THE MOON CALLED ME

🌙 CHAPTER 1 — THE MOON CALLED ME

People always say the moon is beautiful.

But nobody ever talks about how scary it is.

How it just sits up there… watching.

Quiet.

Unblinking.

Like it knows every secret you’ve ever tried to bury.

I didn’t used to think about it that way.

Not until it started whispering my name.

My name is Zina.

And I’m not special.

Not in the way stories like to lie.

I don’t have a famous family.

I don’t have a best friend group that laughs in slow motion.

I don’t even have that “main character” confidence.

If anything, I’m the kind of girl people forget exists until they need something.

“Zina, come and wash plates.”

“Zina, sweep the sitting room.”

“Zina, why are you always quiet?”

Quiet.

Like being quiet is a crime.

Like my silence is something they need to fix.

That night started like every other night.

Dinner.

Noise.

My mother shouting.

My younger siblings fighting like they were being paid for it.

And me?

I just sat there.

Chewing food that tasted like nothing.

Trying not to be noticed.

Later, when everyone finally went to sleep, I did what I always did when the world became too loud.

I climbed up to the roof.

It was my favorite place.

The only place where nobody expected anything from me.

Up there, the air felt cleaner.

The stars looked closer.

And the moon…

The moon looked like it was waiting.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared at it.

For a long time.

Until the whisper came.

Soft.

Like a breath against my ear.

“Zina…”

I froze.

My whole body went cold.

I turned sharply, eyes scanning the roof.

Nothing.

Just the water tank.

The rusty antenna.

The night wind.

My heart thumped.

Maybe I imagined it.

Maybe I was tired.

Maybe—

“Come closer.”

My breath caught.

This time… it wasn’t in my head.

It was outside me.

It was real.

The moonlight spilled across the roof, brighter than it had any right to be, and formed a thin glowing line—like a path.

A path that started at my feet… and ended in the sky.

I stared at it like it was a snake.

Like if I moved too fast, it would bite me.

Every sane part of me screamed:

Go inside. Lock your door. Pretend this never happened.

But my feet moved anyway.

Because curiosity is a dangerous thing.

And I had too much of it.

I stepped onto the moonlight.

At first, nothing happened.

Then the air shifted.

The sky… cracked.

Like glass.

And suddenly the world flipped.

My stomach dropped and I screamed—

But my scream didn’t fall downward.

It flew upward.

I was falling into the sky.

Falling into the moon.

My body spun, my hair whipping my face, and the stars blurred like glitter thrown into darkness.

I reached out for anything—anything at all—

And my hands hit something cold.

Solid.

I gasped and looked down.

My feet were on the ground.

But it wasn’t my roof.

It was silver.

Smooth.

Like the surface of a mirror.

I looked up.

And I stopped breathing.

Because I wasn’t under the moon anymore.

I was standing on it.

The moon was not empty.

It was a kingdom.

A palace carved from light, towering in the distance like something from a dream. White towers stretched upward, glowing with a soft shimmer, and the air smelled like rain and electricity.

And standing in front of the palace…

Was a boy.

He wore a cloak that looked like it was made from starlight. His hair floated slightly, like gravity didn’t know what to do with him. His skin glowed faintly, and his eyes—

His eyes were silver.

Not “pretty grey.”

Silver.

Like moon dust.

Like secrets.

He stared at me like he had been waiting for me for years.

Then he spoke.

“You came.”

My throat tightened.

I couldn’t tell if I wanted to scream, cry, or faint.

So I did the only thing I could do.

I took a shaky step back and whispered:

“Who… who are you?”

The boy smiled.

But it wasn’t a normal smile.

It was the kind of smile that says:

You’re already in too deep.

“My name is Lune,” he said.

“And the moon is dying.”

I laughed.

Not because it was funny.

But because it was insane.

“That’s not possible.”

Lune didn’t smile anymore.

He stepped aside.

And behind him, carved into the moon’s surface, was something I will never forget.

A crack.

Not a normal crack.

A wound.

A deep, jagged tear in the moon, spreading like a sickness.

And inside it…

Darkness moved.

Like something alive.

I stared.

My mouth went dry.

“What is that?”

Lune’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“That’s the Shadow Hunger.”

He looked at me.

His silver eyes didn’t blink.

“And it’s coming for you.”

And that’s when I realized:

The moon didn’t bring me here to show me magic.

It brought me here…

Because I was the only one who could stop the end of the sky.

✨ END OF CHAPTER 1

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