Luna's Arc

Chapter 7 of 29

The fire burned low. Luke slept against Luna's side, then jerked awake with a cry. His whole body shook. Luna pulled him close and rocked him. The little black cat pressed against his chest and purred. Luna wanted to ask him everything. He was her brother. He had known her name. He had carried a note from their parents. He knew things she did not. But his eyes were wide and wet, and his hands would not stop trembling. She swallowed her questions. One wrong word might break him. "I've got you," she whispered. "You're safe." Luke stared past her into the dark trees. "Mom and Dad," he said. "They left us. They left us." Luna's chest went tight. She heard something under the words. Not just sadness. Something worse. She almost asked. She almost said, What did you see? But she watched him shake, and she stopped. She rubbed his back in slow circles instead. "I know," she said. "They left us both." Luke shook his head hard. His breath came fast. "No. Not like you. I saw." His voice cracked. He grabbed her sleeve. "They didn't just leave. There were more. Lots of us. In the trees." Luna froze. She thought of the book in the shed. The photographs. The hundreds of names on the torn page. She had wondered how they all got here. Luke had seen it happen. She made herself go slow. "You watched them?" Luke nodded. Tears ran down his face. "They took a car in. Lots of times. They handed kids out and drove away. I hid. I saw Dad's face. He wasn't crying." His small hands closed into fists. "He wasn't even sad." Luna held still. Every part of her wanted to shake more out of him. But he was gasping now, close to sobbing. She had her answer, and it was enough to poison her whole chest. She did not need to break him for the rest. "Okay," she said softly. "Okay. Stop. You don't have to say more." He collapsed into her. She held him until his breathing slowed. The cat curled under his chin. Slowly, his fists loosened. His eyes shut. He slept. Luna sat awake in the dying firelight. Now she knew. Their parents had not lost them. They had driven here on purpose, again and again, and left child after child in the dark. The note in her locket had promised they would return. She had believed it. She touched the locket at her throat. The promise felt like a lie now. But a lie meant a reason. Someone drove that car. Someone wrote those names. She looked at the sleeping boy who had seen it all, and she made a choice. She would not force the truth out of Luke. She would go find it herself.