Across the World

Chapter 4: Mysterious Kiss

There’s something running through Luna’s mind, like the man might kill her and throw away her body in an isolated place. Her tears flowed even more. She pulled her hand harder away from his hand. She was trying to get away. She was really scared.

"Wait... Let me go and set me free!” she shouted. But the man ignored her. He has a world of his own.

“Where will you take me?" she asked him. Her mood was uneasy.

"Pay what you owe me!" he answered her while he continued pulling her. She tried wiggling out of his grip but he kept on walking and didn't give up her hand.

"Please stop! I'll give you money to pay my debt," she told him with indignation.

"I don't need your money." She tried to speak and shout for help but something obstructed her throat. Where will this man take her? Her heart doubled over in fear and tears started to fall. She didn't know what she should do when they suddenly stopped and he spoke, "Don't worry. I don't intend to harm you. Just… stay here with me."

He lay down on the grass and closed his eyes. She wiped her tears and she wanted to kick him in hatred but also, for making her so perplexed by his unpredictable actions. She had nothing to do, so she sat beside him on the lawn. As he was sitting, he pulled her on his side.

"Look at the moon and the stars, they look stunning at this hour," he told her as he pointed his finger at the sky.

He's right. Even if there's only one moon in the sky that observes the world, it is still quite amazing to watch and the stars around it help give light to darkness. She suddenly looked at the man and was surprised he was actually staring back at her.

"You're the one fated for me," he told her intently. She quickly rose, feeling a strong panic at what she had heard from him.

"Are you out of your mind? What do you mean?” He didn’t answer. He just continued staring at Luna.

“I'm leaving." She started picking up her belongings and left him alone, but he chased her and pulled her hand again.

"Why are you always pulling my hands? What do you want?" she shouted at him.

"Let me come with you. At this hour, the road is too dangerous for you to walk alone." He smiled at her.

Unbelievable, this man showed concern. She wondered about its sincerity and, suddenly, she remembered that she would be passing through the old house where they celebrated the moon-gazing party of Blood Moon, where something unnatural happened to her and, finally, she agreed to his offer. As they walked on the road, he snatched her belongings into his hands.

"Let me hold them for you," he offered.

"Be careful with that painting you are holding,” she warned him.

"Could you please tell me that with a smile?" he teased, but she ignored him and continued to walk.

"Luna!" he called her name. She was surprised that she stopped walking. He called her name when she didn't remember ever telling him.

"How did you-?" She curiously eyed him.

"Your name was explicitly written on your painting!"

"Oh, my apologies if I was confused when you called my name. It was out of habit that I momentarily forgot that I do write my name in all my paintings," Luna explained.

"Lucas... Lucas is my name." As he introduced himself to her, she failed to notice that they were in front of the old house. She quickly neared Lucas to take her things into her hands.

"Thank you for joining me on my way home. I'll go ahead," she said and turned her back, walking away from him.

"Luna, wait!" A voice came from Lucas that made her stop walking. As she looked back at Lucas, she was confused by what she saw. Is this Lucas who was with her a while ago? Why did the color of his eyes change to red?

Her heartbeat started beating faster and her mind was embroiled. Little by little, her feet moved away from Lucas even when her knees were shaking. But Lucas immediately lunged at her and carried her body with his strong arms. Luna dropped her things on the ground as she started to punch Lucas back.

"Bring me down, Lucas!" Luna shouted at him, but Lucas didn't seem to hear her.

Lucas entered the yard of the old house carrying her and Luna felt a terrible premonition. Lucas put her down, leaning her over the tree. Lucas was staring at her intently with his reddish eyes. Luna's tears sprung from her eyes because of the excessive fear tugging at her heart. She didn't know what Lucas could do to her.

"Please me– "

Luna wasn't able to finish her words when Lucas violently kissed her lips. She closed her eyes, feeling the vitality of the kiss coming from him, to which her body reacted with tenderness. While Lucas was kissing her lips, he grasped Luna's back, his hand slowly wrapping around her waist, pulling her body closer to his.

Luna allowed Lucas to kiss her, her cells clawing at her mind because of her weakness. She accepted each of his caresses. She had no strength to resist him. Suddenly, Luna recalled a similar event that had happened to her.

Luna strongly pushed Lucas so that he fell to the ground. She hurriedly took her belongings. She didn't turn her back to Lucas as she ran away from him in tears. Luna speedily approached their house and went straight to her bedroom. She locked the door and lay her body on the bed. Who is Lucas? Is he a human? If not, what kind of creature was he? Luna saw it with her own eyes- how Lucas' eyes changed in color. Luna's line of thinking shifted to the incident that happened between them.

Maybe what happened to her during the Blood Moon-gazing party was just a dream. Maybe the moon gave her a sign that night-what is about to come but why? Whenever that incident popped into her mind, somehow, she knew that was all true, she could even feel it still.

Luna couldn't sleep because she was still confused about Lucas. Does Lucas know her? Has he been following her since? She couldn't take him off her mind, especially after what she had witnessed. If given a choice, she wouldn't want to meet him again. Luna considered Lucas a stranger, but then, Lucas did something horrible to her, and if she was right, he did it twice. Since Luna attended the feast of the Blood Moon, the mystery wrapped her life.