The lake gleamed in the sunlight, like a great mirror of water, tarnished only by the gentle breeze that occasionally rippled across the glassy surface.
It was early July. One of the hottest months of the year; which I was grateful for. Finally we’d left the cold winter behind. I walked slowly, soothed by the rays of the sun. It was really pleasant to walk in the woods when it was so warm. I looked around distractedly. Tall trees traced the outline of the forest, adorned at that time of year by a special hue of green, very different from the monotonous green of the cooler months.
Erik stroked my hand; he was walking beside me, with a slight smile on his handsome face.
In short, you could describe that day as perfect, in the broadest sense of the word.
Beth, inevitably, had organized a picnic with all the senior students who wanted to join in. Everyone was there. My friend could be very persuasive if she wanted to. She was the queen of organizing get-togethers like this. The excuse was that we needed to say goodbye. We’d graduated the previous week and in a couple of months each one of us would go off to our new lives and leave our childhood behind.
In the end, I’d been accepted by the University of Victoria. Nicole could see me whenever she felt she needed me. And I had to admit that I didn’t want to be too far away from her either.
The relationship between Erik and my mother hadn’t improved. But it hadn’t gotten worse. Erik was lovely with Nicole and even though she was putting on her serious act, she’d surrendered to his charms.
I didn’t care too much about it. At the end of the day, I’d be moving to the city soon. Erik wasn’t going to carry on with his studies, he had ‘other things to do’ or at least that was the excuse he repeated over and over again like a mantra whenever I asked him about it. He never explained what those ‘other things’ were. He’d promised me we would see each other every day after college, so I stopped pestering him to come and study with me. For the moment, that was enough for me. But just for the moment.
We were deep in conversation. Erik had been asking me more about my father. I answered all his questions quite openly. I had no reason not to. At that point in our relationship, it was okay to share all my memories with him. No matter if they were happy or sad.
“You haven’t told me your father’s name.”
“His name was Carl.” He frowned slightly when he heard the name.
“And you say he was born in Germany?”
“Yes, he was,” I confirmed.
I answered everything he asked me, but it began to seem a little weird he was so interested in my father’s past. He must have read what was written on my face and he changed the subject.
“I think we’re the last to arrive,” he said, leaning close to my ear. “But no one seems to have noticed,” he added, pointing at the crowd.
I nodded and smiled in response.
The lakeside esplanade was full of people. It looked like there were students from lower grades too. I shook my head in astonishment. I was so happy Beth and I were going to the same college! Luckily for me, I wouldn’t be deprived of her little eccentricities.
“How come you’re so late? Did I say ‘slumber party at the lake’? No!” she said without giving me a chance to answer, focusing on the last word. “I said “picnic at the lake’. Well, who cares?” She waved her hand nonchalantly. “You're here now, and that's what really matters.”
“Come on dummy, that’s enough theatrics!” I said, putting an arm around her shoulders. “I bet you just got here as well.”
She gave me her offended look, but with a hint of a smile that gave her away.
“Erik, seriously, how do you put up with her?”
She turned around and walked away from us. I rolled my eyes. I’d talk to her later. We went over to our other friends.
The day went wonderfully; we laughed and relived old memories. We grumbled and groaned about our teachers, and some of our classmates as well. Erik made the occasional comment, but spent most of the time looking at me. I knew that because I was trembling constantly and every time I glanced at him, he was staring at me. There were some looks I couldn’t decipher. He seemed pained and upset about something. I was sure it wasn’t me, because when our eyes met, he had a broad smile on his face. Something was troubling him, but this wasn’t the time to ask.
Megan and Thomas were extremely excited about their respective universities. He had decided to try his luck in the east and she was going to the United States. I was happy for them, but at the same time I was saddened by the thought that it would be a long time before I saw them again, if ever
“I’m going to miss you,” I sighed.
“Me too,” Megan replied, as resigned to it as me.
“Well I won’t,” disagreed Thomas cheerfully, but his eyes shone with the odd stray tear. “I'm glad I won’t have to put up with you two anymore. I’m up to here with you, you know that?”
“Shut up or I'll kick your butt from here to kingdom come, smartass,” said Beth, throwing a piece of bread at him.
