Luna stared out of the window of the sleek, flawless car while her mother droned on and on about things that didn’t matter to her. Luna watched as skyscrapers so high that she couldn’t see the top of them streaked past the windows. The commercial district was one of the only places in the city with any natural light, but that light was smothered by fog and overpowered by the bright neon lights of billboards and business signs. The car snaked its way through the streets and up ramps to ferry them further up into the city. Even in the commercial district, everything became visibly richer the higher they climbed. Just as Luna started to question how much higher they could possibly go, the car pulled into a parking deck filled with cars so perfect that it pissed her off.
“So, how does that sound, Luna?” Mrs. Vance turned around from the passenger seat to look at Luna expectantly.
Luna gave her a brief glance before opening the door. “Fine.”
Mrs. Vance followed behind shortly, but Stella stayed seated for a moment. She leaned forward and patted the driver on the side. “Thanks, Frank.” She gave him a brief but meaningful smile before exiting the vehicle.
Mrs. Vance led her daughters to an elevator that took them up to their penthouse. Luna felt like she was stuck on the elevator for hours as it kept climbing higher and higher. Once the doors finally opened, they stepped into what felt like a mansion. Everything as far as Luna could see was ornate and perfectly clean. Luna looked around in awe as they stepped further inside.
Stella must have noticed Luna’s agape mouth as she spoke up to explain. “Dad is… uh, was, one of the head scientists at Snowlock Labs. They paid… pretty well, I guess.”
Mrs. Vance sighed as she walked off into a nearby hallway to the side of a set of massive stairs that looked like they were made out of wood. “Stella, if you would please show your sister to her room. I must ensure that our chef knows to prepare food for more than just the two of us.”
Stella was no longer paying attention to her mother either as she followed Luna’s gaze around the room. “Yeah, mom is really into like… old world architecture.” She motioned around the room at the seemingly wooden floors and intricate paintings and beautiful flowers.
Luna turned to look at Stella briefly as she spoke. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a vase filled with flowers tumbling off of a table behind Stella. Without thinking, Luna rushed forward and held her hands out to catch it. Then, the vase was gone. It was like it had vanished from thin air. Less than a second later, Stella bumped into the table. The vase immediately tipped over and fell off of the table, directly into Luna’s hands. Luna stood up, staring at the vase with a look of utter bewilderment.
Stella turned around the moment she bumped into the table, fearful of the damage she might have caused. As Luna caught the vase, she smiled at her. “Nice catch!”
Luna gave Stella the same look she had given the vase. She then finally shook her head, setting the vase back down on the table.
Assuming she knew why Luna was confused, Stella nodded at her and reached over to rub the petal of one of the flowers. “Fake. Just like the wood. I mean they look real. At least, I assume so from pictures I’ve seen online. Never seen one in person.”
“Right.” Luna reached forward to feel the flowers too. They felt leathery. She turned to Stella. “My room?”
“Yes! Sorry.” Stella chuckled briefly before walking past her. “It’s up here. Across from mine.”
Stella guided Luna up the stairs and through the winding hallways until they reached a set of doors that mirrored each other. Stella walked up to one, reaching out to press the button to open. She paused, hovering her finger over the button. “I haven’t… been in here. Since you disappeared, I mean.” She turned to look at Luna, offering a pained attempt at a smile.
Luna watched her sister, focusing more on her finger than her face. Stella’s eyes told all, and it was almost overwhelming for Luna. “It was… that hard on you?”
Stella nodded slowly. “Yeah. I missed you a lot. I may have been the only one who did, honestly.”
“Why?”
Stella was shocked by her own words, staring at Luna with wide eyes. “I didn’t… I…” She sighed and turned back to the button. As she pressed it, the door slid open and she stepped inside. “You had a complicated relationship with… most people. I mean, myself included but… I could never bring myself to hate you. Most people never understood why.”
Luna didn’t respond vocally. She just shook her head and stepped into the room behind Stella. She looked around, hoping that anything in the room might give her clues as to who the person Stella was talking about was. First, she stepped to the closet and opened it. She looked up at the mess of clothes that barely clung to the hangers that held them aloft. She started thumbing through them. “They’re all… black.”
“You were never much for color. I always thought it might be because Mom wore so much color. It felt like you wanted to be the opposite of her sometimes.” Stella trailed behind Luna.
“Good. I was scared that maybe I dressed like her too.”
Stella couldn’t help but laugh at her. As the laugh faded, she just smiled like a simple joke meant everything to her.
