Luna

I awoke with a soft, pale faced male staring down at me, his eyes were a sparkling black, and his face had perfect arches and his jawline was sharp.

“Hello?” Themale’s voice was as calming as it should be. He turned his head, “Griffin. She’s awake!”

A slightly smaller figure rushed over, this one was more rigid, with dark almost chocolate brown eyes, that seemed to hold back any emotions.

“That's good,” Unlike the other boy's voice this one seemed like it belonged to someone else. It didn’t match the small figure that leaned over me. I began to close my eyes again, it was hard keeping them open.

“Hey,” The small boy said, “are you okay?”

I slowly opened my mouth, “Water.” I choked.

“Oh, right,” He replied, running off to get something from his small duffel bag, a white symbol of some kind emblazoned on the front. The soft faced boy helped me sit up slowly, he looked older than the other boy, and more lost. The smaller boy returned, drink in hand, in a slightly dented plastic bottle. He handed it over. I took it gratefully and swallowed, savoring the taste that formed on my tongue, pulling the drink away from my mouth. I started to realize, I didn’t know these people, but they were helping me anyway.

“Thank you,” I say quietly, “what’s your name?” I stared directly at the older one, he seemed nicer.

“Me?” He asked “I’m Claude, and that one over there” he pointed at the small brown eyed kid “Is Griffin.”

“Who are you?” The small Griffin kid cut in, sounding annoyed.

“I’m,” I took a deep breath, and paused for a while. I had never told anyone my name. No one except that Tester, “Luna. My name is Luna.”

“Where are you from Luna?” Claude stared at me, probably looking at my ugly purple eyes. That was always the first thing people seem to notice about me.

“I don’t know…” I replied.

The small, frowning one that was apparently called Griffin came closer, interested.

“You mean,” He whispered, shock in his voice, “you don’t come from The Town,”

I shake my head, confused.

He turns to Claude, a smile forming on his face, “Claude! Claude...there's somewhere else, there's somewhere other than The Town, there's something else other than this grass,” He rips the grass out it fistfuls and throws it in the air.

Claude chuckles. They both seem so happy.

“You don’t want to go there, where I am from. It is dark, dangerous.” I paused, “I was stuck in a small room, I wasn’t allowed decorations, I wasn’t allowed anything that could of been fun. I was not allowed to leave, and I had no idea of time, except the sun setting and rising which I could see through a small window at the top of my room. I wasn’t allowed to see anyone, talk to anyone. I was just alone in a small, white room with my thoughts. Every few days people came in, I called them the Testers. They were covered head to toe in white fabric, their face covered by a mask, breathing oxygen through a tank. They couldn’t even share the same air as me.

“Then what they would do is they would blindfold me, they didn’t want me finding my way out of there. They’d led me out of my room and through corridors, lots and lots of corridors until finally we were in another room. These were the only two rooms I had ever seen, I had ever been in. They were both white, plain and eerily quiet. This room was where I would be tested, the other one was the one I slept in, the one I stayed in.

“The only person in that place I was actually allowed to talk to was Grace. Grace was the one who watched over my tests, my experiments. She was the one who helped me through them, told me what to do. All the other people just stood there, masks on, breathing through their oxygen tanks. Grace didn’t need an oxygen tank. I asked her why she didn’t have one, why she didn’t need to be covered up, protected from me. She told me it was because we were connected, that we were both special, that we could help each other.

“When they, the people in masks, poked needles in me, taking my blood, injecting things in me. She was there, holding my hand. When they stuck wires on my head, telling me to say things, to read stuff, to solve things. She was there. Sometimes I just got to play with my dolls and stuffed animals, but they were always there, watching, taking notes. Everything I did was a test. All I was, was an experiment. But I needed to help Grace, she said so, her big purple eyes pleading, staring into mine.

“Then one day Grace didn’t turn up to my tests. Then the next and the next. I asked where she had gone, why she didn’t hold my hand when I was scared. Why she had left just like The Tester, the one that named me, the one that spoke to me. The people in the masks said nothing, they always say nothing. But I heard them talking, chatting, they thought I was sleeping, they didn’t know I was listening. They said she had found someone better, someone more powerful. That I had done what I had needed. I got so angry, emotions swallowed me.

“My door was locked, always locked. But this time I didn’t care, it didn’t stop me, I needed to leave. I slammed my fists against the door, again and again, and till it splintered and broke. I thought The Testers would be there, to yell at me, to lock me back in my room. But they weren’t, there was no one there. So I ran, ran through the corridors until I found a way out. No one tried to stop me, I was no use to them anymore. I yearned for the power I used to have, I yearned to throw all of The Testers against the wall, just like I did with my dad. Grace said she cared for me, that we would help each other, but she left. I trusted her. Now I am alone. ”

I stopped, words choking my throat and looked down at my hands. They were scarred and they hurt so much to move.

Claude put his hand on my shoulder, “It’s okay. This world is fuckin’ messed up and living in makes us crazy. We want to escape the rules and things that seem right aren’t. Most of the time nothing is ever right, there is always going to be a problem, someone is always not gonna like it. What they did to you was shit. You shouldn’t have been treated that way. You are special, Luna, very special. You never needed to be normal. I never knew humans could do this to people, test on them, like they were animals. But apparently they can and I hate them for it. Life is fuckin’ messed up and all you can do is try not to get caught up in it,”

I wasn’t alone anymore.