“You could've warned me you weren't going to let me go back home to grab my wallet. I would've held on to a little bit of that prick's money and paid for half of the movie you know.” Luna grunted with her hands behind her head.

“You're still harping about that?” Ryan shot back and pointed at the paper bag next to Luna's foot. “Eat your food and be happy.” As he spoke, he placed his lunch pail on the concrete step and sat down right beside it. He tapped his right hand on the ground signaling for her to do the same.

She stayed standing for a moment then sighed and accepted. “I don't understand someone such as yourself. We could've just gone for a walk instead. Something that doesn't cost cash which you don't have?”

“You gave all your money to a homeless veteran and you're lecturing me about spending what I don't have?”

“I just didn't have any on my person. As I said, I could've grabbed my wallet. Worst case scenario we would have just had to wait until after the movie to get a bite.”

“Well if you're so worried...” He grabbed Luna's shoulder, prompting her to turn and look at him. He was sporting a mischievous grin and his eyes danced with an evil plot. “Just give me a kiss and we'll call it even.” He put one finger on his cheek and waited. Luna returned his grin but had a much more sinister aura. She cracked her knuckles and Ryan flinched. Holding his hands out in front of him he stated, “Joking! I was only joking!”

Luna faced forward again and leaned back slightly with her eyes closed and a smug smirk. “That's what I thought.”

Ryan laughed nervously. “If that's how you respond to a joke about a kiss, I'd hate to see how you respond to a joke about sex.”

“You still have a long way to go before you're even allowed to think about that.” She gave him a sideways glance and noticed that he was staring at her, his eyes a tad low. “Oi.” She grumbled and planted a hand on the ground in between them. “You'd best not be imagining me naked right now.”

A chill went up his spine, his legs closed together and he put both hands in his lap. “D-don't be ridiculous! I would never do anything like that!”

“Eh? Well, whatever.” She laughed and opened up the paper bag. “Not like you'd get the image right anyway.”

Ryan watched her pull out an apple and take a bite before letting his guard down and relaxed his stance. He smiled at her and gazed up into the sky. “There's not a cloud out there today.” He observed.

“Breaking out the small talk already are we?” Luna commented and examined their surroundings. Behind them was the four-story tall school building made of weathered bricks. It made up the entirety of the city block and was surrounded by one-way streets. The stairs the two sat on lead to a side door that entered directly into the basement library and they could oversee both the ocean and city port from their position. Visible over top of the shrubbery growing on either side of them, the school's main entryway was three sets of steel doors, sat atop a marble staircase. On the street below them, Luna noticed many other students leaving for excursions in the uptown area. Some noticed her and did a double-take when they saw she had company. Some snapped a photo and others whispered among themselves, growing louder as they got further.

Luna's eye twitched. “Do they really need to make it so obvious?”

“Like their opinions matter.” Ryan responded and cracked open a can of orange juice. “Consider it this way; them seeing you on a date is making them happy. If you're enjoying your time, then what's the harm in it?”

“Is that what they think this is?” She asked, her face turning a light shade of pink.

“What else would they think it is?”

She stayed quiet and threw the core of her apple to the other side of her bag. She then tightened her hood to hide her blushing face and dragged her knees into her chest.

“Ouch. Am I really that embarrassing to hang out with?”

“Well, no... it's just... it's like...” She turned her head away from him.

He chuckled and set his drink down then stood up. Luna broadened the opening in her hood slightly to see what he was doing. “I'm going to the washroom. I'll be back in a bit.”

“Wait-” Luna mumbled and reached out towards him. He didn't hear and kept walking. She kept her hand extended out until he disappeared into the school where she then turned her palm towards her. Why... did I do that? She turned her gaze out over the ocean and lowered her hand. What the hell is wrong with me? After a moment of silence, she shifted her weight onto her left side and reached into her back pocket. She fished a twenty-dollar bill out of her wallet and slipped it into Ryan's pail while he was away. I don't think that'll cover the movie, the meal, and the coffee but something is better than nothing right?

