Page 1 of Luna & Andres

CHAPTER 1

I stood on the precipice of death.

Below me was a deep, wide canyon. The bottom of the canyon held the rage of a swollen river. The sharp boulders and spray from the water told me its anger was great, but I didn't hear a sound of its fury. My feet teetered into oblivion. I shifted. A few pieces of earth crumbled and fell into the abyss. The small pebbles were swallowed by the raging waters. I would be no more noticed by those waters.

Around me was a desolate, blackened wasteland. It stretched for miles to the far distant, rocky mountains. I was alone.

Or so I thought. A noise behind me caught my attention. Footsteps. I spun around. Ten feet from me stood Mortale. He was half-turned to me. His head was bowed and his eyes were shut. He wore the same red overcoat with the black pants and shoes. A wind swept past him and whipped his clothes about him.

"Mortale!" I cried out. I took a step towards him and stretched out my hand. "What are you? Why do I want to follow you?"

Mortale raised his head. His eyes opened. They glowed a soft white in the darkness. I started back.

My heel slipped over the edge. I stretched out my hands towards the man who held my attention. He never moved. I tilted back and fell into the abyss. The raging water waited for me.

I gasped and sat up a few seconds before splashdown. My body was covered in sweat and I panted for breath. The darkness in my room told me it wasn't quite daylight. I fumbled for the switch on my lamp beside my bed. The light illuminated the room, but it didn't illuminate my thoughts.

I leaned forward and ran a hand through my long black hair. My whispering voice was shaky. "What the hell was that?"

I shook myself and tossed aside the covers. My alarm wouldn't go off for another half hour, but I knew I wouldn't get any more sleep this day. I threw on some clothes and stepped into the hall between the two bedrooms. The apartment was as silent as the grave.

I forsook food as I made my way into the main passage and down one flight of stairs. My dream had rekindled the curiosity that burned inside me. There was an insatiable need within me to find out the truth about the monsters from the alley.

I reached the door. It was unlocked just as it had been last night. I stepped inside the barren wasteland of identity. The bare walls, the spotless floor, the empty cupboards. Nothing told me a human had lived here. I looked everywhere and found nothing.

I sat down on the top of the mattress near the mess of sheets and sighed. "What do you know?" I whispered.

The reply was silence. I reached into my pocket. My fingers enclosed around the cold metal of the broken necklace. I pulled out the broken trinket and studied the strange chain and beads.

"Was it really you?" I wondered.

The silence was maddening. I fell back against the mattress. My arms stretched out on either side of me and my left hand disappeared into the mess of covers. Something crinkled against my fingers. I sat up and frantically burrowed into the blankets. My search brought me a small gift when I brushed aside the covers. A blank slip of paper lay on the mattress.

I picked it up and turned it over. It was a receipt. I read aloud the name at the top.

"The River Diner."

The date was from six months ago, but it was still a lead. The name sounded familiar. A quick search online would tell me exactly where along this city's slimy river lay this diner.

I pocketed the receipt and glanced at my watch. It was fifteen minutes till nine.

"Shit," I growled as I jumped to my feet.

I hurried from the room and down the stairs to the lobby. Meyer stood behind the desk and spoke to two strangers on the other side. They were a man and a woman, and both were dressed in black coats with plain brown pants. The man was a head taller than the woman, and the woman had long brown hair. I saw the man flash something inside a square black case before he tucked the case into his coat.

"Whatever I can do to help, officers, but I don't know anything about any murders," I heard Meyer tell them. His eyes fell on me as I tried to cross the lobby. "Hey, Leila!" The pair half-turned to me.

I paused and turned to him with a frown. "What?"

He nodded at the pair. "These two officers are looking into some murders last night."

I looked the people over. "You don't look like officers."

"We're plainclothesmen," the man explained.

The woman smiled at me. The expression didn't extend to her autumn-colored eyes. "We were just looking for witnesses to a couple of murders down the street."

I shook my head. "I don't know anything except that I gotta get to work."

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