Marked by the Moon

Cinnamon and control, these were the scents that danced elegantly in every corner of my home.

The cold spoon between my fingers mimicked the temperature of the oatmeal in front of me. Stirring the spoon back and forth in the mushy contents of the bowl, I sat up straight to correct my posture as the sound of exactly 5 steps fell into my ears. I didn't have to look in the direction to know what was happening.

I knew the routine by heart, my mother removed the dead daisy from the vase and put in the fresh lily. I inhaled the aroma silently.

The perfect silence was broken by a chime, my mother's hazel eyes shifted from the flowers to her phone. She picked it to check any notifications she did not want to miss. Once again, silence fell, there was no smile or frown on her face, no smile lines, and her dark brown hair, as always, in a sleek tight bun that could give a headache to anyone else within 15 minutes, but not her; her routine was just like her... perfect.

"You did not sleep well again last night, did you?" It was not a question.

I looked at the end of the table to find her wiping an already spotless corner, "No, I-"

Her pearl earrings danced as she shook her head. "You should really stop staying up so late. It’s bad for your skin," her tone was controlled, her voice was not loud but not too low as well, it was enough to be heard. In her words, it was how a lady should talk.

I nodded, not bothering to explain anything.

The silence returned. It was not awkward or maybe we were habituated to this silence. This is what I preferred anyway, rather than saying something disappointing.

Across the table, a laugh broke the silence. Lily was laughing at something on her phone, unbothered by anything happening around her. She was glowing, even in her pajamas, her golden hair was in soft waves, her cheeks flushed with warmth, nails freshly done.

She was the golden child, the perfect image of our mom.

"Don't forget your umbrellas, it might rain today," Dad muttered, scrolling his phone. Just like Lily, he was also in his world, probably checking the weather forecast.

“I can check the weather app myself, Dad,” Lily replied playfully, showing her phone while getting up to get ready, which meant it was exactly 7:55 am.

Time for me to leave as well.

The sound of pen scratching against the paper echoed in the almost empty library.

I didn't mind being alone; it was no different for me than being with people.

I was not anti-social or hated people, but I never felt heard in a crowd.

Not bothering to check the notification on my phone, I changed the pen to write the next heading, Cell organelles.

I put the pen back on the table and was about to start writing when I ran my eyes around to check the old library. It was a part of our college, but people rarely came here to see the dust on old books. There was only one guy along with me who was gathering his books to leave as well after noticing the time on his phone.

"Hey, moon girl," someone took a seat next to me, announcing his arrival.

"Shh...." I shushed the culprit, who never learned how to talk in a low voice.

"Oh, what the ghosts might get disturbed?" he mocked, showing the perfect smile that made many girls swoon over him.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, "and would you stop calling me moon girl?"

He shrugged, turning the page of my book, earning a slap on the hand, "but you are the moon girl."

I touched the faint brown mark on my wrist that resembled the crescent moon. I pulled the fabric of my sleeve to cover the mark.

"Why are you here? I have to study for the test next week." I tried to argue, knowing well it would be useless in front of Kai.

Kai was my anchor, my best friend since we were 5. He was the one who always understood my silence and never left my side. He was not invisible, and he tried his best to make me feel included as well; he was smart, majoring in psychology, funny, tanned, with the perfect curls.

"No, you need an adventure," he announced with a wide grin that meant something was brewing inside his head, "and I have the perfect plan."

"Another perfect plan?" I raised my brow. Ever since we were kids, his perfect plans always ended with one of us getting hurt or getting in trouble. He broke his first bone when he came up with a plan to build a tree house when we were 10.

But the tree house was not for us; it was for the bird eggs.

He tried to climb the tree to 'rescue the eggs' and fell down....and that's Kai...my chaos, my best friend.

"Kai....."

"This time, you are just helping me with the assignment, nothing else," he grinned, making his eyes sparkle.

"What assignment? It's 6 pm. You know I have to go home."

