The weekend had flown by quickly, too quickly. Lunette spent most of her time in her room trying to comprehend what happened to her life. It all seemed like a blur now, like a nightmare. But the scar on her neck and the blister on her palm were constant reminders that it wasn’t a dream, and it never would be.

Lunette survived the week without any signs of monsters, Silas, or his family. The week was quiet, but Lunette was still experiencing the aftershock from the ordeal. It was like being ripped into a fantasyland one minute and thrown to reality the next. It was enough to make her mind accept the notion of insanity rather than the grim reality. But, while the days that went by were calm, Lunette often heard faint sounds of footsteps in her home at night. Or rather, the footsteps sounded like they were coming from the roof. The sounds were often accompanied by faint scratching. But fear and anxiety prevented her from going to investigate, and when morning came, it was a forgotten worry.

Tatiana and Dalia managed to buy Lunette a new phone, an older model, that would do. Her family was adamant on keeping contact with the young adult, especially after her suspicious accident. Lunette wasn’t exactly picky about the device; it only opened more doors for her to follow her old life and be disappointed.

Despite her recent discovery of Kiara and Caleb, Lunette still wanted to return to Louisiana. She wasn’t sure if she truly believed that if she returned, Caleb would follow, or if she just wanted to leave this city and the strange occurrences for good.

Lunette thought over her future to distract her mind while she scrunched her damp hair in here hands, using the reflection of her vanity for direction. Her dark curls forming with each squish, and her grip getting tighter and tighter.

“You don’t have to go you know.” Tatiana’s voice suddenly filled the room causing Lunette to jump, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. And no, I’m going to school.” There was harshness to her tone.

“Missing one day won’t hurt though,” Tatianna tried to reassure her, but Lunette’s mind was made up. The tension she was accumulating from the unanswered questions, Eastport, and her life in Louisiana had been building up through the days, waiting to explode.

“Unlike you, I want to go home. I don’t care what Dalia says.” Lunette hissed. Tatiana lowered her head slightly, scratching the back of it. Her hair fell out of the loose bun she wore. It was clear she had damaged her hair over the years by dyeing it. Instead of being a rich dark color, it now was a faded color of soot and sand.

“We’re not against you.” She tried to reason. But Lunette turned to her, clenching her wet hair, and unleashed the built-up aggression.

“No, you’re not. I don’t even know how you could say that. You two…force me to move all because Dalia saw that it would be better for us here. But newsflash, it’s not! She’s going crazy, it was fun in the beginning to listen to her, but actually following through with her delusions is…is…” Lunette started to trail off, her eyes stinging from her frustration. In truth, Lunette wanted to blame her family on why her sister had run away. But she knew deep down she couldn’t be certain. Biting her lip, Lunette looked away and to the floor.

Before Tatiana could begin to speak, Lunette pushed past her and ran downstairs, grabbing her things and heading out the door. She didn’t bother packing it as usual, she didn’t want to stay another minute in the apartment.

Tatiana stood at the top of the apartment stairs, looking down and watching as Lunette slammed the door shut. “Teen angst,” Dalia began, poking her head into view from the bottom of the stairwell, “it builds character, but boy is it a bitch.” Tatiana let out a small laugh, covering her mouth with her palm. She too had begun to cry, not out of frustration, but out of sympathy.

Lunette stormed her way through the school doors, bumping into a few people as she went. She didn’t care about anyone in this school. Her attention was focused on finishing the last day of the school week so she could spend the weekend wallowing in her own self-pity.

Most of the day went by as normal, Lunette was amazed she was getting used to clumsy nature. Though she always kept a hand near the wall for precaution. It helped her to keep her balance when her feet seemed to trip over nothing.

Despite this minor inconvenience, Lunette strolled down the hall to the cafeteria with newfound confidence. When she reached an unoccupied table, Lunette came to the realization of her actions. There was no food. Sitting, she stared at her bag, somehow still expecting it to have her lunch. After fumbling to collect enough loose change, she rose from her seat and walked past Erica’s table. She hated to admit it, but Lunette enjoyed hearing the latest protest from Erica, it kept her sane. A familiar banter that brought her to reality. But today Erica wasn’t focused on her, instead, the entire table was talking about the new students in their previous classes and, of course, Jason.

Lunette grabbed herself a yogurt and ginger ale from the vending machines and walked back to her table. She wondered what became of Jason after she was attacked. Lunette wasn’t sure if what attacked her was really Jason. It unquestionably inhuman. She pondered the many unanswered questions about last week’s events. But the more she tried to focus her attention on the details, the more her brain seemed to suppress the memories. Hiding them in deepest areas of her consciousness, begging her to forget.

But forgetting would have been a lie.

“Oh, there she is.”

The voice shook her still, and her eyes drifted from the floor to her once empty table. Jerrard smirked at her from the one end and waved his fingers while Silas slid down into a seat. Lunette hesitated, wondering if she had finally lost her mind. Slowly, she crept to the table and her belongings, debating if she should grab them and run.

