Queen Of The Ventils

XXXII

"So, why do you think that Proditorus attacked us at the bonfire?"
"Uh huh."
"And how did it even find us in the first place? Even in their feral state, they usually avoid humans."
"Mm hm....."
"Krel? Kre-el? Are you even listening to me?!"
"Yeah..."

Monday had come quicker than I would have liked it. Once our initial shock at the bonfire had died down and Lunalis assured us that Insanity would not eat our internal organs for dinner, we tried to bring her back to the Mothership. I say we 'tried' because she wanted nothing to do with it, and decided to sleep in the trees behind the house. When Douxie questioned whether or not she would stay put, she replied, "I won't leave until I get Zephyr back."

She left us alone for the most part, sleeping in the woods during the day and hunting at night; I could tell because I could hear her feasting in the dead of night when everyone else had fallen asleep. I was just thankful she didn't insist on sleeping inside with the rest of us, or coming to school.

After the living situation with Insanity had been sorted out, Lunalis had plenty of time on her hands; and I was very grateful to spend every second of it with her. Kisses were exchanged briefly yet often; I still felt that spark of excitement every time our lips connected, even if it was for a mere second.

She quickly decided to not go on the date with Seamus after openly admitting her feelings for me, and after informing the others and a quick exchange with Claire about the meaning of her meeting with the redhead, she forgot about the date altogether. Now, back in school, while the others were analyzing and wondering about the attack that happened this weekend, I was hopelessly wandering around in a lovestruck daze.

"Krel, please, I need you to focus," Lunalis said, putting her palms on either side of my face and turning it to face her. "Do you have any idea why Ventils would suddenly be attacking us?"
"Well, I am not certain..." I trailed off, distracted by Lunalis' beautiful green eyes and lavender scent and how she was absentmindedly tracing her fingernails over loose curls of hair.

"You don't think that thing was after you, right?" Claire asked quietly. That snapped me out of my confusion and I jerked my head in her direction. "What?" I asked, taking Lunalis' hand firmly in mine. "Why would you say something like that?!"

"Because it makes sense," she said, and I could see the pieces mentally matching up on her face. "Lunalis was at the bonfire before the attack, which means that thing could have tracked her to our location. It kind of looked like a giant cat, so my best guess would be it caught her scent, followed it to us, and when it couldn't find her it fell into a rage."

"You just might be onto something, Claire," Douxie said, and I felt Lunalis bristle. "I don't know how Ventils packs work exactly, but I think that if you still have friends and family back in your den, they'll probably send out people to look for you, or do it themselves."

Lunalis shook her head. "Still, even if he had been tracking my scent, the Proditorus would have followed Krel and I into the woods and to the Kissing Tree. He wouldn't have attacked the humans at the bonfire unless given explicit orders to."
"But why now?!" Claire asked. "Why not the first night you went missing?! Why are they attacking now?! Why are they attacking us?! Urgh, this whole thing is making my head spin!!!"

"Claire, please, calm yourself," Archie said, swooping in front of her to make eye contact.
"Yes, this entire thing is confusing, and yes, we should investigate this further, but we need to keep our heads. For now, we should focus on our priority, which is getting these voices out of Lunalis' brain. As soon as they're gone, they can help us in solving this mystery."

"Okay," she sighed after a moment. "I've gotta go; I've got Spanish with Señor Uhl today." Douxie and Archie winced in sympathy for her.
"He's not that bad," Lunalis said, confused. "He likes me. Last week he said I was a mujer loca; a very high title of respect, correct?"

Douxie opened his mouth to respond, but after a quick head shake from Archie, shut it. I didn't feel like telling her it meant 'crazy lady', so I changed the subject. "Speaking of classes, we should probably be heading to Mr. Strickler's room," I said, squeezing Lunalis' hand. "Okay," she smiled, pecking me on the cheek before pulling me in the direction of the History classroom.

"Wait one sekton," I stopped her. "I forgot my textbook; I'll be back in just a mekron!" I turned and jogged back to my locker, fiddled with the finicky lock for a few more seconds, then eventually got it open. I dug around my mess of a locker for a moment before I seized it. Turning around, a sudden shadow fell across me; Seamus being the owner of it.

"Hello, Seamus," I smiled politely, noticing his group of friends hemming me in against the row of blue lockers. "How are you?"
"Lulu didn't show up to our date on Saturday," Seamus remarked, ignoring the question. "I figured I would ask you, since you look like you've gotten pretty close." He hissed the word close like it was something disgusting.

"Oh, Lunalis didn't want to go," I replied nonchalantly, trying to muscle past him. Unfortunately, Seamus was on the football team, and it was like trying to muscle past a cement wall. "Oh she didn't, did she?" Seamus asked, backing me further against the lockers. "No, she didn't," I said, clearing the anxiety out of my throat.

A crowd had started to gather around us, forming a half-circle that encompassed most of the outdoor area. I caught a glimpse of Lunalis' confused face before Mary elbowed her way into the front row so she could live stream the whole thing. Of course; Seamus was looking to humiliate me, and Mary was going to make it go viral.

"Why did she change her mind so suddenly?" Seamus whispered as he leaned down, voice taking on a dangerously soft tone. "She--she decided she didn't like you the way she thought she did, and she's decided she likes me," I said confidently. The elicited a few gasps from the crowd and started a flood of whispers being passed around.

Seamus seemed surprised for a split second, before donning his 'cool guy' facade once again and smirking. Smirking turned to chuckling, chuckling turned to laughing, and before I knew it, he was doubled over in hysterics.

"You really think that a woman like that, would ever be with a freak like you?" Seamus asked once his laughter had diminished, gesturing in Lunalis' general direction. "You know, I thought it was already sad and pathetic you were trying to hang out with normal people, but this really takes the cake."

"What is going on here?" I heard Señor Uhl ask the students in the back, but I couldn't see him as Seamus grabbed me and shoved me into the main area. "Go on, admit it; you lied about the fact you two were friends, and now you're lying about her being your girlfriend."

"I am not a liar," I snarled in response, standing my ground with my arms crossed. "I would not say she is my girlfriend, but she is my friend. And she does like me, and it's your stubborn, cretinous nature that refuses to accept the fact that someone like me has my feelings returned by the woman you are interested in."

More people gasped, and I heard Mary squeal with excitement. Seamus narrowed his eyes and glowered at me. Then, faster than I could register, he had grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and lifted me into the air. "You've got some nerve trying to make me look stupid in front of the whole school, punk," he hissed in my face, spittle flying all over. "I didn't make you look stupid," I grunted, trying to find my footing. "You did that all by yourself."

Yelling in anger, Seamus dropped me on my feet. I didn't stay there for long, as I soon went flying onto my back and smashed my head on the ground. There were cries of alarm and screams from the crowd, and the angry yell of teachers that were quickly dimming along with my eyesight. Faintly, I registered that I had been picked up again, and when I was met with the sight of Seamus' fist in my face, I quickly regained my senses.

Ducking out of his grasp before he could punch me again, I ran around his back side and tried to take a defensive stance with my serrator. Unfortunately, I had wandered right into the territory of his friends, who grabbed me and held me still. Seamus stalked closer to me, and I kicked and yelled trying to get myself loose.

Shoving me into the lockers with a huge push to my shoulders, I hit the lockers with a sickening clunk, sinking down to my knees as my vision blurred. A salty taste filled my mouth as I was slammed against the metal again.

I'm bleeding, my brain stated the obvious as I felt something warm and wet drip down my chin. The world was spinning, and I felt my senses fading fast. The last thing I noticed was an earth-shattering roar and an explosion of magenta before I blacked out.