Chapter 4
Lunning Nate
Hell's flames were diabolical and destructive, but nothing could top the sensation of Luna's screams being met with pure oak against the face. She launched up, smacking against an uninvited guest in her bed. Whatever relief she had at that all being a bad dream was diminished when her eyes saw the bizarre visage of one Mr. Coconuts.
"Gah! I didn't... Wait, what're you doing floating above me, brah?" She asked, feeling an extra coating of sweat covering her entire skin. Gonna take a few showers to eliminate that funk. Gasping for air, she followed the site of the wooden dummy dancing about in the air, mouth hanging loosely as a tiny, horsey laugh emerged from his false voice box.
"Floating? No! I'm just a fly guy, that's all!" He folded his arms, with one hand vanishing within his awkwardly-buttoned suit. Coming from the lapel was a strange nail filer, with a tag attached to it. "To be discarded," it read. Disturbing. "What's got ya in a fritz, toots? Heard you knocked yaself out early, and now I gotta 'file' a complaint that yer running late!"
Running late? Luna shook her head, bringing herself to a sit and thus knocking the dummy away. The sudden movement made the girl holding Coconuts scream as she fell to the floor. The rocker flinched back, before sighing. "I warned ya, brah. You can't startle me during a nap! We don't want another incident, right?"
A ponytail-wearing head rose up towards her bunk, with a braces smile greeting her rather wholeheartedly. It of course belonged only to her immediate younger sister, Luan. Bright and cheery, with a pun and some sort of joke ready to be expelled at a moment's notice. The two were far cry's from one another, but obviously they had to be close, living together for over a decade now. Mr. Coconuts rested on the ground, his arms folded in frustration as the comedian brought her own hands to the back of hair.
"Sorry, Lun-Lun! You were screaming more than normal, and I wanted to make sure my bear-trap wasn't left behind! I couldn't 'bear' to see that!" She giggled, but seeing Luna's lack of reaction made her retract immediately. "But seriously, it's not there, right? It honestly wasn't a good idea. 'Bears' repeating when it isn't so dangerous..."
Even if some of her pranks went too far, Luna hated seeing her look so guilty. Was that the sensation of seeing a sad clown? Yikes, that was pretty depressing. Still, the rocker sighed and rested back on her pillow, a courtesy hand scratching behind her back. No trap; good. "Nah, you're fine. Just... skipped dinner and I guess had a hunger nightmare. What about you, though? Aren't you staying with Ben?"
Luan sighed herself. "Ah, we were supposed to," she pointed her thumb to Coconuts, "but I guess his folks weren't ready for the whole 'guillotine' gag we had going. His mom was ready to chop my head off!" She chuckled to herself again, with a hint of anger defining her chortle. This brought her eyes back to her sister, concern still playing itself tenderly. "But hey, I got an explanation. What about you now? I heard you stormed off from dinner and slept for over ten hours? Oh no, did Lana try cooking again?"
That question brought forth the biggest eyes she ever saw from her sis. Luna shot straight up again, looking down at the clock against the tiny bedside table. Indeed, that running late title was pretty accurate. The alarm naturally wasn't set, but even then she never slept this long. School was ready to start anytime now, and she hadn't even thought of going to the bathroom.
"Woah, dude! Nobody tried waking me up?"
"I guess they wanted to, but you know how we are. If you're upset, we didn't want to 'settle' in with an 'upswing' and get ourselves hurt!"
She... wasn't upset, though. Just bothered. Dang, she screwed up badly, it seemed. She quickly threw her covers away and hopped down the ladder, grabbing her towel and spare clothing from off a nearby dresser. "Well jeez, I gotta hurry! Oh, there better not be a line!"
"Why would there be?" Luan shrugged. "Everyone's kinda done already."
"Oh man, I'm that far back?"
She didn't wait for her sister's speech. Thank goodness her room was right beside her destination, and sure enough it was vacant, with no line in sight. At least she could rush to her heart's content. Bashing the door down, she threw Leni's nightshades off to the ground (She'll apologize later) and immediately hopped into the shower. She barely registered the soap in her hair as she closed her eyes, trying to calm her nerves.