Before we knew it, we’d started a food fight. I collapsed in a heap, exhausted by chasing everybody with the remains of my corncob. Erik lay beside me smiling. All that running around had separated us a little from the others.
“You’re going to miss all this.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
“Yes, you're right.”
“If there's anything I can do to ease your pain...” he said mischievously, raising an eyebrow.
“I can think of a few interesting ‘distractions,’ I replied, following his lead.
“Oh, really?” he asked, moving closer to me. He leaned on his elbow, his mouth a few inches from mine.
I moved my head just a little and gently brushed his lips with mine.
“This, for examp...” Before I could finish my sentence, his lips sealed mine with a kiss. It was warm and provocative. My body felt feverish.
“Stella! Erik!”
Erik broke away, mumbling something incomprehensible.
“What’s going on?” I shouted irritably, sitting up a little, to see who’d broken such a magic moment.
“It’ll be dusk soon. We should be going,” said Megan loudly.
Time had flown past without me noticing. I blinked; watching the sun setting behind the mountains, painting the sky with a palette of soft colors, from pale pink to purple.
“Come on,” said Erik, helping me up.
We went back the same way we’d come until we reached the cars. Strangely, the way back always seemed shorter. We got to my house when the sun had already given way to the moon. I was amazed when I saw its bluish color.
Blue Moon.
It wasn’t something you saw very often. We’d studied it in science class. I vaguely remembered something about the density of particles that caused a change in the color of the moon. At the time it seemed quite impossible. Now it seemed fascinating, the finishing touch to an exceptional day.
A smile crossed my lips. Nothing surprised me anymore. I just admired the dark sky with its beautiful blue moon, just as beautiful and unusual as Erik. I sighed, leaning my head back, resting it on his chest, as he encircled my waist with his arms. He was watching the sky, as bewitched as I was.
“There's someone here who wants to see you,” he whispered in my ear, then kissed me.
“Really?” I asked, more than a little curious.
“Come on,” he added, taking my hand and pulling me along.
We’d gone into the house to tell my mother we’d arrived. Nicole looked at me warily when she saw I was leaving again. I pointed a finger towards the porch so she’d know where we’d be. I crossed the threshold and there, leaning casually against a tree, as only he could, was Luke.
I hadn’t seen him since we’d come back from Iceland.
“Luke!” I cried, quickening my pace.
He turned when he heard my voice and waved. Erik stopped and held me back for a moment.
“I'll be over there wa
iting for you,” he said, pointing at an old swing. ”Luke wants to talk to you alone, and I think I owe him that much.” He stroked my cheek and held my chin gently, lifting my face to look at him. “If you need me, call me.”
I stood still; Erik melted back into the darkness of my house. I ran towards Luke, with a smile spread all over my face. All the hate and disgust I’d felt for him had gone. Now, it was a deep gratitude, or affection, or... was it love? Right then I didn’t want to think about any other possibilities.
“It’s wonderful to see you.” I smiled.
Without a second thought, I kissed him on the cheek, then blushed when I realized what I’d done.
“If I'd known you were going to welcome me like that, I would’ve come to see you before,” he grinned, trying to sound funny, but his eyes were dulled and sad. I looked at him suspiciously.
“Is something wrong?”
“I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving,” he said suddenly.
His words were like a stake through my heart. A sharp pain shot through my chest and punched through to my back. It hurt more than all his irony ever would.
“Where? Why?” I whispered.
“It doesn’t matter.” He came close to me and kissed my forehead softly, his lips caressing my skin for just that little bit too long.
It felt like a part of my heart was being ripped out.
“Don’t go,” I pleaded in a faint whisper.
“You love him. I know, I accept it, but don’t ask me to go through the torture of seeing you in his arms when I need you as much as he does, or maybe more.”
“Luke...” I stammered. I didn’t know what to do or say.
Was it the right thing for him to do? Yes, it was. I loved Erik more than anything in the world. He was the one I lived for, but his arrogant redheaded twin had won a place in my heart.
“It's better this way, trust me.” He looked at me pleadingly.
I knew what that blue-green sea wanted to hear. It hurt me to see him suffer that way. I had to be honest with myself and with him. I owed it to him. I breathed deeply, fixing my eyes into his.
“You know I love you, but not like you'd want me to.”
