morning

apart

Ugh!" Luna groaned.
Their hair was a mess. The back was tangled and their fringe plastered against their face. As they stared at it, all of a sudden they couldn't breathe.
In an impulsive decision, they rooted around in their desk drawer and snatched up a pair of scissors and– brutally and aggressively– cut their hair right up to their shoulders. Luna stared at the chunks of hair sticking to the water on the porcelain sink bowl and sighed when they caught sight of themself in the mirror. It had been a long time since their hair had been this short. They'd need to get it tidied up at some point so it didn't look crazy.
It was a change but they knew they would get used to it, like their freedom from the centre. Luna clicked on their phone and opened Instagram, which they hadn't updated or opened for a month. What was the point of social media? They'd often thought that it must be very sad to care so much about others lives while not focusing on your own and those who you care about. After checking that DI Stark hadn't messaged them– who also despised social media, but had been bullied into downloading it by the Chief Super– they dialled the number for the reception desk phone.
"Hello, it's Detective Eclipse, I'm calling in sick." They could practically hear the contempt in Ellis' sigh when they said their name. Luna could hear a keyboard clicking on the other end.
"What's your reason?" Ellis drawled.
Luna was very thankful for their ability to think fast. "Oh, a bad stomach ache. Vomiting. I think I might have food poisoning," they lied, making sure to make their voice sound weak and tired.
They honestly couldn't go to work today.

The sun shone over the lake as they sat by the babbling brook. And suddenly the memory came to them...

2 years ago

"Hey Luna!" Jinx shouted from the lake. His long reddish hair was tied back and his pendant was tied around his waist.
It was a fairly nice day. The sun shone and the forest gleamed ahead of them. Their freedom from the centre was almost too good to be true, almost like they couldn't grasp it yet. It was even better than life before the centre with the struggles that Luna and Jinx had at school .
Luna sat by him, cautiously dipping their feet in the lake. The brooke glittered with sunlight as it babbled and groaned. Over the years they had found a good secret place in the woods, one which was a place just for them, overlooking the lake. Luna had enchanted the place only to reveal to them, however, the TCRIC always looked in their minds. They would sit, hand in hand, for hours, like they had no troubles in the world.
The words almost fell out of Luna's mouth when what they dreaded happened. A centre officer burst out of the bushes. Luna's mind swam with thoughts as they leapt to their feet. They thought they had enchanted it, but that was the least of their concerns.
"Get away from us!" screamed Luna, drawing up magic in preparation. They felt it in their fingers, invisible, but there, something that felt safe and familiar.
The officer chuckled as he raised his tranquiliser gun. Luna didn't recognise him, so the officer must have been a new recruit, probably as brainwashed as they were. Over time, they had learnt that most of the officers were as brainwashed as the children in captivity. The officer took a step towards Jinx and in less than a second, Luna appeared beside him and punched him, leaving him with blood pouring from his nose, groaning and cursing.
Luna lurched towards their knife. This was the moment when they were going to get revenge on the Centre. The years of brainwashing and torment came back to them.
"Luna! Don't!" Jinx's voice snapped them back to the present. They looked from the knife in their hand to him. His expression showed his fear, but his eyes were fixed on them warningly.
He was right. No one deserved that fate.
"Watch out!" he cried, but just as Luna turned to defend themself, police officers poured out of the trees, pulling Luna away as they kicked and punched and writhed as they fixed the handcuffs around their wrists.
"Jinx!" screamed Luna, "Run!"
Jinx listened to them  and turned, running away and disappearing into the trees.

Luna was forced into a police car and driven away.

When Luna got out of jail months later, Jinx was nowhere to be found, except in Luna's mind where his desperate screams echoed cruelly. That day was the day that tore them apart .

AN: hey everyone i hope your enjoying it so far im trying to get a lot of the chaoters written and uploaded i thought u shld know luna is a wiccan and Jinx is satanist