Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 53

 "Luna?" Trae called, knocking lightly on the door frame.

Luna jumped with surprise. "Trae!" She sped over to him and threw herself into his arms.

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and dropping his head to her shoulder. "Hey," he said softly, letting her go and taking her hand. "Do you want to go on a walk?"

Luna blinked. Of course she would, but they just got back in and she had to train, she had to make sure everything was in order for the war... she couldn't just go... she had to be there for everyone in case something happened... she knew something would happen with her away... "Trae..." she said softly, looking down guiltily.

"Oh no you don't, Luna, you're going with him. You can't just think about everyone else, you have to think about yourself sometimes too." Harper said, hands on her hips and both eyebrows raised.

"But..."

"God, just go," Sylvia rolled her eyes. "The two of us will be fine."

"But..."

"Luna, get out." Harper said with a laugh, starting to push Luna and Trae towards the door. "Just go," she slung her arm around Sylvia's shoulders.

"Okay, thanks guys," Luna said with a grateful smile as the door was slammed behind them.

Trae took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers, leading her down the street. She smiled widely, her heart racing in excitement rather than pounding with anxiety.

Trae returned her smile without hesitation. He watched her with a feeling of unmatched happiness, but it was burned through by fear, like cloth falling over a burning flame. Now that he knew, all he thought about was her part in the war. He was scared for the day he would lose her, or the day when one of them would break the other's heart. He wouldn't let that happen anytime soon. He just wanted to make sure she was happy, since each of her smiles made him happy. He wanted to keep her smiling until the end of her days. His blood ran cold when he realized he didn't know how many more days that would be. He kept his smile plastered to his face, fluctuating from a genuine one to a fake one glued over a face of fear. His fear would melt each time he caught sight of her face, but it would always return with a burning vengeance.

Luna noticed his smile slip as they entered the park. She stopped him in the grass and took his hands, searching his face with a worried gaze. "Trae... what is it? You know you can tell me anything..." She tried to get him to look at her, but his eyes were darting everywhere else but on her. "Trae... if something's wrong, please tell me... if I'm the one doing something wrong..." Luna placed her hand on his cheek.

"Luna, it's not you, I promise. It's just..." He sighed deeply, leading her over to a bench. They sat down, Trae still avoiding her eyes. "My brother..." His voice was quiet, shaking as he forced himself through the sentence. "He- he's been missing... for a few days now." He dropped his head as a few tears started to spill from his eyes.

Luna gasped, staring at him with a panicked expression, a numb feeling passing through her. "Rafi's missing? Why didn't you tell me? Tell us?"

"You've been growing so distant lately, all of you. I know why, but it's still hard. I miss you guys so much. I miss you so much. I just want to be in on it all. I want to make certain that nothing bad happens to you."

"Trae..." Luna's voice cracked. "I don't want you to get hurt. You're the one person I know I can protect. Please, you have to stay away from this. And Rafi, I promise we'll get him back. No matter what, we'll get him back. I promise. I swear it on my life, I promise I will get him back."

He moved his gaze to the other side of her face, still not meeting her eyes, now staring at the lake instead of the trees. "I keep trying to distract myself," he started with a lump in his throat, making it hard to get the words out. "I keep promising myself and my parents that he'll come back soon, that he'll come back..." his voice became more strained through the sentence, until cutting off entirely. He finally met her gaze, his face streaked with tears still flowing. "Luna, he's gone!" He cried out, dropping his head onto her shoulder. The tears slipped from Luna's eyes where they had been welling up. She felt her heart breaking for the little boy, and for Trae who sounded so heartbroken and sad, when all she wanted was to see him smile. "He's gone..." His voice had dropped to an almost whisper, the same despair in his words. "And there's a good chance that I'll never see him again."

His shoulders were shaking against her, and she just hugged him. "Trae," she said gently. I'm so, so sorry, I had no idea..."

Two sobs came from the back of his throat. She kissed his cheek, opting not to say anything else as she held him while he cried into her shirt and she cried into his hair.

"Trae, I promise everything will be okay. I'll get him back no matter what, I promise. Just promise me one thing."

His gaze drifted back to her. "Anything."

"Promise me you won't go looking for him yourself."

Trae stilled. "I..."

"Trae..." Luna let out a breath. "I know you want to find him, but promise me you'll let us handle it."

He shuddered, nodding as he dropped his head back on her shoulder. "I promise."

☆★☆

Rafael shivered in the corner behind all the cubicles. Beside him sat another one of the kidnapped children, Lia Spencer. She was shaking too, her curly red hair falling over her wide brown eyes and spilling just over her shoulders as she hunched against him. The Eye had promised to let them go... he said one job and they could go... They had already lost count of how long they had been there. Every time the men in black suits passed by them, Lia would whimper, the sound of their heavy boots against the floor intensifying her shaking.

It had been a while since the men had taken them there, but every time they saw them the feelings of fear quickly resurfaced. Rafael was the oldest of all the kids there, anyone older than twelve was to become a soldier. He danced just under the line, months away from his thirteenth birthday. The thought of being forced to fight for the wrong side made his heart feel as though it would beat its way through his chest. A fear gripped his stomach unlike anything he had felt before. It would be up to him to come up with a plan to get everyone out. He was responsible for them all, and he would get them out.

Rafael pushed himself further into the corner of the room as the noise began to rise, his arms wrapped around Lia and a glare under his wide and fearful eyes.

"We have deadlines, people!" The Eye shrieked across the room, making the two kids jump. "You all know I am not as forgiving as I seem." His voice echoed through the room, sufficiently scaring the young ones out. They ran up the spiral stairs and bounded down the halls until they made it to a large room. At least a dozen sets of bunk beds lined the walls, with nothing but a frayed rug and a small closet of clothes pushed up against one edge. The group of kids was sitting on the floor playing cards, their voices hushed and their heads slumped.

A dozen sets of eyes jumped to Lia and Rafael as they slipped through the door, a number of them flinching as the doors clanged shut. Rafael held out his hands. "It's just us."