“Yes, and that’s the worst part…” He touched my lips with his trembling fingers. “Goodbye, Stella.”
“Goodbye, Lu...” I mumbled; I was unable to pronounce his name, drowning in my own tears.
He turned away from me and got on his bike without turning to look back at me. He started the engine up and sped off. Erik was already standing in the place where Luke had been, hugging me tightly.
‘I’m going to miss you,’ I thought, knowing that he could hear me if he wanted to.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I asked, remembering the look on his face that afternoon.
“Yes, I tried to convince him but it was useless.” There was regret and sadness in his voice.
I hugged him harder, trying to fill the hole Luke had just left in my heart. Erik took my face in his hands and kissed me gently on the lips. I found myself responding to his kiss with an unmeasured passion, making his light touch on my lips more intense. I was savoring his mouth, running my hands over his back. My heart began to pound when I felt that electricity run through my skin again. Erik pulled away and looked at me with such intensity that I could hardly catch my breath, even though he wasn’t kissing me anymore.
Luke was a bright star that had just gone out, but Erik was the universe that lit up my life.
We sat for a while on the swing, watching the beautiful blue moon that illuminated the sky. Now I saw it in all its glory and I completely understood its meaning. It was the second full moon of the month, the one that had no place in the lunar calendar. It wasn’t just a color; it was a symbol, full of sadness and melancholy. I felt sad because I’d lost Luke, my second moon, but I was happy to have Erik beside me. My dreams had finally come true.
“Have we reached the part where it says ‘and they all lived happily ever after’?” I asked him, butterflies of hope fluttering in my stomach again.
“I’ll do everything I can to make it so,” he said, kissing me on the head. “But it won’t be easy.”
“I’ve never cared for easy things,” I replied with a smile.
“Never doubted it for a minute,” he agreed, squeezing me harder against his chest.
“It’s worth a try,” I smiled.
“I totally agree,” he said finally, kissing my lips again.
Of course it was worth it. We’d do anything to protect our love against all odds. Together we could make it. I looked inside the house and I saw Nicole fussing around in the kitchen absent-mindedly. One stage of my life was ending; the rest was to come.
The future lay before me like an unwritten book. There was only one thing I knew for certain. Erik, the angel I had in my arms, would be the hero of every single page.
EPILOGUE: CONVERSATION BETWEEN BROTHERS
“A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt to be dangerous.”
Alfred Adler
“Are you leaving now?” Erik asked breathlessly, hurrying into his brother’s room, while Luke was putting his few belongings in a backpack unenthusiastically.
“Yes, I am,” Luke replied, without looking at him.
“I don’t think this is the best time for you to disappear,” Erik added, taking him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at him.
“Why not? What have I got to look forward to: being the best man at your wedding?” His voice dripped with irony.
“I need your help,” Erik said, ignoring his brother's sarcasm.
“It's late. I have to go,” Luke muttered, brushing away Erik’s hand rudely.
He grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder, hitting Erik with it on his way out of the room.
“Do you remember Carl?” said Erik.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m in a hurry and I don’t feel like talking about our childhood.”
Luke turned slowly to look at him, more in annoyance than curiosity.
“Don’t you get it? Why don’t you listen to me for once in your life?”
“All right. What the hell is it now?” Luke shouted in exasperation.
“Carl, dad's partner; the one who disappeared the same day they captured dad,” Erik replied uneasily. “He’s Stella’s father!”
Luke's face changed from furious anger to utter incomprehension; Erik looked at him in desperation.
“No... it isn’t possible! That means Stella is...”
Erik nodded; Luke’s unfinished sentence hung in mid-air. Neither of them needed to finish it. They both knew what this might mean. They fell onto the couch, sunk in dejection.
Stella knew nothing about the battle that was about to be waged in her name. But they would take care of her; they would close ranks, stick together and fight against the shadows that threatened their future. All for Stella…
END
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
Dear reader,
If you enjoyed reading Double Moon free of charge and you would like to read the rest of the trilogy, you can make a donation on https://www.paypal.me/francinezapater to raise money for the translation.
Sandstorm, the second volume of the Blue Moon series is now available. I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you for reading me and forming part of this story
It would be wonderful if you could take a few minutes to leave your opinion, where you downloaded this novel.
Francine L. Zapater
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Double Moon Page 21