CHAPTER TEN

❝We ran as if to meet the moon.❞

Robert Frost

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"So they're gone for real?" Nicky asks for the hundredth time, leaning across the kitchen island toward Larry. "There's really nothing you can do?"

"I wish there was," Larry says, pulling the takeout cartons out of the greasy paper bags. "I'm telling you, I tried everything. I talked to McPhee, I called the board, but they shipped them out this morning."

Luna peers across at the boxes of rice and kung pao chicken, anxious to change the subject. "That's a lot of food, Mr. Daley, even for us." Usually, Nicky can eat an entire carton of rice and another of meat on his own, and Luna can almost keep up with him, but tonight, her appetite's almost gone.

"Yeah," Larry says, looking around, presumably for napkins. "Ed from work's gonna come by. I thought I told you guys. We just have to go over a couple little work things."

"So you're working tonight." Nicky pulls a container of wu lo yuk toward him and grabs a package of chopsticks from the middle of the island, stabbing the package open aggressively.

"I used to work every night," Larry says wryly, tossing a handful of crappy fortune cookies onto the counter between them. Luna's heart tugs painfully. She snags one of the fortune cookies and opens it, cracking it in half and popping the first piece into her mouth. It tastes like sweet styrofoam, but it's tradition in this house to eat the cookie first and wait until everyone has their fortune to read them.

"Yeah, but that was when you had a cool job," Nicky says around a mouthful of pork, pointing at Larry with his chopsticks. The house phone on the side table rings loudly.

"Well, 'cool' doesn't pay for that Xbox," Larry replies, setting the napkins down on the island and walking over to pick up the phone. He presses ANSWER, leaving the phone on the stand so everyone can hear. "Hello?"

"Gigantor! It's me! Jedediah!"

Luna almost drops the container of rice she's holding. "Jed?" She scrambles over to the phone, kneeling down beside the table. "Jed, it's Luna."

"Luna? Look, little lady, we're in a bit of a pickle--" It sounds like there's a war going on in the background.

"Jed, how did you dial the phone?" asks Larry, and Luna thinks he's being entirely too nonchalant about this.

"Long story! Ahkmenrah's tablet did its little glowy thing tonight and now we're in a world of hurt, boy!"

"What's going on?" Larry leans closer, trying to hear better.

"Kahmunrah!"

Oh, my god.

Luna claps a hand over her mouth, her heart drumming rapidly in her chest.

"Who?" Larry frowns.

"Ahkmenrah's brother," Nicky says, sliding off his barstool, wu lo yuk forgotten.

"That's right! He's here!" Jed sounds like he's running for his life. "And trust me, not a friendly! I repeat, not a friendly!"

There's a wild battle cry from somewhere in the background. "Is that Attila, Jed?" Larry asks, leaning still closer.

It sounds like Jed's being dragged away from the phone; his words are almost unintelligible. Larry picks up the phone and holds it to his ear. Luna's hand is almost welded to her mouth. She can barely breathe.

Then the line goes dead.

Larry sets the phone down, his mouth set in a firm line, and then gestures to Nicky and Luna. "Come on. Nick, I'll drop you off at your mom's, and Luna, I'll take you home."

"What's going on, Dad?" asks Nicky, crossing his arms.

"I'm gonna go find out," Larry says, grabbing his keys from the side table.

Nicky gives Luna a look (best friend things, reader) and in that instant, they decide. Both of them plant their feet in the kitchen. "Dad," Nicky says, "we're going, too."

"No way." Larry shakes his head. "I'm not taking you to D.C., you might miss school--"

"With all due respect, Mr. Daley, I'm graduating with honors," Luna says, brushing her hair back from her face. She's terrified and worried for Ahk and stressing, but now is the time to be cool. "I've been accepted to GWU already. Nicky's got a 3.0 GPA. What are they going to teach us in the next seven days that they haven't already?"

Larry purses his lips. "I just--I can't take you to D.C. I can't."

"Mr. Daley," Luna starts, and then out of nowhere, her voice breaks. "Um, these are people I care about, too. I can't stay here knowing they're in danger." ("People" meaning "Ahkmenrah" mostly, reader.)

Larry looks between them, sighs, and runs a hand through his hair. "Are either of you going to stay, even if I say no?"

"Absolutely not."

"Hell no."

"Be ready to leave in thirty minutes."

Nicky rushes to his bedroom, and Luna can hear him throwing things into a suitcase haphazardly. She hastily sends off a text to her mom, asking her to pack a bag for a weekend and lying through her teeth about a relative of Nicky's in D.C. who's deathly ill, and helps Larry shove all the Chinese food into the refrigerator.

Before they leave, Larry books three train tickets to D.C. and secures a hotel room for tonight. Luna briefs Larry and Nicky on the lie she's told her parents. Nicky hands Luna one of his softest hoodies-- "For the train; it's cold"-- and they hurry out the door.

They stop only to pick up Luna's bag from her parents, and she hugs both her parents, promises to be good, and makes sure they know she'll tell Larry's second cousin they're praying for her. Then it's straight to the train station, where they buy coffee and a few bags of chips, regretting not finishing their dinner.

Luna leans her head on Nicky's shoulder, staring out the window at the concrete wall flashing by. She thinks of Ahkmenrah, seeing the brother who murdered him after thousands of years. She sends a silent message to him, telling him to stay safe, to wait for her. That she's coming.

(That she cares for him.)

Something white pokes out of her jeans pocket, and she frowns, pulling it out and unfolding it. It's the fortune, from that long-forgotten cookie. She squints at the tiny text.

There is a time for caution, but not for fear.

Luna resists the urge to laugh. How fitting. The metal bench digs into her thighs, it smells of alcohol and strong cleaner and body odor in this train car, and the coffee they bought is anything but good, but she knows without a doubt that she's where she needs to be.

That glowing feeling in her chest is back.

It thrums powerfully and she knows Ahkmenrah can feel it, too.

✦✧✦

i either write a ton or i write nothing. i'm so sorry for these weird intervals. but eeee this might be my favorite of the movies (at the very least, it's tied with secret of the tomb) and i'm so excited to (kind of) rewrite it a little and twist it to fit the plot!!! creative license ROCKs.

q: do you like chinese food?

a: hell yeah.