Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Black Cat.
A/N: This chapter is shorter than the others due to lack of time and convenience and my goal to post up a chapter every Sunday. I hope you continue to enjoy..^_^
Chapter 7
Luna's POV
I opened my eyes in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. What the hell was that? I hadn't had that nightmare for almost two years, and I'd never heard that voice before in any of my dreams. And how had she known my real name? For as long as I could remember, everyone, even my parents had called me by my nickname. I barely even knew my full name until my parents taught it to me when I was little. I looked around, making sure I was far and safely away from wherever the voice had taken me.
It had been a void; no other word could describe a place that was so...empty. There had been nothing there, no light, no shadow. The only indication that I even existed were my own thoughts. But the most unnerving part was that I couldn't sense anything other than the voice and myself. Couldn't smell, couldn't touch, couldn't hear or see. I had no body to feel or to feel with. If I had been transparent or invisible, I would've felt the air passing through me, would've known that my arm was still attached to my shoulder even if I couldn't see it. But my body wasn't there. It had been such a relief when I woke up, able to feel the sensation of having flesh and bones. The rise and fall of my chest as I breathed, the strain on my eyes as they opened to blinding sunlight, the rapid beat of my heart, letting me know I was still alive.
As I glanced around, Train peered down at me over his shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked with a hint of concern. I didn't answer as I tried to straighten out the thoughts and emotions whirling through my head after the dream. It took me a moment to gather my bearings and remember where I was, and yet another to realize I was lying my head down on Train's lap. I shot up in an instant, nearly conking Train in the forehead. He moved his head out of the way in time, but he seemed startled form my reaction. I was more than a little flustered, now. I hadn't been that close to a man in years, and I had only know this one for half a day. He looked at me and asked again, "Luna, are you okay?" "Y-yeah," I stammered. "S-sorry about that. I was just..surprised." "You look like you just saw a ghost." "You could say that," I muttered under my breath and sighed. "It was just a really bad dream." Train nodded sympathetically. "You were talking in your sleep." I looked up at him a bit surprised. I'd forgotten how many times Ryan had complained about that when I kept him up at night. "Did I say anything strange?" I asked, thinking back to what had gone through my head in the nightmare. He was quiet for a moment before answering. "Nothing too weird. Just bits and pieces." I wasn't completely convinced as I watched the look on his face, but I left it at that. The sooner I could forget about that dream, the better.
I looked around the car. Everyone else was awake except for Ryan. Eve smiled at me warmly, fully rested after the night before. "Good morning," she greeted. I smiled back. "Morning." Sven looked at me from the rear view mirror. "Glad to see you're okay after last night." "Thanks," I replied, not really sure what else to say. Truth be told, I was half expecting I would go into shock from almost dying, twice.
Rays of sunlight shone through the windows as the morning sun burned from above. I glanced out Train's window, expecting to see a familiar city skyline. Instead, my eyes met a dry, almost deserted shrub-land. The ground was rocky and almost barren, with sprouts of dark prickly green leaves trying to escape the small cracks in the Earth. Every few yards, what looked like sharp thin shafts of wood passed us by where they appeared to have shot up from the ground – trees maybe? Around each of their bases, bushes formed a circle under which the trees' roots should have been. A tumbleweed rolled in the distance, completing the wasteland theme of the landscape. "Where are we? "
Train pointed towards the GPS. "See for yourself." I glanced over at the screen. The little red you-are-here-dot blinked in between two white specks. One was labeled San Antonio, while the smaller spot read Sonora underneath. My eyes widened; San Antonio was at least five hours away from home. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was reading the screen right. "When did we pass San Antonio?"
"About half an hour ago," Eve answered. "While you and Ryan were asleep, we got some new clothes for you guys to change into from a friend we met there." I remembered what Train had said about buying new clothes over the radio. Then I recalled what else they'd said. "So, why are we coming along with you guys? And, where are we going?" Eve was about to answer, but Sven cut her off. "We're going to meet up with someone I know in Ciudad Juarez." Eve looked surprised. "I thought we were driving towards San Diego for the next target. Do we have to drop them off across the border to hide them or something?" Sven and Train exchanged glances. "Actually, we aren't dropping them off anywhere just yet."
Alarms went off in my head, red flags waving at full speed. These guys aren't kidnapping us are they? I thought of all the possible reasons they might want to. Ransom? Cheap labor, maybe? They said they were trying to save money before. The panic must have been plain on my face as Train explained what Sven meant. "We aren't planning on hurting you guys or anything. It's just that it looks like you and your brother are going to have to be traveling with us from now on. Once we get to Ciudad Juarez, we're getting you sweepers' licenses." Somehow, that wasn't too reassuring to hear. "WHAT?" "Hnnnneh...what's going on?" Ryan woke up in the front seat from my shouting. "Why's everyone so loud?" he groaned groggily as he sat himself up properly. He rubbed his stiff neck before glancing around the car. "Morning everyone," he mumbled. Then he looked out the window. "Where are we?" "Somewhere between San Antonio and Sonora," Eve answered, still confused as to what was happening. "And, apparently, we're going to cross the border to Mexico in a few hours, too," I added. "You know, so we can get our sweepers' licenses." It took Ryan a minute to process what we'd just told him. Then his eyes widened. "WHAT?" "That's what I said." Eve looked at her partners curiously. "So, why are we bringing them with us?" Train looked at Sven. "How about you tell them? You're the one who heard them talking back there." Sven sighed, as if he was suddenly carrying a huge burden. "Fine." He looked me in the eye solemnly.
"Luna, did you or your brother recognize any of the men chasing us last night?" I was a bit stunned at the question. The answer seemed obvious. "Of course I didn't. Why would I know who those goons were? They were after you three..." My voice trailed off as I grasped what Sven was trying to say. "Weren't they..after you?" Sven said nothing, the answer clear in his eyes. Ryan's face went almost white when he realized what Sven was telling us. "Last night," Sven started. "Ryan and I were cornered in a side street behind the hotel. Thanks to his talent with explosives, though, we were able to build a spark-plug bomb and ambush them with it in one of the alleys connecting to it." Strands of Ryan's hair still stood on end from that, giving his appearance an electrifying effect. "Ryan went to hide in one of the dumpsters while I sat behind one the crates on the ground while we were waiting for them, so he wasn't able to hear what they were saying as they were coming towards us." He paused. "They were talking about you and your parents. They had said that you two had gotten away from themonce...the night they went after your family." He let us absorb what he'd just said, letting silence fall within the car. I closed my eyes, not wanting to believe what I he'd said. It can't be them again. It just can't . They found what they were looking for. What else could Basilia want with us? As I sat there in denial, Ryan voiced the one question I wanted to avoid. "Did you see some kind of tattoo on any of the men back at the hotel?" "I did," Train volunteered. "The gunman in front the door of our room had one on the back of his hand. It was a picture of some kind of serpent wrapped around a knife –" "A dagger," I corrected him as the image from my dream flashed through my mind. "A serpent wrapped around a dagger in a ring of silver." Eve, Sven, and Train looked at me in surprise.
"So you know who they were," Sven said, more as a statement than a question. I sighed. "It's..a long story." "We've got time." Train indicated towards the desert outside. "It'll be a couple of hours before we reach the next town for supplies." Ryan gave me a meaningful look from where he sat. "Should we tell them?" I remembered what the voice from last night had said, about us being in good hands. I nodded. "And then looked at the others. "It started three years ago..."