CHASING RA

Prologue

The last thing she saw before the chamber was sealed was a pair of broken, pleading eyes. Then she turned to her beloved, who was barely holding on to life. Understood the cost and accepted it.

“Shh, don’t speak,” resting her head on his blood-drenched chest. “I am here. We will be together after this.”

“I… made a deal,” he rasped, blood bubbling from his lips. “With Anubis.”

“What? What have you done?”

“Vengeance,” Your soul will be free, he said as more blood than words escaping his mouth. “For those who betrayed us, they’ll pay,” “Anubis will aid me…”

“Listen to me, you’re angry,” her voice breaking. “No! We knew this would happen, we knew. Just accept it, please, please, look at me!” screamed as his breath faltered. Her punishment was this, to sit there, trapped in this godforsaken chamber beneath the city of the dead, and watch him die. Anubis’s messengers came for him, guiding his soul to whatever waited beyond. Begged them to stop, but his eyes, those sad, fading eyes, said it all. He was gone, leaving her with nothing but his soulless body.

The torch sputtered weakly as she shut her eyes, clinging to memories of better days. Death was here now, and she held his cold hand, sobbing, pleading with the Gods for mercy. Would her love for him ever fade? Regrets. Laughed bitterly through her tears. No, no regrets.

The torch died, plunging her into darkness. Alone with the dead, the weight of waiting for her own end pressed down on her. Drifted into sleep, hoping death would come quickly. Darkness. Just endless, icy blackness. Something skittered over her, a scorpion. Had the Gods finally answered, sending death as a twisted kindness? Her body jerked once, then stillness and darkness remained. Darkness.

Chapter one

Luna

The rain pounded against the window as lightning flashed through the woods, and the lights went out. Luna let out a scream. Mimi hurried to get the candles while reassuring her, “I’m here, sweet girl, I’m coming. Look, here is some light,” picking her up. “Your parents will be home soon; the rain has slowed the traffic.”

At the age of five, Luna rarely spoke, often mumbling incomprehensible words. She clung to her babysitter’s neck. Mimi heard a door creak open but saw no one. Luna slipped down and ran into the room. Mimi followed her, watching as the candlelight cast flickering shadows on the walls. The girl giggled, mumbling as she extended her favorite toy to an unseen presence. Mimi crouched to meet her gaze.

“Luna, who’s your friend?” assuming she had an imaginary companion, which was quite normal.

Luna took Mimi’s hand and extended it; a chill touched her palm. Mimi let out a startled cry. She then noticed a shadow on the wall and slowly rose, gently pulling Luna out of the room. She picked her up and hurried downstairs just as the front door swung open.

“Look, your parents are home. Let us go greet them.”

“Hello, Ms. Tanner, Mr. Tanner,” Mimi said with a forced smile. “She just got scared when the lights went out.” She chose not to mention the strange events, fearing they would think she was imagining things.

Ava scooped up her daughter. “My little muffin, I’m home,” hugging the girl as she walked into the kitchen to gather more candles from the cabinet. James paid Mimi and then joined them in the kitchen.

Luna sat on the counter, swaying gently until she spotted her dad. Her hands reached out, silently asking to be held. James scooped her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Tomorrow can’t come soon enough,” “We have got to figure out how to help her.”

Ava exhaled heavily, tears welling up. “I’m just as frustrated as you are, but we’ll keep trying. We’ll see every doctor we need to until she gets better.”

James carried Luna upstairs, Ava trailing behind. They changed into pajamas, and James kissed Luna’s forehead. “Love you, little bug,” he whispered. Luna gave a small smile.

Ava lay down beside her, gently stroking her hair as she told a story. Luna drifted off to sleep as the rain hammered against the windows, the wind whipping tree branches into a rhythmic tapping against the glass, almost like a knock. Ava glanced around the room at Luna’s drawings. They were strange, not monsters or typical kid stuff, just repetitive tiny drawings open rectangles, lines, verticals, horizontal. She’d been drawing the same things obsessively since she could hold a crayon. Maybe she was on the spectrum, they’d wondered, but the first doctor had brushed it off. She shut the light, only the night light was on in Luna’s room. Left the door, partially open.

Ava slipped into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and was about to climb into bed when she heard soft giggles. She walked down the hallway to see Luna staring at what seemed like empty space beside her, murmuring words that made no sense. Luna tilted her head, resting it on something unseen, and her hair shifted as if someone was gently running their fingers through it. Then the blanket moved on its own. Ava froze, her breath catching in her throat. She stepped closer, pushing the door open wider, and felt a sudden icy touch on the back of her neck. A faint whisper brushed her ear “home”, but the word was barely intelligible. Her chest tightened, panic rising as she stood there, unable to move or speak. Never spoke of this, not even to James.

