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.⋆｡⋆🩸˚｡⋆｡˚🌗˚｡⋆. ◟ ✦ "I don't think I have the strength to stay away from you anymore." "Then don't." ❞
AS LUNA EXITED THE SHOP, the sky's colors bled into a deepening blue, the last vestiges of daylight slipping away. She hadn't meant to stay so late, but the vintage, constellation-embroidered guitar in the display case had caught her eye, drawing her back again and again. The cashier's smirk as she ogled the guitar hadn't gone unnoticed, and she'd left the store feeling flustered and empty-handed, the dream of owning that guitar evaporating as she walked into the night.
The town had settled into a quiet darkness, the kind that made Luna's skin prickle with unease. She hurried her steps, the click of her boots on the pavement loud in the stillness. Every shadow seemed to stretch toward her, every rustle of leaves sounded like footsteps, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her hand trembled as she pulled out her phone, her heart sinking when she saw the battery at 10%. She quickly dialed Bella's number, but it went straight to voicemail.
Cursing under her breath, Luna kept moving, her anxiety ratcheting up with each passing second. She turned into an alley, hoping to cut through to the restaurant where her friends were waiting, but the narrow space only made her feel more vulnerable. The moment her phone died, the low battery symbol mocking her, she heard them—voices, crude and slurred, coming from behind.
Her heart leaped into her throat as she saw them, a group of men, and they were heading straight for her. Panic surged through her, making her legs feel like lead. She picked up her pace, but they were gaining on her, their laughter echoing ominously in the dark alley. Luna's breath hitched when she saw more men up ahead, their silhouettes blocking her path. She was trapped.
"Saw you in the dress store." One of the men slurred. Luna closed her eyes briefly, remembering a group of people harassing her and her friends through a window earlier.
""Hey, where you running to?" one of them called, his voice tinged with menace. Luna didn't respond, couldn't respond, her voice choked by fear. She turned to flee, but they were closing in from all sides, their taunts growing louder, more aggressive.
"There she is!"
"What's up!"
"That's my girl!" Various men cheered around her, getting closer to her.
Luna's heart skipped a beat as a beer can flew by her head into the hands of one of the men behind her. "Hey, how you guys doing? Look who we found," One of the men before her conversed. They all knew each other. Great.
