Page 42 of Beneath the Light of the Moon

That was how old she’d been when her life had changed. It was at that moment that Anika decided the world was cruel, uncaring for its inhabitants, and so, she too would become cruel and unforgiving.

Heat from the stove permeated the air, the scent of food inescapable. Soft humming filled the quiet din of her mother moving around the kitchen. Utensils clacked together and vegetables sizzled, a harmonic melody lulling her deeper into concentration.

Laid out before Anika were scribble-filled papers, each containing lines and lines of equations. She preferred math above other subjects, enjoying its reliability and patterns. There were formulas she could follow—a stark division between where she was right and where she had gone wrong.

Even now, her homework was completed, but she wanted to experiment and try to find other ways to solve the problems set before her. It was in her blood to be an endless debater. Puzzles and other intellectual challenges fueled her, mind racing to discover something most would overlook. Her mother, while she didn’t always understand, still encouraged Anika, forever enthralled with her skills.

But her father, well, he was exactly like her. That was one of the many reasons he was a successful businessman. Numbers came to him just as easily as understanding people did. His small shop near the city thrived, people eager to buy his wares. Her father had started out as a small, humble entrepreneur, but Anika saw the growth, the excitement in his eyes when he came home in the evenings. Anika’s observant eye also didn’t miss the new pieces of jewelry her mother sported.

One day, if she wanted, her father’s store could become hers. He’d said as much to her a year earlier when she’d tag along with him.It made her heart swell despite the whispers of her father being delusional, passing off a business to a young woman. He ignored them, winking at Anika every time.

“They don’t know the sharpness of your mind, dear, but I do,”he’d encouraged weeks ago.

So, she worked hard, writing until her hands cramped and her eyes blurred.

But tonight was different.

While soothed by her equations, something in the air was off. An anxiousness not even her mother’s cooking could erase; a lingering in her bones.

The telltale click of the front door opening stopped Anika’s pencil in its place.

Her father was home.

Her sock clad feet pressed into the linoleum, eager to see him after a long day, but another sound stopped her.

Hushed whispers.

And they didn’t belong to her father.

Looking at her mother, Anika’s eyebrows raised in an unspoken question.Who’s here?

Her mother set her own utensils down, turning the stove off before abandoning the food there. Curiosity was also evident in her features as the crinkles around her eyes became more prominent. Gesturing for Anika to stay put, she watched as her mother’s frame hovered in the doorway. Her time worn fingers gripped the wood as her mom tilted her head in the direction of the sounds.

Anika opened her mouth to ask who it was but—

Bang!

The harsh sound ripped through the small house, decimating Anika’s ears. Her mother jumped back into the kitchen, away from the source of the sound as Anika clasped her hands over her ringing ears.Squeezing her eyes shut, she swore she heard groaning…mumbled pleas, but another shot rang out through the house.

Hands gripped her shoulders, jostling her. Anika’s eyes snapped open, the brightness of the kitchen light blinding, but the worry etched into her mother’s face was worse. It was a look that would haunt her forever, she was sure of it.

Her mom’s lips moved, but Anika’s mind struggled to hear what she was saying.

Anika.

It was as if she was underwater, voice dim and faraway.

Anika.

Another desperate shake.

“Anika”—her hands fell from her ears—“you need to hide.”

“W-why?”

“Now.” Her mother didn’t answer, too busy pushing her toward the darkened hall behind them leading to the bedrooms. “Hide and don’t come out for anyone.” Ira’s hair tickled Anika’s nose at their closeness before her worried-filled eyes flicked across Anika’s own shocked face.

“I—”