Alive at Sunset (Rituals of the Night Series Book 2) (7 page)

“
L
una, is that you?” the sickly figure asked her.

Luna nodded at once, unsure of how to respond. “Hello, Michelle, it’s been a while.”

Michelle nodded her battered head looking thoughtful. “Yes, it has been. Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, if I may,” Luna said.

Michelle nodded and stepped aside to allow Luna to step inside. Luna dolefully noted that Michelle had grown so thin that Luna could’ve gone past her into the house even if she hadn’t moved. Michelle closed the door before she led the way to the couch. Michelle sat down on the rugged couch while Luna stayed standing beside it.

“So, what brings you here after all this time?” Michelle asked.

“I-I wanted to talk to Amy,” Luna said, suddenly feeling unsure of her decision.

Michelle’s sickly face bunched up in grief, and she was suddenly reluctant to speak.

“What’s the matter?” Luna asked warily, wondering if she had said something wrong without realizing it.

“Amy isn’t here anymore,” Michelle said looking up at Luna through despondent eyes.

For a heart-stopping second, Luna assumed she meant Amy was dead. Her face must’ve reflected that.

“No, no. Not like that,” Michelle assured her, raising up a skeleton thin hand. “She was sent away to Brentwood Psychiatric Hospital just outside of town.”

“She was sent to a mental hospital?” Luna asked, surprised. “Why?”

“For almost a year, she refused to speak a word, only sat in her room drawing pictures of things that we didn’t understand. We tried to get her to explain them, had experts come in to talk to her, but we still couldn’t get a word out of her. We only did what we thought would help her,” Michelle said.

“When did you send her there?” Luna asked, feeling the surprise weaken her legs. She sat on the couch beside Michelle.

“About a year after her graduation,” Michelle said, sighing.

“She didn’t go to graduation though, did she?” Luna asked.

“No, we couldn’t get her to leave the house,” Michelle said.

“Was that before she stopped talking?” Luna asked.

“No, graduation was after we couldn’t get her to talk,” Michelle said.

Luna was silent for a minute. She was positive that whatever Chance had done to her was the reason she was so quiet. That event in the woods all those years ago had been only a few weeks before graduation.

“Do you know what happened to her, Luna?” Michelle asked quietly. “Do you know why she stopped talking?”

Luna knew perfectly well what had happened to her, but she also knew that saying so would only raise suspicion with Amy’s older sister. “No, I don’t.”

“Why’d you want to visit her today?” Michelle asked curiously. “No one has asked about her in years. It was almost like the world just forgot she existed.”

“I had no real reason.” Luna lied. “I just hadn’t heard from her in so long I wondered how she was doing.”

“She’d be happy to know that someone missed her,” Michelle said thoughtfully.

Luna nodded. “She was a good friend, I’m sorry that she’s been suffering so much.”

“Ever since Amy lost her mind, we’ve all suffered in some way,” Michelle said.

That comment caught Luna off guard. Amy wasn’t the only one in that family to have something go wrong. That would explain the rundown condition of the house. If it was Chance’s doing, had anyone in Amy’s family died?

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to you, Michelle?” Luna worked up the courage to ask.

“I got Lymphoma about a month after we sent Amy away,” she said. “It went into remission, but only recently came back. I’ve had to start treatment all over again and doctors aren’t sure if I’ll be strong enough to fight it off this time.”

Luna stared at her wordlessly. For a moment, she wondered if there was more to Michelle’s illness than that. It was odd that her sickness was coming back at the same time as Max’s warnings and Lucky’s death.

“Do you want to see the pictures?” Michelle asked her suddenly. “The ones that Amy drew before she left? You might be able to figure out what some of them were about.”

“Yeah, of course,” Luna said. A picture was worth a thousand words, and if Amy had refused to speak for so long then she had found another way to express herself. Luna felt desire to see her friend’s pictures claw at her. There was no way she was backing out of it.

“Come on then, I’ll show you to her room,” Michelle said, leading the way to Amy’s old room.

She stopped outside of the familiar door for a minute before glancing back at Luna. “We haven’t been in here in a long time. It’s hard knowing that Amy isn’t here anymore. Forgive me if I get a bit emotional.”

Luna nodded in understanding. It was hard to even walk past Violet’s parents’ house knowing that her friend used to live there.

Michelle opened the door and stayed by the entrance as Luna passed her. Inside Amy’s old room, it smelled musty and dirty. There was no light bulb in the socket, but there was enough light streaming through the window for her to see the items that surrounded her.

The last time Luna had been in there, the walls had been a delicate pink, dotted with giant pieces of paper that held the cartoon drawings of Amy’s own work. The carpet and bedding had been a beautiful white and the room had been well personalized and cleaned. It was as abandoned as the lawn.

