“Strickland? Didn’t I just bring you back here a few days ago?” Chuck, the pilot, asks me in surprise when I step onto the plane.
I nod my annoyance. “Sure did. I got called back early. As much as I enjoy your company, I really didn’t want to see you again so soon, Chuck.”
He reaches to take my duffel with a grimace. “Damn, that’s too bad, son. But just think of the overtime on your next check. That should cushion the blow.”
I hand off my bag for him to stow with a slight nod and move further into the plane to take a seat in one of the six passenger rows. I nod a greeting to two other passengers in the first row, both of whom are wearing suits, telling me they’re from corporate. I walk past them and settle into the last row for the flight. I glance at my watch and sigh at the late hour, knowing I won’t make it to camp until after the kitchen closes and I’ll have to settle for a crappy microwaved meal. I jam my earbuds into my ears and let my favorite playlist help pass the time as we take off.
I’m in that sweet middle of asleep and awake with the hazy image of a smiling Luna looking over her shoulder at me. Her gorgeous cinnamon colored hair shines in the sun with all the reds and golds blazing as her pretty green eyes dance at me in amusement, when all of a sudden, my stomach heaves as the plane pitches to the side violently. My eyes fly open when the men in front of me yell and I yank my ear buds out to find out what the hell is going on. I lean forward and crane my neck to see just as the front of the plane drops down way too fast for normal.
One of the suits staggers from his seat and rushes to the cockpit, diving forward like he’s going to tackle Chuck, but as he shifts, I see him yanking back on the controls. The nose of the plane comes up slightly but we’re still going down and my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest as the man turns his head to look back at us with terror.
“The moon! The fucking moon!”
I lean the other way and look out the small window. My mouth drops open as all I can see is the moon, ten times bigger than it should be, and with a massive crack in it. Harsh scraping noises vibrate under my feet and I know it’s trees. Everything slows right down as the air ripples around me in a haze. I know we’re going down, I know we’re crashing, and then we hit something so hard, I know nothing.
Chapter 33 - Luna
Two things happen at the same moment when I open my eyes again to watch the strange man stride my way with his sword pointed at me. Hands grab my shoulders from behind and there’s an incredibly bright flash of white light that blanks out my sight. When I blink away the spots in my eyes, the buildings, cars, the street in front of me - are all back where they belong. The strange man has stopped moving but is still staring intently at me.
The hands on my shoulders drag me backward toward the restaurant door but I can’t take my eyes off of the man who’s now standing at the edge of the parking lot. His sword dips down to point at the ground as his other hand comes up in a fist that he thumps against his chest. His eyes are still just as intense but his expression softens slightly as he nods his head in a gesture that’s almost like a bow. I have no idea what the fuck it means.
Maria drags me back into the restaurant as my chest heaves and I try to catch my breath. She’s rambling in Italian and crossing herself, I think she’s praying. We both move to oneof the big windows and stare through it at the fractured moon hanging in our sky. Whatever happened to make it break and move closer to us seems to have stopped because it’s no longer getting any closer. I drop my gaze to the parking lot but whoever that strange man was, he’s gone, so I lift my eyes back up. We stand there with the other customers and waitstaff in complete disbelief - unable to look away from something that should not be possible.
The sound of my phone going off in my hand breaks me from my horrified daze. I stab my finger to accept the call and Gigi’s voice grounds me back to myself.
“Luna! Luna, where are you?”
I have to swallow twice to make my voice work. “I… I’m at work. Gigi, the moon. The moon is broken.” I whisper, like if I say it quietly it won’t actually be true.
“I know, I know, Peach. I need you to come get me. I need you to leave work and come get me right now.”
A hand lands on my shoulder. I look back at Maria who is still staring up at the moon in shock.
“Maria? I…I have to go. I have to go get Gigi. She says I have to go get her.”
My boss looks over to me with a dazed expression and slowly nods her head.
“Yes, go. Go, Luna. Go get your grandmother and then get home.”
I try to move away from her but she yanks me hard against her in a crushing hug. When she pulls back, her eyes are full of tears.
“Go, Luna. Go be with your family.”
She pushes me away so I turn to the back of the restaurant. Everything is a blur as I rush to grab my purse and car keys. I don’t even realize that I still have my phone pressed against my ear until it rings again, causing me to jump and flinch away fromit. I glance at the screen and see it’s Torrin calling and a half sob flows past my lips as I answer it.
“Luna! Luna, are you there?”
“Tor, the moon!”
“I know, love. I’m…”
There's a blast of static from the phone and then nothing but dead silence so I pull it away from my ear to see that the call has cut out. I try to dial him back but the no service symbol is staring at me instead of the four bars that I usually have. I stuff my phone into my purse with a frustrated cry and race out of the restaurant to my Jeep, dropping my keys twice as my hands shake. When I finally get behind the wheel, I squeeze my eyes closed so I can’t see the monster in the sky that looks like it’s going to fall on all our heads. Breathe in, breathe out, get Gigi, get Penny. Breathe in, breathe out, get Gigi, get Penny. I focus on that for a minute until I feel somewhat steadier.
I need to get to Gigi, and I need to do it safely because if I’m going to die, it will be with the only family I have left, not in a stupid car accident. I take one more deep breath and then start the Jeep and slowly pull out of the parking lot. Thankfully, Gigi’s condo is in the opposite direction from the car accident blocking the intersection, but as I drive, I see more and more accidents as well as people everywhere looking up at the moon. I refuse to look again. If it’s going to hit us, I don’t want to see it coming.
My brain tracks everyone’s location as I drive. Gage is on a flight somewhere over northern Alberta. Torrin is in Winnipeg, two provinces away, and Julian and Reid are in Vancouver on the other side of the mountains. My knuckles whiten as I squeeze the steering wheel. Not one of them is within a thousand kilometers of home right now and I might never see them again. A humming whine escapes from my throat at that thought and I silently beg the universe to not let that happen. I’ve already lost so much. I don’t know if I can survive losing them, too.
When I pull into the parking lot at Gigi’s condo building, I see people on almost every balcony staring up at the moon but I keep my head tucked down and race to the door that’s been propped open with a brick. On a normal day, I'd look like a crazy person trying to get the elevator to come quicker by hitting the button over and over as fast as I can – but today everyone's attention is elsewhere. The door finally opens and I’m practically vibrating with anxiety as it slowly climbs the floors with the piped-in Muzak butchers a Katy Perry song. My overwhelmed brain hums along to it until I finally reach her floor and then I run down the hall and bang on her door.
