A Luna's Broken Heart

Chapter 4: Happy?

-Selene-

I decided not to go see our new resident before the next day. Isabella had been there to greet her and make sure she settled in before I went to see her. She had been put in the wing for abused mates, even though we didn’t know her story, I thought it to be best. There were only females in that wing and no males were allowed to enter or even get close. I hoped she would be a little bit more comfortable when I went to see her, then perhaps she would tell me a little more about what had happened to her and why. As I came inside, after parking my car, a little girl came running over to me.

“Miss Selene!” she said, grabbing on to me and hugging my legs.

My heart warmed at the gesture, but then it was overclouded by dark thoughts. I would never have a daughter of my own coming to give me hugs like this. I tried not to focus on it, as I crouched down and looked the little girl over. She had flour on her face, and I wiped it away with my fingers.

“I hope you’re not burning down the kitchen,” I said.

The girl laughed and shook her head.

“We’re baking cookies. Won’t you join us?” she asked.

Her mother, one of our longest residences and who had done a formidable job at claiming back her life and power, came outside and called for her daughter.

“I’m sure Selene has a lot of work to do, Sara,” her mother said and gave me a soft smile.

“Pleeeeease, come bake cookies with us,” the girl begged, grabbing onto my arm.

“Sara!”

“It’s fine,” I said to her mother, before focusing on Sara. “I’ll come a little later, first I need to check on someone who just moved in.”

“Someone else has moved in?”

“Yes, and I need to check on her," I told her.

“Is she okay?” Sara asked, her eyes suddenly full of worry.

I hated seeing that look in her eyes. She was so young, just barely turned seven, and she had already experienced so much hatred and cruelty. Her father had been such an abusive a**hole, beating the two of them into submission and scaring the life out of them. They had both been shaking like crazy when they were brought here, but now they were slowly coming back to themselves. I was so happy to see Sara still having that lively mood of hers and always smiling and talking to everyone. Even those that had just arrived. She did everything she could to cheer them up.

“I hope so. I’m going to see her now and we’ll figure out if she is,” I told her before getting up. “Now go bake some cookies, and I’ll join you later.”

Sara nodded before leaving with her mother, going out into the kitchen. I tried ignoring the twist of pain in my heart, as I turned my eyes to the stairs and walked up to the next floor. It was not hard to find her room. Isabella had given me clear directions and made sure to add them to her file. The door was half opened, but I still knocked on it. A young female with light brown hair and green eyes turned around. She was very thin and had very pale skin. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and grey sweats; I knew she had been given by us. She looked a bit sweaty too, as if it was hard for her just to turn around, but I couldn’t miss the smile on her lips. She looked … happy?

No people that came here looked happy. None of them wore a smile. In this wing or the other. They were broken and carried a lot of pain with them. They had no reason to smile, but this female did. Even her eyes shone as she looked at me.

“Cecilia?” I asked.

The female nodded.

“That’s me. You must be Selene. Isabella told me you would come and talk to me today,” she said, and with a bit of struggle walked forward and reached out her hand. “Sorry, I’m still recovering and not so fast.”

I was shocked. She was even the one who tried to touch me! Most people here didn’t like being touched and it would take months of therapy and time just for them to shake my hand. I stared at Cecilia’s for a while before I realized I had to grab it and shake it. I took her hand and gave her a light shake.

“I’m shocking you, aren’t I?” she asked, still with a smile.

I nodded. She was. She absolutely was!

“Most people here … when they first arrive, they aren’t … they don’t like to be touched.”

“No, I can imagine. I bet they don’t smile either,” she said.

I shook my head.

“Well, come inside! Don’t stand there.”

I did as she asked and walked inside. We walked over to her bed, even though she was limping slightly. She slowly sat down beside me, but it was like watching a very old lady trying to sit. It took her ten seconds before she was probably seated and able to look at me.

“Now,” she said. “My guess is you’re here to learn my “story”.”

“You’re not obligated to tell me anything, you should know that. I just wanted to know if there is someone I should contact, or maybe give a call,” I said to her.

I didn’t want her to feel pressured. I wanted her to tell me her story, because she wanted to, not because she felt forced or scared to. It was her story, not mine, and she could do with it as she wished. Tell me about it or tell Isabella about it or some of the other helpers or the other residents, or she could keep it. She could hide it forever if that was what she wanted to do.

“But know that everything you tell me will be confidential. What is being said in this room, will not leave this room,” I assured her, but it didn’t look like she needed me to tell her.

“I don’t care what you do with what I tell you. I plan to leave soon.”

“Where will you go?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’m just happy to know I can go wherever I want to.”

“You couldn’t do that before?” I asked, confused.

She shook her head.

“I couldn’t.”

There was silence then. I waited for her to continue. I didn’t want to pressure her, but when I saw that she wasn’t going to say anything else, I repeated:

“Is there anyone I should call for you? Or do you want to call them?”

Her sweet green eyes held nothing but honesty, as she shook her head.

“There is only me now.”

“Now?”

She lifted her hand and started to bite her nails. It looked like she was getting nervous or anxious, and I feared I might have triggered something in her, but then she started to smile, and the smile soon turned to a soft laughter. Was she really laughing, I wondered, as I looked at her shocked. She continued to do so, until she noticed my strange look on my face, then she stopped herself and removed her hand.

“Sorry, I must look like a crazy person, suddenly just laughing out of the blue. I’m just so … happy!”

“I can see that,” I said, still a bit confused by her behavior.

“When you asked me if I had someone you could call, and I said no, it … it just made me realize there really wasn’t anyone for you to call and it made me happy.”

“It made you happy not to have anyone to call?”

“I know how that must sound like, but yes. It did!”

Was she actually crazy, I thought, just for a second, before reminding myself, I didn’t know her whole story. Maybe she had had an abusive boyfriend or mate, or something and the person had died. Maybe she was just happy to be free of them.

“Well, I will let you get some more rest then. Your doctor said it was important you got a lot of rest and food, so you could recover,” I said and got up from the bed.

“You don’t want to ask me my story?” she asked, confused.

“I told you. You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not comfortable telling me. It’s your story. You tell it to me or you don’t or you tell it to someone else. You decide.”

She smiled sweetly at me, but when I turned to leave, she grabbed my hand. With my help, she slowly got up from the bed.

“What are you doing? You should stay on the bed,” I said, worried, but only tightened my grip on her hand, when I saw she was trying to get up.

She let out a deep exhausted breath, as she finally stood on her feet again. Then her green eyes stared at mine. They were deep and serious, and I wondered what she was going to tell me, but she didn’t say a word. Instead, she lifted her hand and lightly brushed the side of my blazer away, so my covered shoulder came into view. The white shirt was a little see-through, and when it covered me you could just barely glimpse the mark that was now nothing but a painful reminder of a past I was trying to forget. I stared back at Cecilia almost terrified, before I let go of her and took a step back. I quickly covered myself and asked:

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“It hurts. Doesn’t it?”

I just stared at her confused.

“When they mark you and then they throw you away for someone else.”

The happy woman I had just met a few minutes ago had disappeared, and a dark version now stood in front of me. Her eyes were still on my shoulder, even though it was covered now, but then she turned her eyes to me. The green now looked like glass, as if there was nothing behind them.

“I think you’ll want to hear my story.”