MOONBOUND: THE HUMAN HEART

e arrived o

home from school, as if someone had been sitting in my room, waiting for me to leav

r a full minute b

or of old ivory. No return address. Just my n

oated up from the kitchen, carrying the fam

lled back, but

. Something shifted inside-not paper, something denser.

oke with a

he image of a crescent moon and a howling

n Academy

Ela D

nique heritage qualifies you for enrollment under the Sacred Blood Accord. Transportation

esult in automatic forfe

t your

ster Al

it thre

I lau

ght it was funny to leave notes in my locker about how much space I took up, how m

heir handwriting. This didn

e was sharper now. "The

r my pillow. Then I went downstairs and ate my mother's

the usual p

ed me under the table and I kicked him back. My mother talked about her friend's daught

be normal, Ela? When will you lose weight, find a b

swer. I nev

es, kissed my mother's chee

ope was s

issed before-a faint scent clinging to the paper. Pine trees. Snow. And some

o my nose a

is

köy, near the ferry docks. I knew the area. Old buil

y eve

three d

back under my pillo

res started

they swallowed the sky. My feet were bare, my legs pumping, my breat

steps behind me, feel

en I w

wasn't

ndow w

ise from the traffic below was unbearable. But there it was, w

n my windowsi

g amber. It was easily the size of a small horse, its shoulders level with my desk

my mouth

ng ca

head, and I swear to God, it nodded at me. Like it was ackno

n it wa

rame with its impossible size. The next, the

o the window

uiet. No cars. N

footprint. Too large for any dog. Too deep f

dow. Locked it.

out from under my pillow

esult in automatic forfe

thr

y was, or why they wanted me, or how a wolf had found my window on the f

new one

ing to f

wo days we

l ride. They didn't believe me at first-why would they? I was the quiet daughter, the ove

en a good liar wh

hange program. Very competitive

witched. "Since when a

s. You just

shut

. She hugged me too tight and whispered in my ear, "You're hiding som

. "I'm not hi

h knew tha

g came faster

oothbrush. Nothing fancy. I didn't know what to expect, bu

ty storefront wedged between a tea shop and a pharmacy, its wi

lked

sharp, dangerous way-high cheekbones, silver-streaked

he said. It wa

es

u'll change planes in Munich, then t

is the

re you've never heard of. Somewhe

logo was one I didn't recognize-a crescent moon i

tions?" s

But I only

olf at my w

but something flickered in her e

nough," she said. "Now go

o Munich was

ed not to think about the fact that I was flying to a mysterious

charter wa

nted windows, the smell of pine and snow-the same

down his cheek and hands that looked like they'd

w as the lights of Ist

am I

ady knew t

rom the kids who called me names. From the mirr

ard something I d

better than s

landed som

f tarmac that appeared out of nowhere, surroun

tcase and steppe

than Munich. It smelled of earth and pine and

the crescent moon symbol on the side. The d

other peopl

h dark skin and a silver ring through his nose. A pair of twins, red-haired

them loo

f them

e back and sat down, clutchin

from the plane and

me somewhere between the

here suddenly, sliding into the seat b

s bea

Blonde hair, almost white, falling across his forehead. Eyes the color of summ

ed jacket with silver buttons, a white shirt underneath, the

, accented in a way I couldn't place. Ge

't a qu

you know

w a lot of things, Ela Demir. I know you're from Istanbul

art s

did yo

. The same wild scent from the envelope. "-you think you're human. But you'

don't know what yo

racing my face like he was memori

nd. Didn't react. It was like they couldn't hear us, like

elling me this

ile vanished, and I saw something else unde

y, "that when everything falls apart-and it

us sl

e made of black iron, twisted into shapes that loo

moon A

ffered me his hand,

aid, his voice droppin

ed up

brushing my ear, his br

d, Ela. You should b