Hunter Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #2

by C. D. Gorri

  I glanced over my school pages app and noted a new assignment my lit teacher had given us. Cool. I am such a geek. Angela had been trying to get me to use Twitter and Facebook, NewsFlash and other sites for weeks. She took my phone the other day and set up apps for access to everything.

  She even hooked up my Wolf Moon login, avatar and game status updates, not to mention, a Urshotz account. I told her I’d never even use the dumb smartphone, then she showed me the school pages app and I was a goner.

  I headed into Nonna’s cozy little kitchen and breathed deep. Mmm. Homemade tortellini en brodo. It was cold enough for soup. I savored the familiar aroma. She always made her chicken broth in huge batches which she would label and freeze for days like this. It always had the perfect balance of flavors. Parsley, onions, carrots, celery and it was never too salty. Nonna really was the best cook around. Having my appetite increase was a pleasure for her and she spent all hours cooking things for me.

  “Maria! Sit down and have some soup, si?” She handed me a deep bowl of the steaming soup and a crust of Italian bread.

  “Thanks Nonna, I could use it.”

  “Where did you get that?” I looked at Nonna’s horrified expression and looked down to my arm and saw she was looking at a huge purple bruise. I must have gotten it while sparring with Cara.

  “It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She closed her mouth, did a quick sign of the cross, and walked to get me a napkin. I rubbed my arm where the bruise was and looked down. I hated worrying her and I really was fine. I didn’t even feel it. By the time I finished my third bowl of soup the bruise was gone.

  “You need your strength, Maria, why don’t you go rest?”

  “That’s a good idea, thanks Nonna. I’ll take the garbage outside later.”

  I walked up the stairs to my room and didn’t pause when I saw Julianna’s door open.

  “There you are!”

  Rebecca, my younger cousin, was sitting on the stairs to my room. One of my rubber ducks was in her grimy little hands. I looked up and saw my door was open. I was so not having that.

  “Were you in my room, Becca?”

  “Yeah, so what. You can’t do anything to me. My mom said. She said you’re just a little orphan with no real family and that this house and everything in it will go to my daddy someday. So that means this is mine!” She smiled triumphantly. The way a greedy little child does. One who is unaware of the vileness that spewed from her mouth.

  I had to remember that she was only a kid and listened too closely to things her mother should never say in front of her. It isn’t her fault, Grazi.

  She stood there hands on her non-existent hips flashing her eyes at me. They were blue just like her sister’s. I knew she didn’t get what she was doing. But still that was my rubber duck and she didn’t belong in my room. Ever.

  “Rebecca, I’m going to say this only once. Don’t you ever go into my room or touch my things again without asking permission. If you do, I promise you won’t like it.”

  “Why? You can’t do anything to me!” She threw my duck to the floor and stomped on it. I gritted my teeth.

  Fine. If that’s how she wanted it. I grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her off the stairs. She whimpered when I looked her in the eyes. I don’t know exactly what I did, but she started crying. All I knew was I was angry and I wanted to teach her a lesson.

  “Your eyes! Mommy! Mommy! Grazi’s eyes are glowing! She’s gonna get me!” She ran screaming to her mother’s room. I picked up my caveman duck and continued up the stairs. My eyes glowed? Huh. I’d have to ask Uncle Sean about that.

  I had to breathe deeply three times with my eyes closed before I could move. The little brat had completely trashed my room. Rubber ducks were everywhere, my books thrown about. Some ripped up.

  Oh no, please no. I ran to my bedside drawer and found my mom’s diary untouched. Thank goodness. I walked around and started cleaning my room. I wondered if I should get a lock. Nah. I doubted it was necessary. She wouldn’t be coming into my room anytime soon.

  At the dinner table Aunt Theresa spooned out dishes of her tuna noodle casserole to Uncle Vito, Rebecca and herself. Julianna was out. Nonna and I shared a small, organic, free range lamb roast with new potatoes. I finished quickly under hard stares from my aunt. She so hated me.

  “So kiddo, how’s school? No more getting dizzy at gym?”

  “No, Uncle Vito, thank you. I’m fine now. Sorry about that day.”

