Alive at Sunset (Rituals of the Night Series Book 2) (18 page)

Luna shook her head, feeling defeat open like a yawn inside of her stomach. “It’s not gone. When I answered the door to him, he recognized me. That’s why I left the way I did. I know that he killed Lucky, David, and now he’s killed Max too. He’s taking out everyone that hindered him before. That’s what Max was trying to warn me of. Max knew that Chance is back, and he wants revenge, Amanda. Max
died
because of it.”

Amanda frowned as she took in Luna’s words. “You might not like what I say next.”

“Say it anyways,” Luna said holding her hand over her mouth.

“I believe what you wrote about your past, that scar is hard to ignore, but I think things are different. He’s someone else now, Luna. I don’t think he was behind their deaths. Sure, Lucky’s death was odd, but not impossible.”

“But someone murdered my Dad, Mandy,” Luna said desperately. “Even the cops know that.”

“Doesn’t mean it was Chance,” Amanda pointed out. “There are plenty of bad people in the world.”

“You’re dating one, don’t you see that?” Luna asked.

“I told you how I feel,” Amanda said shrugging.

Luna realized she had been right to feel grim. “So, you’re not going to stop seeing him, are you?”

“No, Luna. Right now, I have no reason not to. I’m sorry, but he seems like a different person. Unless he shows signs of having his memory back, well, I have no reason to give him up,” Amanda said, handing Luna back the notebook and shattering her hope to pieces with it.

M
ax’s funeral had been scheduled for a week-and-a-half after his death. She knew his family was scraping to find the money to put together a proper ceremony so she had borrowed some from Amanda to help. Luna spent most of that time in her room, moping and upset. She only left to go to work and then it was right back to her dungeon for the rest of the evening. She couldn’t count the number of meals she skipped out on simply because she had no desire to eat anymore.

She didn’t feel any different, but she guessed she was looking frailer than the last time she looked in the mirror. Her grief was wearing on her in more ways than one. Amanda must’ve noticed the mere appearances of Luna, and the unhealthy glow she had acquired over the past few days. She tried talking to her a few times, but in reality, Luna had nothing to say to her.

To Luna, Amanda was merely another piece of the problem that she desperately needed to fix. Amanda had read –and believed- every bit of Luna’s battered past, yet she wouldn’t stop dating the monster that had caused it. Sure, Amanda believed his memory was still erased, but Luna wondered if Amanda could even see how messed up it was of her to continue dating him at all.

She doubted it. If she was able to see sense then she wouldn’t continue to question her about what was wrong. Amanda was probably one of the lesser things that she had to worry about. Luna was already alone which she knew brought Chance immense happiness. She wondered when he would stand by his words. She wondered when he was going to come and finish her off. Part of her readily welcomed it. If she died, then she wouldn’t have to live in constant fear and agony anymore.

It was the coward’s way out, she knew. What else could she do but wait for death to claim her? Everyone else he threatened had succumbed to it. He seemed serious enough about his threat to Luna that she actually worried when he’d come to kill her. When the situation happened before, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her because he needed her. As he pointed out, he didn’t anymore. She was sure he would do it. It wouldn’t be an easy death either; she knew he’d make sure that she suffered.

That’s what he had wanted all along.

He wanted her to pay for her defiance. She remembered back to the dream cabin. Her refusal had nearly cost her life then. But it was worth it in a way. She had discovered his one true fear that day; Chance didn’t want to be alone. He hated that no one loved him, that no one cared he existed. He hated that ever since he murdered his parents, he lived alone with no one to care about and no one to care about him. In high school, he only had friends that talked to him simply because they were after his popularity.

High school was over, and he didn’t have his popularity anymore. But he was still alone, and he knew it. Luna wondered what thoughts ran through his deranged mind. Did part of him still crave love? Maybe if he had it, he wouldn’t be so crazy anymore. If he had another person to consider, he wouldn’t be willing to risk everything to prove a point. That was the rationality she used to try to make herself feel better.

It didn’t work, because no matter what she thought, Chance was still alone. And he was still targeting her.

Amanda peeked into her room suddenly. She caught the melancholy look on her face but didn’t comment on it. “You ready to go?”

Luna looked down at her black skirt. It was the same one she had worn to David’s funeral. She had a dark feeling that Max’s funeral wouldn’t be the last that she’d wear it to. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Amanda nodded. “Come on.”

