Alive at Sunset (Rituals of the Night Series Book 2) (19 page)

Sarah fell to her knees beside it. “Luna, I-I thought it’d be a relief to come here -to say goodbye to Susan, but it’s not.”

“I know exactly how you’re feeling. Max’s death has probably been the worst one for me. I-I wish that I hadn’t gone to his funeral. Seeing him in his coffin will always remind me how I let him down.”

“Chance needs to pay for what he’s done, Luna, we need to go to the police,” Sarah said, looking up at her.

Luna frowned as she knelt down beside her. In the back of her mind she could remember the evidence, the only link to the murders, being ripped out of her hands by him. “Sarah, there’s nothing we can do…police have no evidence who killed her…they couldn’t even I.D. her before they buried her.”

Sarah bowed her head and a stream of tears made its way free. She knew as well as Luna did that all the wishing in the world wouldn’t be enough to stop Chance.

“
S
o, he never lost his memory?” Sarah asked quietly.

Luna didn’t know how much time had passed, but they sat in Sarah’s car, talking about Luna’s past. She was surprised that Sarah believed her. She was glad that finally someone would listen to her, but at the same time, part of her wished that Amanda would’ve been as open-minded to the danger around her.

“That’s what Max told me,” Luna said. “And Chance wants revenge. He wants to make me suffer for ruining his ambitions.”

“But I don’t understand why exactly he targeted you in the first place,” Sarah said.

“All Max knew, and what I could gather from Chance himself, was that he wanted my ability to help him blend the two worlds,” Luna said.

“But he could’ve found someone that was willing to help even if you weren’t going to,” Sarah said.

“It’s a rare gift, I guess he just didn’t want to waste the extra time when he knew I had it,” Luna said, shrugging. Even though those things had happened to her, there were still a lot of things she didn’t understand about it.

“That makes sense I guess,” Sarah said.

Luna nodded absently.

“Are you scared?” Sarah asked quietly.

Luna nodded again, that time emotion filled her movement. “I’m terrified. It’s worse knowing there’s nothing I can do to stop him. He’s already killed my dog, my Dad, and now Max too.”

“Chance has done all
that
in the time he’s been back?” Sarah asked in disbelief.

Luna nodded. “He doesn’t waste time when he wants to get something done. Without Max, I don’t know what I can do to figure out what he’s planning.”

“I noticed he was with a girl at the funeral,” Sarah said. “Who is she? By the sounds of it she’s in real danger.”

“She’s my roommate,” Luna said half-heartedly, not really wanting to think about her hard-headed friend.

Sarah stared at her for a long moment without speaking. “Are you serious?” she asked finally. “Have you warned her?”

Luna nodded. “It didn’t do any good. She doesn’t get that Chance is only ‘dating’ her to get close to me.”

“So, she knows about everything that happened between you two, and she’s still dating him?” Sarah asked sounding critical.

Luna didn’t blame her for that tone. It was probably the same one she had held when Amanda first told her she was going to keep seeing Chance. “He pretends he doesn’t know me whenever he’s in front of her. I had her read the book, and she believes it, but she’s stubborn,” Luna said.

“Yet, she’s still dating him?” Sarah asked again, and it was obvious she thought Amanda was crazy. Luna did too.

“She thinks his memory is still wiped out. Because of his act, she doesn’t believe that he’s who he used to be. Just because he’s gorgeous, she won’t give him up,” Luna replied. “Before you say anything, I realize that she’s not very bright.”

Sarah shook her head. “That’s terrible. As if it’s not bad enough that she stabbed you in the back by still dating him, she actually had the nerve to bring him to Max’s funeral on top of that?”

“I know, it was really wrong of her. That’s what I thought too,” Luna said, “but I don’t think she even realizes it.”

“I just hope she does before it’s too late,” Sarah said.

“Me too,” Luna admitted.

“I have another question,” Sarah said glancing down at the book that sat in between them.

“Shoot,” Luna said blinking at her.

“According to this, it says Amy was involved. Where is she now, the last I heard, she didn’t even go to graduation,” Sarah said.

“She’s lives in Brentwood Psychiatric. It’s a mental hospital that lies just outside of town,” Luna replied.