“Before you storm off,” Jerrard began, “I would like to talk to you. We would like to talk to you.” He spoke, almost forgetting Silas was with him. Lunette remained silent and glanced between them, she heard her classmate’s murmurs from where she stood. These must have been the students Erica’s table was talking about.

This, thankfully, meant Lunette wasn’t seeing apparitions. However, this regrettably meant they were there. Lunette mustered up the speed to grab her things, trying to escape.

“A-Ah.” In the next instant, she had dropped everything back to the table. She lifted her right palm into view to see the blister burning and bubbling. A horrified expression washed over her features. A different type of discomfort came from seeing the smirks on the two boys.

“Please, sit.” Jerrard suggested.

“Fine.” Lunette’s face felt like it was burning more than her hand. “I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with any of you.” She hissed, using the cool yogurt cup as a makeshift icepack for her hand.

“You thought wrong.” Silas commented, but Lunette tried her best to ignore him.

“We would like to help you.” Jerrard cut in, trying to diffuse any possible arguments.

“By stalking me?” Jerrard smirked wider.

“If you’d like to call it that. I can agree. Then yes, by stalking you.”

“Then no thank you.” Lunette began to pack up her things once again, ready to endure pain. Silas latched onto one end of her bag like an anchor. “Let go!”

“I wasn’t finished,” Jerrard stared at Lunette with a severe expression. “As Walter expressed to you before, you are in danger. And it’s in our best interests to keep you alive and…” he paused, “utilize our resources.”

“You mean use me? For what?” Lunette furrowed her brow. It sounded like Jerrard was leaving out crucial bits of detail that were important to her.

“I can’t say that now. But I thought I would invite you to join us later tonight. That way we can discuss things in private.”

“Then why? Why come to my school?”

“Oh, we plan on staying here so don’t mind us. But I thought this would be better than, perhaps Silas taking you for a ride again.” This time Jerrard smiled, clearly amused.

Lunette glared to Silas, who had been eyeing her the whole conversation. His body weight shifted to lean against the table. Lunette felt uncomfortable under his stare and turned away reflexively.

“Then, will you tell me what you are?” She questioned, trying to make a deal with them. She wanted to know who and what she was talking to. The two men appeared to be human, but so did Jason. And from her short time with them she already knew they were anything but human.

The two blended in perfectly with the student body, albeit they did look older, their casual clothes fit in well with the crowd. The glow they had to their skin, however, set them apart. It was as if they were constantly under stage light.

“We will.” Silas spoke after Jerrard remained quiet. “We’ve decided the best thing to do given your…state.”

Lunette looked into his pale eyes; it was easy to get lost in them trying to view the fine details. She fought the urge to lose her way and scolded herself internally. This man was a creep, a monster, she couldn’t be allured by him. She looked away and stared back into Jerrard’s hazel orbs, feeling calmer. Silas cocked his head like a dog trying to assess the girl who sat in front of him.

Lunette tried to bring herself back onto the topic, “Why now? Why did you leave me alone for a week? To give me a false sense of security?”

“No,” Jerrard began, “We had a fairly long discussion with our family.” The answer he gave didn’t satiate Lunette and she sat there waiting.

“We also needed to learn more about you.” Silas then spoke. Lunette hesitantly looked back to him.

“More stalking?” She hissed, and Silas let out a small laugh and looked to the table. His fingers were fumbling together lightly, it looked like he was cleaning the underside of his nails with only his thumb.

“We needed to understand why a secular would be here.” Lunette lost focus of her annoyance with him. Instead, she was confused by his words.

“Secular?” She looked to both brothers “What?” Lunette breathed out, almost sporting a laugh. The two brothers exchanged a quick glance, unnoticeable to Lunette. They knew more than they were admitting to.

“We were prepared for that kind of answer, which will be explained later.” Jerrard answered.

Lunette breathed in and filled her lungs with air, sitting up straight as she did so. “Later. Later as in you want me to actually be alone with you all. Again.” She laughed as she spoke, not out of humor but more out of nervousness.

“Yes.” Silas answered curtly. “It’s very important you understand the situation you’re in.”

“And what situation is that?” There was silence, and both men stared at Lunette without any expression. “Ah! Later.” She rolled her eyes and sneered.

“Yes, we’ll be holding a little, family reunion, later tonight.” Silas noted, smiling at her with a slight raise to his eyebrow. He was toying with her. Lunette glared at him and gripped her carton of yogurt tighter.

“And why should I go?” Silas’ smile to rise.

“Because if you don’t come willingly, we will take you by force.”

“Well, I will,” Jerrard then interjected, “she did banish you from her house after all.” Jerrard snickered to Silas quietly. Lunette was perplexed by what he meant. Silas glared to his brother and slid further into his seat. Jerrard clearly did not have any sides and enjoyed playing on all fields. If the end result was amusing, it didn’t matter if it were Lunette or Silas.

“We’ll be there by five tonight, don’t keep us waiting or we will come and get you.” Silas tried to regain his composure, but his eyes never averted from glaring at Jerrard. The two stood up just as the bell rang and disappeared into the crowd of students.