My Human Luna

12

ONE MONTH LATER

"Excuse me,  miss,  can I have another cup of coffee?" 

I turn around to face the customer and pour coffee into their glass with a smile on my face.  "There you go,  sir! Give me a shout if you need another else", I say politely. The man, roughly in his late twenties, smiles back up at me. I start to walk away from the table to go waitress another customer. 

"Wait", he says, causing me to turn around. He pauses to look down at my name tag. "Margaret, are you free tonight to go out for dinner with me?". 

I go to correct him that my name is not Margaret, but I hold my tongue once I remember that my name is Margaret now. When I applied for this waitress job, they asked what my name was and it was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I couldn't give them my real name, because it might draw attention from the people I ran away from in the first place. 

I once again smile at the man. "I'm sorry, but I am busy tonight. Maybe another time?"  I say. I don't want to go another time, I just want to be polite enough that so that I still get a good tip. I need all the money I can get at the moment. 

He looks down, disappointed. Nether-less, he smiles faintly back, agrees with my suggestion and walks out, leaving some cash on the table he was sitting at. 

I keep working for another two hours until my shift is over. I collect my pay and tips and walk out, happy to have finished for the day.  

I walk alongside the road towards the house where I'm staying, watching the sun set in the far distance. The sun shimmers through the leaves that hang from the large trees beside me. It's exactly the scene I wished to get married in: the sun setting, lovely forest scenery with just me, my partner and my loved ones watching on. But I remind myself that that is never going to happen. My mind cannot help but flicker to Declan, causing my heart to slightly pang, but I shut it down instantly. Since running away, I have tried to build a new life; a life where I am strong and capable. 

I am so enveloped in my own deep thoughts that I reach the house hardly remembering walking from the cafe. I pull out my keys and open the door to the house and am greeted with my 8 house mates sitting around in the lounge room. 

"Finally, our little worker girl is finally here" sneers Joshua, and I just sneer back at him. Joshua and I didn't get along from the start - I think it's because I'm a nice person and he is definitely not. 

"Get over it Joshua, working is important - what do you even do with your life besides pretend that girls like you", I retort back. We stare at each other until Clarissa, the head of the group, interrupts.  

"Ugh, guys, you two are so annoying. Get a room or kill each other, we don't care; just stop annoying us!" she says, whilst giving us both a wink. Ben, Clarissa's boyfriend, laughs and her joke. Joshua and I just turn our glare on the two of them.

"Ugh, stop", I say, and head to the couch to flop right next to her on it. An 8 hour shift at the cafe is exhausting, and I just want to sleep. 

"Okay, everyone, now that Margaret is here, let's get going! Training starts outside in 5", Clarissa says, pushing me towards my room as I can get ready for training. Whilst I did not like training to start off with, it's started to grow on me - and I also love kicking Joshua in the face.

So I go and get changed and head outside, meeting everyone outside. Walking outside into the forest again reminded me of Declan; his scent, his voice - I couldn't get away from it. But I had to try. That was the reason I was here after all; to get away from it, from him. 

Clarissa and Ben stand up in front of the rest of us, holding hands. Apparently Ben and Clarissa have been a couple for a long time, but you can still see that they hold a spark for each other when they look into each other's eyes. It's beautiful, but also makes me want to throw up. 

"Okay, before we start we want to congratulate Margaret on her first month with us!! Margaret, your skills have improved so much since you've come here - and I'm so proud of you", Clarissa says, beaming at me like a proud Mum. 

Clarissa continues, "When we found you at the corner of our property, all bundled up in a ball looking like you'd seen death we had no idea what to think. We even thought you might be one of THEM", she said, seething when she said them. The others beside me do the same thing, becoming angered at just that simple mention. I've gotten used to their anger, and sometimes even join in. 

"What we basically want to say, Margaret", Ben continues for his girlfriend, "is that we are so happy you joined us. You are more talented than we could've expected and you've become a sister to all of us. We hope you feel the same". I smile back up at Ben and Clarissa. Although they are only a couple years older than me, these two became my protectors and took me in at a time I needed someone. 

I shiver at the day they found me. I had run away from Declan and those beings, terrified for my life. I really did feel like I had seen a ghost - and I needed a reality check. When Clarissa found me, she brought me to the house and asked me who I was and what happened to me. Whilst I lied about my name, I did tell her I saw a huge beast and these fast moving pale beings. Shocked, Clarissa asked how I escaped; but I still didn't know how it happened. Seeing that I was alone and that I had survived an attack from these beings, Clarissa told me the story of supernatural beings in our world. About how evil and tainted they were. How they had killed her parents. 

And then she told me that her and Ben had created a little group of people bent on killing these beings. She called us hunters. 

I didn't want to be alone - and I knew after how weak I had acted those days with Declan, I needed to learn how to be strong. So I accepted. 

The first two weeks were hell. Constant training, my muscles in pain - I was ready to give in the towel. But then, one night, something clicked - call it instinct, control, determination, I still wasn't sure - but I knew what to do. And so here I am. 

"So, after all that sweet talk, let's train! Matthew, you're with Clarissa", Ben says, motioning Matthew to join Clarissa by her side. Whilst Matthew doesn't say much, he is extremely sweet and an even better fighter. His gigantic stature helps him out a lot with that. A fight between Clarissa and Matthew would be fantastic to watch - although, I have already experienced it. Spoiler alert, I won. 

Ben continues, "And that leaves you two, Joshua and Margaret. Go stand over there and get your positions - tonight, we are going with no weapons." 

I grin. I haven't been able to fight Joshua for a while, and honestly I can't wait to slap that smirk off his face. I didn't think I would be good at fighting at all - but turns out, if I listen to my instincts I was actually quite good at it. 

I go over and take my position facing Joshua. I bend down, acting ready to go at the call. Joshua stares back at me, his brown eyes twinkling at the chance to knock me down. 

But he will not get the chance. 

"3, 2," Ben bellows between us. I squint my eyes and my muscles become tense. I'm ready. 

"GO!", yells Ben, and I pounce.

*Hey guys!! Let me know what you think of this change in events :)))