So that's how it is, huh?

Mae had her suspicions for a while, but following Norma to her 'club' had confirmed them all. That albino chick had sunk her claws deep into Norma, and getting them back out of her again seemed all but impossible.

What the hell does Norma see in that freak, anyway? There's something seriously off about her...

Mae hardly had anything to go off of to answer that question. The one time Norma tried telling her about this chick, Mae had lashed out at her.

I should have just sucked it up and listened. Then I might have had some answers. Some ammunition, at least... But I was simply too surprised. How could I not be?

Norma getting a gift from some hot rich girl she'd never met before at our shitty local bookstore? It was absurd. Norma is plain white bread. Things like that don't happen to someone like her.

Until they do, apparently.

Well, it was time to focus on what she did know. Norma had finally shared her weird secret. Not with her best friend, no... but with Luna. There had to be some significance to that.

Object of Obsession... Ohh, it was starting to make sense now.

She likes her women unhinged, does she?

Well, aren't you lucky, Norma!? I've always wanted an excuse to lose my fucking mind.

---

Back in room 2A...

"I pulled a muscle," Luna answered immediately. Her expression warned me against continuing this line of questioning.

"Oh, is that what it is? I saw you limping on your way out of the cafeteria yesterday." Luna seemed to silently curse herself.

"I'm fine now," she insisted.

"If I didn't know what to look for, I definitely wouldn't have noticed that it was still bothering you," I continued. "But it's not getting better, is it? You're just getting better at hiding it."

"Norma, just drop it," she pleaded. Until now I had grown accustomed to the self-assured, almost cocky Luna. Earlier today, she had been vulnerable. But now? She seemed terrified.

We were at an impasse. She clearly didn't want medical attention. She didn't even want to talk about it. But I cared too much to just brush this under the rug.

I quickly wrapped my arms around her. She held her hands up, surprised, before returning the embrace. When she did, I gently sat her down at a chair and took a knee in front of her.

"What are you doing!? Don't-" she hissed, almost immediately standing back up.

I took her hands in mine and looked deep into her cerulean eyes.

"Do you trust me?" I asked.

"Yes! But..."

"If you trust me, then trust me."

She let out an extremely long, shaky breath, before finally nodding to me. I lifted her skirt enough to pull down her thick stockings...

Oh, god...

There was no time to appreciate Luna's thighs or the fact that I could see her panties. These kinds of idle thoughts were shred to oblivion when I looked upon her skin...

Anywhere her uniform covered had been completely mutilated. She was all bruises on scars on lesions. 

Every single wound had been inflicted, meticulously and with great precision, for the sole purpose of setting off this cruel network of pain all over again.

Inhuman...! 

What she'd endured was completely inhuman!

I looked back up to her eyes, unable to hide my nausea.

"Who would...? We have to...!"

"I'm so sorry, Norma. You should have never seen this."

"But-"

She lifted her stockings back up and stood, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"You're kind, so much kinder than I deserve... but there's simply nothing to be done. Goodbye, Norma. I'll see you on Monday."

"Damn it, Luna, wait!"

But even with such marred legs, she was somehow much faster than me. I raced into the courtyard, but I completely lost sight of her.

I headed home in a daze, unable to accept reality.

Someone's abusing her.

The thought brought bile to my throat. But perhaps even more concerning was her attitude in the face of it. She must have lived this nightmare for so long that it seemed completely hopeless to break free.

What the hell am I supposed to do? How do I help her...!?

I had been relying on muscle memory to take me home, so when a voice called out to me, it took a moment for me to place my surroundings.

"Excuse me, miss? Can you help me?"

It was a young woman about the right age for university. Did I know her...?

"Umm, hi? What do you need?"

"I ended up buying too many groceries, and I could use a little help bringing them over to my car, if you don't mind."

I was still out of it, so without much thought I just shrugged and nodded.

"Oh, what a relief! They wouldn't let me leave them in the store, I didn't know what I was going to do! I'm parked just over here..."

She shoved a few bags into my hands. I followed behind her, not really catching anything she was saying. Something about a rough patch she was going through. I didn't realize that, between the two of us, there were hardly any bags, nor did I notice that she had actually lead me into a deserted alley.

"What a sweet girl you are, helping me out of the kindness of your heart! Oh, but we're no strangers, are we? We pass each other every day on my way to campus, did you know that? This might sound strange, but it's sort of become the highlight of my day. You noticed me too, right...? Oh, here we are!"

...okay. At this point I had tuned in enough to realize that things had gotten weird. But her car was only a few steps away, and I told myself that she was just a bubbly, ditzy girl who had gotten used to getting help with trivial tasks.

"Let me just unlock the door..." She reached into her purse.

She came back out with a knife.

"Okay... get in the car, now. Such a sweet girl... You'll get in the car, won't you?"

