It was a cool late-afternoon when Luna Cameron was walking home from school. Her long, jet black hair blowing in the wind. Her best and oldest friend, Chance Miller, the senior-of-the-year musician, was walking beside her. Fall was at its best, they were surrounded by red, yellow, orange, and brown leaves. 

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The two had started doing what best friends always do, bicker at each other. They were fighting about what had happened on the latest episode of Hart of Dixie that they had both stayed up bingeing half the night. 

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“I told you Twinkletoes, Zoe didn’t know about ticks! It’s not like she was always around them! She’s from New York, remember?” Luna explained. He always hated it when she used that nickname. 

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“And I told you, Princess she did, she had to have. It had to have been a practical joke or something to scare them. I bet you five bucks it’s gonna be in the next episode,” he responded with a moan, no doubt annoyed by the nickname Luna had given him seven years ago.  

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“Okay, whatever. We clearly took different things out of that episode, so we should just stop talking about it.” 

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They continued walking down the street, the cars still lined up from school traffic. Neither of them noticed two of the most popular football players, Leo Jenner, who everyone called Jenner, and Logan Freemont, walking up behind them. Jenner, Logan, Chance, and Luna had always been in the same class. The four of them had known each other their entire lives. Last year, when they were all seniors, Logan and Luna had even dated for a while. Logan had cheated on Luna with one of her closest girlfriends, Hope Angelman. 

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“Hey man why are you hangin’ out with this freakshow of a girl, I mea-,” Logan began in a spiteful tone. 

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Luna and Chance stopped walking. “What did you just call her?” Chance yelled in an angry voice. He turned on his heel and faced the two punks. 

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“He called her a freak,” Jenner repeated to him mockingly, “dude, calm down, not like it ain’t true… Right?” He raised his eyebrows. 

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If looks could kill, Chance would have committed a double homicide by now. Luna was still turned around, placed a hand on Chance’s shoulder. “Let’s go, Chance. Let them think what they want about me. We know who’s right,” she said, her eyes getting a little blurry.

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 “Awww your little girlfriend is soooo smart, what a surprise!” retorted Logan. “At least one of you is.”

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Luna watched in horror as Chance turned around, “That’s freaking it!” he roared, and then punched Logan straight in his dark brown eye. Luna, having known these boys so long, knew there would be consequences for what just happened. She turned around, only to be scooped up by Jenner and hauled into an alley. Chance and Logan were slinging both fists and insults at each other from all angles; back and forth back and forth. With Jenner holding her back, she couldn’t do much to help her best friend. Thwack! Logan pounded Chance into the wall, he was unconscious before he hit the ground. 

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“NOOOOOO!! You freaking monsters!” Luna waved her hand at Logan, in anger, to her surprise, he shot backward and fell into the dumpster. 

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Jenner shoved Luna forward and went to help his friend, “You witch!” he yelled, “don’t think for a second we won’t report you!! You’re the monster!”
 

Luna was reliving what had happened yesterday. Pow! Pow! Pow! Over and over again, she was seeing the scene in her head. 

 

“Miss Cameron,” called Luna’s English teacher from the classroom phone. “You are being called to the principal's office.” 

 

“Alright Ms. Meadows, thank you!” Luna picked up her things and went to go see her grandfather, the principal. He called her into his office at least once a month to talk with her about her studies. As she neared the office, she wondered what was up, considering she was in there yesterday morning. 

 

“Hey gramps, what's up?” she asked in a teasing voice as she walked into the room. 

 

Three HALFUSagents cautiously walked up to Luna, one was holding a strange device, hovered over her forehead, and the light flashed neon green. The other two HALFUS agents grabbed her by the arms and cuffed her with supernatural handcuffs. Those types of handcuffs that are only used on… witches. 

 

“You,” the guy in charge pointed to one of the other agents, “make sure the two that reported this are paid the bounty of a mystic witch.” 

 

“A mystic? Witch?” Luna’s grandfather asked. “How could that be? I know for a fact that neither of her parents is supernatural.” 

 

“Sir you SURE she was not adopted.?” 

