Alive at Sunset (Rituals of the Night Series Book 2) (2 page)

A
manda sat down across from Luna after she distributed the food from the wide black tray. Luna sipped at the ice tea and was surprised by the sweet taste of it. She had expected a much more bitter taste for a restaurant drink. Amanda was eating her salad, picking at it tentatively with her white plastic fork.

Luna glanced past her friend to the busy street beyond. She narrowed her eyes against the sun’s glare. It was a nice spring day. Flashes of light from the metal cars were the only regrets. Luna picked up her plastic fork and took another tentative bite of her salad. The flavor wasn’t as good as her tea. She pushed a few pieces of lettuce around the plastic container, picking a moment for her next bite.

“The food’s pretty good,” Amanda remarked.

Luna nodded.

“I’m thinkin’ that I might make this a regular spot after all,” Amanda said, nearly giddy as she took another bite of her salad.

“I just can’t wait to relax at the
apartment
and not the college. I feel like I lived on campus all semester.” Luna sighed. “I hardly remember what color my walls are.”

“That must’ve been tough,” Amanda said. “I don’t know how you do it.”

Luna nodded. Her friend had had two less classes than her. She didn’t know the meaning of living out of home since she still at least had time to sleep. Amanda went back to picking at her food, and Luna closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun sink into her skin.

The restaurant they were at was new. It was a cute café with tables both inside and out. Luna enjoyed the feeling of the breeze on her skin, glad to be outside for a change.

“How do you think you did on your final?” Luna asked.

“I did okay, I think. I bet you aced it.”

“Thanks, I bet you did great too,” Luna said as she glanced up at her friend.

“What do you feel like doing today?” Amanda asked.

“I’m not sure, any ideas?”

“The possibilities are endless, it’s a perfect day to end the semester on,” Amanda said.

Luna nodded. “It’s great to be out of the classroom.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Amanda said. “I’ve been waiting for today for weeks! I haven’t seen some of my friends in so long. And, oh, I can’t wait to start dating again!”

Luna chuckled but had nothing to say. Dating wasn’t on her agenda. She didn’t want to waste her free time. She couldn’t remember her last romantic encounter- only that it had ended in disaster.

Amanda glanced up at her. “Something the matter, girl?”

“Nope,” Luna said, smiling pleasantly. “Just enjoying the food.”

“Don’t lie, Luna. You don’t like dating…do you?”

Luna hid her face by taking a gulp of her tea. “Honestly…no, not really.”

“What?” Amanda screeched, drawing the attention of the people at the next table over. She looked at Luna with borderline horror.

“It’s just awkward sitting there with a person you barely know,” Luna admitted, looking down at her hands.

“Well, that will never do. You’re in college. You’re twenty yours old, in the prime of your life! Why not get yourself a man, girlie, if only for a little while? Have some fun,” Amanda said.

Luna shrugged. “I don’t know, Mandy. I’m not really comfortable with it. I’m more of a loner at heart.”

“I’ll change that attitude around,” Amanda decided.

Luna opened her mouth to argue but closed it again.
I like myself the way I am.

Amanda didn’t notice Luna’s reaction. “It’ll be great once we both find dates, we can double date. Then it won’t be so awkward.”

Luna nodded, too horrified to think of a response. Somehow, the thought of a double date seemed worse than a one on one. Amanda was once again distracted and failed to notice Luna cringe as she glanced behind her.

Luna scrunched her face as she looked at her. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

Amanda shook her head as a coy smile appeared on her face. “Nope, just scoping the place for potential dates.”

Luna smiled, trying to match her friend’s enthusiasm, but the thought of dating again weighed in her mind like a brick. During her studies, she had had plenty of excuses to avoid dates like a deadly disease. Her excuse was gone, and she had to face it head on. Amanda would make sure of it.

“Cheer up, girl,” Amanda said. “Things aren’t as bad as you’re making them seem.”

“I haven’t dated in so long. It makes me nervous.”

“Well, I’ll help you get back in the game,” Amanda said. “This will be the perfect time to go shopping and have some real girl time.”

“Is shopping really necessary?” Luna asked, picking at her salad.

“It’s the cornerstone of dating! How will you meet anyone if you don’t wear nice clothes?”

Luna blinked but didn’t speak. The situation felt far too familiar somehow. She forced herself to brush off the feeling of déjà vu.

“Like I said, don’t worry about a thing,” Amanda repeated.

Luna nodded, but she knew that she would worry about plenty of things.

Amanda looked past her suddenly, eyes squinting to focus on something in the distance. Luna hardly noticed it as she enjoyed the moment of silence.

“Wow!! He’s kind of cute. I wonder if that’s the kind of guys that come to this place,” Amanda said suddenly, full excitement in her voice.

Luna felt a pit of foreboding in her stomach as she brought herself to acknowledge her friend. “Who?”

“The boy in the café. He’s by the window,” she replied gesturing with her eyes. “Take a look.”

Luna turned to look where her friend pointed, knowing she wouldn’t have a choice either way. Light glinted off of the window, making it impossible to see into the building from where she sat. Luna didn’t want to tell her that or she might actually make her go inside.

“Yeah,” she replied simply, turning back to look at Amanda. She went back to picking at her salad, hoping to end the conversation with her blunt disinterest. She knew from experience that her friend wouldn’t take a hint.

“You should ask him out, Luna,” Amanda said.

Luna chuckled and picked at her salad again. She could easily see that adventure ending in failure. Her communication skills were her only undeveloped smarts. “No, that’s okay, Mandy. I’d really rather not.”

Amanda shook her head, surprised. She once again had that look as if Luna had something odd and profound. “Are you even human?”

