"4 AM, people. That's the time of night everyone is supposed to be asleep. Why do people not get that?" Luna grunted in a whisper to herself while she was hiding in the shadows of Mr. Yorker's workshop.

Even though the sky was pitch black, the streets of Home were lit with candles and flashlights. A large crowd had gathered on the town's square in front of the local bar, Julio's. Luna tried not to get too close, it was already dangerous enough that she ran around here, and Mykyala would never let her in on anything if she brought another person to their hideaway. Mykayla needed her presence, or she'd go mad from loneliness.

People started shouting in the crowd, and for a second she thought she had been seen. Fortunately, they were too busy with their crazy night ritual. Luna had lived in that town long enough to learn that sometimes it's better to simply accept the weirdness of their town than to fight against it. Then again, she was going to fight the devil, but that was different. He took something that was hers.

There was no time to walk all the way back to the river and along its shores, so she had to cross Main Street to get to Vanessa's house.

Rustling in the field behind her made Luna duck behind some of Jacobi Yorker's old material. A white dog with brown spots appeared from under the metal garbage. That right there was a token of good luck. Lucky, the Hamilton's Jack Russell, shook off the remaining dirt before he looked at Luna. His head turned to the side, his tongue hanging out. Before Lucky could bark, Luna called him to her and started petting him.

"Aren't you always my lucky charm?" Luna rubbed his belly and his nose. "Would you like to help me out, little one?"

Lucky was Perry's dog, and just like his owner, he loved to get attention from anyone willing to give it. It just happened to be that Luna loved animals, and so their friendship had started during the days that she preferred to sneak out of school and hide in the barn. The barn where another of Luna's relationships had started - and possibly ended. Her heart squeezed, she had to put Lucky down and focus. Vanessa didn't have much time left.

All she needed to do was get some easy-to-move-in clothes that weren't summer shorts or her marine blue blazer. Her clothes weren't made for the woods, they were expensive and fragile. Only to be worn with care. And by now, in pieces and shreds.

Vanessa's house was right there, in front of her, across Main Street, and on the other side of that crowd. That's where she would find the necessary clothes for an operation like this.

The house was at least three times smaller than her own, but that didn't matter to her. She had always preferred coziness over monumental and grand. It had a warmth that her gigantic villa didn't have. It felt lived, while hers felt like you couldn't live because everything was too expensive to touch. You always had to be on your guard in that house; she never felt free at home. Maybe her parents played a big role in that as well, but still.

Luna made sure that nobody was looking when she crossed the street. She kept herself low to the ground, out of the street lantern's lights and tried to be as quiet as possible. With Lucky next to her, it went smoother than she expected. Once she had crossed, she threw Lucky a twig in the opposite direction of the town's square. Lucky jumped over the cobblestones, his breathing loud enough for onlookers to know the passing shadow had been a dog, but quiet enough not to pull too much attention.

Luna's finger trailed on the underside of the windowsill. She immediately found what she was looking for, the spare key to the back door. Vanessa always left it there, both for Luna and herself. The blonde was forgetful like that.

Very quietly Luna opened the back door. Before going any further she listened to her surroundings, like her sister taught her to, making sure no one was unexpectedly going for a midnight drink.

Nothing.

She entered but made sure the door was left a tiny bit open behind her - an escape route if necessary. She sneaked through the dark halls of the house towards one of the two bedrooms.

Vanessa's name was still written in elegant letters on the chalkboard on the white door. Luna smiled at the memory of that day. It was funny how frustrated Vanessa had gotten when Luna kept writing jokes on it. In the end, the blonde gave up and let Luna write whatever she wanted.

Luna caressed her long fingers gently along the chalkboard, where her neat writing welcomed her to her favorite place in town: Vanessa (Luna's girl), welcome. In the corner, a monkey with his hands on his ears was drawn. It made Luna sniff. She missed Vanessa's incredible art.

Luna's eyes blurred and her heart painfully clenched at the memory of the girl. With the back of her hand she wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her face.

"I'm not here for a walk in memory lane," she whispered to herself.

She kind of was, though. Her clothes would've been acceptable. They weren't as clean as they used to be, but she could move in them just fine and if they were torn, she could easily buy new clothes.

In all honesty, Luna came to Vanessa's place to find some encouragement for everything their new team was planning to do. She was scared and she didn't feel fit to save this town from evil. All she wanted was to find Vanessa and get her to safety. Worse, if she was brutally honest, those other people didn't really matter to her. It was terrible, yes, but she wasn't going to put her life at risk for them. That's what the police were for. Vanessa was different though, she loved her and knowing she could die any minute was as if her heart was ripped out, time and time again.

She entered the empty room. It was still the exact same as how they left it that night. The night that they left for the woods, the night that Vanessa didn't return home because Luna couldn't save her.