Luna got up off the bed, her limbs felt as heavy as weights. She followed behind Amanda reluctantly as she led the way to her car. She didn’t understand why Amanda had insisted on going to Max’s funeral when she skipped David’s altogether. She claimed it was because she had talked to Max and wanted to pay her respects. Luna suspected that she felt guilty about the whole Chance thing, and that was her way of trying to make up for it.

They drove in complete silence to the funeral. Even though Luna sat beside Amanda, she had no desire to say a word to her. The funeral was at the same cemetery that David’s and Violet’s funerals had been. Luna wanted to think of it as Chance’s cemetery. She was sure some of the other people buried there had died at his hands as well.

Amanda pulled the car to a halt in the parking lot and they got out. Amanda was clutching a bundle of long-stemmed white roses. Luna didn’t take much notice of it as she tried to hurry past her to the funeral. She was hoping that the faster they got there, the sooner the funeral would be over.

“Are you okay?” Amanda asked.

Luna nodded but didn’t say a word. Amanda grabbed her arm, stopping her in place. Luna turned to look at her questioningly.

“Don’t look at me like that. You know I’m just worried about you. I mean, are you sure you’re okay?” Amanda asked.

“Positive,” Luna said giving the simplest answer she could manage. She didn’t have anything else to say to her backstabbing roommate.

Amanda frowned and still didn’t release Luna as if she could guess what thoughts were running through her mind. “Are you being like this because of the whole Chance thing?”

Inside Luna’s mind she shouted ‘yes’. She knew saying so would only upset Amanda. While she didn’t care what Amanda felt anymore, she didn’t want to miss her friend’s funeral because Amanda would keep her in the parking lot to yell at her.

“My best friend just died,” Luna said simply, her voice was flat as she spoke. She shrugged off Amanda’s hand as she headed towards the field.

“Oh,” she heard Amanda say from behind her. She was finally backed into a corner with things to say.

They were silent again as they headed to the field. Max was being buried only a few feet away from where David and Violet were. She recognized the place easily. It looked different from David’s funeral, however. There wasn’t much to it, only a few plastic chairs. Luna went to sit down as quickly as she could in fear she’d pass out when she saw Max in his coffin. That ceremony was like Violet’s, David’s, and Max’s funerals all combined. The grief that hit her had the strength and endurance of a black belt.

Amanda followed and stood behind her uncertainly. Luna took little notice as she watched as people lined up beside a brown box to pay their respects. She stared at it, knowing it contained what was left of her best friend. Suddenly, she found herself wondering exactly how he had died; how much pain he went through in those final moments of his life. More tears streamed down her face, and she couldn’t stop them. She was thankful she was in a place where she could actually grieve. Amanda moved towards her again but stopped suddenly. Luna felt relief until she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, Babe,” it purred to Amanda.

Luna’s blood turned to ice.

“Hi, Chance,” Amanda said back.

The tears stopped instantly and hardened in the corners of her eyes. What was Chance doing there? Had Amanda actually
invited
?

Luna heard footsteps beside her and looked up into Chance’s face. “Sorry about your friend,” he said. Luna knew that although he was a good actor with sorrow, he was smiling in triumph inside.

Luna didn’t reply. She couldn’t handle it. Amanda seemed to sense that. She unbundled the flowers suddenly and passed one to Luna and to Chance. Luna held the delicate white rose gently. To her it was the epitome of her internal dilemma; she was considering throwing it back at her roommate.

At that point, it didn’t matter what she did. Amanda had made her choice. There was no friendly bond between them anymore as far as she was concerned. Luna backed away into the crowd and moved to stand away from Amanda. She was glad to see Chance had distracted her again.

She moved over to join the line beside the coffin. She wanted nothing more than to be as far from Chance (and Amanda) as was humanly possible. Those were the two strong problems in her life. As she waited, she kept her eyes on the ground to avoid any sneering, mocking looks from Chance. That was the last thing that she needed.

Finally, it was Luna’s turn to pay her respects. She stood at the end of the coffin, speechless as she peered inside. Max was lying there, a suit covering his large body. His eyes were closed, and his hair was carefully combed. To her he looked almost at peace. Having been murdered by his worst enemy, Luna knew that he hadn’t looked like that when he had been found.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t listen to you sooner, Max,” she said.

It was all she could think to say to him. She had been wrong, and he had been right. He had paid for her mistake with his life. Nothing she did or said after that would ever make things right again.