“I’d like to think so,” Luna said, swallowing the small bite of chicken she had eaten as she glanced up at her roommate.

“I can’t believe you’d give
that
up without another glance!” Amanda sounded as if she was on the edge of hysterics.

“It’s just a boy,” Luna said and then took another sip of the sweet ice tea. In her opinion, there were far more pressing matters in the world. Of course Amanda would vehemently disagree. “Why don’t
you
ask him out?”

“I was thinking about it, but I don’t see him now,” Amanda replied, frowning. “I wonder if he comes here regularly.”

Luna didn’t reply as she glanced up from her glass. Behind Amanda, the sun glinted off of a new surface beside the road. It was bright, reflecting a large majority of the sun. Luna had to narrow her eyes to focus on it. The light began to form in her vision. Finally, her mind composed an image, and she realized it was a man with shockingly pale blond hair.

Once Luna’s eyes completely adjusted, she noticed that the figure wore all black; a high collar with long sleeves and dark buttons down the front. Black jeans that ended in heavy black hunting boots accompanied his fancy shirt. When the figure turned, blue eyes flashed from pale ivory skin.

Luna gasped, shocked as images of her senior year in high school flooded through her brain. Too many at a time to actually see but enough to fill her mind and her heart with the dread and terror she had felt in years past. To her, he looked like the one and only, Chance Welfrey.

“Are you listening to me, Luna?” Amanda asked, snapping her fingers in Luna’s face. “Earth to Luna!”

Luna managed to pull her gaze (and thoughts) away from the distant figure. “Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.”

“If you were listening, then what did I just say?” Amanda asked, sounding a bit irritated as she folded her arms across her chest.

Luna didn’t answer her friend. Her mind was miles away from inane and pointless chatter. Her eyes shifted back to the street, the place where she had seen the figure. It was gone, but the thought of what she had seen made her feel sick to her stomach. The food didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. She pushed the half-eaten salad to the middle of the table as she thought about the figure, how distinctive the hair was. How familiar the outfit looked.

She hated remembering what had happened to her back then. It was in the past -a thing of nightmares. Years of therapy hadn’t been able to push them into repression, but she still did her best to cope with the memories. Usually, she did a good job, but there was no way she could ignore her past if it presented itself to her. The memories were too strong, too potent with barbed emotions.

If Chance Welfrey was back to full health that meant that she was in danger.

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They got back to their apartment which lay on the outskirts of town about an hour later. Amanda had plenty of things to do in celebration of her freedom. No matter what, they usually hung out together and got home at the same time.

They only had one apartment key between the two of them. They had meant to make copies when they had moved in, but sometimes, little things seemed to get neglected. Luna set their lone key down on the counter where it was visible when the girls went inside.

Luna went to her room and set her backpack on the floor beside her full-sized bed. She could hear Amanda shuffling around in the kitchen at the front of the apartment. Closer to her, claws clicked against the wooden floor of the hallway. Luna turned to see her Border Collie, Lucky.

“Hey, Lucky,” she said, dropping to her dog’s level as she stood baying in the hallway outside Luna’s room.

Lucky barked happily and ran up the rest of the way to her. Her bright eyes shone from a white face with black patches and tangled mats of hair around the eyes. Her fur was shaggy, and the dark threads hung easily from her well-fed form. The same tangles hung from her tail as she barked happily, rearing up on her two back legs.

Luna placed her hand on Lucky’s head and petted the soft fur gently. Lucky’s tongue hung from the side of her mouth as she panted roughly. Luna scratched the white space beside Lucky’s left eye, and Lucky moved her muzzle to lick the palm of Luna’s hand.

“Want to go for a walk?” she asked her dog.

Lucky barked happily once again, and Luna smiled as she picked up Lucky’s dark leash off of the floor. Lucky was bounding with excitement, running in a circle as she chased her tail.

“Lucky,” Luna said to get her dog’s attention.

The Border Collie focused on her instantly, and Luna hooked the buckle of the leash onto her collar. Lucky galloped towards the door, and Luna was right behind her. Lucky barked as she ran towards the front door and stood barking by the entrance to the kitchen. Luna stopped the Border Collie by the door and put her shoes that she had discarded less than a minute ago back on.

Then, she reconsidered. She pulled her shoes off and picked up her roller blades instead. She carefully strapped them on. Then, she clutched the end of Lucky’s leash. Lucky took off like a rocket, and they were out the door in a minute.

Luna’s hair billowed behind her in a cloud of black strands as Lucky easily pulled her along. The relaxation of the roller blades made her mind ease away from all earlier worries. She readjusted her grip on the leash carefully (part of her worried that Lucky might pull away) as her dog pounded along the crowded sidewalk without hesitation.

It wasn’t long until she was in the heart of the town. Cars bustled loudly down the street, and many people were standing scattered along the sidewalk. She had stopped only one time for a car the entire time they had been out. She wondered when the rocket fuel in her dog would run out.

Finally, her dog began to tire. Her once excited bounds turned to a half-hearted quick walk, and Luna tugged gently on the leash to get her to stop. Lucky obeyed, and Luna stood beside her as she panted heavily. Luna reached out to run a hand through the dog’s thick hair and over the length of her ear.

The dog licked her lips before she continued to pant, her tongue once again lolling from the corner of her mouth. Luna let out a breath of air as she looked around. Lucky didn’t usually bring her so far out into town, at least not to the spot where they were. Luna recognized that they were close to the café that she and Amanda had been at about an hour ago.

Luna observed the town around her. With her early grievances forgotten, everything seemed right. The town once again seemed like the place she had tried for years to make her peace with. The worst of her memories were in another town, Lima, Ohio where her family still lived.