Her bed was messy, it always was. Her books were scattered on her desk and clothes were piled up on a chair in the corner of the room. Drawings and paintings were covering every part of the walls. It was a lived-in room. Luna loved that about the little place. It had character.

She opened the double door of the wooden wardrobe, it was empty for a girls closet. That had been one of the first things Luna noticed about the other girl, apart from the fact that she was obviously not much of a speaker. Later, she had learned that it was mostly because people didn't understand sign language. Vanessa's clothing was limited to the necessary items. She wore her clothes until there were holes in them or until they were too small to wear in public. Even then did she keep some shirts to wear at home.

Luna was the exact opposite, she loved clothes, she had at least a closet full of things she hadn't even worn once in her life, simply because the right occasion for them hadn't arrived yet. For everything, there was something to wear. She could go home and find the perfect outfit for her operation, but she didn't want that. Loaning Vanessa's clothes was as if she were still with her. It gave Luna a sense of security.

Alright, some pants. She found two pairs, basically the exact same pair except for the slightly different color. Afterwards she looked for a sweater, a very special one in particular. The one she gave to Vanessa for her eighteenth birthday. After some time digging through the mess that was her closet, she found the salmon and white 'rebel' shirt.

Once changed and packed, Luna left Vanessa's room and ran straight into Mrs. Delgado. The woman was smaller and plumper than her daughter, but her eyes and square face were so similar that Luna's breath hitched in her throat.

"Luna?" Mrs. Delgado asked in confusion. "But - How?"

Luna stepped forward and clasped her hand on Mrs. Delgado's mouth. Tears shimmered in Irene, Vanessa's mother's eyes and Luna had to grind her teeth not to cry herself.

"Please, listen," Luna shushed. She didn't know what to say. How could she have been so careless? She shouldn't have come here. It was stupid.

"What are you doing here? Where have you been?" Irene's brown eyes shimmered in the light of the hall.

"I-I-," Luna's throat felt swollen. "I need to go, I'm sorry."

Luna walked back, but Irene didn't let her. With an iron grip, she followed her into the kitchen.

"No you are not, young lady. My daughter has gone missing for the past three and a half weeks and so have you, and now you're standing here in my hallway, stealing my daughter's clothes. You're going to tell me right now where she is, or I will call the police, no matter how much I like you."

"She's missing!" Luna cried out, and then the tears came and they didn't stop. "I-I'm trying to get her back. I-I just. I needed some encouragement to get through the next part. Ness always made me braver than I am, and I just need her to be okay, because I really don't want to lose her."

Tears came out with jerks. Mrs. Delgado stood silently in her kitchen, frozen and trying to understand everything.

"What happened with Vanessa?" She gripped Luna's shoulders and pinched her nails in her upper arms. "What happened to my girl?"

"She was taken. I will get her back. I will. I have to."

"No, you will not!"

"I have to, I'm the only one that can find her."

"Then I will come with, I'll wake Jezus and we'll get Sheriff Richfield as well. He knows how to deal with situations like this. He even finished the police academy in the big city."

"No." Luna spoke for the first time with certainty. This shouldn't have happened. It wouldn't have if she hadn't been such an emotional mess.

"No?"

"No. You have to stay here. Please trust me when I say that it is for Vanessa's safety. I'll get her back, I promise. I love her. There is no muscle in my body that won't fight to get her back. Believe in that."

"I won't sit around here, waiting while I know she is in danger."

"You have to. Please, Irene. Please?"

"Luna," Mrs. Delgado laid her hand on Luna's cheek. "I love my daughter too, I won't let you fight for her alone. We are going to the police."

Luna was getting restless. This was exactly what she had to avoid. Mykayla was going to be so pissed. Why couldn't Irene just let her go and get her daughter?

"I'll get her back, I promise," Luna turned around and walked to the counter top where a steel pan stood unwashed. "I just can't let you help."

With a swift turn that must've looked badass, but was much harder on her shoulder than she had expected, she swung the steel pan towards Mrs. Delgado's head. With a loud clunk, it hit her on the side of her head. Irene fell backwards to the wall and slided down to the ground. Luna cringed at her action, threw the pan to the side and ran towards Irene to see if she was alright. When she checked her pulse and her breathing, and heard Doctor Jezus Delgado jump out of bed at the end of the hall, Luna ran for the door.

Out of breath and confused at her own stupid and impulsive decision, she ran for the hills. She was already well on her way towards the forest when she saw the same crowd from before descending the eastern fields.

"We've got her! We found the killer!"

They kept yelling in victory. Making too much noise for the time of day.

A cold shiver ran along her spine. Without thinking she turned around and ran back to the town.

She knew exactly how it must've looked when they found Mykayla hanging around the crime scene. Nobody would recognize her at this age and a stranger in the woods that's messing around with the most recent crime scene.

Not good!