1 Chapter 1- Beginning Anew

Year 20XX, In the Southern USA

Luna's POV

"Lu~ come to daddy." I need to get out of here. He's going to kill me. "LU, GET BACK HERE! You don't want to end up like your mother." He's insane. Tears rush out of my eyes and down my face as I hide in a cabinet in my mom's study. He slams the door open, "Lulu, I won't hurt you. Your mother just tried to take you and your twin brother, Yul, from me. She even hid your other siblings from me. I need your help, Luna. Just a few more tests then me, you, and all the others can live together happily." He walked past my hiding spot and left the room.

After he left, I crawled out from inside the dusty cabinet and stood. I grabbed my mother's sword from its stand. Unsheathing it, I walked out of the study and towards the grand foyer to leave the house. "I SAID DON'T RUN, LU," he yells from the top of the stairs. I hit the ground with a loud thud, "Ugh, get away from me. You'll just kill me too."

Yul comes running from the dining room to my left. He helps me off the dark, scratched, mahogany floor. Once standing, I grab the sword and stand slightly in front of my brother. I lean towards my brother and whisper, "I'll distract him while you get away. Get to mom's room where the others are," he hesitated but finally ran out the front door and left it open for me.

Cold air hit my legs and neck, "Let us leave, and you won't get hurt." He chuckles at my statement and starts down the stairs, "You think I'm scared of some little girl?" Once his foot hits the floor, he stands not showing any sign of moving. He then lunges towards me, and I push the tip of the sword at him. He falls onto his knees. A smile creeps across his face, his eyes wild, "Goodnight, Lu Lu, I'll see you soon."

I jolt out of bed covered in a cold sweat. As soon as I wake up the door to my bedroom opens, it's my little sister, Jewel, "Are you alright, Luna?" I look at her and control my breathing, "Yes, I'm okay. Just a bad dream is all." She nods her head, "You need to get up. Today you leave for L.A. remember?" I chuckle and motion for her to leave so I can get ready. She leaves, and I push the covers off my body. I place my feet onto the cold, wooden floor. It sends chills up my spine. It reminds me of that night. I finally stand and walk over to my desk where I placed the clothes that I would wear today.

I get dressed, then pack my chargers and electronics that I left out into my backpack. I rolled my shoulders — this is going to be a long flight for me, but at least my uncle handled everything, like paying for the apartment. My uncle, Jase, lives in Scotland in an old mansion that I lived during my "early" years in with my brothers and sisters and him before getting moved to a foster family in the U.S.. I sighed at the memory, trying to not let myself get worked up over it. I walk down the stairs to eat breakfast with my adoptive family before they see me and my friends off for California.

I make it to the bottom of the stairs and walk through the living room to get to the kitchen. "Morning sweetheart. Are you excited for this?" my dad asks, stirring the pancake mix. I take a seat next to Jewel, "Yeah, but I am sort of nervous. I won't know anyone there, and I'm not the most social person on the planet."

My sister giggles at me and then gives me this look of understanding. I smile at her, "You at least are getting better socially."

Dad finishes the pancake mix and poured some of the batter onto the pan. The pancake began to take form, and Dad hummed without bothering to turn and face us, "Well, at least you are moving there with your friends, so you won't be all alone."

I smile down at my hands, "Yeah, they are great friends for moving with me all the way across the country." He flips a pancake as Mom walks into the kitchen, "Ah! Luna, you're awake. Do you have everything packed into your suitcases? And are the others on their way?" I nod, ��I don't know about the three's ETA. I'll text Poet."

I pull out my phone and unlock it. After tapping on the texting icon, I scroll to Poet's name. I type, "Hey are you on your way here? Dads making pancakes"

My phone vibrated merely a few moments later.

"We are about 1 minute away. My sis is driving me, sim, and ang… HELL YEAH PANCAKES," her text said.

I laughed to myself as I text her back, "lol cool see you soon then."

As soon as we stop texting, a knocking sound resonates through our house. I stand from my seat and walk into the foyer to open the door. I barely have the door open before it swings out of my hand, and arms weave around my neck. Poet giggles into my ear as she jumps up and down, arms around my neck, "Hi, Lu!!"

I laugh at her childishness and hug her back. I pull away as dad walks into the foyer as well, "Well aren't you just in time. I just finished breakfast," he waves us into the kitchen, "Grab a seat. I'll bring food to the table."

"Thank you for letting us eat breakfast with you guys," Angeal states. Mom smiles sweetly at him, "You are welcome. It's good to have a home-cooked meal since you probably won't have one for a few days." They all sit as I help Dad with breakfast.