  “Are you kidding? As long as you’re safe. Hon, where’s Julie?”

  “You can’t expect her to want to be here, can you? Not after last week. My own daughter attacked right here and now she can’t eat in her own home.” My aunt was referring to an incident where I may have picked up my cousin by her throat, but only after she insulted and shoved me.

  I noticed Aunt Theresa had waited for Nonna to leave the room before making those comments. Coward. Before Uncle Vito could answer her I rose from the table and cleaned my place. He looked at me apologetically and I nodded my head. He had to pick his battles with his wife. Her icy glares didn’t bug me. I had other things to worry about.

  “Maria, you take the garbage to the curb, si?”

  “Yes, Nonna, I’ll go now. Is the kitchen garbage ready?” She nodded and I went about emptying the small kitchen garbage can and replacing the bag. I walked into the chilly night air from the back door and grabbed the trash can. It was yard waste night too, one of the last before the winter set in. I grabbed one of the bags of fallen and cut branches Uncle Vito must have put together earlier.

  I left them on the curb just outside of our driveway. Aunt Theresa had been complaining that we needed to have our driveway repaved, but I honestly couldn’t see the big deal. I mean it’s not like we eat off the driveway floor or anything. So what if there were cracks in the pavement? I guess it was a grown up complaint.

  As I headed back to get the second yard waste bag I smelled something weird. I looked around. There was nothing there. Nothing, but that scent. I inhaled. It was familiar. Death.

  Sweet, rotten, decay. Like the Wendigo, but without the skunky smell. An image of Ms. Vorax smiling at me during library flashed through my mind.

  I so wished there was something else I could have done that night. But there wasn’t. I’d just have to learn to live with it. I stood there, outside in the cold, lost in my thoughts.

  It was dumb. I should have been focused. In a blur of movement something came at me. It was fast and strong. I was thrown backwards. I looked at my attacker. Definitely not human. It was a biped, shorter than me, and painfully thin.

  That’s where all resemblance to a human ended. Its head was bald except for a few wisps of fur. It held its curved hands at an odd angle. And its face, ew, it was covered in some kind of mucus. The facial features were totally bat-like.

  Vampire. My Wolf snarled in my mind and I knew she wanted me to change, but I had no time. Beady little black eyes, large pointed ears, scrunched up pig-like nose, and saliva dripping fangs, the beast screeched and lunged for me again. I jumped up and out of the way.

  Okay think Grazi, what do you know about Vampires? Um, they’re supposed to sparkle and be gorgeous. Ooh, that is so not helpful.

  Okay, they need blood. This thing is so not getting mine!

  Sunlight? Nope, it’s night.

  Ooh, Vampires died when they were struck through the heart with a wooden stake! Check.

  I tried to get close to the yard waste bag where I knew I’d find something suitable. I didn’t count on the Vamp’s speed. It grabbed me with one of its three clawed hands and spun me. It sliced open my arm in the process. I could smell my blood and tried not to notice the sting of the cut. I growled and got back on my feet.

  This Vampire was fast and strong. I worried about my grandmother and my uncle and his family, but the beast seemed intent on me alone. The Vamp screeched again and picked up the full garbage can and hurled it at me. I got out of the way fast.

  My heart was
racing, the smell of my own fear assaulted my nostrils. This creature was straight out of a horror movie. Grotesque features, it smelled like death and it was hungry. I could tell by the way it smacked its lips and stared at the blood dripping from my arm.

  This time when I vaulted past its grimy hands, I used all my Wolf speed. I couldn’t let it cut me again. Good girl. My Wolf spoke to me. Suddenly, my fear dissipated.

  It’s like I remembered my Wolf and I were one. I had all her strength, her cunning, and her instincts inside of me. With that reassurance I felt a surge of power and a dose, perhaps a tad too much, of courage.

  Sure I was afraid, but greater than my fear was my desire to um, how about not die? Yeah, I’m good with that. Living beats dying any day in my book.

  I reached out with my hand. My fingers closed around a thick branch from the yard waste bag. I did not take my eyes off of the thing in front of me. It hissed and swiped. I tightened my hold on my new weapon.