Luna hurried away from the coffin. She wanted to run from the whole funeral altogether, but she forced herself to stay. She couldn’t look at her dead friend anymore. The guilt in her was unbearable. Luna moved to sit down in a chair at the back of the funeral so that once again, she’d be far from Amanda and Chance.

She sat down and stared at the wooden box from her chair. It was hard to believe that Max was actually in there. He had been so smart, so confident they would win like they had before, but he was dead. He knew things that Luna could never dream of. He had been her biggest ally. The knowledge he was actually gone, left her feeling cold; she felt stranded. What hope did she have against Chance when he blinded her by taking away her strongest weapon?

The thought loomed inside her mind, waiting to clamp around her sorrow-stricken heart like a bear trap. Once it closed, the rusty hinges would prevent it from ever being opened again. Hope would be lost and any fleeting ounce of courage would disappear. Clutching the rose carefully, she buried her face in her hands. She regretted coming. Seeing he was dead and hearing about it were two very different things.

The Pastor began to speak suddenly. When he did, Luna forced herself to look up at him, to acknowledge his words. When he spoke, Luna bowed her head with the rose held towards her face. His speech made her want to start crying all over again.

After he finished, the coffin was lowered into the deep pit. Luna, Amanda, and a few of Max’s relatives lined up beside it, and one by one, dropped their flowers in the pit, on top of the coffin with the corpse buried beneath it. Luna didn’t see Chance drop his into it, and she was glad for that. He had no right to be there, let alone pretend that he actually cared about the person he recently killed.

Amanda hugged her suddenly as she stood beside his grave. “It’s hard not knowing how you feel, huh.”

Luna stared at her. She was shocked that Amanda had accurately guessed what she was thinking.

Yet, she didn’t know all of how Luna felt. Nobody did. She wished more than anything that the Earth would open up beneath her feet and suck her into it. She wished she could be with her friends –and her father- once more. Why did it have to happen to her again? Why hadn’t Chance been lost forever all those years ago like Max had promised?

L
una sat back down as everyone moved to talk in groups amongst themselves. Luna sat there for a long time feeling comatose. She wondered when Amanda would come get her to go home. She felt a hand touch her shoulder lightly, and she jumped from the contact. She expected to see Amanda or Chance standing there. Instead, a blonde girl in all black greeted her. Her hair flowed around her face standing out against her black outfit. Bright eyes bored into Luna.

At first, Luna didn’t recognize her; she thought maybe it was one of Max’s relatives. After a minute, she realized that it was Sarah.

“Hey,” Luna said to her, not really sure what she could say as she turned back towards Max’s coffin. “Glad you could make it.”

“Hi,” Sarah said, sounding distracted. Her eyes instantly glanced across the field. “Is that
Chance
?”

Luna nodded, feeling sick.

“We need to talk,” Sarah said.

“I know,” Luna replied, craning her neck to look her full in the face.

“I think we need to talk
now
,” she said, sounding suddenly urgent. “Unless, of course, you want to stay for the rest of the funeral?”

Luna thought about her heavy burden of guilt, and she could feel Chance’s eyes burning holes into the back of her head all the way across the field. She wondered if somewhere a red dot was aimed at her. She wanted nothing more than to leave.

“There’s not much of it left,” Luna said hoarsely, “people are just wrapping up. We can go.”

Sarah nodded as Luna stood to her feet. They began to walk out of the field towards the car. Nobody seemed to notice their sudden departure. Luna had to admit she was glad. She knew she was at least out of line of the red dot.

“I know whatever happened to my sister has something to do with him,” Sarah said, snarling suddenly as she shot another glance over her shoulder.

Luna sighed; she hated knowing exactly what happened while Sarah only had mere speculation. It made her feel suddenly weighed down with guilt once again. There was no holding it in anymore. “I know what happened to your sister.”

Sarah stared at her open-mouthed, the venom in her face a minute before disappeared. “Y-you do?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, I’ve known for quite some time.”

“Tell me,” Sarah demanded, her eyes boring into Luna’s once again.

“Did you drive here?” Luna asked, changing the subject. She wouldn’t tell her what she knew when Chance was still nearby.

“Yeah,” Sarah said, looking a bit frustrated. “But what does it matter? Luna, if you know what happened to my sister, I want you to tell me right now!”

“I will in a little bit. Can you drive me home first?” Luna asked, trying to keep her tone calm. Sarah’s tone had nearly risen to hysterics, and Luna knew she had every right to be upset. If Luna was in her shoes, she’d be the same way.