Sarah shook her head. “That’s a shame.”

Luna nodded in agreement, and they both fell silent for a long moment.

“Do you think she’d be willing to help us stop Chance?” Sarah asked finally.

Luna remembered back to her first visit with Amy. She still didn’t seem mentally capable. No one knew for sure. Maybe Amy would want some revenge of her own.

“Want to go visit her and see?” Luna asked.

Sarah nodded. “The more help we can find, the better.”

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

About an hour later, they arrived at their destination. Luna had her black book tucked under her arm. The nurses took all of their jewelry and cell phones and anything else on their person. After a five minute argument, they allowed Luna to hold onto her book as long as she didn’t leave it with Amy. Luna wouldn’t have it any other way. They walked down a long white hallway with a chubby nurse leading the way. The nurse opened the door at the end of the hall and let them in.

“I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” she said to them before she turned away to head back down the hall.

Luna looked around the room warily, not looking forward to seeing Amy again after the way she had flipped out on her. Immediately, she noticed the girl sitting in a chair facing the window with her back turned towards her visitors like she had been the first time Luna visited.

“Hi, Amy,” Luna said, more wary than ever.

She could see Amy’s shoulders tense before she spoke. “What are you doing back here? Are you here to bring me news about Michelle?”

“No, I’m not here to talk about that. I brought Sarah Cross from high school, we have something we want to talk to you about,” Luna said.

Amy got up slowly and turned to face them. She was still tiny (though her frame looked a bit frailer since the last time Luna saw her), and her dark brown hair was a whipped mess. Sarah cringed a bit at the sight of Amy; Luna almost felt angry at her for not controlling herself, but Luna didn’t blame her.

Amy strutted up to Sarah. Even though she was at least a foot shorter than her, she narrowed her eyes at her as she held a threatening stance. Sarah’s eyes were wide as she watched Amy cautiously.

“I remember you were one of those pretty popular girls, you were Susan’s sister, weren’t you?” she asked.

Sarah nodded nervously.

“Well, talk,” Amy said to her.

“I’ll be as simple about this as I can,” Sarah said giving Luna an uncertain look. “We wanted to tell you that Chance is back.”

Amy’s eyes widened. “What do you mean by ‘back’?”

“I’m not sure when, but he came out of his coma,” Luna piped up.

Amy looked horrified.

“Before you say anything, that’s not the worst part,” Luna continued.

“What is?” Amy asked sounding cautious and hostile at the same time.

“He remembers us, he remembers everything,” Luna said unsure of what tone she should use to break the news to her. She knew Amy’s mind was still unstable, and she didn’t want to say anything that would gravely upset her. In that case, there was no way to break the news
without
upsetting her.

Amy turned her face away from them suddenly. “He remembers the incident?”

“Yeah, of course,” Luna said. “He remembers every part of that day just like we do.”

Amy took a few steps away. “Is that why you came to talk to me a little while back?” she asked incredulously. “Were you trying to rope me into this sooner?”

“Yes, I wanted to know how he got you into that temple all those years ago. I thought it might be important information we could use to try to stop him,” Luna said. “We don’t have Max to help us anymore; we need all that we can get. We need your help; please, he’s already killed my father and Max.”

“What are you doing here then? I don’t want any trouble; I don’t want him to find me!” Amy said backing away from them.

“We just want you to help us,” Sarah said sounding desperate. “Please, just talk to us about that day.”

“Help with what?” Amy asked warily.

Luna scrunched up her face as she looked at her. She didn’t know why it was hard for Amy to understand. Maybe she didn’t want to understand it.

“Stopping Chance once and for all. He’s killing again,” Luna said trying to simplify her point the best she could.

Amy stuck her hands out in front of her like she thought if she denied their presence long enough, they would disappear. “I don’t want to get involved in that!”

“Please help us, Amy,” Sarah said sounding like she was beginning to plead. “We don’t know what else to do.”

“We need you,” Luna added.

“No. I’m not going to deal with this again. I’m safe here. I can’t give this up,” Amy said stuttering as she looked at the white ground. “After everyone abandoned me, I gotta do what’s right for me. I just can’t leave this place, it’s my sanctuary.”

“But-“ Luna tried to say.