  The bark was peeling off of the branch and it scratched my palm. But I didn’t pay any attention to that. It was sturdy and thick and had some weight to it. Uncle Vito must have cut it that day. The fresh wood scent clung to it.

  We had several varieties of tree lining the perimeter of our yard. He often trimmed branches in preparation for the coming winter. He did it about this time every year. Usually I helped, but I had been kind of busy. You know, training for the upcoming battle to save the world and all. No pressure.

  The branch was more than three feet long and had a nice, sharp slanted tip. It was heavy too. Lucky for me I’m a Werewolf and very strong. I held the branch like a baseball player and waited for the Vampire to attack. Batter up!

  “Come on, ugly. Come and get me.” Sometimes I had to talk to prepare myself for what I was about to do. Like now.

  “Eeeee.” Its high pitched cry was animal-like. Nothing left of the human it had once been. I didn’t know all that much about real Vampires. Something to ask Uncle Sean. But this thing was far from the image in my mind.

  The Vampire stretched its bent arms revealing a thin membrane between its wrist and armpit, like a bat’s wing. I could see thin veins through the almost translucent skin. I shuddered. It opened its mouth revealing viciously long, needle-like fangs. I cringed for a moment, but then I remembered. I have fangs too.

  It advanced and I lunged forward, leaning heavily on my right leg. I drove the branch right through its heart, pointy end first. The Vampire stopped moving immediately. Black eyes turned gray and went vacant. It hissed out an unintelligible noise.

  I had never even seen a Vampire before so I guess I could forgive my own stupidity for what I did next. I bent over to look at the creature’s corpse. As I leaned in a popping sound occurred. It was almost like a firecracker. A scattered boom, pop, boom.

  I should have backed up then. There was nothing normal about that sound. Nothing normal about my whole life come to think of it. Anyway the explosion that followed threw me backwards about eight feet. I landed hard on my butt in the cold grass. I could smell the burnt ends of my own hair. Great.

  The Vampire had spontaneously combusted. All that was left was some ash and a blackened patch of lawn. It wasn’t long before I heard a commotion from next door. I knew who it was so I ignored it and tried to straighten my clothing. I looked at my legs, there was Vampire stuff on my pants. Ugh.

  “Maria! Are you alright? What happened?” Ronan swung me around and looked me over from head to toe. His eyes met mine for an instant before he continued his scrutiny.

  “I’m fine.” I was embarrassed to have been caught on the ground. Idiot.

  “Like hell you are! You’re bleeding!” He pulled me closer and lifted the arm of my shirt. I had a five inch long gash. It was pretty deep. The Vampire had cut through skin and layers of muscle. Blood was still dripping heavily. It stung. As Ronan poked around more blood seeped from my wound and I grimaced. He ripped my sleeve off my shirt and wrapped it around my arm as Uncle Sean and Cara came running over.

  “She alright?”

  “Aye, she’s got a wound. I’ll clean it up for her.”

  “Sean, she killed a Vamp. Alone! Total ash now, must have been a Hunter.” Cara spat the word, but I could hear the shock in her voice beneath it. She probably thought I should be dead. I knew how very little I measured up in her eyes anyway.

  “Aye, we’ll talk about it later. Let’s clean this up.” Cara set about bringing the yard waste and garbage cans to the sidewalk and Uncle Sean stood over the scorch mark and repeated the same ritual I had heard him perform once before.

  “In nomine patris…caelitus mihi vires…purgo…” A soft, ethereal light glowed from his hand and the scorch mark and all evidence of my fight with the Vampire were erased. He bowed to the patch of Earth and raised his eyes upward, towards Heaven I guess. I realized then that he was saying thank you.

  Yeah, thanks for letting the Vamp attack me in front of my own house! Oh boy, I hope that was the pain and shock talking. I sounded like such a brat, even to myself.

  Ronan led me to the Kelly house. He marched me straight towards the guest bathroom. Dimitri was in the kitchen and dropped a large wooden spoon when we walked in. It smelled heavenly and my stomach rumbled. I could eat so much more now than before. I have to admit it was one of my favorite perks about being a Werewolf.

  “Printzyessa! How did this happen?” The giant Russian bodyguard seemed more nursemaid when he spoke like that. Still I was fond of him and his brother.

