Blue Moon (Colors of the Moon #1)

Chapter 1

"Wake up, you pathetic human."

With a quiet groan I sat up and stretched my sore muscles. The cot, which substituted as my bed, wasn't much better than the stiff floor underneath it.

"What's going on?" I asked my cellmate. "Has another one gone missing?"

"Shh!" She didn't even look at me as she waved me to be quiet.

I mimicked her, and strained my ears, trying to catch whatever she seemed to be hearing.

Nothing.

I heard absolutely nothing that would explain her unusual behavior. This is why instead of trying to hear something that wasn't there, I focused my attention on her. My cellmate of sixty-two days. That's how long I've been stuck in this hellhole.

Her name was Elena, and she was a goddess among us mundane humans. Even with little access to water, she still looked unfairly attractive. Her long, curly, dark brown hair didn't show a single sign of grease. Unlike mine, where I could feel the oil sticking to my straight dark brown hair. If I were anywhere else, I would have been disgusted with myself. In here though, I had no other choice but to get used to it.

Like her hair, her tanned skin didn't show any sign of dirt, while my pale skin looked like I had taken a roll around a mud bath. Even her eyelashes looked enviously long; only serving to emphasize her hazel eyes.

She was all around perfect, which is why I never really liked her. This and the annoying fact that she referred to me as a human. Every time she called me a human she made it sound like she was insulting me, which didn't make any sense. She was, after all, a human too. What else could she be?

Before I could get into a deeper description of her faults, the sound of rushing footsteps and scraping metal caught my attention. I had barely enough time to inhale a startled breath when the door of our cell was thrown wide open. The bright light from the outside hallway forced me to shield my eyes, but not before I registered the outline of a figure standing in the open doorway.

Elena, on the other hand, didn't seem to have such problems with the light.

"Conner!" she exclaimed.

"They're upstairs." A masculine voice came from the doorway.

I pried my fingers off my eyes just in time to see Elena race out of the cell. Just like that she left me behind, without sparing me a second thought. As if the sixty-two days of us being stuck together never happened.

The male savior spared me a single glance before he disappeared as well. Even without any words, the second-long glimpse told me everything I needed to know. I wasn't worthy enough for him to spend his time.

I sat on the stiff cot, looking at the now wide open door and wondering if this was a trap. The entire situation felt like the time that had landed me in here in the first place. One brief moment of distraction and my fate had been sealed.

Then again, what could be worse than being trapped inside a small cell? Whatever was out there couldn't be worse than being stuck in here. Right?

My legs shook as I rose to my feet, which is why the first unsteady step I took was toward the wall, so I could use it for support. I hesitated for a heartbeat longer before I crossed the three steps separating me from the door.

I was out.

Because no one tackled me to the ground, I took the second step outside and then the third. By the fourth step I already didn't need the support any longer.

My eyes dared around, taking in every detail. At least twenty women stumbled out of similar dark holes. Some of them ran with everything they had toward a door at the left end of the long room, while others like me followed meekly behind. A few even bumped into me while hurrying to get out, but I couldn't hold it against them. I understood their need to be free.