The Incident

It all started in a dark alleyway. No, really, it did. So what if my life's a tad cliché? It's my life.

Anyway, it was a warm Thursday late in October and Luna had been having a terrible week. She desperately needed someone to talk to so I stayed after school with her. I knew my parents would kill me when I got home, but Luna was more important. We stayed after for hours. She cried a lot. I hugged her and comforted her. Neither of us really paid attention to the time and by the time we finally began walking home, it was already dark.

Luna's house was at the end of a pretty long alleyway and I always walked with her all the way to her house instead of leaving her to walk it alone. Maybe I was paranoid of clichés. But I'm forever thankful I walked with her down that alleyway that October. Had I not done so, I don't know if I'd still have her around.

As we walked down the alley, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I moved closer to Luna and put my hand on her shoulder as we walked in silence. After what felt like 30 mins, Luna muttered, "You're always warm . . ." I felt a slight smile and redness creep up on my face.

It disappeared, however, rather suddenly as a dark figure leapt out, knocking both of us over and breaking my contact with her. My instincts kicked in immediately. Sixth sense told me where she was and I scrambled over to her. My hand found hers, squeezed, and hers squeezed back. Relief hit me, but it didn't last because I was suddenly flung by my hair into the wall behind me. I screamed. I heard Luna scream my name, then a thud as she hit something else. My fear turned into rage and I scrambled up and blindly began attacking the air in hopes of hitting the stranger who had attacked up. My fist made contact with what I think was his ribs and he let out a groan of shock and pain. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me against his body, locking me there with one arm and holding the ice cold barrel of a gun to my head.

"If you move, I shoot your girlfriend," the deep, cold voice of the stranger growled. I could faintly see Luna cowering on the ground. The stranger lashed out his foot suddenly and I heard a horrible noise and a whimper from Luna that told me that he had made contact with her head. His grip on me had loosened slightly and I used the chance to elbow him fiercely in the stomach. He groaned in pain again and I wrenched myself free. I sent a fist towards the hand I knew had held a gun. I missed. Light hit his eyes and I saw confusion and fear within them.

"Witch . . ." he gasped, as if unable to breathe. I took a nervous step back, but slipped and landed on my butt. The ground, I realised suddenly, was covered in a sheet of ice. Curiosity got the best of me, and I reached towards the stranger's ankles. They were completely frozen. Excitement and fear hit me at once and I decided to get Luna home as fast as possible.

I crawled carefully over the icy ground and found Luna unconscious on the ground. My hand brushed her shoulder softly. She was ice cold like the ground and I suddenly felt my eyes sting and a tears leak from them silently. "Luna?" I whispered, afraid I might not get an answer. I reached up and touched her face. I could feel ice cold blood around her mouth and soaking her hair. She groaned and relief hit me like a tidal wave. An ice-cold hand touched mine and held it weakly. I could feel her shaking violently as she began to regain consciousness.

"Warm . . ." she muttered. I nodded, barely hearing her, and put my hands under her arms to pull her up. Her arms wrapped slowly around my neck as I silently pulled her up. She tightened her weak grip on me and I could feel her shaking in my arms. "Home." She spoke so faintly, it was almost as if she wasn't even alive, just a spirit. Slowly, we walked down the ally, her limping horribly and my ears alert and ready to pick her up and run at the slightest sound. But the ally was silent.

We finally reached her house and I knocked on the back door. The door flung open a moment later and Luna's mom leapt forward and braced her daughter in a tight hug. Luna made a noise like an injured dog and she let go. She seemed to suddenly realise that Luna was hurt.

"Oh, Luna!" she breathed then turned to me. "What happened? No, never mind, get inside, both of you." She helped me carry Luna in the door and lay her down on the couch. In the light, I saw blood stains all over Luna's face, in her hair, on her shoulder. Everywhere. The stranger must have thrown her into the brick wall of the alley. Her skin was horribly pale and she was still shiverring horribly. I started to cry again, seeing how injured she was. I had no idea how she had managed to walk with me to her house. Her mother seemed to be thinking the same thing too. We were both in a sort of stunned silence. Luna broke the silence first.

"Em . . . " she murmered.

"I'll make some tea and call your parents," Her mother said and went into the kitchen. I knelt beside the couch, right next to Luna.

"S . . sorry." I hadn't been expecting that and gave her a confused look. Her hand twitched towards mine and I suddenly realised her eyes were red with tears. I touched her cheek lightly, wishing for a way to take her pain away. Her skin seemed to dance beneath my hand and I pulled my hand away as a reflex. She gave me a curious look. Cautiously, I placed my hand on her cheek again. The tingling, dancing feeling of her skin returned. I could feel her cold skin becoming warmer and noticed that she didn't look nearly as pale as she had when we first got inside. Her mother's footsteps came into the room and I heard her gasp behind me.

"How did--?" she said bewildered.

"How did what?" I asked. She shook her head and set the cup of tea she had been holding on the coffee table. Her eyes never left Luna. She motioned for me to move and she knelt down where I had just been, staring at Luna in amazement. She had a wet rag in her hand which she used to wipe the dried blood off of Luna's face and hair. Then I realised why she had gasped: the cuts on Luna's head had somehow sealed nearly perfectly already. Then she turned to look at me with the same curious look Luna had given me.

"Come here, Emma," she said after a moment, indicating the other side of her. I obliged, though thoroughly confused. She took my hand and placed it on Luna's ankle which was swollen to at least twice its normal size and was likely broken. Again, I could feel her skin dance and tingle beneath mine. I realised I was extremely tired and closed my eyes.

I had begun to drift off when a hand suddenly pulled mine off Luna's ankle. My eyes fluttered open; Luna's mom was looking at me with great concern and worry. I glanced at Luna's ankle; it didn't look very swollen. Had I been dreaming? I wondered. My brain felt foggy and I wasn't sure what was real and what was just in my head.

"You weren't dreaming, Emma," she said quietly. I wanted to ask how she had known I was thinking that, but did no have the energy to do so. "But you've used up all your energy, so I'm not going to make you go home unless you really want to go." I barely understood the words she said, but shook my head anyway. She began to speak again, but I didn't hear her. The last I remembered was collapsing on the floor.