"Not the latest, not the latest... just get moving, and we'll be good. Be good and rocking, and it'll all be fine..."
But that was a word that couldn't describe her mind. Fine meant thinking everything was truly okay, and she knew that was far from the case. Being alone allowed her head to run rampant, jumping about like the twins during a sugar-high, allowing that dream to attack as violently as possible. Luna shuddered at every detail emerging, almost masquerading itself like a day since past.
Her father's anger, and her brother's disappointment; they scared her more than the devil and his bran muffins. Never before did she see such rage on the old man; even their daily sibling tussles weren't enough to elicit that reaction.
But Lincoln... that was heartbreaking. She already felt like she let her bro down quite a number of times throughout their lives. Seeing his once-happy face grow full of disdain at her presence was enough to freeze her blood cold.
Awful imagery, and she smacked the curtain, trying so hard to brush it all away. "Girl, just let it go! You're letting your nerves win, and I sure as heck am not allowing that to happen!"
"You're talking while wasting time? You really are pathetic!"
Luna froze. She didn't even care what the voice said; who the heck was in the bathroom with her? Quickly she opened the curtains a little bit, sticking her head out to the sight of an empty room looking at her like she seen a murderer. Nothing but her reflection staring from the mirror, just as terrified as she was.
She slapped a palm against her temples. "Gah, now you're hearing things! Well, they're not wrong. You're wasting time, girl!"
"Always a waste..."
Again? The curtain wasn't even closed, and yet she still heard it vividly. She couldn't help but shake in fright. How to describe it, she had no idea. Obviously mean-spirited, but who did it belong to? It'd be the logical conclusion to assume a rogue sister was on the other side of the door playing a prank on her. Heck, they all chipped in to scare Leni like that from time-to-time. Yet, whatever the heck it was couldn't be either of them.
After all, it sounded just like her. The raspy voice of a girl with no worth.
No worth...
If Luna screamed any louder, she'd have the police investigating a crime. "Stop! Really? Girl with no worth? Gosh, I've been listening to too many moody songs recently, huh? Now my brain's fried!"
The shower concluded, and she looked herself in the mirror. Her tired expression was definitely noted; even after sleeping for an apparent long amount of time, she looked like a wasted wreck on the side of the street. Her freckles seemed far more pronounced, and her skin turned a ghostly pale overnight. Those beady eyes of her seemed so hollow, and the purple lining her lids just looked so dull.
"Man... did I always look this way?" She asked herself, before shaking her head. "N-No, just a bad night. You really think Sam would get with a girl that ugly? Just get yourself straightened out, and you'll look normal in no time!"
That cheer was met with a laugh, but this time she had no doubt who caused it. Even if it was for a brief moment, that reflection of hers seemed to take a mind of its own. Her eyes grew wide as the second Luna grinned at her, almost as twisted as the devil dragging her down. It didn't last long, but those fleeting seconds were definitely bone-chilling.
Especially when a distant voice matching the previous one broke through again. "Could be pity...," it taunted, "... pity for a worthless girl like you. So greedy, so ugly... so useless..."
She barely brushed her teeth. Luna spat away the gunk within her mouth and quickly dressed herself, running out of the bathroom fast. She closed the door and leaned against the wood, breathing harshly and weakly. Even after the shower she endured, it almost felt like she ran a marathon. Was that smell coming from her?
"Maybe...," she heard it speak again.
Luna slapped herself hard against the face. "What's the matter with you? It was a bad dream, that's all!" She complained, only to recoil at the feeling of an empty stomach. The lack of dinner was really catching up fast, and already her legs felt like jell-o. When was the last time she ate? Had to be lunch, but then again she broke into ann unannounced jam session and probably forgot. "Breakfast yesterday? Dang girl, you need grub, but... ah, why am I so late?"