The room was a mess. Paint had chipped from the walls. A majority of the papers had been ripped from the wall; only sparing pieces remained stuck to the tape that had once held them on. Feathers from the ripped bedding littered the dingy carpet and crayons were scattered around like Easter eggs. Small pieces of paper with childlike drawings were taped to the headboard of the bed and the wall. Luna walked over to the nearest piece and stared at it in disbelief.

On it was a red drawing of a pentagram -the upside down star of the Devil- and next to that was a drawing of a snake. Familiar to Luna, it was the snake from the handle of Chance’s dagger. At the sight of it, the paper slipped from her fingers and her attention darted to the next paper.

On it was a drawing of a building made of stone. Not any building, but Chance’s stone temple. Beside that was the wooden cabin that had inhabited Luna’s dreams in the past. There was no getting around the fact that Chance had traumatized Amy.

He had driven her crazy.

“Well? Do you know what any of them mean?” Michelle asked hopefully from her place by the door.

“No, not a clue,” Luna said. Her mind was a whirlwind of surprise as she let the paper fall from her fingers to land on top of the first.

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

Ten minutes later, Luna was on her way to Brentwood Psychiatric Hospital. She had bid Michelle farewell (wondering if that was the last time she would ever see her) and headed out the door as fast as she could. Luna needed to know how Chance had gotten to Amy that day. Whatever he had done had ruined Amy’s life forever. Luna finally made it to an impressive brick building that she knew held what was left of Amy. She parked the car and wasted no time heading inside. Right away, a nurse stopped her.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“I’m here to visit Amy Jimenez,” Luna said. “She was checked in here about two years ago by her family.”

“Okay, first I’ll need you to empty your pockets,” the nurse said.

Luna nodded and obeyed. The nurse collected her belongings into a small plastic bag and dumped them in a bucket before she led Luna down a long hallway. She stopped in front of the last door down the hallway, reminding Luna a lot of the way Michelle had hesitantly stood outside the door to Amy’s room.

“You’ll have ten minutes to visit her, and remember, she’s very frail,” the nurse said. “Try to be careful on what you say.”

Luna nodded as the nurse opened the door, and she went inside. The door closed behind her trapping her in a room that was completely white. A bed resembling those in a hospital sat near the wall. A barred window allowed a bit of light to stream in the room. In the middle of the room was a chair.

The chair was facing the window though Luna knew that it wouldn’t provide much of a view. A small figure was perched on it. She was wearing a white gown that trailed down to her knees. Her back was turned, but Luna knew instantly that it was Amy judging by the size of the frame.

“Amy?” Luna asked cautiously, wondering if she would get a response.

The figure twitched slightly at her name but didn’t turn to look at her.

“Amy, it’s me, Luna,” Luna ventured nervously, wondering if maybe she was wasting her time.

Instantly, the figure stood to its feet and turned to face her. “L-Luna?” her tiny voice rasped.

Amy’s skin was the color of porcelain, and she looked as breakable. She had lost a dramatic amount of weight which showed obviously on her small frame. Her once long brown hair barely reached her shoulders. Her eyes held a traumatized gleam that Luna recognized instantly. Amy was another tortured soul, another life ruined by Chance.

“Do you remember me?” Luna asked. “Senior year at Shawnee High School?”

“I-I remember you,” Amy said cautiously. “We used to be good friends. What are you doing here?”

“I know you won’t want to hear this…but I wanted to ask you what happened that day,” Luna said. “That day three years ago.”

Amy tensed instantly and broke her gaze off of Luna’s. “It doesn’t matter. You beat him, Luna. It’s over.”

Luna tensed. Amy had her own stubborn attitude. She knew that wasn’t good. “Please tell me, Amy.”

“You wouldn’t understand; no one has. My own family sent me away,” she said looking down at the floor.

“I heard about that,” Luna said sympathetically. “But according to them, you wouldn’t talk to them. I saw all your drawings. What happened to you?””

“You talked to Michelle?” Amy asked, sudden venom in her voice.

“Uh-“ Luna stammered, caught off guard. She had never seen Amy angry before.

“You have!” she snapped. She turned away from Luna; she was seething with rage.

“I wanted to find you to talk about it,” Luna said, trying to reason with her. “Please don’t be upset.”

“But she sent me away,” Amy continued, not seeming to hear Luna. “Sent me away like I was nothing!”

“She was just worried about you,” Luna said timidly. “She didn’t know what else to do.”

“She wouldn’t understand even if I had told her.”

“She misses you,” Luna said.

“She forgot about me,” Amy said. “That’s why I’m still here after all this time. After the doctors said that I’ve recovered.”

“No, she hasn’t forgotten,” Luna said. “Your sister is sick again.”