While waiting, Luna listened to the sounds in the distance. Crows cawed, seagulls squawked and waves crashed into and around the piers below.

...

Cars squealed their brakes and honked their horns as skateboarders popped out in front of them.

...

The public announcements system in the school kicked in with a beep as the student council president was called to the office.

...

Luna tapped her foot lightly and put her chin in her hand. Several seconds later her tapping got faster and louder and she peered over her shoulder at the nearest door. Another moment passed and she laid down backward, her heel like a jackhammer on the stairs. She raised both arms into the air and quietly yelled, “What's taking him so long?”

“The hell is she doing?” Someone growled and she shot up.

“Did she hear you?” A familiar voice asked the other, vying her to look around.

“Impossible. Look at how far away she is! Not to mention I've got the windows up.” That's when Luna noticed a beige sedan parked on the far side of the street, just beyond the corner of the school.

She squinted at it and the familiar voice spoke again. “She's staring right at us!”

That's... the priest from the other day, is it not? She thought to herself and looked away. She closed her eyes and put her hands together at the fingertips. I don't mean to pry on your business, Ryan, but I need to know where you are.

Voice after voice popped into her head and the ambient noise in the immediate area became exponentially louder. She could hear people typing in the library and someone clicking their pen over and over again. Next came the Student Representative Council discussing their plans for their next donation project. Then, “Ryan!” Someone shouted as something cut through the air. “Did you figure out how to do the math homework? What the hell is the chain rule?”

“Huh? Oh, Ian. Sorry, I have to get back to Luna. I told her I'd only be a moment.”

“Come on, man! Just help me out real quick. I promise it won't take long. I just have this tiny little error that I need help with!”

Silence. “Fine, but only one question.”

“You're a lifesaver!”

Luna exhaled. Good, I've got time. She rose from her seat and heard Thomas and his guest start scrambling. Their engine roared to life as Luna ran down the stairs two at a time and took off up the first available road.

“That's a one way-”

“Don't care!”

She sneaked a glance back down the hill, noting that they were taking the bait. While doing so, Ryan and Ian's conversation continued. There was an unzip and rustling like books shuffling together. Ian then asked, “So, you get Luna into bed yet?”

Seriously?

“Buddy,” Ryan started to reply and Luna thought for a moment that he was going to explain her reaction from the beginning of the lunch hour. He continued, “She isn't a trophy or anything of the sort. I'm not doing this to try and figure out what's under her hood or what she looks like without clothes on.”

Luna halted where she was as soon as she heard Ryan say that but couldn't process it at all. A horn blared beside her, deafeningly loud. She whipped around to see headlights coming straight for her, skidding to a stop but not fast enough. Her uncovered eye focused on the vehicle and she put her arms up to protect her. She blinked just before the impact and when she opened her eyes again, she was standing on the sidewalk.

She quickly looked around, observing the red car with its trunk now where she had originally been standing. It was faint, but she could smell burning rubber coming from the tires. The door swung open and a young woman emerged from inside, calling out to Luna though it went in one ear and out the other. Her chest burned as her heart pounded. She looked into the reflection on the window beside her and placed one hand flat on its surface. Her cursed eye remained without a pupil but in the iris of her right eye, she saw demonic runes circling the inside of the outer perimeter. As she watched, the symbols disappeared and she reached for the zipper on her hoodie. She pulled it down to her chest, revealing a sky blue tank top underneath as well as a red emblem of a snake, burned into her skin just above her breasts.

The driver of the car grabbed Luna's shoulder, startling her. She quickly zipped back up and turned around. “Are you all right?” The driver asked in a panic.

Luna nodded and bowed her head slightly. “I'm sorry. I got distracted and didn't notice that I had stopped in the middle of the road. I didn't cause any damage to your car, did I?”

The woman backed up a step and brushed both of her hands quickly through her red hair. “The car is fine but boys did you ever give me a heart attack! Thank the Lord Jesus, Mary and Joseph I just got those brakes replaced else I'd have a new paint job by now. I didn't even see you jump out of the way.”

