Sorry for the late update! Was so busy with other stuff and couldn't think of any ideas. Oh, and Wolf is Lunar. :)

"Get to your room mister."

Dmitri Erland was in the prison corridor, opening his eyes when the prison guard talked to him. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'll be going now." Erland stood up and bowed his head to the guard, and walked to his room.

If anybody came in and saw his room, they would think it was just an ordinary bedroom in an ordinary Luna house. A bed in the corner, a bookshelf in another, a closet door next to the bedroom door, a desk right next to the bookshelf, and a window behind the bed.

But this was not an ordinary bedroom in an ordinary Luna house. In fact, it was a room in a prison. The window was fake. The bed was fake. The books in the bookshelves were fake. And there was nothing in the closet. This was just an act. The only real thing in the room, was a rock for his pillow, and the desk with some paper and pencils.

His door opened. Erland turned around to see a prison guard coming inside with a laptop in his hand. "Your daughter is Skyping you. I'll be outside. Just remember we can hear everything here." Erland nodded, and took the laptop, placing it on the desk.

He sat down in his chair and answered the call. "H-hey, Dad? How's it going?" she asked, trying to blink her tears away. But Erland could see the tears before they were blinked away.

He smiled as strong as he could muster, but it even felt weak to him. "My little Crescent Moon. I'm fine. What about school? I heard Mistress Sybil sent you to an Earthen school. Was it fun?"

Crescent smiled. "It was fun. Everybody was nice, especially this guy. I'm guessing we're friends?" She said it as a question, not a statement, which told him that it was Thorne she was talking about.

"Oh really? What's his name?" he asked.

He saw Crescent hesitate before she answered, "His name is Carswell Thorne. He was really nice and everything." He let his eyes get wide, and reached behind the computer to get some paper and a pencil. Erland started to write:

The Lunars here are recording everything we say. They can't see the video feed, but they can still hear us.

Crescent nodded and said, "So, did you eat yet? I haven't and I'm starving. Can you wait while I go make a sandwich? I'll be right back." She stood up and started walking in place. She must have taken after her mother, being so clever. She got her notebook, and wrote something. She turned it around. It said:

Do you know about Carswell Thorne?

Erland nodded. Whatever you do, don't bring him to Luna. I know that you're working for the Lunars to get me out of her. Don't worry about me. I'm fine, really.

Crescent shook her head, her eyes starting to glisten. Dad, I can't just leave you there! Plus, if I don't bring him, they'll possibly kill you and me! Thorne is just a stranger. He doesn't mean anything for you and me. Why do you care? I could get you out of here!

This time, Erland felt his eyes sting a bit. My Crescent… I know you. You are a very strong person, but you can't just use someone, no matter how much of a stranger he is. FOCUS! The Lunars could be using you too. They could be lying to you about freeing me. Run. Don't worry about me. Pack everything you can, and run. If you're such a good hacker, use those skills and make a new I.D. Run.

Crescent stood up. "Sorry, Dad. That took long, right? But I got a lot of homework and school stuff to catch up with. I'll call you again next time."

He nodded. "I understand, Crescent. Just remember… I love you no matter what, okay? If you make a wrong decision, I understand. And I will always love you."

Crescent nodded, and wiped the flowing tears off from her cheeks. "I know. And I love you too. I'll try to Skype you as soon as possible. I love you, Dad."

The call ended. Erland sat still for a second, then started crumbling all the papers he had just written on, hiding it underneath his shirt. Then he called out, "The call's over. You can come get it now." The guard came in and took the laptop. "Thank you." Erland whispered as the guard shut the door behind him.

"Run, Crescent. Run."

The second day of school was quiet. For Cress at least. Thorne wasn't there, which was bad for Mistress Sybil, and good for Cress. She was afraid all morning, about the thick awkwardness there would be between them.

"Hey, where's Thorne?" Scarlet asked lunch, sitting next to Cress.

Cress shrugged and said in a quiet voice, "I didn't see him this morning."

Winter twirled her hair around her finger. "You know… Thorne… whenever he's out for one day, it normally lasts for a week. Have you ever noticed that?"

Jacin nodded. "Yeah. And whenever he's back, he doesn't talk for at least two days. But he's never himself. Until you came." He said the last part to Cress.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Whatever. He's probably out there with a girl or something."

Cress frowned and thought about the last thing he said last night.

Aces, I need to go. My dad_I mean; I need to go. I'll see you later.

Was he getting beaten up right now? Or… he got beaten so bad that the bruises were still…

Cress shook her head. What was she doing? She wasn't worrying about him… was she? No, it wasn't possible. She didn't like Thorne. In fact, she was wishing that he would just follow her to the train station to Mistress Sybil. Then, she would see her father.

Yes. That's what she has to do. She stabbed the fork angrily at her salad, thinking of Throne.

"Um… Cress? Are you okay? You don't have to murder your food to eat… do you?" Wolf asked her.

She looked up and blushed as hard as she could. Stars, why did Mistress Sybil have to choose such a hard personality to act out. "I_I thought of something I didn't like for a second. Sorry."

Wolf looked at her weirdly. "You don't have to apologize about it."

Cress tried to blush hard again, and failed. Getting Thorne would mean less of this torture. That was it. She would get Thorne to Mistress Sybil, no matter what.

"Iko! What are you doing?!" Cinder whisper/shouted.

"What? I'm going to talk to Kai. Is that against the law or something?" Iko asked.

Cinder groaned. "No, but I would like it if you would just sit down and stop drawing attention to yourself?!"

Iko rolled her eyes. "It's fine, Cinder. I'm not going to talk about you, I just need to ask him about a homework question. I'll be right back!" She waved and left before Cinder could say anything back.

"You could've asked me?" Cinder murmured under her breath. She tried to keep calm.

BLOOD PRESSURE RISING 86%

HEART RATE RISING 55%

Cinder groaned and pretended that she was eating lunch. She could feel the eyes on her back, and thanked the stars once again for the disability to blush.

When Iko came back and sat in front of her, Cinder kicked her in the leg. "Ow!" Iko yelped. "What was that for?!"

Cinder glared at her. "What did you talk with to him about?" she said through clenched teeth.

Iko shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. Just some math questions…"

"And…?" Cinder said, waiting for Iko to finish.

"And… if he wanted to come over this Friday at our house."

"IKO!"