The Rogue's Luna

Fractured

I woke up sweating. Not just a little damp around the collar. My whole body was damp. It felt like my skin was burning, and I was breathless. My throat was dry. My cheeks flushed, and my heart kicked in my chest like I had run ten miles in wolf form. But I hadn’t moved. Something was wrong. I sat up fast, too fast. My ribs screamed, and the world tilted for half a second before snapping back into place. The fire had burned down to coals. The room was warm, but not hot. Still, my skin crawled like something invisible was pressing down on me. As I looked around, I realized that I was alone. The chair and couch were empty. There were no footsteps. No creak of the floorboard. Just the wind pushing against the walls and the soft hiss of embers.

“Thorne?” my voice cracked, and I coughed loudly. “Thorne?” no answer. I shoved the blanket off and swung my legs over the edge, forcing myself to stand. My knees wobbled, but I made it. The room was still. Books untouched, dishes stacked, nothing out of place. Except he wasn’t here. A folded piece of paper sat under my mug on the side table. I snatched it up.

Gone for supplies. Back tomorrow. Don’t open the door. – Thorne.

The words blurred for a second. Not because they were smudged, but because something heavy dropped into my gut. He left. He left me. I didn’t even realize I was pacing until my foot bumped the table. I cursed and sat back down hard on the couch. I hated how fast panic bloomed. I wasn’t afraid of the forest. I wasn’t afraid of rogues or shadows or enemies with claws sharper than mine. But this was different. This wasn’t fear of something I could fight. This was being alone. My skin itched. My teeth ached. The silence was too loud, and the air in the cabin tasted wrong. Metallic. Thick. Unsettled. I grabbed one of his shirts from the back of the chair and pressed it to my face before I could stop myself. The scent grounded me for a second. Warm. Sharp. Thorne.

Where are you?

The trees groaned outside. The wind howled. Something scraped the roof, probably a branch, but it sounded like claws. I jerked toward the door. No one there. Still, I backed up until my shoulder hit the bookcase.

“Ray?” I called out through my mind for my wolf. I needed her. But all I got in return was silence. “Ray, please—”

“You are fine, Liora,” she finally responded. My wolf’s voice echoed in my chest, steady but distant. Muffled, almost like she was underwater.

“There’s something out there,” I told her.

“No. There is nothing out there. You are sick. Thorne warned us that this might happen. Your body is burning out the poison,” she explained, but I shook my head.

“No,” I said aloud. “No, I’m fine now…this isn’t the poison. Someone is out there. They know we are alone…they are watching…”

“Seriously?” Ray shot back. “If you were fine, you wouldn’t be acting this crazy…acting like you are prey,”

“I’m not prey!” I hissed.

“No? Then stop acting crazy,” I slammed the book I hadn’t realized I had picked up onto the floor. The sound made me flinch. Every gust of wind against the window felt like footsteps. Every rustle in the trees sounded like breathing. A branch cracked somewhere far off, and my whole body locked up. He should have told me he was leaving. He should have woken me up. He should have said goodbye. I walked to the door and pressed my palm flat against it, listening. Nothing. Not even birds.

“I think they are coming for me,” I whispered.

“No one is coming,” Ray said, and I clenched my fists.

“You don’t know that,”

“Aw, come on, Liora,” she snapped. “Thorne wouldn’t have left us if it wasn’t safe. He knows what he is doing,”

“I don’t care,”

“Ahh, but you do, and that is the problem. You care too much,” she countered. I turned away from the door and moved through the cabin like someone might jump through the window at any moment. I checked under the bed. Behind the wardrobe. Inside the closet. Empty. Silent. Still wrong.

“Ray?”

“Yes, I’m still here, Liora,”

“If someone tried to get in, we would hear them, right?”

“Yes, and we would tear them apart,”

“Ok,” I muttered aloud. I sank into the corner, my back against the wall, with my knees pulled tight to my chest. The scent of Thorne’s old shirt still lingered on my fingers. I felt like my skin didn’t fit anymore. Like my bones were shaking on the inside. The fire flickered, and I jumped. I sat there, in that corner, shivering as I listened to every sound. Every movement. Hours passed. Or was it minutes? I couldn’t tell anymore. I tried to hold onto something, but even Ray wasn’t enough. Her voice seemed to come and go. Like static. I argued with her when I could. When I couldn’t, I sat in the dark and counted how many cracks there were in the ceiling beams. When I blinked, I thought I saw movement near the window. I didn't go check. I couldn't. Eventually, exhaustion won. I lay down, balled up in the corner as my eyes burned. My head pounded, and darkness claimed me as I passed out.

When I woke up, light was pouring through the window. Pale grey and cold. But the fear hadn’t left with the dark. I crawled across the room, breath ragged, and shoved the table and chair against the door. Thorne said not to open it. I wouldn’t give myself the chance. Then I pulled the wardrobe in front of it too. Just in case. Then I sat in the corner. And waited for something that probably wasn’t real.

“You need to snap out of it,” Ray whispered. I looked around, suddenly frightened. “Liora, it’s me…Ray…your wolf,”

“Go away,” I screamed as I squeezed my eyes shut and balled up my fists. I rocked myself back and forth as I tried to get a grip on what was happening. I was still sweating. My breathing was still heavy. When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry, and I shook my head. “Go away,”

“Liora, stop this!” Ray shouted, but it did nothing. I just continued to rock myself back and forth as I stared at the barricaded door. No one could get in. It was the only entrance. I would see them. I would hear them.

“Where is he?” I wondered aloud.

“I’m sure he is on his way back,” Ray said as she tried to reassure me. It wasn’t enough. I couldn’t deal with this for another second longer. I heard a soft rumbling, and I shot to my feet.

“What was that?” I asked, and I could feel Ray’s hesitation. She didn’t know. “You heard that, right?”

“Yes,”

“What the f**k…?” the rumbling sound seemed to be coming closer and closer. I had no idea what it was, but I had a feeling it would be the end of me. I opened my mouth and screamed.