close in on all sides and suffocate her. She grasped her phone off of the end table. She clicked the button, eyes squinted against the ghastly white light to see the time. She sighed as she set it aside. It was late, and she needed to sleep before the morning was upon her. Tortured mind or not, sleep deprivation would only make things much worse.

At five o’ clock in the morning, she had gotten up and paced the apartment. She noticed Amanda was gone. Luna knew that she was still out with Chance, and she hoped that any moment she would knock on the door that way Luna would know that she was okay. Luna briefly considered calling the cops to make sure she was alright but finally she decided against it. Amanda was a big girl; she’d be able to look after herself. If Chance was keeping her friend alive, then calling the cops might only make him consider doing something crazy. She wouldn't risk it.

Luna collapsed on the hard kitchen chair and put her hands over her face. How could it be happening to her again? She was waiting to find out about the safety of people that meant things to her like she had done years ago. Was there no justice in the world? Did the Gods feel that she deserved that atrocity for a crime that she was yet to commit? Max was right when he had warned her, and Luna hated herself for not listening to him sooner. It was unsettling to her, however, that Max seemed so laid back about something so potent.

He knew that dealing with Chance was deadly, and a moment’s hesitation was a moment that could decide the difference between life and death. He was going to try to kill them through conventional methods. Max’s otherworldly knowledge would do them no good.

Max knew that, yet he still seemed as calm as if he knew what to do in that situation. If Chance was going to kill them without the paranormal, then how could Max be so serene knowing he could run into trouble at any minute? Luna couldn’t do that. Knowing that danger could be lurking anywhere and everywhere was too much.

She needed to talk to Max about forming some kind of game plan. The idea that he had nothing planned still bothered her. It was early in the morning, but it was important. She opened her phone again and scrolled through her contacts. She dialed Max’s number and waited for him to answer. After six rings, there was no answer. Luna was, of course, disappointed about it. She felt she had something to say and he wasn’t there to listen.

It’s too early in the morning,
she decided,
he’ll call me back when he wakes up.

She sighed in disappointment and trailed slowly back to her room. She was out of time to try to sleep. She needed to get ready for work. She got her uniform out of her closet and tucked her phone in her pocket (making careful sure to leave it on vibrate in case Max called her back) and went out the door, dreading the long day ahead of her.

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

A few hours later, Luna’s shift was over. She punched out and headed towards the door, looking forward to getting home to relax. Once again, Sarah was mopping, and Luna looked at her as she passed. She hadn’t had the chance to talk to her since Sarah had been cleaning the restaurant while Luna had been on register. She wondered if she had anything to say to her.

Sarah noticed her suddenly as she stood there cautiously. “Hey, come here for a second,” Sarah urged.

Luna nodded and padded over to Sarah, eager to hear what she had to say. “What is it, Sarah?”

“I just wanted to remind you about the cabin this weekend,” Sarah said dipping her mop in the bucket of water.

“Trust me, I remember,” Luna said. It was impossible for her to forget.

“Good. Make sure to be there first thing Saturday morning,” Sarah said. “We’ll be able to talk then.”

Luna nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there.”

She looked at Sarah. She wanted to talk to her about Chance and pour her heart out about what had happened all those years ago. Sarah deserved to know since her sister was lost to it. She bit her tongue; she knew it would be better to wait a few days. On Saturday, Luna would make sure that Sarah knew everything.

“Good,” Sarah said again. She picked up the mop and began washing the floor.

Luna could tell that she was done talking again. Luna turned towards the door and left. She walked home, the whole time her mind was focused on Chance. His sudden reappearance left a rock in her stomach that she knew from experience would be there for a while.

She pulled her phone out and looked at it. During her shift, she had been too busy to notice if her phone went off or not. She noticed she had no new messages and no calls from Max. Luna frowned, where was he when she needed him? Had he changed his mind about telling her his secret? She decided to call him again. After a few rings, she came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t answer again.

She sighed in defeat and put it back in her pocket. Her mind was swelling with thoughts. They flashed from Lucky’s death to David’s illness to Chance’s reappearance and Max’s sudden vanishing act. By the time she finally realized Max was right, he had lost all faith in her.

She didn’t know when she started, but she was running down the road. The pain in her muscles and tightness in her chest managed to successfully distract her mind for a while. Before she knew it, she was running through the parking lot and back at the apartment. Luna panted as she knocked three times on the door.