Luna noticed the beige sedan pull up over the hill and suddenly remembered what she had been doing. “Right, um, amen and take care of yourself now. I'm in a hurry.”

“Oh, yeah, absolutely.” The woman yelled at Luna's back. “Make sure you look both ways!”

Bloody brilliant that was, stopping in the middle of the street just because someone said something nice. Nothing like a bit of irony to turn me into a pancake. Luna thought to herself in annoyance as she sprinted further up the hill and rounded the corner onto a road devoid of activity. She stopped on the pavement again, this time checking for other vehicles first and put her fists together, claws out. A moment passed and the beige sedan drifted around the corner. Thomas could be heard from inside shouting at his companion to stop as the vehicle charged closer to Luna but she held her ground. Right as its nose was about to hit her, she slammed down on the hood of the automobile. Her hands punched straight through it and the back end of the car was lifted off of the pavement. From there she dug her hands as low as she could, grabbed whatever felt the most sturdy then pulled in opposite directions. Metal churned and groaned with a loud snap!

Thomas and his friend, who was wearing a police uniform, emerged from the vehicle, oddly calm. The officer reached for his sidearm but the priest grabbed his wrist. “Not here, Kent. This close to her, she'll curse you or tear your arm off before the hammer goes back.” The chief scowled but relented.

Luna ripped her arms out of the vehicle, taking scraps of metal with her and backed away several steps. The strike had ripped her sleeves and stained them black but her skin was unscathed. As her claws retracted and her teeth returned to a human state, she watched the duo cautiously. Kent ignored her, making no effort to hide the displeasure on his face as he forced the sedan's hood open. “Well, Father, if I had any doubts about your demon story before,” he shook his head, “I don't anymore. This little devil just ripped the engine block in two with her bare hands.”

“I'd relax the tone when you're standing right in front of her.” Thomas warned him. “No telling what the demon possessing her could do if it gets insulted.”

Luna raised an eyebrow, holding her breath. Before speaking though, she snapped a finger at the priest and put a thumb on her chest. He scrunched up his face slightly then shook his head. She exhaled, “I wasn't looking forward to suffering the effects of that damned plant again. Now, the hell are you on about, possessed by a demon? I'm my own woman, I'll have you know. Not to mention that was the greatest compliment your buddy here could have ever given me.”

The priest refused to move closer to her but kept his hands at his side. “I'd be foolish to ignore the possibility but by all accounts, I do believe we can help you.” Luna tilted her head and squinted. “If you'd be willing to come to the church with me, I could perform an exorcism. If you really are, as you put it, your own woman, there will be no consequences. The procedure will fail to execute and you'll be free to go. If you are possessed, then you will truly be free.”

“Hey!” Kent snapped. “You didn't say anything to me about letting her live!”

Thomas stared at him nervously, occasionally glancing at Luna to gauge her reaction. She largely ignored the comment and focused on the officer. The red aura surrounding him was comparable to the homeless veteran's, though not quite as big. It was, however, fresh and crackled like a blistering flame after being doused with gasoline. She peered into his resentment and acknowledged, “You're Andy's father?”

Before the words finished leaving her lips, Kent reached for his sidearm again. Luna's chest burned once more and reality itself seemed to flicker. It was only for a fraction of a second, but the world appeared to separate and when it fell back together again, the chief clawed at the air. Confused, he looked back at his holster which was empty. There was a click, and he looked up to see that Luna was holding the firearm, the hammer back. “How the hell did you do that?”

She put the joint of her index finger in between her eyes, waiting until she was sure they were both as normal as they could get. The handgun was left pointing at the ground and even though she had pulled the hammer back, she continued pressing on it. Snap! The piece broke off and she threw the weapon as a whole onto the pavement, centred between the three of them. She shook her head, “To be perfectly honest, I haven't figured that part out yet. It just... happened.”

“You see now just how dangerous she is? We're lucky we have yet to share your son's fate.”

