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It was a rainy morning in Queens, wet sidewalks and massive puddles lining along the streets. The rooftop gardens were soaked with heavy raindrops, ruining the beauty of each petal of a single flower. The sun was barely visible, being hidden behind the gray and stormy clouds that watched over New York. Needless to say, it was an ugly day.

Luna sat on her bed, shakily putting shoes on her tired feet. She didn't feel ready for the day that was ahead of her, but she was definitely ready to leave her apartment. It felt like centuries since Luna breathed in a single breath of fresh air.

The girl sighed, sitting straight up on her unmade bed. She touched her neck, wincing at the sudden contact.

Luna's whole body felt as if it were about to explode. Everything was aching and burning to the max and it had been that way for the past week. Luna had been grounded from leaving her home. She wasn't allowed to leave her apartment, not once during the past 7 days. It was her punishment, and it was a real big one. Something like this has never happened to Luna Pearce before. She was never forced to stay home for 24 hours straight every single day. It was terrifying for the girl, especially because she lived with such a monster.

Rick enjoyed his time with Luna, always waiting for the teenager's mother to leave before swinging on Luna for hours on end. He would leave her bleeding, crying, and struggling everyday. Rick claimed it to be her punishment. He taunted the girl into believing that this was happening because of her, that it was her own fault for being beaten and abused like this. He has said this repeatedly, having the girl almost believe it herself. Luna had gone through so much this past year, and she was beginning to think that Rick was right. She was asking to get hit, to get tortured the way she was. Rick put these thoughts into the poor girl's head.

The fifth day was the worst.

Luna's mother had just left for work and Rick wasted no time in grabbing the girl and beginning his daily behavior. It was so bad that after leaving Luna on the floor, she couldn't move for hours. She felt paralyzed, and had no idea what to do other than cry and hyperventilate. She couldn't scream for help, mostly because she physically couldn't. Her voice seemed to have left her body. What the girl needed was a hospital, to have people care for the injuries that Rick caused, but that seemed impossible.

Now, Luna was sitting still on her bed, heavily in pain and living off of her mother's medication to help ease her bruises and potentially cracked ribs.

She stood up, gently grabbing her bag and slowly walking out of her bedroom. The apartment was quiet like always, which scared the hell out of her. The door never seemed so far away as Luna was desperate to get to it and leave as fast as possible. Of course, just as she was about to exit, the voice that ghosted over her everyday rung through her ears.

"Where do you think you're going?" The deep voice asked.

Luna closed her eyes, almost having a tear slip down her cheek as she took a deep breath and turned around, facing away from the door. Rick stood at the end of the hallway, leaning his shoulder against the wall as he carefully examined Luna.

Heart of Sin | Peter Parker Where stories live. Discover now