  “Vampire. She’s hurt. Make her a bowl of stew, Dimi. She’ll need the protein.”

  “Da.”

  Once inside the bathroom Ronan tore off the makeshift bandage and proceeded to clean out the wound. At first he used soap and water. He stood between my legs and had my arm bent wound side up over the sink. He watched me intently as he cleaned it. I gritted my teeth and took the pain. It wasn’t until he took out a glass bottle with a large gold cross etched into the outside and opened it carefully that I got apprehensive. He looked at me, undecided for a minute, then lifted the bottle with resolve.

  “This is going to hurt.” He did not lie. He poured the contents over my wound generously. It hissed and steamed and I yowled in pain. Ronan kept on despite my struggle to sit still. I grabbed onto his leg with my other hand and buried my head into his stomach, my eyes closed tightly.

  He murmured prayer after prayer in English and Latin. When he was finished he opened his green eyes. They were glowing. I could see his Wolf shining through and he was angry and concerned. Tears rolled down my face as I looked up at him. He wiped them away, bent his head and touched his forehead with mine. It seemed to soothe both my pain and his agitation. He breathed deeply.

  “I’m sorry I have to hurt you, Maria. I’ve got to purify the wound. So, it doesn’t fester and the Demon doesn’t infect you.” I grunted in response. With my eyes closed, I saw my Wolf taking the brunt of the pain. I thanked her mentally then opened them again. Ronan’s eyes were turned down. Werewolf etiquette again.

  “I’m helping. I promise.” He was talking to her, my Wolf. I realized she was showing through my eyes also. When he was finished cleaning it out he lifted his head from mine. I felt cold without him, but I sat silent as he took out fresh cotton gauze and wrapped my arm carefully.

  “This’ll take longer to heal because it is a blood wound. Had the Vampire just bruised you it would be different. You’d heal much quicker, but this, well, it’s not so easy. There that should do it.” He pressed the tape firmly and made sure it would hold.

  “Um, sorry about your shirt.” He fingered the ripped sleeve gently. I was always amazed by the gentleness within him. I mean, hello, Werewolf here.

  He was this giant, you know, tall and muscular and capable of such physical force, yet he touched my poor broken shirt as if it were precious. As if I were precious to him. I had to stop myself from thinking these things. It was silly of me. We were just friends. Right?

  “My shirt? Forget it, I think you s
aved my arm so I’ll call it even.”

  “Right. There might be, a marking when it heals. Like a scar or something-”

  “A scar? Well, that’s alright. My arm wasn’t much to look at to begin with.”

  “I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

  I was curious by that remark. Did he mean it was something to look at? My arm, that is. He was making circles on the bandage gently with his forefinger when I was just about to ask him to clarify what he said. But we were interrupted, thank you very much, by Uncle Sean. He opened the bathroom door and Ronan started putting away the bandages and other stuff.

  “Grazi, are you alright?”

  “Yeah. Ronan fixed me up. I’m fine.” I wiped my face with a tissue and stood up. I couldn’t help but brush past Ronan in the tiny bathroom. I shivered all over.

  “Come into the study, we’ve got some things to discuss. You too Ronan.”

  We both followed him into the study. Ronan stepped back and let me go first. Dimitri, Sascha, and Cara were already there. A bowl of stew sat on a tray for me and I sat down and took a few bites. It was delicious.

  The beef was so tender it shredded with hardly a tap from my fork. Chunks of carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and celery swam in a thick gravy that tasted like nothing I ever had. I could make out salt, garlic, cayenne pepper, red wine, fresh herbs and a touch of cinnamon. It was really, really good. I finished quickly.

  The other Wolves were spread out among the room. They were arguing. Well, Cara was arguing, the rest were more monotone. I was kind of sad my bowl was empty. I sat there with the spoon in my mouth and watched.

  “If Vampires are coming into the territory then it’s not good. We have to alert the local packs. They’ve a right to know.”

  “They’re not Hounds. It’s not our place!” Cara got into Dimitri’s face and he looked down, deferring to her dominance, but still he managed to answer her.

  “That’s bull and you know it, Cara. Vampires are no good for anyone.”