December Moon (The Raven Saga) (11 page)

"Sorry, darling. I'm just glad we got to spend my last few moments together that's all," she smiled sadly.

"Last few moments? Mother you've barely left my side since you died. The only time I ever had any peace were those brief days I spent with December and her father in England."

Finally December opened her mouth to speak, "I... I don't understand," was all she could muster.

"Why I'm still here?"

December nodded.

"Remember I told you the tip of the dagger was poisonous? Genius, really. It was poisoned and cursed so that I would be doomed to walk the walk in the afterlife, no heaven for me... doomed to be stuck right here, like this, blah, blah, blah. You get the picture?"

Surprised, December nodded once more.

"I suppose now you must completely understand why your mother had to leave you in the safety of London with that awful aunt of yours. What was her name...erm?"

"Penelope," answered mother and daughter in unison.

December understood perfectly. She had been protected from the evils of the Seattle witches, vampires, werewolves and most of all from having to live with the ghost of her dead grandmother.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Panting, Lilly made it to the back door and pounded as hard as she could.
Come on Rose, answer the door,
she thought. But there was no answer. Rose wasn't home.

Turning, she tried to catch sight of what or who was following her but she could see nothing. Her eyes scanned towards the pathway that she had walked along, there was a tree to its side. A tree so large that it could easily hide anyone not wanting to be seen.

Scully, who was still by her side, continued to hiss and growl loudly. Whatever or whoever it was, it was still there and Scully was not happy about it.

Lilly thought about transforming, but figured the safest thing to do was to get in the house and call for help. She knew where Rose kept a spare front door key so she took a second to catch her breath and dashed around the side of the house until she reached the large pot containing a single sad looking hydrangea. Lifting it, she spotted the key and lifted it with shaky fingers. Whatever or whoever it was, was in no rush to get to her, as she finally unlocked the door and rushed inside, making sure Scully was safely indoors before she slammed the door and locked it behind her. With her back to the door, she slid down it and quickly took the cell phone from her pocket. Dialling the number for Carmelo, she waited for a reply.

"Lilly?" he said.

Panting, she whispered, "I'm at Rose's. Come quickly. Someone followed me. I can't see who or what it is but I'm pretty scared. The cats are pretty spooked too."

Just a few minutes later, she could hear the voices of Carmelo and her cousin. Peering out of the window next to the front door, she spotted him and Jo moving like the wind to get to her as fast as physically possible.

"You check on Lilly. I'll have a look around," said his deep voice.

Lilly carefully opened the door, relief clouding her face.

"My God, I'm so glad you're okay," said Jo as she ushered her back inside and shut the door.

"Now tell me... what happened?"

A few minutes later, Carmelo gently tapped on the door. They opened it and he walked in and looked down at her. "You okay?" he asked.

Nodding, he helped her off the floor before they walked towards the kitchen. Jo called Rose on the phone and explained what was happening.

As they sat with a hot cup of tea in their cold hands, Carmelo told Lilly that she was right, there had been somebody there. A vampire. But he had made a very hasty escape before they'd arrived. Carmelo was sure the vampire was just trying to scare her.

"But why?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that. Why the other attacks? At the moment, I don't have the answers. I wish I did. We need to find out who is responsible."

Lilly's phone rang. Looking down she saw it was Meredith.

"Lilly? Are you all right? I sensed fear, so much fear from you. I tried calling straight away but there was no signal on that damn cell."

Lilly smiled and reassured her aunt that she was fine. After Lilly had explained what had happened, Meredith told them to stay at Rose's and that the rest of the family would join them as soon as possible.

Sure enough, a short while later, the whole family arrived, Rose included. They brought with them plenty of provisions so they could all eat well that night. Once darkness had fallen, Sammy joined the gang too.

A few of the Elders had finally arrived that afternoon and had taken Frank into 'custody' back up the mountain. At least the family was safe in the knowledge that one of the new-born vampires was out of harm's way and out of reach of the innocent people of Powell River.

They all kept an eye and an ear out for any signs of the rogue vampires that evening, all concerned why he (or she) had decided to target Lilly. It was a question on all of their minds and none knew the answer.

"If whatever it was had planned to attack, then why didn't it? I walked all the way back from Ben's alone. They could've easily followed me all the way from there. Why didn't they just do it?" asked Lilly as she tucked into a slice of hot and spicy pepperoni pizza later that evening.

"If Gabriel knew you were out wandering alone when there is a predator on the loose, Lilly, he'd have your guts for garters," scolded Meredith.

Duly told off, Lilly looked around at the faces of her family members. They all held the same expression. They all knew that she could have been killed.

She felt stupid, incredibly stupid. Ben had insisted on giving her a ride home and she had turned him down. She wouldn't do it again. That much she knew for sure.

"I don't want any of you alone at any time, do you all understand?" said Carmelo, as the younger ones nodded back to him.

