Chapter 20 The Silence – Luna #2
“I can’t tell you.” I look up at him, this boy who’s been helping us, who’s risked so much already. “But if you see Erik, if you hear anything about where he might be, please tell me immediately.”
“Is he in trouble?”
“I don’t know.” The admission costs me. “I really don’t know.”
Jack nods slowly. “I’ll keep my ears open. My dad hears things. If something happened, if someone got hurt on campus, he’d probably know about it.”
“Thank you.”
He leaves, taking his keys with him. I stay on Erik’s bed, phone clutched in my hand, staring at the black screen.
I replay the video again. Force myself to watch every second, looking for details I might have missed. Clues about what happened after the gunshot.
But there’s nothing. Just that creak. That shift. That terrible gunshot. Then darkness.
My phone buzzes with another message from David: Please tell me he’s with you.
I type back with shaking hands: He’s missing. No one’s seen him since the assembly. The stream cut off after the gunshot.
Three dots appear immediately. Disappear. Appear again.
Finally: I’m coming to the island. Don’t do anything until I get there.
I want to laugh. Want to scream. Don’t do anything? Erik is missing. Possibly hurt. Possibly worse. And David wants me to sit still and wait?
Another message: I mean it, Luna. Selena knows you four are close. If you start making noise about Erik disappearing, she’ll know you watched the stream. She’ll know you’re onto her. And then you’re all at risk.
He’s right. I hate that he’s right.
But how am I supposed to pretend everything is normal? How am I supposed to go to class and eat dinner and smile like my heart isn’t being ripped out of my chest?
I force myself to stand. To leave Erik’s room. To walk back through campus with measured steps.
Belle and Max meet me near the library. One look at my face tells them everything.
“Nothing?” Belle asks.
“Nothing.” The word tastes like ash. “He’s just gone.”
Max pulls out his phone. “I’m calling David. We need to escalate this. Get authorities involved.”
“David’s already coming.” I show them the messages. “But he’s right. If we make too much noise, Selena will know we’re onto her.”
“So what?” Max’s voice rises. “Erik could be dying somewhere while we worry about tipping our hand?”
“Erik made sure that footage got out.” Belle’s eyes are hard. Cold. “He made sure David has everything needed to expose Selena. If we blow this now, if we force Selena to accelerate whatever she’s planning, his sacrifice means nothing.”
That word again. Sacrifice.
“Stop calling it that.” I grab Belle’s arm hard enough to leave marks. “He’s not dead. He’s not.”
“I hope you’re right.” But her expression says she’s not counting on it.
We stand there in a tense triangle, students flowing around us like water around rocks. Going about their day. Laughing. Complaining. Living.
While Erik is somewhere, alone, possibly bleeding out.
The thought makes my knees weak. Max catches me before I can fall.
“We need to get you somewhere private,” he says. “Before you completely lose it.”
“I can’t lose it.” I straighten, pulling away from his support. “I need to be normal. Need to act like nothing’s wrong.”
“Luna, you’re shaking.”
“Then I’ll stop shaking.” I ball my hands into fists, forcing them steady through sheer will. “We go to our next classes. We eat dinner. We pretend everything is fine. And tonight, when Selena thinks we’re sleeping, we search every inch of this campus until we find him.”
Belle shakes her head. “No. We need to wait for David. It’s too dangerous to wander around hoping to stumble across him.”
“The tunnel system,” Max says. “Erik and I were scouting it. If he got away from whoever shot at him, he might have gone there to hide.”
Hope flares in my chest, bright and painful. “You think he made it out?”
“I think Erik is one of the smartest people I know. And if there was any chance of escape, he’d take it.” Max’s jaw sets.
My phone buzzes again. Another message from David: The footage is solid. Everything we need to bring her down. Erik did his job. Now you need to do yours and stay alive long enough for me to get there.
I read the message three times. Erik did his job. Past tense. Like David’s already accepted that his brother might not be coming back.
The ice water in my veins turns to fire. Rage replaces terror. Hot. Consuming. Focused.
If Selena hurt him, if she took him from me, I will destroy her. Not just expose her. Not just see her arrested. I will burn her entire operation to ashes and scatter the remains where no one will ever find them.
“Luna?” Belle’s watching me with something like recognition. “Where’d you go just now?”
“Nowhere.” I force my expression to be smooth. Controlled. The mask I wore for years while surviving my parents. “I’m fine. Let’s get to class.”
We separate again. I make it through the rest of the afternoon on autopilot. Taking notes. Answering questions when called on. Smiling when appropriate.
Inside, I’m screaming.
Dinner is torture. Sitting in the dining hall, forcing food down a throat that wants to close. Selena makes her usual rounds, stopping at various tables, playing the benevolent headmistress.
When she reaches ours, I have to dig my nails into my palms to keep from lunging at her.
“How are we all doing this evening?” Her pale eyes scan our group. “I notice Mr. Stone isn’t with you. Is he feeling unwell?”
The question is casual. Innocent. But I hear the threat underneath.
“He mentioned feeling sick after the assembly,” Belle lies smoothly. “Said he was going to rest in his room.”
“I see.” Selena’s smile doesn’t waver. “Well, I hope he feels better soon. We wouldn’t want him to miss the Harvest.”
She moves on to the next table. I watch her go, rage and terror warring in my chest.
She knows. She has to know. That pleasant smile. That casual concern. It’s all performance.
Erik is somewhere on this island. Hurt or captured or worse. And Selena is standing there, smiling, pretending everything is fine.
I’m going to kill her.
The thought comes clear and cold. Not a fantasy. A plan. A promise.
If Erik is dead because of her, I will put a bullet in her head myself.