Lunas web

Chapter 4

The way I stumbled into my bedroom was not graceful to say the least. To keep my uncle safe, I always activate my invisibility as I get closer to home. I got so in my head, it was as if my instincts kicked in and my body just took me home. The familiar buildings and sounds of traffic all blurring together around me. Our building was an older one, classic red brick, situated in the Upper-East side. It sat right on the corner, designed originally to be a fire house so it was slimmer in size compared to others, but my uncle and mom worked hard to turn it into a home years ago when they bought it. The front side of our building had flower pots lining the windows of the second floor, something my mother had enjoyed keeping up, but now there were only a few flowers that were barely hanging on.

Typically when I am getting home, I aim to go through my window on the 3rd floor. This time though I was so frantic to get inside that I slammed into the wall next to my window instead of going through it. If it weren't for my quick recovery time, the chances of me ending up with a broken rib or two would have been high. Didn't take long for my uncle though to come running to my room, dragging me inside before anyone else decided to look for the source of the noise.

Managing to get on my feet once inside, he takes my mask off and grabs my face to get a better look at it. For being in his 40's, he had surprisingly soft hands. Actually he just looked young in general for his age. Just like me and mom, he has soft brown hair with two white streaks framing his face (that was in desperate need of a trim), striking green eyes under his bushy eyebrows and a surprisingly muscular build for someone who spends most of his time in a lab. Its not hard to tell from the look on his face he is deeply concerned with the state I'm in right now.

"Are you okay? Its been awhile since you slammed into the wall that hard Luna."

I brush his hands away and sit myself down on the edge of my bed.

"Today has been a lot to say the least. I may have been a tad distracted coming home tonight."

He sits down next to me, keeping his gaze on me.

"Is this about what I saw on the news about Ash?"

I couldn't look at him, I wasn't ready to start crying just yet. So much had happened today, i wasn't even sure what he knew.

"What is the news saying...?"

"Well, there was coverage of the gang fight out in that abandoned area that ended with one casualty. In the last hour though they broadcasted the Ash was arrested for murder? Is that true?"

My uncle wasn't very good at being comforting in tough moments. He was someone that didn't know how to be there for people, like he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. His hand was lightly hovering over my shoulder, I could feel the hesitation from him. leaning on his shoulder, not able to hold back the tears anymore myself. The tears I was attempting to hold back broke through.

"We lost Skipper today... he was the little guy I would tell you about alot." My voice was breaking up a little bit. The tears slowly streaming down my face just kept falling. His hand was gently squeezing my shoulder.

"Im sure this must be very difficult for you Luna, I'm here for you. I hope you know that."

Instead of responding I just let myself cry. Gods, I cried so hard you would think my room was going to flood. If I had stayed behind, Skipper may still be here. Why didn't I stay? If I had stayed, Ash may not be in jail right now. The what ifs were so loud in my head, that I didn't even notice my uncle had tucked into bed. The feeling if my weighted blanket felt so heavy against my chest. Like the sadness was being pressed out of my body. I managed to see through the tears that it was now closer to 1 in the morning. How could all this happen in one day?