Hidden Moon

by K. R. Thompson

  “Mrs. Graham,” I said weakly. “She’s married?”

  “Was married, and no she didn’t eat him,” he laughed. “This husband died of old age. She’s been married several times. When she falls in love, the man sees her how she is, in her true form, not the grouchy old woman. They say she was heartbroken over her first husband when he died, so that the next few after him, she tried to change into Spriteblood so that they wouldn’t die. It never worked and they ended up dying long, excruciating deaths. Mortified by the pain she had caused, she gave up trying and now she just lets them go when their time comes.”

  “That’s why she seems so sad,” I murmured. “I wonder why she works at the school? Seeing people grow up and get older must be hard for her to do.”

  “She loves history and books. That’s why she works in the school. And like I said, there’s something that she likes in humans. You know, you could always ask her for some books on Spriteblood the next time you’re in there. I doubt there is such a thing, but the school has an awesome library you should check out one day when you’re not out trying to scalp people, my fearless war squaw,” he smiled, and his eyes sparkled amber, as he leaned forward and kissed me.

  “Fearless war squaw,” I laughed. “I like it.”

  HE WATCHED HIM from his safe position behind the counter at Kwik Parts. He had been lucky to get this job. Real lucky. The tables were turning in his favor and things were beginning to look up. He still missed his old job, though. Everything had been great when he worked at the real estate agency. He had been able to keep everyone away from the big, rambling house at the edge of the forest. As the caretaker, he kept it barely livable and in near shambles to ward off any potential renters who could interfere with his plans. It worked until the blonde girl with her family moved in, complained about the upkeep of the place, and got him canned from his job. They threatened everything he held dear and were so close to learning his secrets. To finding the truth.

  And the truth was the only thing that truly scared him.

  As if it weren’t bad enough to be on edge every time one of them wandered into the woods, now it was even harder to keep an eye on the boy and his mother. He had taken it for granted with all those years of being so close, to be able to drive by their little house without any fear of being recognized as anyone who shouldn’t be there. Now he missed it.

  Missed them.

  It was so much harder to watch them. Sure it could be done. He could watch from the safety of the trees, but it wasn’t the same. He couldn’t just stop by and say “hello” without some reason to be out that way. There were no reasons now, not that he could admit to them. Well, not that he could admit to the boy’s mother, anyway. After all, what could he say to her? “Sorry to drop by so much, but I’m drawn to you both, and can’t seem to stay away. I feel the need to protect you from everything and everyone, and I have no idea why.” Yeah, right, like that would work. Even thinking such a thing was taking a chance. She was a deputy at the sheriff’s office, and chances like that could not be taken.

  The boy, though, he thought. He needed to be told. He owed him that much, he supposed. He watched him pick out a set of wiper blades for his old rickety truck. The boy had grown strong and sure, just in the few days since he had last seen him. His chest was wider, shoulders stronger, skin darker…yes, there wasn’t any question to what he was now. He sighed. Yes, he decided. Truth would be told to this boy. Maybe not all of it, but enough to help him. Besides, maybe he would believe him and then he could share more with him, tell him more about who he was, and maybe, just maybe, he would tell him his secret. The secret.

  The boy flopped the blades on the counter, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet, his hair falling thick and dark toward his blue eyes.

  He smiled from his perch behind the register. “Can I help you with anything else, son?”

  ELEVEN

  JENNA SAT ACROSS from me at her kitchen table, watching me with sharp eyes. “The key to blocking everyone else out is to focus. Turn all your attention inward, far into yourself, and concentrate. Now, close your eyes and take a deep breath and focus.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Ever since I had learned about my gift and about the Keepers, my mind had been running a mile a minute with thoughts, most of them not my own. Everything from school, to girls, to football games ran amuck in my brain. Anything and everything which occupied a guy’s teenage mind. It was like hearing a television that someone was changing the channel on. No sooner than one thought would bounce in my brain, another crowded right behind it. It was enough to make one dizzy. I couldn’t concentrate on anything else around me and had been getting strange looks from people at school, from teachers and students alike. I thought I was doing ok, until Brian started avoiding me and found strange excuses to stay away. He suggested that I start taking myself to school and always gave me some vague excuse about having to leave early for some reason or the other. It felt as if someone had punched me right in the stomach. It left me to wonder what on earth I was to do. What can you do when even your best friend won’t have anything to do with you? Brian was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

  Being avoided made me feel like a freak, which was saying something.