"So, are the rest of you excited for this big change in your lives?" Mom asked. Poet looked at Mom and smiled, "I know I sure am. I get to my dream come true with my best friends." I look back at her with a face full of mixed emotions I know it's just a simple move, but why do I have such a sense of foreboding. I turn back to tend to the skillet sitting on the stove forcing the thought into the back of my mind. I move the eggs from the skillet to a large bowl sitting next to stove. Picking up the bowl I walk to our dining table and set it down in the middle.

Poet looks at me as I sit the bowl down, "Why on Earth are we in the dining room and not at the kitchen table?"

"Because there is no way we would all be able to fit at the kitchen table along with the massive amount of food dad is making."

Poet chuckles, "True, I think this is the first time we've had the whole gang together in a while."

I smile at her and look around the table at Simon and Angeal. Dad walks in right after that with a plate of pancakes in each hand. He sets each plate on either side of the table and pulls out a chair in between my sister and Mom.

"So, what are you guys and girls first going to do once you get there?" my dad asks.

"We will be looking for an office first, so that we don't have to record and work in spare rooms anymore," I state, grabbing a few pancakes and shove one in my mouth.

"Slow down, Luna. The pancakes aren't going anywhere. I made enough that we might even have leftovers."

I smile at dad putting two more pancakes on my plate. I looked down at my plate and think back to the dream. I wonder what ever became of the mansion after we left. The only thing that we were told is that it had been given to our mom's brother whom they called, Jase. I've never met the man before. Before I could think on the subject anymore Poet placed a hand on my shoulder. She didn't speak, but her eyes seem to ask, "Are you okay?" I give her a sad reassuring smile and a nod before continuing to eat.

There is a comfortable silence around the table as we all ate. No one daring to disturb the peaceful air around us in our last moments, at least for a while, together. I look around the table. Angeal leans back in his chair after finishing his breakfast. His head falling back with his eyes closed. He sighs and drapes an arm over Simon's chair. Simon, being a bit more on the serious side, leans forward away from Angeal's arm. I inwardly chuckle at the couple and look to my right where my mom, dad, and sister are all sitting.

My smile turns downward at the sight of them. They had fake plaster smiles on their faces, trying to hide their sadness from me. I'm 23 now and I've been with this family for 7 years. They adopted me after I had been tossed around different families and even different countries. I had a pretty shitty life before they did, and I owe them my life and all the happiness in it. My sister, Jewel, is the sweetest girl I have ever met, next to Poet at least. She always knows how to make me smile, even though she can be head strong about certain subjects. I'm so lucky to have been adopted and accepted as a part of their family. I love them all so much.

"So, Luna, are you guys going to start hiring as soon as you get there? You have everything in place to do so, no?" my mom pipes in breaking my train of thought.

"Ah, no, we won't be hiring much if at all for a few months. It'll take us that long to organize everything and be in a stable state to start hiring workers."

She smiles and nods at me, "Alright everyone, we should start heading towards the door. You four need to get dropped off at the airport."

We all grab our plates and head to the kitchen to help clean. I started running hot soapy water over the dirty dishes. This'll help dad when he goes to wash them. I step outside to one hell of a sight. Simon and Angeal were watching mom intricately stack luggage into the van. I couldn't help but chuckle at the three of them causing them to look over at me. Simon gave a look of confusion while Angeal starts looking embarrassed and chuckles along with me. Mom finished packing up the trunk and closes it. She wipes the sweat that has accumulated on her face from the Southern heat. She smiles at me, and the world seems to blur around me.

"Na…. una.. LUNA!"

I jolt awake and look around 'where am I?' I look towards the source of the sound. It's a familiar looking young boy. His short curly hair is a dark silvery blue but his face 'He looks like me'. My eyes grow wide as I stand and walk towards him to get a good look at him. I know it isn't me but this boy. Its almost like looking in a mirror except his hair color and shape.

"What are you doing, Luna? Do I have something on my face?" the boy touches his face. Snapping out of my thoughts, I just shake my head. He gives a bright toothy grin and grabs my hand and guides me down the hall.

"Mom has been looking for you. She misses having you around."

My eyes widen and a pit settles in my stomach as we walk down the hall. 'This is my old house. Does that mean he is here too? What does this boy mean by Mom?' A dark cloud sets into my mind at the thought. We walk into the family room were a woman with long white hair stands with her back to us.

"Mommy, I got her up just like you asked me to." He runs up to the woman and grabs her hand. She turns around with nervous eyes "You found her." I freeze by the door way. The woman, my mom I think, walks to kneel in front of me and gives a sad smile, "Soon you'll be reunited with Yul, your brother. Don't lose him again. He's so important to your development. He will help you remember things that were forgotten due to trauma and time. Please keep him close." She snaps her fingers and it all fades to darkness.