Page 42 of Masked Instincts

Luna saw me in an unguarded state, but I quickly pushed it back inside of its cage. When she was done feeling sorry for me, she left. Luna wouldn’t even let me drive her home. And it was only after she left that I finally put clothes back on.

It’s been three hours since she walked out, and I have this sick feeling in my gut.

I grab my keys from the hook by the door where Mama had left them and head out. The headlights in the truck suck, making it hard to navigate through the trees, but eventually, I make it to her apartment. There’s no sight of her anywhere. I know she wouldn’t have returned to her apartment yet, but I didn't even see her on the side of the road.

Regardless, I slip into her apartment and check anyway. Empty. I should have shoved her inside of my truck and brought her home myself. Sliding my phone from my pocket, I pull up the camera feed to see if anything happened. Silence. Abandoned. Ghostly. Not a single thing has happened while she was gone. Once I’m done searching every frame inside her apartment, I search the feed for the one on the outside.

When I put them in, I made sure every inch was covered. It wasn’t in case anything happened to her, but so I could see her every move. It was for selfish reasons, but now it’s my saving grace as I see Noah carrying her. Her head fallen backward as if unconscious. My body temperature rises, and spots of red blur my vision. I run out of her apartment and stuff my phone into my pocket. My feet thud loudly beneath me as I make my way down the hall in the same direction I watched them go.

At the end of the hall, there’s a door leading to the staircase. Go to the left, you can go up. Go to the right, you can go down, which I assume is a basement. I take a gamble and head down. The stairs are dark and gloomy. There’s no light to see, so I pull my phone back out for the flashlight.

My hands shake with anticipation as I’m unsure what to expect. My steps turn quiet the further I ascend down the stairs. The closer I get, the more I strain my ears for any noise that might be out of place.

The edges of the cement floor are wet from leaking pipes. Closed doors line each side of the walls. One door to the right is cracked open with light shining through. Tiptoeing to the door, I hear a commotion from the room. It’s still hard to see through the emotions blocking my vision. Quietly, I push the door open, and the sight before me snaps something inside me. All I hear is the sound of skin slapping and brutal, heart-wrenching sobs. Chase holds Luna’s pale body, and Noah looks at her like a wild, starving animal.

Noah and Chase are so into what they’re doing that they don’t see or hear me coming. Luna’s eyes are closed, and I imagine she’s trying to find a safe place inside her head.

I rip Noah from her body and throw him to the ground. His head smacks off the cement flooring. Chase comes up behind me, jumping onto my back. Moving backward, I meet the wall and slam Chase into it repeatedly until he loses his grip. Noah rises slowly from the floor. I thought for sure the hit to the head would have knocked him out. He struggles to pull his pants to his waist before stalking towards me.

Chase rises back to his feet once more. They both stand, staring at me, but I look past them to see Luna looking right at me. Tears are stuck in her eyes, her cheeks are red with sadness, and her lips are puffy. She’s stark naked. The sight only fuels my anger more.

Looking back at the boys in front of me, they look like twins with bruises and cuts on their faces. I turn my attention towards the matching marks on my fists.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I finally demand. They both just stare at me, anger coating their faces just the same as mine.

“She’s hurt the people close to her with no remorse. We’re showing her what it’s like,” Noah chuckles like it’s a joke. “I thought I’d bring her home, ruin this place for her too.”

My head shakes slowly. They’ve made a grave mistake. I held back when I beat both of them, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to this time. Luna might hate me for it, but I simply can not let them go after what they’ve done. What I just witnessed. I begin to laugh, and I might look psychotic, but who fucking cares?

“What’s so funny?” Chase ponders.

“Oh, you both are. You’ve made quite an awful mistake.”

Noah makes a move to come toward me, but I kick my foot out, sending it straight into his stomach. We both grunt in unison. Chase comes from the right to make his move, but my arm swings out towards him. It’s like they're taking turns and refusing to defend one another.

I square my shoulders and plant my feet shoulder-width apart. Cupping my hands, I motion for them to come fucking get some. They’re screwing with the wrong guy. I’ve beaten people ten times stronger than them. I’ve killed people twenty times stronger than them.

Finally, they both come at me, but I shoot my arms out too quickly and handle them both by the neck. I knock their heads into one another. Chase groans in agony. Noah winces. Minutes go by of them coming at me and getting nowhere, but I’m having a hard time being able to take one out while the other comes at me. The struggle continues until Chase drops right in front of me. Noah is shocked as well because his eyes never leave mine, and he knows I didn’t do it.

Luna is standing there with a crowbar hanging from her zip-tied hands. A smirk pulls at my lips because I am so fucking proud of her.

Noah goes to make a move on her.

“Don’t,” Luna and I say simultaneously. He’s facing away from me. I kick the back of his knees, and he drops to the floor. Concrete meets his kneecaps, and he yells out.

“I knew you’d come,” she whispers to me. I grab the crowbar from Luna. She must know what is going on inside my head because all she does is nod.

Noah crawls to his feet. I bat the crowbar on his knees. A weak yelp breaks loose from his lips.

“You chose the wrong person to fuck with, Noah. I don’t feel remorse, ever, so when I tell you I won’t feel sorry about bleeding your life from you, you better believe me,” I taunt.

Part of me wants to draw out his pain, but the other part of me wants this to be swift and done with. I make Luna choose.

“Short and sweet or long and painful?” I ask. She stares at me. She knows exactly what I mean. Something I can’t read flashes in her eyes, shoulders sinking.

“Short and sweet.”

I walk up behind Noah, throwing the crowbar, and he tries to crawl away. I grab onto him before he can move. Noah pleads with me to let him go, that he’s made a mistake and how sorry he is. He has made a mistake. I know it. He knows it. Everybody fucking knows it, but it’s too late to apologize.