  I never fit in before and it had never bothered me. In fact, I loved being the outsider and I thrived in my individuality. Funny, now that I had this so-called gift and all I wanted was not to be noticed. I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide from everyone. The Keepers started acting different around me. More than once I had caught their faces flush after I had heard something that they had never meant for me to know. I had noticed the averted eyes, as they stared at anything to keep their minds occupied, which only made them think more. Ant the more they thought, the busier and more crowded my brain got.

  I was going insane.

  Adam had found me on the verge of tears, sitting on the bleachers, as far as I could get from them, which hadn’t helped. He didn’t say anything, but sat down beside me. Adam gathered me up close to him and patted my back when my tears spilled over, soaking through his shirt.

  He thought about a waterfall, while he sat and rocked me as if I were a baby. I felt cool, little water droplets against my skin, and saw the lush green ferns and grass around the pool at the bottom of the fall. I wondered if it was just a figment of his imagination, or if it existed somewhere. I felt relaxed, and sat up, sniffling. I wiped my eyes and smiled at him. I wasn’t certain that I was feeling him being relaxed or if it was my own sensation of calmness.

  The voices were back again and were rioting through my head as soon as I got up from the bleachers. After school, Adam came to my house He had come to take me to get help. Even in the forest, their thoughts jumbled and swirled in my mind the whole way to the reservation.

  “Focus, Nikki, think of something that would act as a barrier in your mind,” Jenna urged again, reaching over to clasp my hands. I relaxed and took another deep breath as I willed my mind to concentrate on nothing. I focused on the blackness. Deep, dark walls of nothingness. I stretched it into every corner of my mind and pushed out everyone else, leaving myself alone behind my walls.

  Everything quieted to a dull, jumbled whisper, and then went silent. I was more alone than I had been in months. I was ecstatic.

  “Good job,” Jenna’s voice brought me back and I opened my eyes and grinned at her. She grinned back, a flash of neat, white, even teeth against her bronze skin. “Now, the next trick is to hear only what you want to hear, and who you want to hear. Are you ready to give it a try?”

  I nodded. “Sure, I’ll try. Just tell me what to do. Do I have to take my walls back down to hear them again?”

  “No, not exactly. Don’t think of it as taking your walls down. Concentrate on one person, as if you’re just letting them in, and no one else. If the others try to come back in, focus back on your walls again and push them all out.”

  “Okay.” I nodded again and closed my eyes. I concentrate
d on Adam, letting him seep through the darkness. Other voices muttered, and I stretched my black walls back up higher. They hushed back to a whisper, then left. I concentrated on Adam again, and heard his deep, sultry voice as if he had been standing next to me.

  I’m worried about her. I wish Erik would either go apologize to Penny or shut up. He’s getting on my nerves. If he’d just say he was sorry, then everything would be fine. I’m worried about Nikki.

  I opened my eyes again, and grinned my big jack-o-lantern smile—all teeth. “It worked. I heard him. Adam’s worried about me and Erik is getting on his nerves. He and Penny must be fighting.”

  “That sounds about right. Penny can handle anything, but my son can be very trying at times. He gets it from his father. It’s hard to tell what the problem is. Erik’s mouth opens before his brain kicks in. That’s what gets him in trouble. They’ll work it out, they always do,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone, and then turned back to the subject at hand. “Now, Nikki, sometimes your walls won’t work. Sometimes they’ll project their emotions. They’ll come busting through your walls and there won’t be anything you can do about it. Don’t fight it. Focus in on that person and nothing else. It may give you some kind of control.”

