GHOST SQUAD

CHAPTER 17- RELATIONS

Luna stood over Alice, watching her sleep. So, this was her sister. Step sister, she reminded herself. Another sibling whose life their mother had ruined.

Alice was nothing like her, and yet they shared so much in common. She shared the same wound as Luna.

Someone coughed. Luna looked up and saw Mendaline wink at her, letting her know that despite Luna's cloaking powers, she could very well see her.

Luna gave her a salute, letting her know that she did not give a damn if the witch could see her. She had a right to meet her sister. Besides, this was not the first time Luna had come here.

Mendaline grinned, before turning to sleep the other way. Despite her, I -don't- care- about -anyone attitude, she cared for everyone whatever the cost.

Luna felt proud of herself. She knew she had surprised Mendaline a great deal by creating the golden locket. After all, Mendaline had always thought Luna would not survive past the age of twenty. Luna was in her thirties now. Something she so badly wanted to rub in the witch's face, but could not because of the promise made between them all those years ago, in this very cave.

Luna sighed and turned away. She looked at the audience sleeping in Mendaline's cave. She noted two people or more specifically, two ghosts missing. Mike and Maria. There was definitely some chemistry between the two, followed by ridiculous misunderstandings. Luna only hoped the two solved their problems. Maria was a great person. In the brief time Luna had known her, all Maria ever cared about was protecting Alice, and sometimes you had to lie to protect your loved ones.

Luna looked at Alice again, studying her closely this time. She tried to ignore the fact that she resembled Cora a lot more than any of their other siblings. Step siblings. Or perhaps the others had never had a chance to grow up, since Cora had killed them in infancy.

Luna wiped a tear that had escaped her eyes. The memory was forever burned into the back of her mind. She still woke up screaming in the middle of the night, soaking in sweat. She could still feel bile in her throat when she remembered how it had felt to touch the ashes of her siblings. She could still feel the pain in her wrists, where Cora used to tie her to her bed. She still had burn marks on her back, where her mother had 'accidentally' poured hot tea. Luna did not want to remove the marks with her powers. She wanted to remember the pain so she could use it when the time came to strike.

Unlike Alice, Luna had long discovered the horrors their mother was capable of. Since she too had inherited Cora's powers, she unfortunately, had lived. Sometimes, Luna wished she were dead. At least she would've been spared the trauma she still struggled to forget.

Luna had been seven when she had first, for some reason kids did whatever they did, decided to bath in Cora's bathroom. Her mother had been at 'work', so there was no stopping her. She doubted that Cora would've ever imagined that Luna would accidentally turn the cold water tap the wrong way, revealing a secret door where all of her mother's secrets were hidden.

Luna had been so excited thinking that things would be like Narnia on the other side of the door. What she had not imagined was that she would be the protagonist of a blue-beard film.

The room was utterly dark. The smell of ashes and smoke hit her the minute Luna set foot in the room. The air in the room was so cold, that her fingers felt numb. She wished she wore some type of jacket on her dress, but she had been so excited to see what was behind the door, that she had hurriedly put on her dress on her wet body. Big mistake, she realized. There was nothing exciting about this. Luna felt her throat dry up. Her heart started beating fast. She had never gotten scared of anything before and she still would not.

Luna let her hands explore the walls, searching for a light switch. Unfortunately, she found it. Part of her still wished she hadn't, and she had just walked away and gone on with her boring and lonely day. Instead, she had smiled in triumph and turned on the lights.