Page 14 of In the Light of the Moon

When I emerged from the small bathroom, I padded into the living room, where Roz and Granna were still perched and sipping tea. Every surface and free section of wall was filled with varying shades of green. Before she’d retired, my grandmother owned a steady florist shop, where she sold bouquets and rare houseplants. The business was now closed, the space sold, but my grandmother still tended to each and every plant with care. It was in her nature, she told me once. The pull she felt to grow and nurture was one she couldn’t ignore if she tried.

“Hey fancy lady,” I chirped when Granna smiled over at me. Roz twisted around, her box-dyed red hair just as fluffy and fiery as always, and grinned.

“Ooh, Sylvie it is soniceto have you here.” She put a hand up to her cheek, like she was going to tell me a secret, but said at the same volume, “I get tired of just talking to this old bat.” Granna’s trilling laugh made her sound so much younger, and it made me smile even more.

Roz and Granna were about the same age, as far as I knew, but it was evident who was trying to hang on to youth tooth and nail and who had decided to accept age and what came with it.

“What are you two getting up to today? A whole bunch of gossiping?” I sat on the arm of the plush sofa that was also purple, though a deeper shade that was Granna’s particular favorite.

Granna waved a hand, “What else is there to do in retirement? Garden, read, and chat. It’s what I worked so hard to be able to do.”

“All right, ladies, so then what’s the latest? I need a break anyway.”

Roz cooed and reached over to rub a gentle hand on my arm. Her touch was warm and soft. “You work too hard, Sweetie.But ‘fraid there hasn’t been too much that would interest you. Just some disgruntled old folks.” Then she chuckled darkly and retracted her hand, “And a few people missing or hightailing it out of town without a word.”

My head cocked, calling back to something I’d heard when Roz first came over. “Like what they were saying on the news earlier?” Dad and I never really watched local or national news back home, so when I walked downstairs earlier and heard the stereotypical newscaster voice before I’d heard Roz and Granna prattling away, my brain took notice.

Granna nodded and gestured to the smaller flatscreen that I had bought her for Christmas one year. She turned up the volume with the remote, and we all watched in silence as a grim-faced man in a button-down gestured to the Antler Pointe Historic Downtown sign.

“Still no word from Kara Stanton, a lifetime resident of Antler Pointe and undergraduate student at Antler Pointe College. Her family and APPD are asking for anyone with information that may lead to her whereabouts to contact the number or email address below.” As soon as her name left the anchor’s lips, I felt a chill run down my whole body.

Pleasant, kind-voiced Kara was missing. When had we last gone to the student lounge to study? A week ago? Had she been in class yesterday? I wracked my brain and realized that, no, the seat across from me had been empty that morning, but I’d thought nothing of it. College students skipped class all of the time, and though it seemed like we would become friends, we hadn’t been nearly close enough for me to check in on her if I felt something was weird.

Her freckled face flashed on the screen just before another segment began, and I felt my eyes prickle when I thought of her family. Though I didn’t know her well, Kara didn’t seem like thetype to just up and leave. Especially without telling her family, who she’d spoken fondly of once or twice.

“She’s probably dead,” Granna said dryly and took a sip of her tea.

A choked, incredulous laugh shot out of my throat. Though I’d been thinking it, Granna said it with such a matter-of-fact tone that made me want to blush. I’d certainly gotten my comfort in morbidity from her, but it was different when I could still clearly remember comparing notes with the kind girl.

Roz nodded and puckered her lips that were painted bright enough to match her hair. “Such a shame. That’s the third since January.”

“What? Like third… disappearance?”

She shrugged, “Disappearance or murder, depending on what state they’ll find them in. Whenever they find them, that is. From what I’ve heard, they still don’t have any leads. And do you know that Harriet heard Chief Thompson’s wife kicked him outagain…” and then Roz was off again reporting on the happenings, but my mind stayed stuck on Kara and this news that two others had disappeared this year.

For a moment, I felt guilt for the story I was working on now. What if Kara was in a situation like that? What if she was scared or hurt ordead?

Though I had a pretty high tolerance when it came to the things I read or watched,knowingsomeone who may be going through something like that was a very different thing.

Fully tuned out of my grandmother and her friend’s chatter, I slunk through the kitchen to fill a glass of water and stuff a handful of chips into my mouth. Maybe she was just… taking some time away. It was a possibility, especially since the newscaster stated that her car had yet to be found.

But the gnawing in the back of my mind kept returning to Granna’s blunt prediction. Maybe she’d spoken that way becauseshe could feel it. I thought about walking to class and seeing Kara, but like how Granna described that morning weeks ago. Transparent at the edges—there but not.

And though I’d walked inside to rid myself from memories of Orion and his touch, I came back to my laptop no less distracted than before. My character running through the forest now had Kara’s face, to the point that I almost debated her fate at the end of the story. Felt like the blows of the knife were real and not just a product of my imagination.

I fought my way to the end, passing over my writing once more before uploading it to the magazine’s website with a sigh.What if I just sealed her fate?My mind’s anxious voice was one I was all too familiar with, and I imagined it drifting away, like a ribbon caught in the wind.

In its place, though, I saw him. Again. But not the gruff and strong person he’d been on campus. How he’d looked crumpled beside the dumpster. Hiding.

Had Kara gone missing because… Orion was meant to be the third instead of her?

My lungs gave another rough laugh while I tucked my laptop under my arm to finally return inside for the evening.No, that kind of stuff doesn’t happen in real life, my rational mind reasoned.

Then, that ribbon in my mind’s sky swirled and flipped before finally disappearing into the distance,Like how some say witches don’t exist in real life, right?

CHAPTER SEVEN

The female maneuvered easily within the wood. Her steps were sure, and it would have been so easy to grab her. But something about this stretch of forest felt wrong. Each time I tried to get closer, my hide felt like it was crawling,burning, and I had to back away.

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