Luna Everleigh's POV
***
The cold seeped into my bones, settling in the spaces between my ribs like an ache that would never leave.
I walked without direction, my steps aimless against the quiet streets. The suitcase felt heavier with every passing moment, the weight of my exile pressing down on my shoulders. The city lights stretched behind me, glowing like distant memories I could never return to.
I had nowhere to go.
No home.
No family.
No future.
A sharp gust of wind cut through my thin sweater, but I barely felt it. My mind was numb, my body moving on autopilot. My phone buzzed weakly in my pocket, the battery nearly dead. With shaking fingers, I pulled it out and scrolled through my contacts.
One by one, I called the people who used to matter.
One by one, they left me unanswered.
Or worse—
"Luna?" Marissa's voice came through, clipped and wary.
Relief bloomed in my chest. "Marissa, thank god. I—"
"You shouldn't call me."
I froze. "What?"
A long pause. "Look, I don't want to get involved in whatever mess you made. Damian—" She hesitated. "He said you lost control. That you attacked Emmy. Is that true?"
The words felt like a slap. "You actually believe him?"
Another pause. The hesitation was worse than an outright answer.
She sighed. "I'm sorry, Luna. I just… I can't risk being on the wrong side of this."
The line went dead.
I stood there, the weight of betrayal settling over me like fresh snow. Damian had spun his version of the story, and everyone had chosen to believe him.
Tears burned my eyes, but I swallowed them down.
I should have expected this.
I had always known that loyalty in my world was a fragile thing—conditional, dependent on power and status. And now that I had neither, I was nothing to them.
A ghost, already forgotten.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket, my breaths coming short and shallow. The streets grew emptier as I walked, the bright glow of the city fading into dim streetlights, then into nothing but shadows.
The further I went, the more the world seemed to blur around me.
Buildings thinned, replaced by long, empty roads leading toward the mountains that loomed behind the city. The trees at their base swayed in the wind, dark silhouettes against the night sky.
The air smelled different here. Cleaner. Colder.
The night stretched long and empty before me, and for the first time since stepping out of that house, I let myself think.
Really think.
No home.
No future.
No one who cared.
What was left for me?
A small, bitter laugh slipped past my lips.
Maybe this was it.
Maybe I was always meant to disappear.
The thought wrapped around me, curling into the spaces where hope used to be.
I turned toward the forest, my footsteps slowing as I crossed the boundary between civilization and wilderness.
The darkness welcomed me, the trees closing in.
I didn't look back.
To be continued...