After a minute, Amanda answered and stepped aside to let Luna in. She froze instantly as she noticed Chance sitting on the couch. He smiled at her in that usual creepy way. Luna found that between running and the sight of him, she was choking on the little bit of air that was available. Amanda didn’t notice the tension in the room as she shut the door. She paced back over to Chance and sat beside him. She didn’t look at the television, however, she kept her eyes on Luna.

“Perfect timing, I didn’t get the chance to introduce you to my date last night,” Amanda said.

“It’s okay, Mandy. We’ve met before,” Luna said, eyeing Chance bitterly.

Chance stood up and took a step towards her. Luna’s heart fluttered in her chest, her automatic reaction was to panic. She wished her heart would stop completely. Even though he had a menacing gleam in his eyes, and in his stance, he managed to pull a puzzled expression over his face. She forgot that Chance was an excellent actor.

“I think you have me confused with someone else, dear. My name’s Chance,” he said holding his hand out to her. “What’s yours?”

Luna stared at him in disbelief. Her nervousness was instantly filled with rage. After all that he had done to her, after turning her life upside down, he was going to pretend as if he didn’t know her. Just like that, he found a way to make her miserable all over again.

She couldn’t take it. She ran past Chance and Amanda and down the hall to her room. She collapsed on the bed, nearly drowning in her own tears. She was glad she got away from Chance before the tears started to fall again. It was too hard for her to handle. She heard footsteps in her doorway suddenly. She looked up to see Amanda standing there, and from her stance, it was obvious that she wasn’t happy.

“Um, Luna, what the hell was that?” she asked glancing out towards the living room.

“I can’t talk to him,” Luna said. She had no way of explaining her reaction to Amanda in a way she could understand.

“He was being polite, you were so rude,” Amanda said. “I think you need to apologize to him.”

“I don’t, I have my reasons,” Luna said muttering into her pillow as she refused to look at Amanda.

“What are your reasons then?” Amanda asked crossly.

“Remember how I don’t like talking about my past?” Luna said slowly, sitting up off of the bed.

“Yeah?” Amanda said sounding slightly uncertain.

“It had something to do with him!” Luna said desperately locking eyes with her roommate.

“But you don’t know him,” Amanda pointed out sounding slightly confused.

“I did know him years ago, he’s just pretending he doesn’t know what I’m talking about to make me sound crazy. It’s just like he’s always done,” Luna said sadly. “It’s all just part of his game.”

“I don’t believe this,” Amanda said rolling her eyes. “Are you that jealous of me that you’re trying to sabotage my date and make me as miserable as you?”

Luna stared at her in disbelief. Where in the world did Amanda get all of
that
from? “How could you say that? I don’t care if you’re dating anyone. All I wanted was for you to listen to me. You don’t believe me?”

“Of course not! I realize you’ve been having a hard time these past few weeks, but this is ridiculous!” Amanda said. “I think you just need to get over it!”

“You want proof that he’s lying?” Luna asked feeling anger bubble in her again at Amanda’s attitude.

“Yeah, I do,” Amanda said putting her hands on her hips as she stared her down incredulously.

She got up off of the bed and searched around looking for the evidence that Amanda couldn’t ignore. Chance’s note was there somewhere. She picked it up off its place on the dresser and shook it in Amanda’s face. “See?”

“What is this?” she asked staring angrily past the piece of paper and directly into Luna’s face.

“Just read it,” Luna said, “and you’ll know.”

It was quiet for a minute as Amanda read over the piece of paper. She looked up with disbelieving eyes.

“Is this some kind of a joke?” she asked holding it towards her.

Luna shook her head. “No, it’s from Chance.”

“I don’t believe this,” Amanda said. She dropped the paper to the floor and disappeared from the hallway without another word.

Luna stared after her with a deep frown on her face. How could she act like Luna was lying, not even give her a chance to prove her point? It was senior year all over again. She bent down to pick up the note and read it over carefully. She realized that, like it or not, Chance had some brains. He had purposefully left his name off the note, he knew that way it couldn’t be traced back to him.

She laughed with a mixture of nervousness and irony as part of her wondered why she even bothered to fight anymore. She tried hard to be a good person, but the universe obviously thought differently. Luna folded the note and moved back to her dresser to set it down. It was another piece of her upside down world that could be added to her black book.

She heard footsteps in her doorway again. She turned, expecting Amanda to come back to say another snippy remark to her. She gasped as she realized that Chance was standing there instead.