"Please, don't do this," I begged her. I was in no state of mind to process whatever was happening here.

"Shh, it'll be okay, I'll take such good care of you... just get in the car..."

Sobbing, I was forced to make a choice that made me disgusted with myself.

I tried to open the door. It was still locked. I felt a wave of vertigo that nearly knocked me off my feet.

"I c-can't... please...!"

"Come on, get in the car, sweetie... GET IN THE GODDAMN CAR!!"

She brandished her knife. I flinched, throwing up my shaky arms in defense. A familiar sound echoed through the alleyway.

When I opened my eyes, my attacker lay on the ground in a heap, her jaw bruising.  The red haired delinquent from before stood over her, massaging her knuckles.

"You okay?" she called to me.

I wasn't. Only seconds ago, I was mentally prepared to open the door to the vehicle that would have kidnapped me. I felt violently ill, and I couldn't stop crying. It finally caught up with me that I was saved. I ran to my hero, throwing my arms around her and sobbing into her chest.

"Oh, uh."

She seemed extremely uncomfortable, eventually giving my back a few awkward pats. I looked up into her golden eyes.

"I... I can never thank you enough! Please, can I have your name?"

"Hmm..."

I was a little surprised she had to think about it. It must have been embarrassing for her, because a hint of red touched her cheeks. She seemed to make some internal decision and nodded.

"Raine."

"Thank you, Raine. My name is Norma." She looked at me with an awkward smile.

"Yeah..."

She didn't seem to know how to hold much of a conversation. Raine looked anywhere but directly at me, her eyes eventually falling on my would-be kidnapper who was out cold. She then shot me a goofy grin.

"Want to kick her?"

"What? No!"

"Are you sure? Just a little one. Might make you feel better..."

Despite everything, I had to laugh. The catharsis felt incredible.

"Instead of that, I'm going to call the police to pick her up. One sec..."

After the conversation with the dispatcher, I was told to remain where I was to answer a few questions.

"I can't believe how lucky it was that you were there... You must live nearby, too?"

"...I always take this route."

"Well, good thing! Oh, here they come..."

A couple of police vehicles pulled up. Raine and I watched as my attacker was taken away by car, while the other two officers stayed behind to question us. Not surprisingly, Raine seemed pretty uncomfortable, but I was interested to see that one of the officers was talking to her like an old friend. We gave them our contact information and they asked if we needed a ride home.

"Nah, I'm good," Raine told them.

"I'll be okay now, I'm practically home already. Thank you, officers."

They took one last look at us before nodding and driving away.

"No offense, but considering your image, I didn't expect you to be so well liked by the authorities..."

"Eh, it's nothin'. I try to keep some of my stupid friends from makin' big mistakes every now and then, that's all..."

They were really happy to see her, though. She must be doing a lot more behind the scenes than she lets on...

Raine waited for me to start walking before following behind me. After a minute of this I turned around and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Won't you walk with me?"

"Huh...? Yeah, sorry..."

She caught up to me in a few strides and we walked the rest of the way to my house in companionable silence. She seemed really out of her element, as if this nice, quiet walk was more difficult for her than an all-out brawl. As the light of the setting sun reached her, however, I found myself so entranced by her unconventional, almost masculine beauty that it took me a second to realize we were outside my door.

I didn't know Raine well at all, but it was obvious she was going to try to downplay her selfless actions. I couldn't allow that.

"Umm... so that's twice you've saved me now. I wouldn't know how to go about making it up to you, but... I think you're amazing. Not just anyone... actually, hardly anyone would have done what you did. So, thank you for being my hero."

For someone who could fire off such an intimidating glare, her blush sure was cute.

"It was noth..." 

She trailed off, then suddenly looked me in the eyes with an attractive confidence and smiled.

"...yeah. You're welcome."

I walked over and gave her another hug. I probably lingered too long, but it was hard to stop showing her my appreciation. This time, she wrapped her arms around me as well. In her strong arms, I felt safe.

"If you don't mind, can I have your phone number? I'd like really like for us to be friends, maybe even see each other under better circumstances, for a change."

When her face dropped, I was worried I'd overstepped. Eventually, though, she took my phone from my outstretched hand and typed her number in.

"Thanks again, Raine. I hope to see you again soon!"

She nodded and waved informally, waiting until I was through the door before walking away. I smiled to myself as I watched her go. A moment later, I heard a noise from inside the house.

"Dad?" I called. With both my concern for Luna and the distress of nearly being abducted weighing on my mind, I really wanted to see him.

But as I entered the living room, dad was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a tall, buxom woman in a red dress sat on our couch, one leg crossed over the other as she gently swirled the cocktail glass in her hand. Her long, blonde hair covered one eye, but the brilliant emerald iris she regarded me with gleamed like a cursed treasure.

I was at my limit today, and raised my voice at her even as I backed away.

"W-who are you!?"