“Oi!” Luna yelled impatiently and the two men faced her again. Thomas was beginning to sweat and Kent was biting his lower lip, visibly shaking. She sighed, relaxed her stance and put her hands in her pockets. “Think I've got a good idea of the situation but could you clarify for me why a priest and a cop are stalking me?”

The two exchanged glances and Thomas spoke first, “We were trying to learn more about you.”

“I was and still am trying to kill you.” Kent spat.

“If you would please-”

Luna waved a hand at them. “Don't worry about it. I appreciate his honesty. At least he's upfront about it and doesn't try to hide behind lies like his son did.”

The officer nodded with a scowl. “You got guts kid, I'll give you that. I'm going to love the look on your face when I tear your limbs off one by one and beat you to death with the wet end of 'em.”

Luna grinned and walked past them. “I'm looking forward to it. Well then, I'm off. I catch you following me again, ripping the engine apart will be the kindest thing I do.”

“Wait!” Thomas called after her.

She groaned and stopped to look at them. “What now?”

“We answered your question. Common courtesy would demand you answer one of ours.”

Luna hummed to herself and listened toward the school. She could still hear Ryan going over the basic rules of derivatives so she chuckled, “Fine then. Seems like I've still got time and I'm not so boorish as to demand something for nothing. If you could call it that.”

Thomas bowed to her slightly and thanked her before beginning his question. “I presume you brought us out here so no one would see your... strong side. Why, dare I ask, did you show it to us so willingly?”

“If you had that damn flower on you, I figured I would have needed the extra prowess to kill you and get away before I used up all my breath. In any sense, if you're thinking I should be concerned about y'all exposing me, you've got another thing coming. Who the hell is going to believe either of you that a sixteen-year-old girl could tear apart an engine block of a moving vehicle?”

“I... suppose that's a fair point.”

“My turn.” Kent growled.

“Make it quick.” Luna barked, noting that Ryan was starting to conclude his lecture.

“Why did you murder my son?”

“Murder?” Luna inquired. She saw a vein bulge in the chief's forehead and she laughed. “Call it what you want, I merely lessened the number of monsters in this world. Admittedly it was by accident but hey, still counts.”

The officer clenched his fists and raised his voice. “My boy was a good man! He could've done a lot for this world had you not taken his life from him!” He ended by slamming the roof of the car.

Luna turned her back to him. “Did he have siblings?”

Kent flinched. “Don't you dare bring them into this too.”

“Perish the thought. If anything, you'll be the one to bring them into this should you continue this farce. Let me give you some advice; if you have time to lecture me on how 'good' your son was, teach the ones that are currently alive how not to be monsters. I don't kill humans,” she looked over her shoulder at them, both of her eyes glowing brightly. “I slaughter the scourge.” With her parting words, her claws extended and her teeth sharpened. She then kicked off the ground with such force that the ground shattered.

She landed on the school and returned to her human state while approaching the ledge. The spot where she and Ryan had been eating before was in view from there, so she knew that he hadn't yet returned. Luna then located a segment outside the library where she could jump down out of sight from all the windows and dropped when the street was empty. Ryan reappeared from the doorway seconds after Luna took her seat. “You took your sweet time.” She commented as he rejoined her.

“Sorry. Ian guilt tricked me into helping him with calculus. I wonder why he's taking such a course if he's not planning on going to university.”

“Who knows.” At that moment, she noticed Ryan was leaning forward, trying to gaze around her. “What?”

“What did you do to your sweater?”

She froze for a second having completely forgotten about the damage her clothes had taken. “Some pretty nasty thorn bushes out there, haven't you noticed?”

He stared blankly. “And the black stains?”

Right, new tactic. She lowered her eyebrows, placed one elbow on her knee and leaned towards him menacingly. “You got some nerve asking a lady about her stains.”

He backed up slightly and put his hands up. “Uh, forget I asked.” Is that something women usually get upset about?

Luna smiled, partly due to her victory, partly as she thought back to what he had said to Ian. She looked away and closed her eyes. “I forgive you.” She declared and with a blush, held her hand out towards him.

“Is this...?”

“Hurry up. It's embarrassing...”