"And I mean you too Sammy, and you Wyatt, John? This monster could attack any one of you. If he has his sights set on this family, he might wait for anyone to be alone. Just because he didn't attack Lilly today, doesn't mean he won't do it next time. Don't give him the opportunity. In the meantime, I've called for some back up. I've got some of the region's finest witches on their way. They should be here tomorrow. They might be able to identify the perpetrator. I've also got a number of vampires coming down the mountain. With their eyes and ears, they might be able to recognise someone from the old days. I'm pretty certain this is someone that goes way back."

She hadn't a clue why she and her family were being targeted and it pained her to know that they were all in danger.

But Lilly was relieved to hear of Carmelo's plans. The more help the citizens of Powell River had, the better.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A few days had passed since December found out the truth about her Grandmother and she had still not heard back from Lilly. But, truth be told, she wasn't too concerned. She had a lot on her mind herself.

Monty revealed that he had known all along... about everything. But he had been sworn to secrecy. She forgave him though. She now knew how important keeping these secrets really was.

As she padded down the soft carpeted stairs, she heard her mother's voice. She was talking on the phone with one of her clients. Moira was an interior decorator, and a good one at that.

"Yes, Lisa, I can come round later today. I'll be there at four this afternoon if that's okay with you? Hmm? Excellent. I'll see you then. Bye." She replaced the cordless phone back on its stand in the hallway and looked up, her curls dropping in front of her eyes. Blowing them away, she smiled at her daughter.

"As much as I love being here at home with you, I guess I need to get some work done. We also need to get everything you need for school on Monday."

December rolled her eyes. It was something she had been dreading, school. The only time school had ever been enjoyable was when she was with Lilly. After she had left, it had become almost painful. The lack of friends, the occasional taunt from fellow students and the general feeling she'd got when she walked through those school gates every morning left her feeling physically sick.

The emotions clouded her face and weren't missed by her mother.

"December?" she asked, "Come and sit down and tell me all about it. Why are you dreading it so much?"

Together they walked through to the large living room and sat next to each other on the smallest of the sofas.

With December's hand in her own, Moira looked into her eyes and listened carefully as she poured her heart out. She told her mother all about her one and only true friend Lilly, and of the awful experience she'd lived through. Her parents vanishing, then her move to Canada and the truth about Vivian not being Lilly's mother at all, but a cruel kidnapper. She didn't tell her that Vivian was actually an evil witch because December had no idea herself. She explained that after she'd left, she had often been the gentle target of some of the class bullies and was so nervous about going to another school in case it all started again, like a vicious circle.

"Now, now, my angel. You forget who and what you are. If you really want people to like you for you, they will. It's as easy as that. Don't give them the opportunity to be nasty to you. If they do happen to be horrible to you, then you can simply, with the flick of your hand, make something happen - nothing bad, mind you - just a little something to make them look silly. I did it myself when I was your age."

"You were bullied?" she asked, surprised.

Her mother nodded with a cheeky smile as she fingered her hair, "with this red hair. You betcha! But it lasted mere days. After a couple of little embarrassing accidents whenever they were near me, it soon stopped," she giggled.

Returning her smile, the tension in December's shoulders visibly melted away. "You'll have to teach me, Mom. I don't know how to use this magic of ours."

Moira patted her hand, "It's already in here," she said as she placed her hand over her heart, "You just have to bring it out. It's easy. Come, while the sun's shining, let's go outside and I'll show you."

Monty was busying himself in the garden, humming away happily when they appeared with a glass of home-made lemonade for him.

He thanked them, drank it down in one long gulp and turned to admire his handiwork.

"You're doing a fine job, Monty. I'm so pleased to have you here," said Moira.

"I'm pleased as pie to be here, my dear. I haven't had this much fun in years."

"That's only because you've got me for company," said a voice out of nowhere.

Chuckling, Monty turned to watch as Ruby's familiar translucent slender frame slowly came into view. "Aye, you're probably right, love," he winked.

Moira shook her head with a laugh and left her dead mother and Monty to continue flirting as he tended to the garden.

Once out of earshot, December whispered, "I'm not sure but I do believe Ruby has a bit of a soft spot for Monty."

"You're absolutely right and by the looks of things, the feeling is mutual. It's such a shame that she's dead. They'd make a lovely couple." They both turned and watched as they continued to flirt, a fit man in his sixties and the translucent figure of a dead woman. As if it were the most natural thing in the world.

At the very bottom of the garden, before it opened up into a wild open field surrounded by thick heavy trees covered in golden brown and red leaves, there was a pretty little white pergola covered in climbing ivy. December followed her mother inside and took a seat.

"I know that you've experienced magic at least once, because you mentioned it the other day. That day in the gym. You must have really wanted it to happen. That really is all you need to know in order for the magic to occur, you know."

December thought back to that day and recalled how much she hated gym class. Detested was a better word. She must have subconsciously wished, deeply, for the water to appear everywhere and that's exactly what happened.

She also recalled the day in Battersea Park when she had tried to make bubbles appear in the Thames, but she had failed miserably. Initially there had been a voice inside her head, telling her that she needed to really want for it to happen. The voice had quietened down when she had felt the presence of a person so close to her. Thinking back she realised it must've been the fear that prevented it. And perhaps the fact that she wasn't really that interested in seeing bubbles in the water!