“Sick again?” Amy asked turning back to look at her. “What do you mean?”

It was then that Luna remembered that Michelle had gotten sick
after
she had sent Amy away. Amy had no idea what her sister was going through.

“She has Lymphoma,” Luna said. “She got it a month after she sent you here and again a little while after.”

“Oh, my God,” Amy said, sinking to her chair.

“I’m sorry,” Luna said.

“Why have you come today, Luna?” Amy asked, looking up at Luna through defeated eyes.

Luna realized that she probably shouldn’t have told Amy about her sister. She remembered what the nurse said about her being frail.

“I told you what I’m here for,” Luna said.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Amy said. “You just drop bad news on me and expect me to want to listen to you?”

“I’m sorry, I just really need to know what you went through,” Luna said, nearly pleading with her.

“Why?” Amy jeered. “It’s of no use now.”

“Please,” Luna said quietly.

“Just go!” Amy said, suddenly full of rage again.

“But-“ Luna tried to say.

“Go!” Amy demanded.

That was much clearer. Without another word, Luna turned and left the room. As she walked down the long white hallway alone, she had a sinking feeling in her heart. She would never know what exactly Chance had done to traumatize Amy. Without knowing that, she felt like she was as defenseless as ever.

If he could traumatize one person like that then he could surely traumatize more. If he was back then Amy’s fate could easily become her own. Amy was determined to hold her tongue even though it meant endangering both of their lives.

L
una collected her belongings from the nurse and tucked them back away into her pocket. She wandered out to the parking lot outside of the hospital. She couldn’t help but feel thunderstruck. She hadn’t known that Amy was so different than how she used to be.

Being locked away for so long in solitary confinement had destroyed the little hope of restoring her sanity that Luna had harbored. Luna knew that what was left of Amy definitely wasn’t her friend anymore. The Amy she had known never got mad like that. She was so angry and irrational, she couldn’t even handle a conversation.

Luna could understand it though. She had brought Amy terrible news, and, like most people, she had resorted to shooting the messenger.

Luna didn’t know that telling Amy about her sister would ruin her chance of ever finding out what happened that day. Luna mentally kicked herself for not keeping her mouth shut. She would never know all of Chance’s tricks, and it was all her fault.

She sighed dejectedly as she climbed into Amanda’s Ford Taurus Sedan once again. She didn’t want to linger there any longer, didn’t want to linger in her ultimate failure. It wasn’t long before she found herself driving past her old home once again.

She slowed down as she passed it; part of her was considering stopping in to visit her parents anyways. But then the logic in her brain reminded her, once again, that that wasn’t a good idea. She was still distracted and distressed, her mind not only focused on her dog’s death, but the state of Amy and her sister.

It was hard to believe that Chance had managed to mess up so many other people’s lives as well as her own. Yet, they didn’t know he was even responsible for their state of ill repair. At least in Michelle’s case, she didn’t know.

Luna knew better.

Luna sighed as she forced herself to drive away from her old home. There would be plenty of time to visit her parents on another day. She flicked on the radio again hoping to find an uplifting song. She couldn’t find any familiar songs, so she left it on a station that she wasn’t familiar with and went back to focusing on her driving.

When she looked up, she realized that a large truck was headed right for her, a large black Honda Ridgeline. She gasped and swerved her much smaller car out of the way of the oncoming vehicle and lined the car back up on the skinny road after it passed. Gasping in astonishment, she pushed her raven dark hair back out of her eyes. She was lucky that accident hadn’t been worse…it easily could’ve been.

She watched the receding truck in her rearview window. It wasn’t how close to an accident she had been that made her feel completely sick to her stomach. It was the vehicle that had nearly crashed into her. It looked
very
familiar; she could only think of one truck that had looked like that.

Chance drove the exact same one.

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

Luna got back to the apartment about an hour after that. Amanda let her in before she moved to plop back down on the couch. Luna stayed beside the door, wondering what Amanda was planning on asking her.

“So, how was your trip?” Amanda asked.

The trip had been beyond horrible in more ways than one. Luna didn’t plan on telling Amanda about Amy…or the close encounter with the truck.

“It was alright,” Luna said.

“Are you sure?” Amanda asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luna nodded. “Yeah, it’s just been a long day. I just feel…out of it.”

“That’s because you need to rest,” Amanda said sympathetically. “You’ve been active all day even though you should relax.”

“No, I’ve had enough rest for a while,” Luna said. Rest was the last thing on her mind.

“But the semester only ended yesterday,” Amanda said, sounding confused.

“I know it did, but I need to get a job,” Luna said absently.

“Huh?” Amanda asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I wanted to go look for a job today,” Luna said, wondering why she had to explain herself when her meaning had been so clear.

“You don’t need to do that, Luna,” Amanda said, sounding a bit surprised. “You know that.”

