Chapter 100 Not Fine. Definitely Not Fine.
Luna’s POV
I did not sleep, not even a little, and not even close.
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling as it had personally offended me, replaying everything over and over again until my brain felt like it was melting.
The eye on the window and the whisper. You opened it. And my grandmother’s voice…They’re starting to notice you.
Yeah. No. Absolutely not.
I refused.
“Luna, you’re going to be late!”
“I’m coming!” I yelled back, even though I was still sitting on my bed, wrapped in my blanket like it was the only thing holding me together.
I stared at my reflection across the room.
With my messy hair, dark circles, and dead eyes. That was fantastic.
“Wow,” I muttered. “You look like you fought a ghost and lost.”
A pause. “…Or won. Barely.”
I dragged myself up and got dressed like a zombie with commitment issues. Every movement felt off, like my body was slightly out of sync with everything else, or like I was still half in that moment and half being watched. By the time I stepped outside, the sun was already up, bright and normal. Annoyingly peaceful.
Birds chirping like nothing was wrong and trees swaying like they didn’t know anything. The world looked fine, which somehow made everything worse.
“Okay,” I whispered to myself as I walked. “You’re fine. Nothing followed you. Nothing is watching you. Everything is normal.”
A pause followed and then “…Probably.”
School came into view and for a brief, delusional second, I thought maybe today would be quiet. But it wasn’t. The moment I stepped into the hallway, something felt off again.
Not like last night, it was different, but still wrong.
I slowed and my eyes scanned. People were talking, laughing, and moving. But there was an edge to it now. It was subtle and tense.
“You look like death.” I heard a voice.
I jumped. “Ethan!”
He blinked at me. “That reaction is concerning.”
“You scared me.”
“I said your name.” He says.
“Not loud enough!”
He tilted his head slightly, studying me. “You didn’t sleep.”
“I love how that’s the first thing you notice.”
“It’s obvious.” He says.
“Great. Love that for me.”
He didn’t smile. That’s when I knew something was off with him too.
“What?” I asked.
“You feel different,” he said.
My stomach dropped. “Define different.”
He hesitated. That was worse. “Ethan,” I called.
“…Like something’s touching your energy,” he said finally.
Nope. Nope. Absolutely not. “We’re not using that sentence again,” I muttered.
“Luna….”
“No. No, we’re not doing this today. I refuse.”
He stepped closer, neither aggressively nor forcefully. Just… careful. “You need to take this seriously.”
“I am taking it seriously,” I snapped. “I just don’t want to panic before the first period.”
“That’s not panic. That’s survival.” He says.
“Same difference!”
“Luna.” That voice. Everything in me froze; it was Kai. Then I turned slowly, and there he was, standing a few feet away, watching me and watching us.
Tension snapped into place instantly sharp and immediate and unavoidable. “You look terrible,” he said.
I stared at him. “…Wow. Okay. Is everyone in a ‘tell Luna she looks like trash’ mood today?”
“You didn’t sleep,” he added.
I blinked. “You too?!”
Ethan crossed his arms. “Focus.”
“I am focusing!” I said. “I’m focusing on the fact that both of you are ganging up on my face right now.”
Kai ignored that completely. “What happened?” he asked.
And just like that. The humor cracked, it was gone, then I hesitated.
Because saying it out loud would make it real, more real than it already was.
“There was… something at my window,” I said slowly.
Kai’s expression shifted instantly and Ethan was still beside me. “What kind of something?” Kai asked.
I swallowed. “…It drew something.”
“Drew?” Ethan repeated.
“An eye,” I replied.
Silence followed heavy and uncomfortable.
“And it spoke,” I added.
That did it. Both of them were tense with different reactions and the same concern. “What did it say?” Kai asked.
I looked at him. Then at Ethan and then back on the floor. “‘You opened it.’”
The air changed again. Kai ran a hand through his hair, pacing once.
Ethan didn’t move at all. Which was somehow worse. “You didn’t touch anything, right?” Ethan asked.
“What does that even mean?”
“Answer the question.” He hesitated.
“No!” I replied.
“Think carefully.” He says.
“I said no!”
Kai stopped pacing and his eyes locked onto mine. “Did your grandmother say anything?”
That made my chest tighten. “…Yeah.”
“What?” he pressed.
I hesitated and then…“She told me to close the curtains.”
“And?”
I exhaled slowly. “She said… they’re starting to notice me.”
Silence again, but this time, it felt heavier, it was like something had just been confirmed. “That’s not good,” Ethan said quietly.
“Wow. Really? I couldn’t tell.”
“Luna.”
“I know!” I snapped. “I know it’s not good, okay? I just…”
My voice broke slightly, then I stopped.
I looked away. “I don’t know what I did,” I said softer now.
And that…that was the truth. Kai stepped closer, careful and measured.
Like he didn’t want to scare me. Or himself.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
Ethan didn’t agree. I could feel it. “That’s not entirely true,” Ethan said.
I turned sharply. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” he said carefully, “you’ve been opening doors you don’t understand.”
“I didn’t open anything!”
“You interacted with the system.”
“So did you!”
“Not like you did.”
“Stop,” Kai cut in and they both went quiet and I felt my chest was tight again and my head hurt. Everything felt too loud and too much.
“I just want one normal day,” I muttered.
“Not happening,” Ethan said.
“Yeah, I figured.”
The bell rang loud, sharp, and almost aggressive. Nobody moved.
Then I sighed. “Great. School.”
Neither of them reacted. “Are you both going to keep following me around?” I asked.
“Yes,” they said at the same time.
I stared at them blankly, tired and done. “…I hate my life.”
And somehow for the first time in a while, that almost felt like the most normal thing I’d said all day. But deep down, under the exhaustion.
Under the sarcasm and under everything…I knew that last night wasn’t random.
That eye, that voice, and that message…It wasn’t just watching anymore.
It was waiting. And whatever I had “opened”... it wasn’t closing.