Juro’s calloused and scraped hands fiddled with the rope as he untied his legs and. He could feel anger and frustration welling inside his chest as the rope slipped from his hands and he had to restart.

Why? Why would they leave me?

The thought quickly left his mind as he remembered Bruno in the bedroom. Juro hadn’t seen him during the confrontation, so he must still be in the bedroom. Stumbling onto his feet, Juro sprinted and jumped over scrap metal and trash and thrust open the door.

“Brun-” Juro paused, eyes widening as he stared at the empty room. His eyes caught the reflection of pictures on the nightstand—pictures they had taken together before the party.

Juro lifted a pale hand and picked up the pictures as if they were fragile, paper-thin sheets of glass. He overturned them for a moment before sighing and pocketing them.

“I know you’ll want these back later… right?” His voice was a hushed whisper, and he acted as if he were talking to someone else in the empty room.

Juro: Hey, Bruno. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to comfort you. I shouldn’t have left you alone. Morrigan and Elizabeth have left with Juro. It’s just me. Where are you?

He took off his suit and suspenders, which had now hardened with his dried blood, and rinsed them in the sink. The water turned an opaque red before turning translucent. Grabbing a fresh pair of breathable clothes, he slid them on and bagged the suit. It was too nice to go to waste; when would there be another time an ordinary like him could get a suit?

He held the bag of clothes over his shoulder. It seemed like Elizabeth or Morrigan had patted him down for any of the remaining weapons while he was unconscious.

What could you be thinking? This wasn’t the girl he thought he knew. She must have had an explanation for leaving him here. A good one, too.

“This place is a total dump,” he muttered, sifting through all of the gadgets and wires that flooded the floor. Countless guns, arrows, and ammunition littered the ground, but none of that was of interest to him. Killing wasn’t on his bucket list.

He paused for a moment when the kitchen room light reflected off a radiating object. Turning his head toward it, he walked over and squatted on the ground, inspecting it. It was a piece of gray rock, crumbly and dry. He lifted it into his hands and it continued to pulsate with light, but it paused and almost seemed to tremble when he held it.

What? Is it moving? Juro turned it around his fingers before looking around the floor, picking up a loose sheet of paper nearby.

He blinked at Victor’s notes for a moment and turned the paper around. Good to know his handwriting is as good as his personality. He squinted at the words for a moment before making it out.

***

08/23.

It has been years since I have left Josephine and my parents, and I believe I have finally made a breakthrough. I discovered this odd stone, yet it almost seems to breathe. I’ll conduct further tests on it. Perhaps Josephine has not yet identified or researched something of this caliber. I’ve never seen something like it. It reacts when touched. I’ll see how it reacts to Hazel.

08/27.

It seems to take a liking to Hazel, whatever that may mean. It glows brighter and rhythmically when she holds it, but it seems repulsed by me. I hypothesize that it seems to be a piece of the moon. How it landed here I am unsure, but that does not matter to me as long as Josephine doesn’t get her robotic hands on it.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

08/31.

There is something alive on the moon, and it is angry.

09/27.

General Kristiansen has reached out to me. I’ve done it. I’ve finally done it. Josephine will never ever be able to reach the mere levels that I can tap into. I can harness the power of the moon. Whatever it is, I do not care, as long as I can use it. Something up there possesses an utterly frightening amount of sheer rage and trapped power—it’s perfect. The government is now funding my research, and in a few years, I will finally be able to change this god-forsaken country. I’ll become their new God, and Josephine will bow before me on her knees.

***

Juro’s brows furrowed as he continued reading. Ha, this guy is completely nuts. An absolute psycho. He brought the rock up before his eyes and it once again trembled, trying to roll away. Maybe he was right. I’m nothing like him, and I’m glad.

Juro continued to snoop through all the drawers and finally found one filled to the brim with all of Josephine’s creations. Victor was obsessive—that much was clear. Juro pocketed the paralysis guns, extra ammo, and even the flash grenades. He had to get out of here soon if he didn’t want to get caught, and he was going to go to Alyssa’s place first for that journal.

What could she have discovered? It must have been more convenient given her parent’s political standing but… maybe it has to do with the moon?

The rock seemed to burn coal-hot in his pocket.

Alyssa’s parents must have been arrested for treason by now. The press might have caught up to them, but if the police or government find Alyssa’s journal first, it’s over.

He ran out of the house and skid to a stop just before falling over the cliff edge, his foot sending loose rocks over the edge.

Wait… could it be?

Juro: Bruno, please don’t go to Alyssa’s house alone right now.

Juro: Bruno, listen to me. You’ll get arrested. I’ll go with you.

That was right, where else would Bruno have gone? Fear bubbled and gurgled and thrashed within Juro as he began sprinting toward Alyssa’s house. He swam in the air as his ankle snapped to the side and he was about to crash into the ground, but he rose and rose again and kept on running.

Juro: Don’t do something stupid, Bruno. Please. You’re the only one left.

He cut through the trees and finally saw Alyssa’s grandiose house rising above the treeline as a pillar of light, the sun streaming out from behind its looming peaks. Rushing around to the back, he gasped for air and held his stomach as it cramped. Countless Leith officers and reporters were swarming around the front of the property, clamoring at the door to try and get in.

Looping around the house, Juro returned to the window they had always used to sneak in. He let out a pathetic laugh at the memory before he spotted Bruno clinging to the edge. Juro slunk down beneath Bruno and met eyes.

His deep brown eyes burned a charred orange in the dawns light as he struggled to pry open the window. They were animalistic and wild as tears kissed his cheeks and washed away the deew of his youth.

“Bruno,” Juro cried, his voice cracking as relief rushed through him. He quickly pushed Bruno up as he finally opened the window, and Bruno pulled him up.

Juro placed a trembling hand on his chest, a pledge of honesty. “Bruno, you don’t understand how worried I was. I know you’re upset, but please don’t ever leave.”

Bruno ignored him and rushed for Alyssa’s desk, filing through the belongings before finding a journal. The look on his face was both liberated and utterly desperate as he flung open the pages and searched for something. Something incomprehensible to Juro.

Juro gave a weak smile before going toward Alyssa’s drawer.

“Don’t touch anything!” Bruno snapped, grabbing Juro’s hand and twisting his wrist. “It’s nothing for you to see.”

“She asked me to grab a folder. I won’t touch anything else,” Juro responded slowly and gently, his lips a thin white line as he seemed to grimace at Bruno’s reaction. Bruno’s grip gently loosened as he turned his attention back to the journal.

Juro found the folder; it was a navy blue and inside were countless yellow lined sheets of paper, some typed out and others in Alyssa’s beautifully etched cursive. Everything she had ever touched seemed flawless beneath her blessed fingertips. He stared at the title that seemed to loom over the entire folder.

The Moon: Lilith’s Final Frontier

Before Juro could react, he heard the voices of Alyssa’s parents streaming down the hallway.

Heading right for Alyssa’s room.