“Nurse!!” Amy screeched, leaving no time for Luna or Sarah to object anymore.

Instantly, the big nurse came running into the room as if she thought Luna and Sarah were trying to harm her. She looked at Amy expectantly.

“Could you escort them out, please?” Amy asked the nurse, turning her back to her two visitors.

“Of course,” the nurse said to Amy. Then she turned to Luna and Amanda. “Come on.”

“Please think about what we’ve said!” Luna called over her shoulder hoping that maybe Amy would see sense if she had the alone time to think.

“No, there’s nothing to think about. You already know my answer,” Amy replied and the door clanged shut behind them, hiding her once again in the depths of the strangely white room.

Sarah and Luna collected their belongings at the desk and left the building as fast they could. They didn’t like the disapproving glances that the nurses gave them. It was like they blamed Sarah and Luna for Amy’s sudden outburst; Luna didn’t like it. She tried to forget as they stepped outside. When they were safely out of hearing range, Sarah looked at Luna disbelievingly.

“Amy’s…uh…different than I remember,” she said slowly.

“She’s just traumatized,” Luna said defensively. “She went through a lot.”

“We’re all traumatized by what happened, especially you, Luna. It’s no excuse to not listen to us,” Sarah said. “If she was really damaged by Chance, she’d want to help us stop him. She wouldn’t just worry about herself.”

“I know,” Luna said passively thinking she had had the exact same reaction when Max had approached her, “but she doesn’t know what else to do. Come on, Sarah, she’s scared.”

“Yeah? Well, that makes three of us.”

S
arah dropped Luna off and drove away in a flash. It was obvious she was full of thoughts. The two girls had plans to meet at the cabin again, on Saturday. The black book was tucked underneath her arm as she headed towards the door. She froze instantly in her tracks as she realized Amanda and Chance were sitting on the porch, locked out of the apartment. Amanda stood up at the sight of her, and Chance noticed her as well. Luna rushed to try to keep the book out of sight of his gaze.

“Luna, where did you go?” she asked, sounding slightly annoyed at the same time. “I was worried about you when I noticed that you disappeared from the funeral. I thought you went off somewhere to cry.”

“No. I’ve been to enough funerals to manage with them just fine. I think I’m almost a pro,” Luna said sarcastically with a quick glare at Chance. She looked back at Amanda as she added, “I just went to talk to somebody is all, don’t worry.”

Amanda’s eyes flicked to the thick book under Luna’s arm. She looked uncertain. “Who’d you talk to?”

“One of Max’s relatives.” Luna lied. She found her lies were becoming more and more believable when it came to Amanda.

Amanda opened her mouth to say something, but Luna stepped past her onto the porch. Chance glanced up at her from where he sat.

“How’re you feeling, beautiful?” he asked in his mock sweet voice.

Luna glared at Chance. Before she could say a word, he stood up and pulled her into her arms. She could feel the strength of his grip as he held her to him; his hand patted her back gently as his chin rested in her raven hair. She swallowed heavily, feeling her heart pounding as the smell of his cologne filled her nose. She couldn’t believe she was in the arms of a monster.

She felt like she was suffocating in the intimate gesture. In her head, she could see blood covering his skin, and the iron tang filled her nose. She struggled to break away and caught the evil, crooked grin that Chance casted her. She hurried to turn the key in the lock and whipped open the door so that the corner hit Chance in the arm.

Luna never wanted to experience that again.

“Oops, sorry,” she said in her own fake sweet voice.

Luna went inside without looking back at Chance or Amanda. She tossed the key on the counter and headed instantly to her room. She sat on her bed and set the book beside her as she peeled off her shoes. She tossed them to the floor and worked on peeling the bracelet off of her wrist.

She heard footsteps at the doorway. She was expecting to see Amanda. She didn’t want to take her load of questions, but she guessed that she wasn’t going to give her a choice. When Luna looked up, she realized Chance was there.

“What do you want?” she asked him through gritted teeth as she tossed her bracelet to the floor.

“Where did you go today?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe. His arms were folded across his chest.

“It’s none of your business,” Luna replied, looking around the room for her phone.

“I think it
is
my business,” Chance snarled, sounding aggravated as Luna only half-acknowledged him.

