Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 56

Luna opened her eyes, immediately realizing she wasn't in her own body. It was like a dream, only she was in Talya's body instead of her own. She could tell by the paleness her skin, the sickly greying white pasty shade, and the clothes she had on. That torn magenta hoodie and horribly oversized jeans.

Her eyes stung like crazy, almost making her scream out in pain. She was in a small cage, curled up on the floor beneath a desk.

The room was dark, with lots of small blinking lights. There was another cage a little bit away, bent out of shape with metal jutting out. She strained to see what was in it, her eyes—Talya's eyes—burning as she tried to focus.

Luna's own eyes allowed her to see relatively far in really dark spaces quite easily. Talya's eyes had a similar effect, just hurt tremendously whenever they were used. Luna guessed that that was the explanation for Talya's unnaturally green eyes.

Luna rubbed at them, trying to soothe the pain before trying to get another look. She fought through the pain, gasping when she saw who it was. Trae. It was Trae. He had dark circles under his eyes, his dark blue hoodie ripped in a few places, his dark jeans almost grey from dust, and his bare feet bloody. She wanted to call out to him, to run over and see if he was okay, but she couldn't. She could hear him screaming. She felt him slipping away, the world sliding out from under her.

Luna's eyes snapped open, this time truly being her own. She was pulled out of the vision screaming. Sylvia was shaking her, a nervous look on her face. "Luna, are you okay?"

Luna felt like she was about to throw up. She shook her head, clasping a hand to her stomach and the other over her mouth as she sat up. She looked around the room, everyone else just starting to get up. She had only been back from the DoSD for less than an hour. Talya's eyes were burned into her mind. The way she looked at her... like she wanted to hurt her...

They all looked at her, various degrees of concern on their faces. "Luna, what happened?" Harper asked, kneeling down beside Sylvia.

"I uh," Luna started to speak, her stomach lurching. "I saw a vision," a lump in her throat choked her words. She ran her hands through her hair, pressing the palms of her hands into her eyes.

"Of what?" Harper asked tentatively.

"Trae," Luna said after a pause. "I saw him, through Talya's eyes."

A chill buzzed through the room.

"Who's Talya?" Lily's voice came first through the thick silence.

"She showed up at our door just before sunset," Lloyd said. "She had dark wings that looked like ours, and these huge neon green eyes. She looked like a ghost draped over a skull... We took her to the DoSD before you guys woke up." Lloyd explained.

"She said someone sent her to help us," Luna continued.

"Do you think what happened to Talya happened to Trae?" Lloyd asked.

Luna's blood ran cold, pure ice crawling through her veins and sending shooting pains throughout her body. "Maybe," she whispered. "It's a possibility."

Harper jumped up, running a hand through her drooping curls. "We have to find him! Did you get a good look of the place? Were there any windows? Could you identify anything?"

"Harper!" Sylvia stood up, grasping Harper's elbows. The taller girl stared down at her with wide and teary turquoise eyes. "Calm down. It'll be okay, just leave Luna alone for now. Let her collect her thoughts before you grill her like that."

Harper nodded with a shuddering breath. "You're right, I'm so sorry guys." She dropped her forehead against Sylvia's shoulder, effectively freezing the blonde in place.