Sarah looked uncertain and a bit crestfallen. “I guess.”

“I need to show you something,” Luna said. “That’s why I wanna go to my house. The thing I want to show you has all the answers you’ve probably been searching for for a while now.”

Sarah’s interest perked up again. “Alright, I parked just over here.”

Together they got into Sarah’s car and drove back to the apartment that Luna and Amanda shared. Luna was glad she had kept the key earlier as she used it to open the door. Sarah stayed in the car while Luna stepped into the apartment. She went down the hallway to her room and pulled out her black leather bound notebook from underneath her mattress. Even though Amanda had already read it, she still felt it entirely necessary to hide it in case Chance decided to be nosy.

Luna looked at the book for a minute before she opened it. She flipped through until she got to the part about Susan. She read it over quickly and wondered to herself how Sarah would take reading it. Like she did with Amanda, she reminded herself that it needed to be done. She tucked it under her arm and hurried back to the waiting car. Sarah looked at Luna, interested as she got in; her eyes were focused on the black book.

“Can I read it now?” she asked, holding out a hand uncertainly.

Luna shook her head. “Not yet, it’s not safe here.” She knew that if Amanda had noticed her leave, she’d look for her. That meant Chance would be right by her side.

Sarah was thoughtful for a minute. “Want to go to the cabin?” she asked.

Luna nodded. Even though she didn’t want to go to the cabin, she couldn’t think of a safer place for them to talk. Sarah began to drive immediately, motivation was obvious in her every movement. Within a half an hour, they reached the edge of the forest that led to the cabin. As Luna stepped out of Sarah’s car, she felt instantly sick. She remembered the last time she had been there all those years ago, and it made her want to climb back in the car and drive away.

She couldn’t do that, she had to stay strong for Sarah. Together, they made their way through the trees. Sarah didn’t seem to know the way, and by instinct, Luna led them there. It wasn’t long until they reached a familiar clearing. Luna was dizzy with memories. It was in that clearing Violet had lost her life.

Luna tried not to look at it as they walked -if she did she’d be able to visualize the death of her friend as clearly as the day it happened. The more she walked, the more her memories threatened to cripple her. She remembered being dragged through those woods by Chance. She remembered the truck ride to his cabin that had knocked her unconscious and the wound he had inflicted upon her when she refused to leave to confines of his truck.

Sarah wasn’t affected as she waltzed through the trees. Luna envied that. She knew that Sarah’s steps wouldn’t be so blithe if she knew what happened to her sister somewhere nearby. Luna kept her mouth shut as she walked, in a short while Sarah would know everything. They found the ashen path and begun to follow it.

It dumped them into the clearing with the cabin and the stone temple. Luna stood at the edge of the clearing, feeling her feet root her to the spot. She didn’t want to go on any farther; if it was up to her, she wouldn’t. Sarah kept walking onward, and Luna had no choice but to follow. She stared at the cabin warily as she approached it; the memories would be the strongest in there, she knew. She was thankful that Sarah had no desire of entering the building beside it.

Sarah kept going, naïve to the thoughts running through Luna’s mind. Luna trailed behind her quietly. Sarah set her fingertips to the door of the cabin, and it was obvious she was studying every detail of it. The wood was so warped that it swung open gently, revealing the darkness of inside. Luna stared into the mouth of the beast as it waited to swallow both of them whole. Sarah was the first to go in, and after mentally composing herself, Luna followed.

Luna had been right when she suspected the memories would hit her hard. She swayed on her feet, flashes of her last experience flooded her mind. She shook her head trying to clear it, but no matter what she did, they only came on stronger. Her eyes caught sight of shackles hanging from the wall. They were rusted and old, but they hadn’t always been. At one time, they had been healthy, silver, and strong. Chance had used them to hold her prisoner.

“So, what is it that you have to tell me? What do you know about my sister?” Sarah asked.

Luna barely heard her, but the sound of Sarah’s voice brought her back into reality. She held her black book in both hands and handed it to Sarah.

“Read it. Cover to cover before you say anything, okay?” she asked, giving her the same deal she had Amanda.

Sarah nodded and flipped open the cover, obviously unable to wait any longer. Luna felt the memories slam into her again when she looked around.

She walked over to the chains and knelt down beside them. She felt the rusty shackle beneath her fingertips. She remembered being stuck while Chance had infused pain upon her via the Rosebone. She had been too weak to move, to talk, and almost to breathe. Luna counted herself lucky for surviving the cabin. That day three years ago had been the worst of her life.