“How? How in the world is what I do, important to you?” Luna growled, giving him a seething look.

“How am I going to know who else I need to kill if I don’t know where you’re at all the time?” he asked.

“That’s not my problem,” Luna said. “I have a life that is not going to be controlled by
you
.”

Luna could feel the rage burning in the core of her chest. She stared Chance down as she stood up in a threatening stance. She hated that so much of her life had been under his watch, his word. The anger flooded her veins to the ends of her arms and legs. It pumped her system full of adrenaline, and she strongly felt the urge to fight. She wanted to hit him, to curse at him, to hurt him for everything he had done to her. He had no right to try and dominate her life again after he ruined it. She was going to stand up for herself, which she knew she should’ve done a while ago.

She couldn’t contain herself. She lunged at him, punching him in the face as her weight knocked him to the ground. She pummeled him with her fists, hitting him in the face and chest repeatedly to the point her wrists felt bruised. Chance grunted and easily flipped her off of him. Her skull hit the ground with a thump and she groaned at the pain. Chance took the opportunity to crouch above her as he pinned her to the floor, his knife held to her throat.

“Heh,” he breathed, using his free hand to wipe his blond hair out of his eyes. “I’ll admit you caught me off guard.”

“Kill me, you bastard,” she dared him, her hand wrapped around the blade of his dagger until the silver began to draw her blood.

“I’ll find a way to do what I need to do, just like always,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “You really think I’m gonna kill you just because you tell me to?”

“Whatever you gotta do. Get out of my room before I punch you again,” Luna snapped.

“No, no this is far too enjoyable to me,” Chance said, smiling as he stood to his feet. “It really brings me back to high school.”

Luna tensed, feeling as if he was purposefully looking for a nerve he could use to weaken her. “Good for you,” she replied stiffly as she slowly collected herself, looking at the new slice across her palm.

“I’m sure you have some of your own high school memories, don’t you, Luna?” he asked using his mock sweet voice once again, tipping his head to the side.

Luna avoided his glare. Her anger was quickly diminishing from her limbs, easily extinguished by the grief his words were bringing. He knew perfectly well what he was doing. A ball of venom remained in her core, and she knew that she needed to keep it no matter what he said. If she was going to stay strong, she’d be able to handle that situation in a way she’d be proud of later on.

“Do you ever think about Violet?” he asked. “I like to think that she got what was coming to her.”

The anger was back in a flash. “What the hell is your problem? Violet did
nothing
to you!”

Chance shrugged. “She didn’t need to do anything to get on my nerves. When I think about that day, I wonder, whatever happened to that little freak you used to talk to? I think its name was Amy?”

“You have no right to talk about her,” Luna said remembering the broken shell of a girl that made its home in Brentwood Psychiatric.

“You went to see her today, didn’t you?” Chance asked, taking a step closer sounding gleeful that he was stumbling across her business. “You know where she is.”

“Doesn’t mean I’ll tell you either way,” Luna said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You can’t make me.”

“I don’t have to. The next time you visit her, I’ll follow you,” he said. “If you’re not willing to cave after her death, well, then you’d be just as cold as me.”

“What is it with you harassing me? My God, I hate being on a radar! For your information, I’m not going to see her again,” Luna said. “Especially now. But just know that you ruined her life as well.”

Chance shrugged. “What can I say? It happens. People just don’t understand things; it makes my job more complicated.”

“I don’t understand why you do the things you do. Anyone that knew what you do wouldn’t understand” Luna snapped. “You don’t do anything but kill people.”

“Exactly. My job is making humanity suffer for always being so stupid.” Chance scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“The only one that’s being stupid is you,” she retorted, feeling that surge of anger flood her veins again.

“Maybe, but when you think about it, I was smart enough to kill Max, wasn’t I?” he asked, shrugging.

Without meaning to, a tear ran down the side of Luna’s face. She felt the hot, salty water slip down her cheek, and with it, the last of her rage went out. She didn’t comment on it, merely waited for Chance to say something.

“There we go, that’s all I wanted to do was see my work in action,” he said, sounding relieved.

Luna sighed and sat back down on the bed before she muttered, “Whatever. Just make it quick.”