Luna stepped past the closet, slowly pacing around the room as she took in every detail. She effortlessly stepped over clothes that had been left on the floor.
“I wouldn’t let them clean it. You hated it when they cleaned it.” Stella kicked a black t-shirt to the side. “Wouldn’t let Mom turn it into a workout room either. She felt like the room was wasted.” Stella sighed. “Most of the rooms in this house are wasted anyway.”
Luna walked over to the table next to her bed. She picked up a digital picture frame, raising it to her face to inspect it more closely. The picture was of her and an older man with a thick but well-groomed beard. Just staring at the picture, an overwhelming feeling of security washed over her. She felt calm. For a brief moment, she felt happy.
“That’s dad.” Stella nodded at the picture. “You and him were… really close.”
“You said ‘was’ earlier,” Luna noted.
“Yeah… he died a little while before you disappeared. You took it pretty hard. I guess that’s why people assumed you just ran away.”
Luna stared at the picture frame a while longer before setting it down. “How?”
“He got mugged on his way home from work. He always took the train for some reason. Always said it was perfectly safe. That he needed the exercise.” Stella sighed as she sat down on the bed, causing a cloud of dust to explode around her. “Guess he was wrong.”
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Luna slowly reached forward again. Instead of picking the picture frame up this time, she slowly flipped it down, obscuring the image from view. “Guess so.” She turned, giving the room one last look before walking toward another door in the room that led to a bathroom. “I’m gonna get a shower and put some real clothes on.”
“Right, yes!” Stella hopped up from Luna’s bed. “Ok, dinner should be in like… an hour or something? If you need anything, I’ll be in the room across from you.”
Luna just nodded as she shut the door to the bathroom behind her.
Luna turned the water on its hottest setting and she just stood in it for a while, staring up at the shower head as the water cascaded down her body. It stung, causing her skin to redden considerably, but it served as a reminder that she was still alive somehow. She closed her eyes, wiping water off her face as she took a deep breath. Nothing felt real to her. She felt like a stranger in her own body and in her own life. She just wanted to go home, but she wasn’t sure where that home even was. She turned around slowly to let the water hit her back, giving her chest a break from the barrage of scalding liquid. As the stinging, burning sensation moved from her chest to her back, her breathing stopped.
“Hold her down.” She heard a voice that felt like it was right behind her. The light stinging suddenly shifted into an overwhelmingly intense burning sensation. She let out a loud scream. The sound of her cries, the feeling of air leaving her lungs, the feeling of her vocal chords straining, all of it felt familiar to her. It was a path she felt like she had walked a million times before. She fell to the floor and started breathing so fast she felt like her heart might explode. She whipped around and grabbed the knob on the shower, twisting it around until it was on the coldest setting. The feeling of the burning water shifting to ice cold in almost an instant made it feel like her entire body shriveled up like a raisin. Luna gasped for air, struggling to fill her lungs with the oxygen she needed so desperately. She fell back against the wall of the shower, letting the ice cold water envelop her like a protective blanket. Her body adjusted to the change in temperature quickly, and the water washed away the burning sensation she had been craving so badly before.
“Luna, are you okay?” Luna heard Stella’s voice from outside the door, followed by a few knocks. “I heard you screaming!”
Luna just kept panting, shutting her eyes tightly. She ignored Stella at first, but as the knocking continued, it just kept echoing in her head and pounding in her skull. She grabbed a bottle of soap and threw it at the door as hard as she could, causing the bottle to explode and cover the door in viscous liquid. “I’m fine!” Luna’s voice was hoarse. The moment she spoke, she felt like she was either going to cry or throw up.
“Ok, sorry,” Stella murmured. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Luna just shook her head and collapsed against the wall again. She didn’t know how long she spent sitting there in the shower trying to catch her breath. Even when her skin started to prune, when she got up and turned the water off it felt like it was too soon.
Luna walked into the dining room still trying her best to dry her curly mess of hair with a towel. Her mother sat at the head of a dining table long enough to seat far more people than actually lived there. Stella sat next to her and had already started the process of eating. Luna watched her mother as she walked up to the table and sat down at the other end, opposite from her. Her mother gave her an odd look before shaking her head. “Nice of you to finally join us.”
Luna looked at the spread of food in front of her. All of it looked fresh, like the fruit had been picked straight from a garden. It was all artificial. It was all lab grown amalgamations of nutrients made to look and taste like old world delicacies. Luna reached forward and grabbed a strawberry, immediately taking a bite out of it.
Stella grinned as Luna took the strawberry first. “She was taking a shower.”