Luna stood up, and her feet felt as if they were on autopilot. They led her down a hall, past a closet. She stopped beside it as she remembered it. It was overgrown with ivy, but at one time, that closet had been Max’s prison when he tried to interfere with Chance’s plans. Her feet kept moving, and eventually, she reached the room at the end of the hall.

She pushed open the door slowly. Inside, was a bedroom. One Luna remembered as vividly as the shackles. Chance had taken her there to rest after she had been on the verge of death from the mixture of her laceration and the damage of the Rosebone. That was only a few hours before he lost his memory. She swallowed, feeling nauseous as she took a few cautious steps back into the main room.

“All of this is true?” a voice whispered behind her. It sounded stunned and a bit incredulous.

Luna jumped at the presence of someone else, worrying she was in the day of her flashbacks before she remembered it was only Sarah.

Luna turned to look at her. “Yes, it is. That’s why I wanted you to read it; I figured it was the easiest way for you to understand. Did you read the part about your sister?”

“She-she’s dead?” Sarah asked, holding the book next to her face.

Luna swallowed heavily. “Yeah, I’m sorry…I-I wanted to tell you but-“

“That body –the burnt one that they buried in the nameless plot…was my sister?” she asked, enunciating each word.

Luna nodded.

“That day that I saw Chance leave with Susan…that was the day he killed her?” she asked.

Luna nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Why? Why would he hurt her? She worshipped him.”

“I think she knew what he did to Kate,” Luna said.

Sarah sniffled. “Maybe.”

“Anyone that found out the truth disappeared,” Luna noted. In her head, she ran through the list of victims.

Sarah nodded, and a tear dripped from her eye as she glanced down at the notebook. “Chance killed her, it’s just like I thought. Susan was so upset before she disappeared. Now, I know why,” she said.

“I tried to help her,” Luna said apologetically.

“There’s just one thing I don’t understand about this,” Sarah said, scrunching up her face as she stared down at the book that she still clutched tight.

“What’s that?” Luna asked, wondering if she was going to ask the same question that Amanda had.

“Why didn’t you two just go to the police?” Sarah asked, looking up at her with her ever-so-bright eyes.

“When you’re dealing with Chance, conventional methods don’t work.”

“So all this time…you knew? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I-I didn’t know how I could explain her death to you. Besides, I didn’t think you’d feel any better knowing the truth.”

“All those years I spent looking for her, she’s been dead the whole time.”

“Yeah.”

“I-I have to visit her.”

“Wait, s-so you believe it?” Luna asked, grasping her arm.

Sarah looked torn. “If I had read this from anyone else, no. It’s crazy –hell, it’s downright insane- but I-I do. You’re a trustworthy source, as far as I know. I know that Susan really did want to be friends with you, and if she knew what she did, she would’ve tried to help. In its weird way, it answers every single question I’ve had over the past few years.” Sarah sighed, looking at the book in her hand.

“I hope this can give you some closure.”

She nodded. “How could you even be in this cabin after everything that happened to you?”

“I didn’t really have a choice,” Luna said.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder. “Those shackles were
yours
?”

Luna merely looked up at her, a haunted look held in her gaze.

“That’s why you were so weird in high school. Chance was abusing you,” Sarah said.

She refused to comment on that. It reminded her of something Violet had said to her so long ago.

“C-can we make a detour to the cemetery?” Sarah asked quietly.

Luna nodded feeling oddly unsettled by Sarah’s change in demeanor. “Of course.”

They traveled back to her car, and Luna could think of nothing to say. She could see the devastation on Sarah’s face and in her stance. Sarah kept her silence as they began to drive. The pain on Sarah’s face seemed suddenly solemn as they neared the old cemetery.

“I-is this the one?” she asked.

Luna nodded, and Sarah pulled into the parking lot. They climbed out of the car and picked their way through the maze of graves. Luna felt sick as she passed half of them. She knew many of the people that were buried there. It clawed at her insides to think that they had all fallen for the same reason.

Sarah looked the same as she moved along the tombstones. “He killed you…and you…and you…” she whispered as she moved through them.

Luna could recognize her friend’s reaction. Years ago, similar emotions had once plagued her. Finally, Sarah came to the old, crumbling tombstone towards the back of the cemetery. There was no name on it, but there didn’t need to be.