Fanning the Flames of Rebellion [A Lunar Chronicles Fanfic]

Chapter 45

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Kai knew the second Cinder left the cottage, it wouldn't end well. He should have stopped her, came after her. But he figured she wanted to be alone, have some time to think things through. Kai was mentally scolding himself, swinging an imaginary bat at his skull.

After several minutes of her being outside, Kai decided to check on her, make sure Cinder was alright. But when he stepped outside, she was gone. Like she had simply floated away. Kai looked around the cottage, making sure to keep the hood of his sweatshirt low to cover his face.

He returned to the front of the cottage, and leaned on a large, moss and weed covered rock. His gaze fell to several droplets of blood.

"No," Kai whispered in awe. It couldn't be. "No." But it was.

He had seen the blood and immediately alerted the others. They were all awake now, staring at the little man, Al, as he spoke. Until Winter announced that Cinder was Princess Selene, he shut up. Al's face looked ghostly, pale and drained of blood.

"What?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Al, I know it's hard to believe, but..." Winter paused, looking for something to say, "but you just have to believe it."

"We don't have time for this." Thorne said, frustrated. "Cinder's out there somewhere. Aces, she could be anywhere, half way to Earth already. Point is, we need to find her, and quick." Kai was caught off guard by his sudden protectiveness over Cinder. He was only used to hearing them bicker and fight. This, however, was a new side he hadn't seen from him. Sensitivity. It made sense, though, they were together from the very beginning of this whole mess. A bond had to have been formed over that period of time.

Kai glanced at Al, whose face showed a hint of recognition. "I saw someone, in the woods."

"Who was it?" Kai asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I-I can't remember. I'm sorry. I don't have a face or a description or a gender, I just remember I saw someone."

Everyone made a slight jump when Wolf spoke up from the back. "Glamour," it was more like a whisper, as if the word was sacred and dangerous. Which it was. "You don't remember anything about the person, right?" Al nodded. "They could have used their glamour to make you forget you saw them."

"And you're saying..." Thorne had his hand moving in a circular motion, signaling Wolf to continue.

"I'm saying that it could've been her."

"It makes sense," Cress said, twirling a lock of blonde hair around her finger, "she doesn't know you, she doesn't know you're on our side."

Al nodded, "So, I guess this means she wasn't taken, but that she left."

They all nodded. "But what about the blood?" Iko asked, her expression etched with worry. "She couldn't have done it to herself, she wouldn't have."

Kai turned to Al. "Are you sure you didn't see anyone else in the woods?"

"Not from what I saw. There could have been someone in the shadows. It was dark, I could hardly see anything." Al replied.

The conversation kept going, but Kai couldn't listen. He tried to convince himself that he was dreaming, that Cinder would be lying in the small bed next to his when he woke up. That he would see her leaning on the kitchen counter, trying to get a grease stain off her new shirt.

But maybe this was all a dream. Kai would wake up in his bed, walk down to the market wearing his old grey hoodie, and still see Cinder tinkering with some old android parts.

But it was all too real.

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They decided to head into the woods and see what Al saw. They were sure to bring weapons in case it wasn't Cinder.

Al, Thorne, Wolf, and Kai entered through a small clearing of trees and started into the woods.

"Over h--" Al stopped. Looking down to the ground.

"Aces." Thorne gasped.

A couple feet in front of them, lay a woman's body.

"Wait." Kai whispered, taking a few small steps towards her. He hoped it wasn't Cinder.

But the woman lying on the first floor wasn't Cinder, and Kai didn't know whether to be glad it wasn't her or worried that she was still gone.

"It's not her." Kai whispered.

Wolf kneeled down next to the woman. "Look," he said, pointing to a small projectile sticking out from the woman's neck. "it's hers. The tranqs she uses have the same black and red tail."

"What does this mean?" Al asked.

"This means," Wolf paused, pulling the dart from her neck, "this means that either Cinder doesn't want to be found, or she can't be found."

"What?" Kai asked, confused.

"She can't be found. By anybody. If she is, only the stars know what'll happen."