Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 44

Lily shoved Lloyd away playfully. "That wasn't funny!" She said through her giggles at his attempted joke, her hands covering her mouth.

"Then why are you laughing?" Razaia responded through her own laughter, a thin carefree air floating around them.

"It was funny enough," Colin responded.

They were quick to forget that nothing was the same anymore. They buried every painful memory deep behind them and focused on their childish present. They knew that Luna, on the other hand, had grown up, leaving them all behind. She was ready to throw away her life, but they weren't. They wanted to live.

Colin sat with the three in a circle on the floor of his basement, while Harper sat curled up in the corner, she had gone home for a while, but after her parents had gone to bed, an overwhelming sense of loneliness had seized her and she rushed back to the others. She had lost her best friend and the one she had fallen for in the span of twenty-four hours. Sylvia had walked out on them, leaving them to go who knows where.

In other words, Harper was crushed. She knew she had to go find Luna and Sylvia, even if the four kids she was practically babysitting wouldn't go with her. As she prepared to stand, a loud pounding came from the front door.

The sound of helicopter blades above the house was excruciatingly loud.

"Open the door! We don't want to hurt you, we just need to speak to the kids. We know they're in here!" Shouts came from the door. The shouts triggered something in the others, a serious "I'm not really a kid" feeling. The kind of feeling that makes you rethink everything you've ever done. The kind of feeling you get when everything is falling apart.

The kids grabbed their things as they ran. Taking the back exit, they escaped from the house, seeing the helicopter a few hundred meters above the house. The sound was almost deafening, drowning out any other sounds.

Luna. They had to find Luna. Sylvia could be there with her.

They took off running, attempting to make it into the woods that separated the backyards from the street. Their hearts were racing out of their chests, beating faster than the blades above them. The moon was slowly lowering, beginning to allow for a yellow sunrise. Lloyd was scared. Although he would never admit it, he was. He was terrified for the fate of everyone, and even more so, petrified that Luna would never forgive him. He dreaded having to face her again, but he knew he had to. He needed to know that she was ok, because in the end, that's all that mattered. That Luna was still breathing and able to protect everyone. He needed to know that she could defend everyone when he couldn't. It no longer mattered if he was close with her or if she still trusted him. He just wanted to know she was safe.

Before he had realized it, Lloyd had spaced out. Tears were running down his face as he lost himself in the deep recesses of his mind. Suddenly he felt himself slipping away, and before he knew what was going on, his vision darkened and he collapsed into the grass.

A few men in dark gear were advancing towards them, two running, three walking slowly. The three men walking were each carrying some sort of firearm.

Lily panicked, calling out to everyone, but the words were stolen from her mouth by the noise and carried off on the wind. Colin and Razaia took off first, spreading their wings as they took to the skies.

Harper next, turning to see where the others were. Realizing that Lloyd and Lily weren't in the air, she looked down watching Lily attempt to wake up Lloyd and drag him up.

Harper's heart beat faster, if that was even physically possible at that point. She had to choose. Go with the others to Luna and retrieve what she had lost and mend her broken heart, or risk everything for Lily and Lloyd.

Her heart tore. She couldn't leave them. She fluttered back down next to Lily and helped pull Lloyd to his feet. He head rolled uselessly upon his shoulders. Harper sighed, though the sound was once again muted. The two girls shook him until his eyes finally opened. The men were only a few feet away from them at that point, and they were in trouble. Lily could just make out the logo on their uniforms: The White Sand.

As soon as they were in the air, they flew towards Base Camp, the only place Luna would be. Soon the sound of the helicopter blades faded from existence and the soft sounds of the breeze were all they could hear. Harper hoped that Sylvia would be there too.

As they flew over the town, they could hear gunshots ringing all around them. A building in the distance was on fire. Streets were crowded with dark vans, half of them White Sand, half of them DoSD. Everything was descending into darkness.

☆★☆

Luna was sitting on the floor, her ears ringing to no end and her heart in flames. She couldn't hurt Trae, and she wouldn't hurt her friends. She couldn't stand the thought of losing anyone, even if it meant losing herself. She didn't deserve anyone anyway, she deserved to be alone. At least this way she could sacrifice herself in peace, not having to worry about anyone else. Anyone who she would drag down with her... anyone who would be sad to see her go. Soon Sylvia would realize she was right to leave and she'd go back to the others.

Sylvia sat by her side, attempting to comfort her; Luna hadn't stopped crying, her sobs silent. Tears fell to the floor as Luna sat still, emptying her mind of all her memories as they escaped through her eyes.

Luna swore she could hear their voices. She didn't know if it was just in her head, that ringing in her ears reminding her that Sylvia was the only one to come back. Sylvia was the only one who didn't care only for herself. Sylvia was the only one who would give up her life for Luna, and the good of everyone. But as the voices got louder, she knew that it really was them.

They all filed inside, their heads hanging low. Lloyd started to mumble something, but then he looked up. "Luna, I'm—"

"We're," Colin interjected.

"We're really sorry. What we did wasn't right. We just want to be normal kids... but we're not, and we never will be. It took me a while, but Luna, I'm ok with that. I promise we'll all be here for you from now to the end of time, until the sun sets on all of life... and I don't need you to forgive me," He'd resigned himself to the thought that he'd ruptured their relationship beyond mending. "I'm sorry Luna. Please, be mad at me, not at the others..."

Luna walked over and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you came back," she choked out as tears began to stain Lloyd's sleeve. "I could never be mad at you Lloyd, I understand what you did and why. I do forgive you Lloyd, and I promise," she stepped back to look him in the eyes. "I'll do everything I can once this is over to save what's left of our lives..."

Lloyd pulled her back, and everyone piled in for a group hug. "All we need is each other, the rest will come as long as we stay together." Lily said.

The air of the room became crisp as they let go of each other and took their seats around the table.

"We have to stop the White Sand for good. In order to do that, we either have to contain him or... well..." Luna started off.

"We're going to need help from the military forces to keep all of their troops away. If the seven of us can get in, we can distract him long enough to shut down all the systems. A trained team can come in to collect him while we hold off Skye, Elijah, and the others," Lloyd continued.

"Is this really it? Can we really end this? End the war now? Before anyone else loses their life?" Lily asked quietly.

"If we do this properly, it can be," Razaia said.

As the group continued adding to the plan, balance seemed to be restored to the little group.

As soon as their plan was completed, they ran multiple simulations and got straight to training. If there was going to be any way of defeating Marcus Contreras, everything needed to be perfect. There could be no mistakes. The pressure was hitting the kids hard. It had already split them and broken them beyond repair. As long as they had each other and stayed together, the cracks would heal. As seven little pieces of a larger goal, they were complete. Broken on their own, but complete together. They needed each other.