  All five of the guys were on the porch waiting for us when we came out. Several pairs of wary eyes watched me as I crossed over to Adam. Reaching his side, I turned and stared back at them.

  “What?” I asked, nonchalant, as I laced my fingers through Adam’s.

  The cousins turned to look at each other, while Erik gaped at me openmouthed as if I had just accomplished some strange feat of magic. Ed watched me with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with them,” I turned to look at Adam and tried not to smile. “Maybe they’re getting sick or something. I can’t hear a thing.”

  Whoops of laughter circled around as Michael and Tommy doubled over at my look of innocence. Erik gave his usual grin, then threw his arm around my shoulder and gave me a quick squeeze.

  “I’m glad you got it fixed, Nikki, you were starting to worry all of us. Some things are better left unsaid, unheard, whatever,” he joked.

  I gave him an evil smile. “You’d better go apologize to Penny.”

  “Um, yeah,” he said as he dropped his arm from my shoulder and shoved his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “Actually, I need to go see her. I’ll catch you guys later.” He sauntered off in the direction of Penny’s house, which for some unseen reason made the cousins roll around on the ground and laugh even harder.

  Ed smirked at his friend’s retreating back. “One day he’ll learn that he has a brain and then maybe he’ll learn how to use it.”

  “Doubtful,” Adam grinned, then looked over at me and something changed in his eyes. “Come on, Nikki. I’ll walk you home.” We said our goodbyes to Jenna and the boys, and then he took my hand and led me towards the woods.

  “I’m glad you’re okay now, I was worried.” he said as we made our way through the forest.

  “I’m glad, too. Thanks for taking me to Jenna.” I smiled my thanks at the broad, muscled shoulders in front of me that led the way. His hair was caught at the nape of his neck and swayed in a silky rope that swayed back and forth between his shoulder blades with each step he took. I had the urge to reach out and run my hands through it. I had started to reach out, when he turned to face me.

  His eyes flashed gold. “You have nothing to thank me for. It is us who should thank you or apologize to you, or, or something,” he shrugged in agitation. “We’re the reason this happened to you and, well, just don’t thank me, please.” He blew out a loud breath and scrubbed his face with his palms in exasperation.

  “Okay.” I wondered what I was supposed to say. I decided to just stand there feeling like a moron. I shifted from one foot to the other and clasped my hands tightly behind my back.

  He took a step closer and leaned his head down so that his forehead touched mine. “We hurt you, and I couldn’t stop it. I can’t stand to see you cry.” His eyes blazed down into mine as his palms rubbed up and down my arms so lightly it was as if he thought I would break.

  “Adam,” I whispered as I felt his warm breath against my skin.

  His hands came up to either side of my face and his head bent down that extra inch to kiss me so quick I didn’t have a chance to finish what I was going to say. I couldn’t even finish what I was going to think. My hands came out to rest on his arms, and I could feel the tension that seemed to radiate off him. As gentle as he was touching me with his hands and his kiss, the rest of his body seemed ready to snap.

  Shaken back into reality again, I broke the kiss and leaned my head back just a little to look in his eyes. “Adam?”

  “Forgive me,” his voice came out low, and choked as he stared down, not meeting my eyes. “I couldn’t keep us from hurting you. We made you cry, Nikki, and I’ve never wanted to do that, ever. I should have taken you to Jenna sooner. Please forgive me.” His voice was still low, but he raised his amber eyes to look at me through his thick, dark lashes.

  “Oh, it’s okay. You didn’t make me cry, I was just, frustrated, I guess is the word I’m looking for. But you did take me to Jenna, and I’m okay now,” I reassured him and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. I gave myself a mental kick in the butt. A gorgeous guy stands in front of you and begs your forgiveness because you cried and that’s the best you can come up with? A pat on the shoulder? I wondered what Adam would do if I threw myself at him and swooned in his arms like Scarlett O’Hara.

