Becoming the Luna

Dale gets in the driver's seat while Virgil and I are in the back, I'm cuddled up against him so tight that I forget to shiver or be scared because it's Virgil.

"I have to call Shana or there's going to be more casualties." Dale says absently, driving the car out of school.

I didn't even look back, I was ready to spend a lot of time away from that hell hole, no wonder my mom dropped out.

Virgil just murmurs his assent too engrossed in gently nuzzling my neck, I just close my eyes in a half doze, peaceful.

A phone rings somewhere in the car for a short while and the next thing is Shana's crying voice filtering through. "W-Where is H-Hayden?" She asks through tears, her voice shaking so bad that we can barely hear her. "M-Mia an-and A-Addison ca-came t-to me and… Oh my God p-please just tell me you have him and he's okay and…"

At the sound of Shana's voice, I want to jump up and into her arms but she isn't here.

"Calm down, Ana." Dale says to her in a soothing voice. "We've got him."

Her voice becomes distant like she can't seem to hold the phone up anymore.

Mae's voice now filters through the car. "Hey, it's Mae, I'll take Shana home, and do I have to call someone? Because I don't think Mina and Rebecca are going anywhere anytime soon." She adds with a tinge of pride in her voice at her date's moxie even though the said date was currently sobbing her eyes out over her shoulder.

"Just leave them out in the hallway or something, someone is bound to find them." Dale says carelessly. "It depends on what Shana wants but if she's in no shape to see Hayden today you could bring her over first thing tomorrow morning, you live just down the block anyway."

"Roger that, bye, give our love to Hayden okay." Mae says and there are rustling sounds and some sniffing.

"I-I love you, Hay." Shana's shaky voice fills the car again. "A-And…" Hiccup. "A-And I'll punch Elise's face in again, this time while she's conscious." Her sobby voice hardens at the point and I let out an involuntary fond smile but I can't bring myself to speak up.

Dale hangs up and concentrates on getting us home as fast as legally allowed, the car ride is solemn and gratefully short.

I can still feel Tyrone all over me and it makes my heart thump in terror, Virgil must notice this because his hold gets tighter around me and I can take deep breaths now.

Dale pulls up to the driveway and the lights come on in the house, he opens the door again for Virgil and I'm grateful that there are none of their rivalries this night, I don't think I could have handled it with how fragile my disposition is at the moment.

"Oh my God." My mom gasps, she had obviously made her way out in confusion, it was still too early for us to be coming back home anyway. "W-What happened to my baby?" She asks in terror and I hear the pattering of feet like she's running across the artificial lawn to get to us.

"Let's take this inside, Renee." Dale says with the most serious tone I've ever heard him use, my face is still buried in Virgil's neck because if I took one look at my mom I was going to break into a loud crying episode, complete with sniffling and wailing.

We quickly make our way in and Virgil hands me over to my mom who's constantly hovering around wondering just what could be wrong with her only child.

My limbs are still useless so they make her sit first, I finally take my face out of Virgil's neck when he makes the move to hand me over.

My mom's face full of worry and panic cracks the dam that I'm trying really hard to hold up.

"M-Mommy." I say my third word since I found myself trapped in my own body.

"Oh, my baby." My mom says with a muffled sob, cradling me gently like she used to do when I was younger and even now that I'm older when I got hurt.

I hide my face in her neck again, my eyes tightly shut because I can't bear to get overwhelmed by visual overload.

My nose seems extra sensitive today because I can clearly make out my mom's natural scent of butter and green tea and it's so calming that my sobbing calms down and I just breathe her in.

I think Virgil and Dale are telling her what happened but I can't hear them, I'm not listening anyway, I had enough memories of what happened to last me a couple lifetimes and a couple hundred nights filled with nightmares.

All I can hear is the way my mom's tone changes from horrified to furious and soon enough she's rapidly exchanging words with Virgil and Dale, I wouldn't be surprised if there were enough swear words in her vocabulary to make my ears bleed, getting my mom angry was well, not advisable.

"I'll go clean him up." She finally says, getting up with me in her arms, it was moments like this that my small size came in handy because if I was as chubby as my mom keeps claiming she wants me to be, she's definitely going to throw her back out carrying me up the stairs.

"I'm so sorry baby." She murmurs to me, swiftly making her way to my room. "You didn't deserve any of that."

I just hum, content now that my mom is here, I wondered why everyone kept apologizing, it wasn't their fault.

"Do you want a bath or a shower?" My mom asks quickly as soon as we got into my room. 

I shake my head gently at her words, I couldn't still move the rest of my body, I don't think I could handle any of the things she just mentioned, I just wanted cuddles.

"Oh okay, how about I just wipe you down?" She asks sweetly, already placing me at the edge of the bed to rush into the bathroom and get a small towel and a bowl of scented water.

Turns out I wasn't the only one who could smell Tyrone's foul scent all over me, I don't flinch or get scary flashbacks when my mom gently takes off my pants and wipes me down with the warm towel, her hands are so familiar and calming that I couldn't.

I'm not sure I want to lose all of my clothes so soon and my mom must be able to read my mind because she goes away briefly again only to come back with a gigantic sweater, another stolen clothing article of hers and helps me in.

It's long enough to reach the tops of the thigh-high socks I have on and I finally feel free of Tyrone for the first time all evening.

She squats in front of me and lifts me for a hug, she's shaking slightly and I know that she's equally as terrified as I am but she's trying to be strong for me.

"I love you so much, baby." She whispers to me, hugging me tight, fresh tears spring out of my eyes and I wonder when I'm going to run out.

"Do you want me to get your two crazy people?" She asks softly and I nod shyly, they were exactly what I needed because even though I knew that there was no way Tyrone would find his way back to me, I had a hard time explaining this to my paranoia.

"Alright, just sit tight, they'll be here soon, okay?" She continues softly, tucking me in, and littering my face with so many ticklish kisses that I start grinning through my tears.

"Mom, it's ticklish." I complain in a drowsy voice, the effects of whatever drug that Elise had made me take was starting to wear off slowly but it would still take some time.

"No, it's not, you just don't want my kisses which is a no-no because everyone needs their mommy's kisses." She coos to me, increasing the light smacks that she keeps showering all over my face and hair and I let out a light airy laugh, it's small and shirt but it seems enough because she hugs me one last time and makes her way out.

A peaceful smile remains on my face long after she's gone but after a while, I forget to smile, a creeping terror crawling over my limp limbs, I know it's impossible and maybe I just have a really early onset of post-traumatic stress disorder because the room suddenly seems darker and it feels like Tyrone is going to come again to finish what he started.

I try to call out for someone but my voice dies in my throat and my breathing becomes shallow and erratic, a loud screaming starts up at the back of my head and it feels like I'm drowning in tears.