He smiled and moved closer to her. “By the way, I like your scrapbook.” He gestured to the leather bound book beside her.

Luna grabbed it protectively and hugged it to her chest as she suddenly remembered it was there. “Don’t touch it.”

Chance pulled his dagger from his pocket. He clutched the handle and shook the blade from side to side as if to remind her he had it. “I already have. It’s a nice little memorial to me, I think.”

“You ruined me,” she said. “For a long time, I doubted the whole thing ever happened. It was impossible to go back to normal…even now.”

“For a long time, I couldn’t remember my own name,” he snapped. “What you did to me was far worse.”

“You killed my friends, my family…even my dog,” she said. “You took
lives.
”

“At least you had those things in the first place,” he said.

“I don’t have them anymore. I don’t have
anyone
anymore,” she said gesturing to the empty room around her.

“You have Amanda,” he pointed out.

“Barely. Now that I think about it, you’re going to kill her too, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Still thinkin’ about it,” he said, shrugging. “Depends on if she serves her purpose or not.”

Luna looked him dead in the face. She took that as a ‘yes’. “Why not just kill me instead of her? Just kill me and get it over with?”

“I want you to suffer,” he said.

“I already
have
,” she said, holding up her hand for him to see the blood on the cut. “You saw me
cry.
I don’t think it gets much worse than that.” Luna bowed her head as she remembered all the pain he caused in the past few weeks.

“I want loneliness to be your only friend.”

“I can’t meet loneliness with you in my face,” she growled, feeling hostile.

“True, but at least you know fear,” he said, and a sneering smirk spread across his pale face.

Luna stared at her enemy for a long time. He thought he was so sly, so strong and in control. He thought he had the world in the palm of his hand -everyone and everything was putty. That was what Luna hated about him the most since elementary school. It was worse in the context of everything he had done. She knew things that could help her get back at him, with or without Max.

“You know fear too. Are you this way because you still wish someone loved you?” she asked him suddenly.

Chance took in a sharp breath of air, and the sneering smirk vanished instantly.

“That
was
your fear in the cabin, right? Being alone?” She liked twisting the nail in his wound.

Chance looked at her for a long time, almost as if he was deciding against answering. Thought was apparent in his face and was concentrated in his eyes. “I didn’t think you’d remember I even had a weakness,” he admitted.

“Like I could ever forget the one thing I could use against you,” Luna said, trying to find another way to break him down. “It was ironic, because it’s the one thing I think you really deserve.”

Chance narrowed his eyes at her words. “You want to hear about my life? Hear about the way I grew up? Well, the way I was raised, I wasn’t supposed to think for myself, wasn’t supposed to have my own goals. I was merely supposed to live on instinct and desire and do everything I was told. I was supposed to be successful; everyone I met always dropped their expectations on me. The pressure was too much to handle.”

“I didn’t want to live my life by the standards of everyone that failed their own. That was the worst part of life to me. Yeah, I killed my parents, and yeah, I killed a bunch of people. But so what? They deserved it.”

“Max didn’t deserve it…Violet didn’t deserve it…my
Dad
didn’t deserve it. I wonder if any of your victims truly deserved it,” Luna said.

“Whatever opinion you may have, I’m doing what
I
want to do with my life. That whole Satanist thing was just an outlet really, a way for me to express who I am, since everything else failed. I’m free to do anything that I want to do. If they don’t like it, oh well, I can bury them. I learned that most people are merely disposable because the truth is, they just don’t care about anyone but themselves. People are the most selfish species to ever inhabit the face of the Earth. Did you know that?”

“After listening to your pathetic story I do.”

“You still think I deserve to be alone?”

Luna breathed in deep as she looked him in the eyes. That was the most he ever talked to her; it was the deepest thing he ever told her about his life. The information was creepy, but also, oddly satisfying to hear the pain and trials that his life had presented to him over the years. She wished he’d have a thousand more years of it for everything he had done.

“Yes, I do. You
killed
people, which means you took away their chance to ever do something with their lives. Do you ever think about that when you brag about freeing yourself? All people aren’t like your parents; they aren’t like the people that dominated you when you were little. The people that dumped expectations on you just wanted you to do well with your life. They were only trying to help you,” Luna said feeling even more disgusted with him.