“Well, obviously, Stella.” Mrs. Vance scoffed. “Not that I should be surprised by your poor time management. I suppose it is my fault for thinking such a thing could change in five years.”
Luna glared at her mother. She didn’t know what she meant, but she knew it pissed her off. Before Luna could respond, however, she heard the doors to the penthouse open. She immediately turned to look into the foyer to see a girl with bright pink hair rushing toward her with a smile brighter than Luna thought possible.
“Luna! Oh my god, it is you!” The girl rushed over and practically jumped on Luna, wrapping her arms around her tightly. “I can’t believe it! You’re alive!”
Luna gritted her teeth as the girl broke through her wall of personal space like it was nothing. She looked over at Stella with a furrowed brow. “Who?”
“Olivia.” Stella spoke up, attempting to quickly swallow her food.
Olivia popped her head up like a prairie dog. “Hm?”
Stella turned her attention to Olivia. “She doesn’t remember.”
Olivia gave Stella a confused look with her arms still wrapped tightly around Luna. She then turned to Luna. “You don’t remember me?”
“She doesn’t remember anyone, darling. Not even her mother.” Mrs. Vance flashed a fake smile at her as she picked up a grape with her fork.
“Can you let me go?” Luna tried to slither out of Olivia’s grasp.
“Right! Sorry!” She let go of Luna and stepped back. Her clothing was colorful, and she wore carefully applied makeup, just like Luna’s mother. Olivia, however, was much more flashy and adventurous with her choice of attire.
Luna took in a deep breath, rolling her head around as she rolled her shoulders back. “How do I know you?”
“I am… your best friend? I mean, we’ve spent most of our lives together. I’m probably the person you’ve seen the most other than maybe your family.” Olivia put her hands on her hips, clearly expecting Luna to find the memories.
“More than her family too,” Mrs. Vance added.
Stella looked back and forth between the three of them before smiling at Luna. “I was wrong about what I said earlier. There is one other person.” She then nodded in Olivia’s direction.
Luna met Stella’s gaze with a curious look. She slowly turned toward Olivia and looked her over. It was difficult for her to imagine this ray of sunshine being her best friend.
“Well… how are you feeling? You’re fresh out of the hospital, right?” Olivia stepped forward and started inspecting Luna without waiting for an answer.
“I’m fine.” Luna jerked to the side, shooing her away with one hand.
“Super fine?” Olivia straightened her posture as she raised both eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Like… extremely fine?”
Luna looked at Stella briefly before shrugging. “As fine as I’m going to get.”
“Great! That is awesome! I am so happy to hear that!” Olivia clapped her hands. “So, I was just thinking on the way over here, that maybe if you are feeling super extremely fine, you could come with me to a party?"
“I don’t know if th-” Stella started to protest, only to be interrupted by her mother.
“That sounds like a great idea! You and Olivia used to go to parties together all the time. Perhaps it will return you to some level of normality.” Mrs. Vance spoke more confidently than Stella, overshadowing her entirely.
“Not interested.” Luna reached out to take another strawberry.
“Oh come on, Luna! It could be so much fun!” Olivia grinned at her as she stepped forward and grabbed a strawberry of her own, prompting an angry look from Luna. “I mean, what better way to celebrate being raised from the dead? Plus, what else are you going to do? Rot in your room watching internet videos?”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Maybe. Maybe I’ll sleep.”
“You slept enough! You deserve a little bit of fun after… well, whatever happened. Besides, maybe it will knock a few memories loose, yeah?” Olivia reached forward, tugging on Luna’s arm.
Luna pursed her lips as she thought about it. She darted her eyes toward Olivia. “Hm. Are you even going to let me say no?”
“Nope.” Olivia beamed at her.
“Fine. Whatever.” Luna shook her head in defeat.
“Fine as in… you’ll go? Like, you’re going to go to the party with me?” Olivia stepped toward Luna and bent down, unable to contain her excitement.
“Yes, sure, whatever.” Luna sighed and slumped down. “If you think it will actually help. Why not?”
Olivia let out a yelp of excitement as she shot back up. “Yay! Fantastic!” She clapped her hands quickly. “Ok, I’m going to go get ready and then I will come grab you!” She twisted around and started rushing toward the elevator. “This is going to be fantastic! I can’t wait!”
Luna sighed and shook her head before turning to Stella.
“Just… be careful.” Stella nodded at Luna, but her eyes were filled with worry. “I don’t know if getting drunk at a party is the best idea after you just got back.”
Luna grabbed one more strawberry as she stood up and walked away from the table. “I told you, I’m fine.”
