His Moon

IV | Trapped, Again

Kaia lingered on the porch, a little terrified to go into the house and face her dad's wrath. She'd most certainly be on home arrest for the remainder of her life. But, once she worked up the courage, she tentatively twisted the knob and stepped inside as quietly as she could.

The house was silent, just as she'd left it, but it looked different. It seemed smaller even though nothing had changed except for Kaia. She knew now that...someone was waiting outside, there for her if she wanted to escape. It should have been unnerving, but instead, it was only a quiet comfort. The smell of smoke lingered in her nose even as she shut the door with a gentle tap.

She tiptoed around the house after sliding her shoes off for maximum silence. There was no one in the family room or the dining room, not the kitchen, either. The entire first floor was empty, dark.

Kaia took a deep breath and started up the stairs, wincing when one of the wooden steps creaked under her weight. When she got to the top, she saw a light from under her dad's study door. His voice sounded muffled, but Kaia could tell that he was on the phone.

She slid past his door and her brother's and went to the bathroom. Kaia cursed. Her hair was matted down on one side with blood. Leaning forward, though, she realized that her cut had practically disappeared altogether. There was a faint reddish mark. The only evidence of how its severity was the remaining blood. She was so sure that it had been worse than this, her suspicion confirmed when she saw how much blood stained her hair. So how had her wound disappeared already? 

Honestly, it wasn't the only thing she'd discovered that day that confused Kaia to no end, so she didn't ask. 

Despite the weirdly magical healing, it was gruesome. So Kaia quickly leaned into the sink, turning the faucet on so that the cooling water could erase any traces of her blood that were left. Maybe she was in shock, but she was incredibly calm as she did so. Kaia stared at her palms. There were some light pink scratches on them, but they were nowhere near as deep as they had been in the forest. Did she misremember it? She'd been pretty traumatized, and she knew that people's brains did that sometimes.

When Kaia was satisfied that there wasn't any blood on her face any longer, she shut the faucet off and went to the door. When she was back in the hall, she heard her dad talking, still on the phone.

"I don't care, Tom. Do you understand that? She's my-" Someone on the other line had cut him off. "Don't you David me," he hissed, his voice rising, "Just get a crew up here!"

Kaia leaned against the railing, listening. "She's my daughter for Christ's sake, Thomas! Get a crew over here today. I need to find her before-"

Kaia had gone rigid, her pulse racing. She'd crept towards the door to his study, pressing her palms against it. It was strange, hearing her dad so angry. He was usually quiet, concerned, overprotective. But he was never angry, not unless it was severe.

Kaia remembered when she was little, and she'd gotten lost in a mall. When her dad had finally found her again, he'd swept her up in his arms, clutching her protectively, and shouted at the people in charge of security. Really yelled, like it was their faults that Kaia had wandered off. It wasn't, and he knew that, but still...

Then Kaia heard a sob. Her heart broke. "I know...she'll be ok. I have to tell myself that, but it's just so dangerous for her. You know that."

His voice was shaking. Without hesitating, Kaia swung the door open, stepping into her dad's study. He needed to know that she was ok. "Papa," she said.

His brown eyes were sparkling with tears. They went wide when he turned and saw his daughter, his mouth falling open. And then his face collapsed into relief. "Tom, she just walked in. Call it off." Click.