She dashed down the hall, tripping as she quickly ran back to her room. The tickets; she had to distribute them today. The sights of Sully and Mazzy's shock at least won over those terrible thoughts, and she found herself perking up just a little bit. With a sigh, she rummaged through the drawer, at last finding the four fated tickets. That day was still far off, but it was nice to look forward to a bright future.
One for her keyboardist, one for her lovely bassist, one for her drummer, and the last one...
... was heavier than the rest. She looked at it confused. Huh. Yesterday they all felt the same, and why shouldn't they? They were the same material across, so there shouldn't be any reason why they would be any different. Yet, when she held the one she marked as her own, it felt like a bag full of boulders weighing her down.
She sighed, slipping it back into the drawer. "Well, maybe they just cut it wrong or something. What matters is theirs, not mine," she said with a weak smile. Placing them all in her bag, she began her descent down the stairs, still feeling her stomach growl painfully. She needed something, even if it was extremely basic.
Down the flight, she saw both her parents beside the door, arms folded against their chests. Their expressions were anything but positive. "Luna, what happened? You're never this late! At least we still got some time, but jeez, you're pushing it this morning!" Rita complained.
Her father walked over concerned. Normally nothing about this would be off, and she'd kindly allow him to do this, but seeing that face of his brought back the dream full-force. She took a step back, feeling fear run down her spine. This wiped some of his mood off, replacing it with confusion.
"Uh, Luna? Hey, I'm not that mad. More worried than anything. You feeling better from last night?"
It sounded concerned. He was legit. She rubbed the back of her head, feeling guilty for even thinking any different. A sheepish chuckle escaped her lips. "Oh, uh... yeah, just fine. Guess I got excited from those tickets. Heh, didn't mean to make you guys scared and such."
Rita sighed, pulling out a small bag. "Well I'm not a fan of you not eating anything, so I made sure you caught up with breakfast. I don't normally allow this, but for now, you can eat this in Vanzilla, all right?"
She could smell the delight already. Luna's empty stomach begged for it to enter her right now. With a smile, she reached out her hand. "Thanks, Mom. This really means a-"
She froze. Against the brown paper appeared her face, looking cocky and smug, just like the mirror. It winked at her, before sticking her tongue out like a brat. "Go ahead, take it. Forget to eat it too! How much money wasted then, huh? The devil really likes greedy people, dear..."
Luna stopped, and retracted her hand. Rita looked at her confused, before raising an eyebrow. "What's gotten into you? Take it! You need to eat!"
The young rocker did something she knew she'd immediately regret. If she were Lincoln in her dream, she'd be just as disappointed. Luna pushed her mother aside, feeling the cold sweat cover her brow. "I'm fine! I'm not hungry!"
They both didn't even seem angry; shocked, but more or less scared. "L-Luna..."
But there was nothing more to be said. She entered the van and sighed, sitting down and buckling her seat, ignoring the constant food pains gnawing away. It didn't take long for her siblings to make themselves known, all looking at her suspiciously. When she turned to them, they all quickly turned back, all trying to distract themselves with their own problems.
Lincoln, sitting right beside her, was the only one who didn't bother doing this. He patted her hand. "Hey... you okay?" He asked like the kind kid he was.
She really wasn't having a good morning, but hearing him at least calmed some of her nerves. "Yeah... just peachy." Some, not all.
Their parents soon took their respective positions in the van. Rare for both of them to drive together this early; must be a strange day for everyone. Rita looked at her daughter one last time, before kindly handing the bag over. "I won't pry, okay? Just... please don't forget to eat, honey. Please?"
Angry or not, she couldn't stay mad at her folks. Luna felt like she wanted to cry as she grabbed the bag. "I... I won't. Sorry."
It was an awkward ride, and as school quickly approached, Luna kept hiding that rumbling in her stomach. If she opened the bag, she could stop that right now.
But the face on the bag grinned at her. Those hands didn't budge for the rest of the trip. All she could do was stare out the window at the grotesque monster looking back.
