Chapter 190

Ava

I felt my blood run cold at the fortune teller’s words. How could she possibly know that my father was dead? Or about the True Luna prophecy?

With my heart racing, I stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over my chair in the process.

“Thank you, but I think we’re done here,” I said, my fingers trembling as I tossed a wad of cash onto the table. “Thank you again for your time.”

Chris blinked at me in surprise, but didn’t argue. The fortune teller remained silent, her large eyes staring at me knowingly—almost as if she expected me to react like this. I hurried out of the shop with Chris on my heels, and only once I had burst out into the foggy street did I finally let out the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding.

“Are you okay?” Chris asked, his hand touching my shoulder as I doubled over and drew in lungfuls of cold, damp air. “Did that really freak you out that bad?”

I took in one last breath and straightened. “It’s just… weird,” I murmured, shuddering. “How did she know about that?”

“Maybe she overheard some gossip or something. You know how rumors spread,” Chris said.

I wanted to believe him, I really did. But something about the whole situation felt off. “Maybe,” I said, not entirely convinced. “But both of my parents are gone, Chris. And nobody knows about the True Luna thing except for you, me, Leonard, and the Elders. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Look, I know it’s unsettling,” Chris said gently, “but let’s think about this rationally. Fortune tellers are good at reading people, right? Maybe she picked up on something in your demeanor or the way you carry yourself.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, feeling my clear head start to return. “You’re right.”

“How about we grab some coffee?” Chris suggested, gesturing down the foggy street. “It might help calm your nerves.”

“Good idea.”

As we started to walk away, I couldn’t help but glance back at the shop. The fortune teller’s face was practically pressed against the window of her shop, her eyes locked on me. A shiver ran down my spine, and I quickly looked away.

It’s just a gimmick, I told myself as we walked down the street. Just a gimmick…

We found a small coffee shop a few blocks away and ordered our drinks—something strong and sweet for me to ease my anxiety. As we waited, despite the cozy atmosphere of the little shop, I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that had settled over me—no matter how hard I tried to push it away.

“You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?” Chris asked, studying my face.

I sighed. “I can’t help it. It’s just... weird, you know? I mean, what are the odds of her guessing all that?”

“Pretty slim,” Chris admitted. “But not impossible. Maybe she’s just really good at her job.”

Before I could respond, the barista called out our order. As we collected our drinks, I noticed that the barista’s t-shirt had a logo for a local haunted house attraction on it, and I couldn’t contain my curiosity.

“Hey,” I said to the barista, a young woman with bright blue hair and a nose ring. “We’re new in town. What’s the deal with all the…” I pointed at her shirt. “Paranormal stuff?”

The barista’s eyes lit up. “Oh, you mean the haunting? It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

“We heard about that,” I said, exchanging a look with Chris. “What’s really going on?”

The barista glanced around, as if making sure no one else was listening, then leaned closer. “It all started about three months ago. This heavy fog rolled in out of nowhere, and it hasn’t left since.”

“That is strange,” I admitted, furrowing my brow. “But a persistent fog doesn’t necessarily mean anything supernatural.”

She shook her head. “No, but what came after does. People’s pets started vanishing without a trace. People started hearing wailing down by the cliffs. And some folks even began to claim that they would see figures tapping on their windows at night.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. “Figures?”

The barista shrugged. “Who knows? But it’s freaking people out. Tourists stopped coming, and some locals even moved away.”

“But you stayed?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, well, it’s not all bad. New shops opened up catering to the paranormal crowd. Some people are really into that stuff, you know? Myself included.” She smirked a bit.

“What about the authorities?” Chris asked. “Surely they’ve investigated these claims?”

The barista snorted. “Oh, they tried. But they couldn’t find any evidence of foul play with the missing pets. And as for the figures at the windows and the wailing... well, they chalked it up to mass hysteria.”

“Mass hysteria? That seems a bit dismissive,” Chris said. His demeanor about the whole thing surprised me again, and I blinked at him. Did he believe in ghosts? I supposed I couldn’t judge if I was still so freaked out by the fortune teller.

“Tell me about it,” the barista agreed. “But what else could they say? No one’s been able to catch the ghosts on camera or anything.” She paused then, pursing her lips a bit as she peered out the window. “If you ask me, Moonshine Manor has something to do with it. That place has… bad energy.”

I frowned, opening my mouth to speak, but then shut it again when Chris touched my wrist. More rumors, I figured; it was just a house.

With that, we thanked her for the information and found a table in the corner of the coffee shop. I wrapped my hands around my warm mug, trying to process everything we had just heard.

“What do you think?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

Chris frowned, considering. “The fog is definitely odd. And the timing…”

“What about it?” I prompted.

“Well, think about it. About three months ago is when the blight first showed up in Moonstone, right? And around the time when the infestation hit Crescent Moon.”

My eyes widened as the realization hit me. “And the moontea trouble in Moonrise. You’re right, it all lines up.”

We sat in silence for a moment, both lost in thought. The implications were unsettling, to say the least.

“But what does it mean?” I asked, more to myself than to Chris. “Why would all these things be happening at the same time?”

Chris shook his head. “I don’t know.”

I bit my lip, considering for a few moments. “It just doesn’t feel like a coincidence,” I admitted, scratching my head. “Maybe there’s some kind of natural phenomenon going on with the continent.”

Chris furrowed his brow. “You really think that?”

“I mean, it’s a possibility,” I replied. “Setting aside the moontea trouble, because that’s a bit of an outlier, the blight, the infestation, and the fog are all natural phenomena linked to the land.”

“Do you think that Crescent Moon and Moonshine also lost their artifacts, and they’re just keeping it a secret?”

“It’s… possible,” I said thoughtfully. “We should talk to Fabian about it as soon as we get the chance.”

Chris nodded, his face twisted with thought. Finally, he let out a low chuckle and shook his head.

“What?” I asked, sipping my coffee.

“Nothing. It’s just…” He shook his head again and shot me a smirk. “You called it.”

“Called what?”

Chris gestured around us. “You wanted to know what sort of trouble we’d run into in Moonshine.” He turned, peering out the window at the dense fog that was pressed up to the glass. “Well, here it is.”