“But we could use some extra money,” Luna said, shrugging.

“You know I get enough financial aid money to pay for the apartment and food we need,” Amanda said. “Plus, my parents are willing to help us out if we get into trouble. There’s really no need to work.”

“Like I said, I know that I don’t
need
to work, but I
want
to,” Luna said feeling slightly irritated that Amanda was giving her such a hard time.

“Whatever it is that you’re not telling me is really starting to make you strange, Luna,” Amanda said uneasily.

“I don’t feel like I’m being strange,” Luna said. She knew that Amanda’s comment was her way of sulking, but Luna didn’t want to tell her. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I really can’t relax for too long.”

“You know you can trust me,” Amanda said. “Why won’t you just tell me what it is that’s bothering you?”

“I just don’t think you’d understand,” Luna admitted.

Amanda frowned for a minute. “Like I’ve told you before, you never know if you don’t try. Why don’t you tell me where you really went today?”

“I already told you, I went to visit David.” Luna lied.

“I called him though, he said you didn’t drop by,” Amanda said. “Why do you keep lying to me?”

Luna suddenly kicked herself for not dropping in for even a five minute visit.

“I just feel like I’m better handling this by myself, okay?” Luna said, furrowing her brow in apprehension. She didn’t understand why Amanda couldn’t leave it alone. Did Luna’s personal life bother her that much?

“That may be true today, but one day you’re gonna want help,” Amanda said, pursing her lips. “Whatever it is that Max keeps calling you about, I have a feeling is also why you’ve been so weird.”

Luna stiffened. She didn’t like that Amanda was right on the ball. She had thought her roommate was a bit more naïve than that.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Amanda demanded.

“Look, it doesn’t matter, alright?” Luna said. “The short version is that I want to get a job so I don’t have to think about what’s bothering me. Can you understand that?”

“Yes, that I understand,” Amanda said, “but why you can’t trust me enough to talk to me I don’t.”

“I just want to help out around here,” Luna said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

“I suppose, but we have all the money we need. Why spend your free time like that? It’s summer break, and you never even went clothes shopping with me like we planned, Luna,” Amanda said. “If you’re not gonna tell me what’s wrong then you could at least go shopping with me to make up for it.”

“This
is
what I want to do with my free time. I don’t feel like I should have to talk if I’m not in the mood for it. You want to hear what I’m honestly thinking right now, Amanda?” Luna asked, looking her full in the face.

Her blonde roommate nodded curiously.

“My dog just died, do you really still insist on dragging me to the store?” Luna asked.

“I’ll give you time to mourn, but eventually, I do expect you to go with me,” Amanda said, frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You won’t ever get better if you just sit around here moping.”

“Fine,” Luna said, nodding in frustration. She knew she’d have no choice but to give into Amanda’s irrational demands. “But that’s why I said that I need to get a job. I don’t handle grief well with downtime.”

That wasn’t a lie. Without school to distract her, she was drawn instantly to that notebook. She knew that she hadn’t had to dig it out of her parents’ house, but she felt like it was important. She knew that if she got a job she’d be too tired to even care half of the time. She wouldn’t even
think
about the book.

“Well, if you say so,” Amanda said, looking uncertain. “I just wouldn’t look for one today if I were you.”

“Why not?” Luna asked, wondering if Amanda was going to pick another fight with her.

“Well, you need time to grieve, Honey,” she said. “I’m sorry if I’ve been frustrating you lately, but I think you really do need to relax. Lucky’s death made me sad too, so I know you must be feeling just awful.  I think you should at least wait until tomorrow to look.”

You have no idea,
Luna thought, feeling crestfallen. She remembered her near collision with the large truck and shuddered inside.

“See, Mandy, that’s the problem. I don’t want to sit here and think about the things that are making me sad. I want to move on. I want to be useful and take my mind off of my problems.”

“If you’ve made up your mind about this then I obviously can’t stop you,” Amanda said.

Luna nodded and stood up. “It’s only seven o’ clock so I still have some time. I’ll be back in a few hours at the latest.”

Amanda didn’t reply as she turned to look back at the television. Luna knew her roommate thought she was being foolish. Maybe she was thinking a lot worse. She recognized Amanda’s thinking face, but Luna couldn’t bring herself to care what anyone thought about her.

Luna went out the door, walking the quickest pace she could muster before Amanda could think of another question to bombard her with. She didn’t plan to take Amanda’s car that time. Almost crashing with such a familiar vehicle made her feel sick to her stomach.

She would walk. Walk and think, of course. Her mind burned with thoughts. She needed to get away from her; she wished there was a place that she could hide. No matter where she went, they followed her. They were awful thoughts.

Thoughts that Luna desperately wished would leave her alone.