 

“She is still my granddaughter, no matter what. It doesn’t matter if she is adopted or not.” Luna stared daggers at her grandfather. She was adopted? How could her family, the ones she thought she could trust, keep that from her all these years?

 

“Luna,” her grandfather called, “do what they want and don’t be any trouble and you’ll be okay. I promise.”

 

Luna was led out of the school to a van that took her to HALFUS headquarters across town. The room she was put in was a compact version of her parents’ room back home, with different furniture of course. There was a twin-sized bed, a small bookshelf, and a floor lamp. 

 

She laid down and closed her eyes, she thought about Chance. Suddenly, she could see him, he was awake in his bed, talking to his parents about… her. They were telling him that I’d been arrested for being a mystic witch, the most powerful type of witch in the world. 

 

The next morning, Luna was dragged to the HALFUS lab.  The whole room was white and smelled of bleach. Two doctors, an older guy, and a young woman, were the ones who ran tests on her. It was nothing more than a few blood tests and brain scans but it made Luna feel dizzy and queasy. The results were surprising, she was descended from Merlin, and some of the most powerful Salem witches. Her level of power was through the roof, altho she didn’t know how to use them. The doctors thought she was the most powerful witch in the world. Finally, they brought Luna back to her cell.

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Does Luna learn her powers? Can she find a way to escape? Find out soon!

Luna was about to change into the uniform pajamas she was given, when she heard a loud noise come from a few cells down from hers. Last night around `this time though, an angry shapeshifter had tried to escape, so it was probably just her again. Staying true to her promise to her grandfather, she did everything they asked and had not tried to escape like most of the vampires, shapeshifters, and werewolves had. 

 

The sound kept getting louder and closer until it reached her door, locked from the outside. She heard a click and her door opened, on the other side of the doorway, stood Chance. She ran over to him.

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“Thank goodness I found you,” he sighed relieved. He let go of her and dragged her out of the room. 

 

“What are you doing here Chance?” Luna was confused. He shouldn’t have been able to get inside the —

 

“We need to go, now. I overheard some people talking, your grandfather convinced your parents to let them do some very deadly tests on you. They’re freakin gonna kill you and cover it up to look like an accident.”

 

Luna gagged. “My grandfather lied to me again? Ugh, I should have known he would.” 

 

They ran at full speed until they turned the last corner to get out of the building. Instead of the hallway being empty, it was full of agents with stun guns. “Put your hands up now and no one will get hurt,” yelled the agent that had cuffed Luna. A quick glance as Chance told Luna what she had already suspected— the agent was lying. They were both going to get locked up and be tested on. 

 

She still said, “Okay, just let him go. He came to break me out because I told him to. I used my powers, I’m sorry, just let him go and I’ll stay here.” Luna wasn’t about to let Chance take the blame for her and risk getting him in trouble. 

 

Beside her, strange, blue lightning specks were coming off of Chance. In seconds, Chance was gone, and in his place was a blue and purple rhinoceros. He roared as shots rang out. The agents pulled the triggers on the stun guns, but they did nothing to the thick-skinned rhino. Chance ran ahead and made a path to the door long enough for Luna to get through. She ran after him, leaving the yelling HALFUS agents behind. 

 

“Chance!” She lectured as he changed into a bird and picked her up with his talons, “You’ve got some explaining to do. You never told me you were a shapeshifter or that I was a witch for that matter, and before you say you didn’t, I know you knew. I overheard the doctors say something about supernaturals being able to sense what another person is. Plus I saved your butt a few days ago and never. Even. Gotta. Thank You.” She finished off with a joke to ease the tension that was building between them. He set her down somewhere in the woods. They were near Mt. Montequan. 

 

He motioned for her to start walking. “Yes, I’m a shifter, whaddya think I was a boring ol’ human?” He joked, “I have always known you were a witch but when I learned you didn’t know, I didn’t want anything to come between you and me. I’m sorry I didn’t Una, I just didn’t want to hurt you. You’re my best friend and I didn’t want you to be mad at me.”

 

He stopped. “Here we are.” He motioned to a small, leaf-covered, metal door.

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What is waiting behind the door? Who do they find next? Does Luna trust him enough to walk through?