After classes, I decided to stay on campus and prepare some notes instead of going home.

He shook his head, the grin was not leaving his face, "Already texted your mom."

I let out a sigh in defeat, "What's the assignment?" Mom loved Kai; he was the perfect A student with a good social circle.

That's all he wanted to hear, he grabbed my arm and started dragging me behind him. I quickly managed to collect everything on the table before trying to keep up with the man who was taking two steps at once.

With his constant blabbering, I didn't even realise when we reached home.

"Grab a jacket, leave your bag and meet me in 5 minutes," he threw the instructions in my direction as he ran towards his home, which was exactly 2 minutes away from my home.

Rolling my eyes, I started walking home.

Silence.

It was Thursday, according to the weekly plans, Mom and Dad went with their friends for dinner, which included Kai's parents as well.

Lily was in her room preparing for her exams and probably deciding on her outfit for tomorrow.

I ran out only to find Kai standing outside, tapping his shoe, reading something on his phone. He was biting the nail on his thumb, which meant bad news for me.

"Where are we going?"

He didn't reply and continued reading on his phone.

Someone else would get offended by this, but he was not ignoring me, the words didn't fall in his ears.

I started following the zombie in front of me.

The blue colors in the sky had started to get replaced with a darker color as we continued walking on a muddy road.

It should have been a normal evening... but it was not. I could not put my finger on it, but something was different about the day.

Shaking my head, I decided to push the feeling aside. "Kai, if you get us killed, I will come back to haunt you."

The mud on the road had started turning slippery. I had no idea where we were.

"If we both are dead, how can you haunt me?" Kai mocked, giving me his hand.

I grabbed his hand, but stumbled upon a branch. In a futile try to regain my balance by holding Kai, I made both of us fall down, earning a glare from him.

"Where are we, Kai?" I asked, getting up and removing dirt from my clothes, "I am not taking another step unless you tell me why we are going into a jungle?"

I stopped walking and folded my arms. It was stupid to stand in the middle of a dense forest...but it was even more foolish to follow Kai.

Kai turned the flashlight off and faced me, "Okay, do you remember how there was a murder in the city 2 days ago?"

"No," my eyes widened in horror.

Kai did not have to explain what was going on.

"We can't be in a crime scene," I whisper-yelled at him.

"We are not," he said, putting his hands in the air and turning the flashlight on, "we are near the crime scene."

"That's your defence? Kai, it's full moon tonight." I was trying not to yell.

"Don't worry, moon girl, I will protect you from the werewolves, not sure about the ghosts though." He continued walking.

"Kai, we need to go back," I said sternly, ignoring his last comment.

"Just 10 more minutes and then we will go back, I promise," he stood in front of me with a pout, "please, moon girl."

With a sigh, I started walking as well, knowing well it was the only way.

The darkness had started to set in, I felt like a ball of ice had settled inside my stomach. Something was not right.

"Kai, we should leave," I grabbed his arm to stop him from walking any further.Kai said something, but I could not hear his words clearly. I felt as though tiny ants were biting the mark on my wrist.

I started scratching my wrist like a crazy woman, hoping it would make the feeling go away. I knew my skin would have been red by now, but I just wanted it to stop. Suddenly, a faint sound caught my attention.

I quickly looked between the trees. I could hear my heart beating inside my chest. Even though it was dark, but somehow everything was visible to me, I could see the trees clearly.

Just within seconds, the fog appeared out of nowhere, making it hard to see anything, but I knew something was hiding behind that fog.

I opened my mouth to say something but the words disappeared from my mouth as my eyes met the gaze of another pair of.....red eyes.

My mouth felt dry, I wanted to look away, but my eyes were not moving.

Then a thought came into my head, we were going to die.

"Celeste?"

I let out a gasp. I felt like I forgot how to breathe.

"Are you okay?"

I shook my head in a no, not trusting my voice, and pointed in the direction.

Kai followed the direction to find what was hiding in the forest, but this time only the darkness was there to welcome his gaze.