  “You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked again.

  I nodded a little too quickly, my blonde curls bobbing in rhythm with my head. Exit Scarlett, enter Bobble-Head Nikki. “I guess we’d better start heading to the house. I didn’t leave Mom a note.”

  “Right,” Adam watched me for a moment, then nodded, straightened and turned to start walking again.

  So much for romance. Maybe next time. I stifled a sigh. I decided that I was going to practice swooning on the bed. It might come in handy later on. We walked in silence for a few more minutes, Adam treaded as stealthy as a ghost, and I followed behind him like a thrashing machine, tripping over roots and vines that seemed to grow wherever I put my feet. I kept a few feet behind him and wondered what was the most romantic way to suggest that I would like to be carried. I smiled at the thought of Adam holding me tight to him like he would never let me go as we walked through the green, beautiful forest, as if we had all the time in the world.

  Well, nice thought, but what I wanted was a piggyback ride on his wolf.

  I gave up the notion of how to ask politely. I was just going to say I needed to get home soon. That would work. I opened my mouth to make my request and got a rather unpleasant surprise instead.

  Where there hadn’t been a limb two seconds before, one appeared and swung into place just in time to slap me across the face. It left my whole face stinging.

  “Okay, that was not there,” I complained, wiping at my watering eyes.

  Adam turned around so quick he was just a blur. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, but I swear it seems like everything moves for you, and just snaps back into place just as I follow behind you. It’s like that tree didn’t like me. It did move, didn’t it? Or am I just imagining things?” I stayed motionless watching the offending limb.

  He opened his mouth and started to speak, then turned his head as if listening. Then he smiled.

  “Come here,” he whispered, taking my hand and pulling me to his side. “Now look at that tree over there, with the fallen log next to it. Do you see that?”

  “No. What am I supposed to see?” I squinted at what looked like an ordinary tree and a rotting one lying beside it.

  “Concentrate and keep looking. Focus on it, but be still. Don’t speak,” he urged.

  I shrugged and turned to look back at the fallen log. I resisted the urge to just walk over to it and see what the big deal was, instead I just sta
red at it, waiting for whatever it was I was supposed to see to jump out at me.

  It looked like any other tree that we had walked past, long limbs and branches splayed out from the log, reaching like long arms, the leaves long since dead. My eyes roamed up to where it seemed to meet up with the other tree. There was a big dark shadow where the two trees met. I focused on it, thinking it an odd place to be so darkened, even with the canopy of the other trees.

  Something moved in it, just the slightest bit, and my heart sped up. It felt as if it were about to beat out of my chest as I stared at the big shadow. It moved more now, and at first I thought it was one of the guys in wolf form, out to scare us, but it stood on its back legs. Long arms dangled by its sides, as it stared back at us with small, beady eyes. It looked human. I gulped, looking at the biggest, hairiest thing I had ever seen and the good Lord knew I had seen lots of big hairy things as of late. It had to be eight feet tall if it was an inch.

  I remembered watching an episode of Unexplained Mysteries. At the time, I thought that the entire episode was kind of kooky, but kind of cool, too. It was one of those shows that made you wonder if stuff did exist that you didn’t know about. I thought it should have been on the Sci-Fi channel. If I had remembered it right, the title of the episode was Myths and Legends. At the time I had wondered who the tall guy was that they got to wear the hairy suit and if he was wearing stilts. I thought now that their re-creation wasn’t off by much at all. The guy in the car had seen one of these things walk across the road in front of him. He had explained what it looked like well. He claimed it only took three huge steps to get across the entire road. I looked down at the thing’s long, hairy legs and humongous feet.

  Yep, it wouldn’t take many steps at all.

  “Bigfoot,” I said weakly, gripping Adam’s hand. I wondered what the odds were that I would be holding the hand of a werewolf while I stared at Bigfoot. They had to be slim if nonexistent. Still, here I was doing it.