Chapter 31: The First Luna
Kai stared at the message.
For a moment, his brain simply refused to process it.
Not because it was complicated. Not because he didn’t understand the words.
Because it was absurd.
The girl you’re talking to isn’t the first Luna.
He read it once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each reading somehow made it worse.
The sentence felt like the setup to a bad conspiracy theory. The kind of thing people posted online at three in the morning after connecting unrelated events with red string and sleep deprivation.
And yet it came from Derek.
That was the problem.
Derek didn’t do cryptic warnings.
He did sarcasm.
He did terrible jokes.
He did six-figure donations accompanied by messages that sounded like they belonged in a Twitch clip compilation.
He did not send ominous messages in the middle of the night.
The apartment remained quiet around him. The blue glow from his monitors painted the walls in pale light while the city outside settled into the strange stillness that only existed after midnight. Even the traffic sounded distant.
Discord remained connected.
Luna was still there.
Silent.
Waiting.
And somehow the tiny green circle beside her name felt heavier than it had a few seconds ago.
His phone vibrated again.
Another message from Derek.
Don’t answer yet.
Kai frowned.
A second message arrived immediately afterward.
I’m serious.
Don’t say anything to her.
His stomach tightened.
The wording bothered him.
Not because Derek sounded scared.
Because he sounded careful.
That was somehow worse.
Derek wasn’t careful.
He was reckless by nature. Loud, annoying, impossible to ignore. If most people approached life by walking through doors, Derek preferred kicking them open.
Careful wasn’t part of his personality.
Which meant something had him genuinely nervous.
Kai glanced toward Discord.
The call timer continued ticking upward.
Hours.
They had been talking for hours.
The realization caught him off guard.
Most people would have left by now.
Most people would have gotten bored.
Most people would have wished him luck with the possible stalker situation and disconnected long ago.
Luna stayed.
She always stayed.
The thought settled heavily in his chest.
Because regardless of how strange everything had become, that part felt real.
At least he thought it did.
His phone buzzed again.
Call.
Now.
Kai sighed and rubbed his face.
Every version of this was a terrible idea.
Unfortunately, terrible ideas had become the foundation of his existence.
"Kai?"
Luna’s voice finally broke the silence.
Soft.
Gentle.
The same voice that had somehow become familiar over the course of a single disastrous night.
His pulse jumped.
"Yeah?"
"You got quiet."
The lie appeared immediately.
Automatic.
Effortless.
"Just tired."
The guilt followed a second later.
Because technically it wasn’t even a lie.
He was tired.
He was also secretly reading messages accusing her of being something he didn’t even understand yet.
A brief pause followed.
Then Luna laughed quietly.
"You sound terrible."
"Thank you."
"You’re welcome."
Despite everything, Kai smiled.
It was small.
Brief.
Real.
And somehow that made everything worse.
Because if Luna was manipulating him, she was doing an incredible job of also feeling like an actual person.
The contradiction was becoming impossible to ignore.
His phone vibrated again.
Derek.
Another message.
You smiled.
Kai froze.
His eyes locked onto the screen.
His heartbeat stumbled.
Then accelerated.
What?
A reply appeared almost instantly.
You smile when you’re uncomfortable.
Call me.
Now.
Kai stared at the message.
Then slowly turned toward his webcam.
The camera wasn’t live.
The stream had ended.
The audience was gone.
Nobody should have been watching him anymore.
His stomach dropped.
Because he already knew the answer.
The same answer he’d been given all night.
Someone was still watching.
The realization barely shocked him anymore.
That fact alone was terrifying.
"Kai."
Luna again.
This time softer.
"What happened?"
He immediately minimized the messages.
Too fast.
Way too fast.
His pulse hammered.
Nothing happened.
Nothing was wrong.
Just a perfectly normal evening involving anonymous warnings about the girl currently occupying most of his thoughts.
Completely normal.
"I’m good."
The silence that followed felt strange.
Not suspicious.
Not hostile.
Thoughtful.
Then Luna asked a question.
"Do you trust me?"
Kai froze.
The words hit harder than they should have.
Not because they sounded manipulative.
Because they didn’t.
There was no accusation in her voice.
No pressure.
No attempt to corner him.
It sounded like a genuine question.
The kind people asked when they were afraid of the answer.
Kai looked toward the dark window.
His reflection stared back.
Messy hair.
Exhausted eyes.
A hoodie that had somehow survived this entire nightmare.
A complete disaster.
Did he trust her?
Logically?
Absolutely not.
Luna knew things she shouldn’t know.
Found information she shouldn’t find.
Appeared exactly when he needed her.
Noticed details normal people missed.
Half the terrifying events in his life somehow connected back to her.
Trusting her made no sense.
And yet...
Whenever things got bad, he looked for her first.
When he got scared, he listened for her voice.
When everything became too much, she somehow made it easier to carry.
That realization hurt.
Because it wasn’t logical.
It wasn’t smart.
It was honest.
"Yeah."
The word escaped before he could stop it.
Silence followed.
Then he heard a quiet exhale.
Relief.
Real relief.
His chest tightened.
Because she had been worried.
Actually worried.
"Thank you."
Her voice sounded smaller than usual.
Vulnerable.
The kind of vulnerability that was difficult to fake.
At least he hoped so.
His phone buzzed again.
Derek.
Another message.
Kai glanced down.
Then froze.
This time it wasn’t text.
It was a photograph.
Old.
Blurry.
Low quality.
The image looked like it had been scanned from a physical print.
Three teenagers stood together in front of a school building.
One boy.
Two girls.
Kai didn’t recognize any of them.
Another message arrived.
Look at the girl on the right.
Frowning, Kai zoomed in.
Dark hair.
A small smile.
Nothing unusual.
Nothing familiar.
Then he noticed the writing beneath the photograph.
Two words written in black marker.
Luna Hart.
His stomach dropped.
The Discord call remained connected.
The apartment remained silent.
His thoughts tangled together.
Luna Hart.
Not a username.
Not an online alias.
A real name.
A person.
Before he could process any of it, Discord chimed.
A new notification appeared.
Friend Request Received.
Kai blinked.
It wasn’t from Luna.
It wasn’t from Derek.
It wasn’t from one of the thousands of strangers flooding his notifications.
The account had been created eleven years ago.
Eleven.
Years.
The username was simple.
OriginalLuna.
His pulse began hammering.
Attached to the request was a message.
Just four words.
He’s lying to you.
Kai stared.
The apartment felt colder.
Across the room, Luna remained connected to the call.
Quiet.
Waiting.
Meanwhile Derek was sending photographs and warnings.
Now a third person had entered the conversation.
Someone claiming to be the original Luna.
Someone whose account was older than almost every social media platform Kai regularly used.
His phone vibrated again.
Derek.
Ignore it.
The message arrived instantly.
Like he already knew.
Like he had been waiting for it.
At almost the same moment, Discord chimed once more.
The friend request updated.
A second message appeared beneath the first.
Ask her what happened at Blackwood High.
Kai felt the room tilt slightly.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Too many pieces.
Too many people.
Too many secrets.
His gaze slowly shifted toward Luna’s name in the call.
The green circle still glowed.
Steady.
Unchanging.
Almost comforting.
Then Luna spoke.
Very quietly.
"Kai?"
His heart nearly stopped.
Because for the first time all night...
She sounded scared.
