Not the Luna

Chapter 26

"I'm not in the mood." Nicole says after the third interval of knocking. Emily puts her hand on my shoulder, I look over at her. I can tell by her face that she just wants to give up. I roll my eyes.

"I'm coming in." I announce. I reach above the doorframe and find a small rod that unlocks all the doors in the house except for the ones that lead outside. We scatter them evenly above almost every door. I twist it and the door unlocks.

She's sitting in complete darkness. The only way I could see her is the stream of light coming in though the wide open door. Nicole sitting cross legged on her bed and hugging one of her big pillows. She looks at me like a deer in headlights.

"Was that really necessary?" I ask. She looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

"I was just thinking the same question." She says. Emily snorts from behind me.

"Look, we can't work out your life problems right now." I say.

"Awe, why not?" She asks. I look back at Emily, who seems scared. She shakes her head and I only smile at her.

"Emily's got something she'd like to share." I say.

"No I don't!" Emily says quickly.

"Oh my goodness, you totally do." Nicole says. We all have an art of looking right trough each other.

"I can't say it here. Or anywhere where someone might overhear." Emily says.

"What?" Nicole says suddenly getting serious.

"Apparently it's about your brother." I say. Nicole shoots out of bed and runs between us, grabbing our wrists on the way. She drags us out the door and sprits off.

"Nicole! Where are you going!?" Emily yells after her.

She turns around and starts running backwards as she speaks. "Follow me!" She turns back around and runs into sprint. I quickly catch up to her and match her pace, but Emily lags behind us.

Suddenly she stops and sprints into the woods at what seems as a random place because there is no path, but the trees are cleared. Maybe there used to be a path a long time ago but now it's covered in dead leaves.

I feel my eyes start to glow as we get deeper into the heart of the woods. "Nicole, wait."

"No way, come on!" Nicole says. I put my arms out, stoping Emily behind me.

"Nicole! It's not safe!" I say raising my voice.

"You're just being a goody two shoes." Nicole says, as she keeps running down the path.

"Stay here." I say to Emily over my shoulder. I break into a sprint. I run hard, really hard.

I catch up to her fast, because she's not running that hard. I grab her shirt and pull her back as I dig my heals in the dead leaves with all my might.

I stop her just in time for a swoosh to come only millimeters from our noses.

Just to the right of us, in the tree, is an arrow that would've hit her square in the head and killed her.

We both stand frozen in shock. I want to see where the arrow came from but I'm scared to crane my neck over to see. Maybe the killer is waiting for me to do that so that they can hit me in the head and kill me.

Her face still frozen in shock, she turns and wraps her arms around me. After a few seconds, I wrap my arms around her too.

"You just saved her life!" Emily yells in victory and throwing her hands up from 20 feet away.

"T-thanks." Nicole says, still clearly in shock.

"Well, that just happened." I say letting go of her. I look back over at the arrow, made of pure silver. The head, the shaft, the tail thingy- all of it, pure silver.

I look back at Nicole, she points to the arrow. "What's that?"

I look back at the arrow. I notice a small scroll of paper wrapped around the shaft. I pull it off.

The big bold letters printed on the small piece of paper throw me into another wave of shock.

THE NEXT ONE KILLS YOU.