May 22nd - Friday / Late Afternoon
Lane had fucked his sister.
His brain spun it a million different directions, with a million more rational justifications for his actions, but they were all ultimately useless. He had every opportunity to leave. He could have just walked away. He should have. As desperately as Lane wanted to cling to regret, however, his mind kept pushing him forward toward understanding, "Why?"
For a third and hopefully final time since walking back to the Jeep, Lane asked, "Luna, are you sure you're, you know... Okay?"
Flippantly, Luna reached out for her brother's hand and assured him, "Lane, I'm bleeding internally and for no good reason at all won't be able to fit into my own jeans for another three days. All things considered, thanks to you, I feel significantly more functional." Looking him dead in the eyes, she enunciated; "Are. You. Okay?"
Luna squeezed Lane's hand in hers. Both searched one another's eyes and for the first time, Lane didn't have an honest answer. Instead, he shrugged, "Yeah. Fine," he lied, "I just wanted to make sure that... you know?"
Cocking an eyebrow, Luna pressed, "I honestly don't know unless you use complete sentences." With a short sigh, she pulled Lane forward, close enough to kiss. "How about we talk about it tonight. Give you some time to process. That sound like a plan?"
Lane nodded slowly. His lips almost brushed against hers but didn't.
Luna socked him in the shoulder and kept walking, "Don't trip potato chip."
Eight hours. That's all. Lane's powerful brain had to sum up a lifetime's worth of repression and unquantifiable emotions in the span of a day.
Yeah.
No problem.
Luna and Lane emerged from the dirt trail and arrived at the staff cabin. They cautiously stepped out into the gravel-filled cul-de-sac. Their feet crunched over the rocks as they approached the iron bell. That unmistakable deep ring had bellowed throughout the woods since they left the showers. Faint echoes continued to roll in the distance. It now sat motionlessly. Yet, there was no bellman or woman responsible. The lot was hauntingly vacant.
Lane cautiously approached the large iron bell. Not only was it motionless, upon further inspection it had rusted over to the point where the old pulley system used to ring the bell was utterly useless. No speakers. No footprints. No other mechanisms to speak of. Either a second bell had been rung, or someone ran to the bell, beat it with a mallet, then sprinted away while covering their tracks seconds before Lane and Luna entered the circle.
Luna cupped her hands together, "Hello?!"
Lane was about to silence her, but honestly, they probably should have made more of an effort to look for someone in the first place if they hadn't been preoccupied with-
Oh, god, Lane had actually fucked Luna.
Luna kept shouting, "Anybody home?"