Moon Angel

Chapter 25: It will Never be the Same

Chapter 25: It will Never be the Same

A month from the day I arrived at the lodge Mr Carter came to take me back to Omega.

My arm was still in a cast and the area around my ribs was tender but healed. The time away from Omega, out in the fresh air, had done me good. My head felt cleared than it had in a long time.

When it was time to leave, Jane gave me a big hug. Matthew stood off to one side, as if to stay out of the way, but I gave him a hug too. I would miss them both terribly. They had been so generous towards me.

I waved from the car until the trees had obscured them from view.

***

My team were waiting on the balcony for me when I stepped out of Mr Carter's car.

Skyla called out my name, waving. I waved back, a smile breaking on to my face.

I took my suitcase from Mr Carter before walking up to meet them.

They embraced me in a massive group hug as soon as I stepped next to them. After a few seconds, the hug broke away.

"We missed you," Jay said, smiling.

"I missed you guys too," I replied. We moved through the door and into the corridors of Omega. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

The group looked at each other as if to convey a silent message.

"A girl was moved into our team to complete our numbers," Luke said.

"Oh," was all I could say.

He hadn't said the words, but I was sure everyone was thinking them. The girl was moved to replace Em.

"I think you'll really like her," Luke continued, trying to break the awkward silence that had drifted over the group.

I nodded numbly. "I think I might go to my room to unpack."

I walked away from the group. No one followed me. The silent message that I wanted to be alone was clear.

That was the thing about our team. We had been together so long now. We knew each other inside out. We were family.

As I approached my room, my eyes drifted to the door of Em's room. I half-expected her to pop her head out and ask if I was ready yet, like she had done so many times before.

But the door remained closed.

I don't know what I'd expected.

I went into my own room and unpacked my suitcase. Once I was done, I went back out into the hallway. A girl walked towards me, her strawberry blonde hair tied in a high ponytail. I had seen her around once or twice, but never in our team's corridor.

"Hey," she said as she approached.

"Hey," I replied.

"You must be Selene." She smiled. "The others told me so much about you."

I smiled politely. She must be the new team member that Luke had mentioned.

"Nice to meet you..."

"Natalie," she filled in. "Although I prefer Nat."

"Nice to meet you, Nat," I replied, keeping a polite smile on my face.

She turned to Em's door and opened it.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Why was she going into Em's room?

She looked at me with confusion. "This is my room now. Mr Carter assigned it to me when I changed teams."