Ryan smiled and held her hand. “Gladly.”

“Don't get used to this. I just thought you deserved it, I guess.” She squeaked and looked away, hiding her face again.

“Yeah, yeah.” He responded and shuffled closer to her, their shoulders touching.

A chill went up Luna's spine and she cranked her neck further though didn't move away.

He laughed. “You're really cute when you're embarrassed.”

She felt her entire face turn as red as a cherry and she slowly faced forward again. “Shut up...”

* * *

“Jeez. I thought I was going to die of embarrassment.” Luna exclaimed as she buried her face into her desk.

“It couldn't have been that bad.” Ryan stated from the seat beside her, grinning. “I rather enjoyed it.”

She shot up, the majority of her focus on him but she still glanced around the room in bursts. “Easy for you to say!” She whispered sharply. “I'm still dealing with the aftermath of the flower incident. I can't be showing these pricks weakness just yet.”

He laughed nervously and scratched at the back of his head. “Holding hands with me is weak, huh?”

Luna's eyes widened. “No, I didn't mean it like that...” She fell quiet with a sigh and let her face drop on the desk again. “Ignoring everyone is so much easier than being social.”

“You'll get there eventually.” Ryan reassured her then hummed softly. Luna turned her head so that she could see him. He was glaring at an empty seat near the front of the classroom. “Andy still hasn't come back, huh?”

Does he not know that Andy passed away? “So it would seem.”

“I wonder if we should go visit him at the hospital later.”

She shot up again and planted both hands on her desk, begging some stares from nearby classmates. “Huh?”

“It would probably help your reputation a lot if you went to visit an ill classmate is all.”

There's no way in hell I'm buying a “Get well soon” card and feeding it to a pack of dire wolves. “If they think I'm the cause, wouldn't they try and keep me away?”

“It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?”

“Hmph.” Luna crossed her arms and closed her eyes. “That prick can go rot in hell for all I care.”

“That might be a bit extreme to wish on someone who simply tripped you.”

She cracked her knuckles and clicked her tongue. “You don't know the half of it.” She spat.

Ryan watched her curiously and in bewilderment. “That wasn't everything he did?”

At that moment, all over, conversation in the room stopped and Luna became the centre. Ryan noticed the sudden rise in tension. “Was it something we said?”

“Quiet for a moment.” She instructed him and peered around at everyone. Their auras all trailed towards Luna. So the entire class was in on it? No, only a handful of them would have known me back then though there's no denying they all know about it.

“Why's everyone so tense?” Ian broke the silence as he wandered into the room. Luna inspected his aura just the same as everyone else and blinked rapidly. It didn't even so much as flicker in her direction. Unlike the Police Officer from before as well, Ian's aura didn't burn like a fire. It was instead similar to Stella's, like water disturbed by a barrage of stones. What's more, despite nearly swallowing both his body and his seat, he was smiling like nothing was bothering him. He noticed her staring, “What's the problem, freak?” He yelled out and his whole aura pulsed.

The teacher then stepped into the classroom and Luna scoffed while turning forward. It'll take too long to peer into his memories now. I'll have to wait until no one is around in order to avoid abhorrent rumours. Assuming my curiosity holds that is.

“Take your seats. The class will be starting in a moment.” The teacher pointed at the door. “Before we begin though, I do have a quick announcement to make. A new student, or a returned student to be exact, will be joining us going forward.”

More useless cunts to try and prank me. Luna thought to herself and looked down at her desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryan staring with his mouth slightly open and a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. “Something wrong?” She whispered to him.

“Luna!” A woman yelled before Ryan could answer. Luna heard what sounded like a stampede's worth of footsteps and began to look up at the stranger. As her gaze turned, something pink and soft smothered her, while a heavy mass behind it knocked her and her chair over backward. The mass lifted itself off of her and she opened her eyes only to be greeted by a beautiful brunette in a pink blouse sitting on top of her. “Luna!” The woman shouted again and hugged her.

Luna's eye pulsed and she half-shouted, “Liz...?”