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forgotten the magic we make when we are together.
    I need to remind her.
     
     

13.
     
    Lucy
     
    Not even back home for a day, and already everything has begun to unravel. I came back to the compound for clarity. Not for eye-opening ideas about a life predestined for me.
    I want to make my own choices.
    I want to be free in that, if nothing else.
    I look up to the sky where a full moon hangs so high it looks so lost.
    So alone.
    The specks of stars around the luminous sphere are like little whispers, trying to remind the giant orb that it hasn’t been deserted.
    But it has.
    The stars in the sky are nothing compared to the majesty of the moon. The stars have one another. They can shoot away if they want to be free, but the moon? It’s always separate, always alone in a sea of darkness.
    I don’t want to be the light in the night, or the light in the day. I want to be free without the burden of giving myself over to The Light. I don’t want to account for anything or anyone but myself.
    I am selfish.
    Maybe that’s why I feel so alone.

14.
     
    Charlie
     
    The morning air is crisp; I have my gun slung over my shoulder as I go to get my horse, wanting to find some food to start cooking for breakfast. Thankfully the food Lukas brought from The Light has helped tide us over, but we need more protein. Maybe some people can forage for greens or mushrooms today.
    “Hey, boy,” I say, patting his side, but something’s wrong. I mentally account for all the horses, and one is missing. I look around the property, thinking it strange that a horse could untie itself, and that it would then choose to leave. These are solidly loyal animals.
    I walk back into the compound, thinking maybe Duke or Colton beat me to waking this morning and are already off looking for game, but nope. The two guys are sprawled out on the couches, snoring loudly, and after all the moonshine they drank last night; I bet they’ll be sleeping for a while yet. Junie and Basil are wrapped in blankets on the floor, falling asleep out here last night, and I can’t imagine the younger girls would have taken a horse.
    As I’m literally scratching my head, a door creaks open and out walks Lucy.
    She’s radiant, her red hair falling across her shoulders and her emerald eyes alive even in this early morning hour.
    “What is it, Charlie?” she asks in a whisper.
    “A horse is gone and I don’t think it ran away. I think it was taken.”
    “No one could find us out here. And no one would just take one horse, would they?”
    “I know, that’s what I thought. But the guys are asleep out here. And Lukas slept in the same room as me.
    “Let’s check the other rooms.”
    Lucy nudges open the door next to her room and Timid and Hana-Grace are out cold. Their cheeks rosy from deep slumber. I don’t care if it makes me sound like a softy; those girls look precious sleeping there. Lucy clicks the door shut.
    “She wouldn’t have? Would she?”
    I don’t understand what Lucy means, but as she opens the last door, she reveals an empty bed.
    Perfection.
    Gone.
    “Shit.” I run my hands over my chin, shocked.
    “There’s no way she could….” Lucy walks around the bed, looking for a clue or something, as if she doesn’t believe Perfection would leave.
    “She was pissed yesterday. She was mad that I put her off … and Lukas told me she did the same to him.”
    I see a look flash across Lucy’s face as she remembers last night, how everyone decided to follow Lukas back to The Light, back to the hands of the people I refuse to be a part of. But Perfection wasn’t there for any of that. “And then her outburst during the palm reading.”
    “I’ve got to go after her,” I say. It’s obvious. She’ll be left for dead if she isn’t already.
    “Don’t….”
    “You want me to stay?” I ask. The mood shifts from Perfection, and lands squarely between Lucy and I. Our past. What I want for our future.
    “I want you to come back.” She looks into