Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Luna in Me: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

The minutes stretched into something shapeless, quiet, almost unreal. I didn’t know how long I sat at the desk, fingers lightly resting on the cold porcelain, my thoughts drifting like dust disturbed in a shaft of light. Time here did not move the same way it had at Athena. It did not ring in bells or shift changes or chores. It simply pooled and gathered, waiting for someone else to command it forward. A soft knock startled me upright. Before I could answer, the door opened again - but this time, it wasn’t Mistress Orion, nor either of the attendants. A young woman slipped inside, no older than twenty-five, dressed in the plain blue uniform I’d seen downstairs. Not Athena-blue, but servant-blue. Her hair was tied back in a messy braid, dark curls escaping around her temples. She carried a folded bundle of fabric in her arms. Her eyes flicked to the collar, then to the faint marks beneath the shift. She looked away quickly.“I’m Mira,” she said, voice low but steady. “The Luna sent me

The door loomed before me - tall, iron-bound, swallowing the candlelight around it. My hand hovered inches from the handle, trembling. The rope hung softly from my collar, brushing my sternum with each ragged breath. I could not enter like this. Not standing. Not dressed. Not unprepared. Master had made the rules very clear. And he did not tolerate hesitation. I stepped back from the door, just far enough that the stone walls no longer felt like they were breathing down my neck. My hands moved automatically, driven by fear as much as obedience. I untied the robe’s belt with shaking fingers, then slipped the robe off my shoulders. It slid down my body like a surrender, pooling silently at my feet. My shift followed, leaving me bare in the cold corridor. My skin prickled instantly, but I forced my breath steady. Master’s rule echoed in my mind:“Your hair will be tied back when you enter this room.”My fingers fumbled with the tie I kept around my wrist - a habit since Athena Academy

The chamber was dimmer tonight. Fewer candles. More shadow. More of him. The air was warm and close, heavy with the lingering scent of steel oil and leather. My palms pressed into the cold stone floor as Master stepped around me, the leash coiling loosely in his hand.He didn’t speak at first. He simply paced. Slow, deliberate steps circling me like a predator deciding which part to taste first. I kept my eyes lowered, breathing shallowly, the Luna’s instructions beating a frantic pulse behind my ribs. Use the silk. Distract him. Redirect him. Survive. The silk was tucked into the fold of my robe outside - but Orion had shown me how to hide a weapon that wasn’t a weapon. Wrapped neatly around my forearm, hidden beneath my hair tie, was the thin band of dark silk. A single chance. Master stopped behind me. I felt warmth at my spine as he knelt, fingers sliding along the length of the leash until they reached the collar. He tugged gently, forcing my head up, baring my throat.“You’re q

At first, he said nothing. The air in the chamber thickened until every breath felt like swallowing stone. The trembling in my legs spread upward-thighs shaking, hips faltering, arms burning where they braced the floor. My back spasmed, the tight arch he demanded beginning to collapse inch by inch. I tried to hold it. I tried so hard I saw black spots behind my eyes. But my body was finished long before my fear allowed me to admit it. My hips dropped. Just an inch. But enough. The sound that came from him was soft, sharp, and unmistakably pleased. A quiet-“Ah.”Not disappointment. Not anger. Recognition. Like a predator watching a struggling animal finally sink to its knees. My breath hitched, horror crawling up my spine. His boots moved behind me again, slow, deliberate steps. Each tap of leather on stone echoed like a countdown. When he reached my side, he knelt - the floor creaked with the weight of him settling beside me. His fingers brushed the back of my thigh. Not comforting.

The world returned to me in pieces - not all at once, but in shards. First the ringing in my ears. Then my own breath - wet, ragged, dragging in shallow bursts past the gag still forcing my jaw open. Then the heat on my face, the burning tracks of tears sliding into my hairline. Only then did I feel the ache. My body felt wrung out. Shaking. Trembling in tiny, uncontrollable spasms from the strain he’d put it through. And then - Him. Cain’s presence pressed into the room before my vision did. Heavy. Unavoidable. Suffocating. His controlled breathing filled the space, slow and steady in contrast to my own frantic gasps. The air itself felt soaked with sweat and smoke, thick enough to choke on. I couldn’t see him - the blindfold was still wet over my eyes, clinging to my skin. But I could feel him.“You look at you,” he said softly, almost curious. My stomach clenched. I flinched instinctively, but the restraints held me tight. Leather bit into my wrists as I tried to curl in on myself.