Ava held Luna on her lap while James tried to coax a laugh out of her with silly faces. The door creaked open, and the doctor waved them in. “Physically, she’s fine,” the doctor said, leaning back in his chair. “But I’d recommend seeing a psychologist. Sometimes… well, there are things we can’t see.”

“Why isn’t she speaking? James asked, his voice tight. “I mean, she is speaking, but it’s just mumbling. We can’t understand her.”

“Has she experienced any trauma?” the doctor glanced between them.

“No,” Ava snapped, frustration bubbling over. “She’s just a normal kid.”

The doctor stood, scribbling something on a piece of paper and handing it to them. “This guy’s the best. Take my advice.”

As soon as they left the office, James called and booked an appointment for the following week. He took Luna from Ava’s arms and smiled at her “Hey, kiddo, want to hit the park?”

Luna’s eyes lit up, and she grinned, her arms tightening around his neck like a little koala.

At the park, they settled on a bench while Luna played in the sandbox. She was focused, dragging a stick through the sand with intense concentration. Another kid wandered over and stepped right on her creation. Without hesitation, Luna whacked him across the face with the stick. The kid wailed.

“Luna!” James scooped her up, his voice firm but calm. “We don’t hit people. Say sorry.”

Luna stared blankly at the sand, ignoring him. James followed her gaze and froze. There it was again, the same strange drawing: a large open rectangle etched into the sand. The other parent glared and walked away with their crying child.

The week dragged on like molasses, each day stretching longer than the last. Frustration simmered on both sides as they waited for the appointment. Finally, they sat outside the psychologist’s office, the minutes crawling by until an hour and a half had passed.

When they were called in, they stepped through the door, bracing themselves for whatever came next.

“Mr. and Mrs. Tanner, your daughter is absolutely delightful,” the psychologist said almost immediately, her tone warm but matter of fact.

James chuckled nervously. “Yeah, she’s something else.”

“With your permission,” the psychologist continued, “I’d like to call in a colleague of mine, she’s a speech pathologist and a professor at the University of Vancouver. I think her input could be valuable here.”

Ava glanced at James, who nodded. “Of course,”. “Go ahead.”

The psychologist made the call, and soon after, a woman in her fifties entered the room, her demeanor steady and composed.

“Hi, Ms. Klam,” the psychologist said, gesturing to the family. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Tanner, and their daughter, Luna.”

Luna glanced up briefly, then went back to her crayons, picking up a blue one first, then a yellow one, meticulously working on some kind of pattern on the paper in front of her.

“Would it be all right if I spent a few minutes with her?” Ms. Klam asked. “And would you mind if I recorded our session?”

“Absolutely,” James said without hesitation. He and Ava exchanged a quick look before stepping out of the room.

Half an hour later, they returned to find Luna visibly upset, mumbling something repeatedly under her breath. Ava scooped her up, holding her close.

Ms. Kam turned to the parents. “I’ll let you know as soon as I have more information. Thank you for coming in.”

Luna’s mumbling grew louder now, turning into a shout, the same word again. Her hands reached out as if trying to grasp something unseen. They hurried out of the building, the tension thick in the air.

“Luna, look at me,” James said gently as they reached the car. “How about we go somewhere fun? Ice cream?”

She shook her head, still mumbling softly. “Home?” he tried again. This time, she nodded.

In the car, Luna fell asleep almost instantly. Ava wiped at her tears quietly.

“Honey,” James said softly, reaching for her hand. “We’ll figure this out.”

Ava managed to make a small smile through her tears, squeezing his hand in return.

Mrs. Klam played the recording repeatedly, slowing it down each time, but the words still didn’t click. She spoke with the psychologist, and they agreed to involve the parents.

“Mr. Tanner,” Mrs. Klam began, her tone steady, “Luna’s going to need intensive speech therapy, and we might need to consider medication. We’ll all need to sit down together to figure out the best plan for her.”

“Do you think you can help her?” James asked, his voice tinged with hope but also a hint of desperation.

“Absolutely,” Mrs. Klam replied without hesitation. “It’ll be tough at first, but in a few months, we should start seeing progress. Her brain is firing off words faster than she can say them. With therapy and possibly medication, she’ll get there.”

James let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “That’s such a relief to hear. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Klam said. “Let’s schedule a meeting for next Thursday at three?”

“Perfect,” James agreed. “We’ll be there.”

Luna started speech therapy soon after, and the doctor prescribed medication to help manage her condition. One day, out of nowhere, she looked up at James and said, “Daddy.”

He froze, his hands trembling slightly as he scooped her up. “You just said ‘Daddy,’” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

From there, Luna’s progress was remarkable. She began speaking clearly, excelling in school, and Ava and James couldn’t have been prouder. The doctor warned them that the medication had to be given daily for it to work, so they started mixing it into her food without her knowing, a small secret they kept to themselves.