The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “That is something you will have to choose to find for yourself but this is not that time, now is the time to bring your lover back from where he has been imprisoned.” This knocked the wind from my sails.

  “He’s in prison?!” I almost crumpled to the floor at this point.

  “Some decisions the King makes are the decisions not yet recognised by the Gods. Thus an intervention is required and this brings me to this point. But more importantly, you to yours.” She didn’t make much sense but the whole decision part had me asking the next and possible the most important, heart breaking question of all.

  “This decision…did it have to do with me?” I asked in a voice close to cracking and fading completely away.

  “Yes.” And with that my world ended and was replaced with my own hellish prison. I cracked, I broke and I just now prayed to fade away. I had done this, I had been the cause. She said it herself, I was the reason…and that combined with her statement about the Gods not yet recognising some of his decisions, it took me back to a place in the past, one where he told me loving a mortal was against the rules.

  And Draven had fallen for a mortal.

  So all this time, when I thought the Gods had chosen me as the Electus, it was actually Draven that had chosen me. And now he was just waiting for the Gods to catch up and get the memo. But instead of that happening he had been punished, sent to Hell and now was rotting away in a prison…all because of me!

  I must at some point have passed out or something. I definitely felt like I had closed down and retreated back into the same black abyss I travelled down that very day Leivic had told me of Draven’s death. Well now it felt like that day all over again, only now with the added person to blame.

  I now had someone to hate for taking away the other heart of my soul and killing the one who brought my world into colour. Well now I was plunged into the darkness and it was the only place I deserved to be. This needed to be my prison for the way I felt, I needed to take control and more importantly take his place. There was now my new purpose, to seek revenge on the one who had taken Draven from this plane and get him out of Hell’s prison. And the only way to do this… the only way to seek justice against the person that had killed him,

  Was for that person to take his place and go to Hell, after all…

  I had killed Draven.

  Chapter 19

  Rosy Birthdays

  “Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey.” I felt the poking in my cheek before the words floated under the closed door I had shut on my mind. But no matter how strong I made those mental locks, the sound of the Oracle obliterated them with the combination of crazy words and the smell of cooked bacon!

  “Ah, see Armi, I told you crispy bacon was the key. Now she finally wakes.” I opened my eyes and winced as the bright sun shone through the windows, blinding me. My head ached like the mother of bad words and I groaned like I had drunk my way through a bottle of Jack.

  “Happy Birthday!” Pythia shouted and I felt her little feet jumping on the bed in excitement. I sat up and rubbed the crusted sleep from my eyes before trying to focus on the two faces smiling at me. Then it all hit me and knocked me backwards, as though someone had decided to see how much a body could break from a sledgehammer to the heart.

  “Oh shit!” A sweet voice said and then two tiny hands were on me shaking my head in a panicked ‘No’ action.

  “Keira, listen to me, don’t go back there! Stay with us and listen to my voice…You did nothing wrong, all that has happened, all that is happening now, is through the choices you had no say in…Stay with us!” I heard her words but it felt like I was listening to them as I fell backwards from a plane’s open door. The air rushed around me and I felt weightless, not like I was falling at all. Only then I felt a mighty slap and my head whipped to the side before plunging me back on that plane.

  My eyes snapped open and I saw the face of an Angel child with the biggest brown eyes, stunning smooth skin the colour of melting chocolate and a mass of corkscrew curls that stuck out from the cutest little girl I ever saw…But man, did that kid pack a punch!

  “Oww!” I said rubbing the stinging sensation that heated my left cheek.

  “Yeah, sorry about that, but snap out of it would ya! Now get your ass out of bed, eat your bacon and eggs and then shower your birthday suit, we have work to do!” She said with her arms folded the whole time, while sat on my lower stomach. I frowned at her before a mischievous side of me showed in the form of a sneaky grin. Then before she could act I shoved my feet into the bed for leverage before flinging her little frame into the air and onto the bed beside me, thanks to firing my hips upwards.

  I fell backwards and we were both now lay next to each other, staring up at the elaborate ceiling and I could hear Armi laughing sweetly from the chair close by.

  “Does this make us even?” She asked me and after a deep sigh I nodded my answer.

  “Good, ‘cause you smell and like…really need a shower, Birthday girl.”

  After an amazing shower, one that seemed to blast open every pore on my body, I felt a miniscule better. After yesterday’s bombshell exploded, I passed out and spent the rest of the night in a war, mind against body. Pythia had said it was lucky she had been here to ‘keep my soul safe’, whatever that meant. The point was that my body refused to let go, while my mind seemed to have gone on lock down. And even now I couldn’t let myself think about Draven. It was just too painful. Which brought me back to what I was doing now, which was unbelievable.

  “Aren’t you going to blow them out?” Pythia said looking over the huge three tiered cake that looked too much like it should be cut by a bride and groom. I shut down the urge to moan as this was the very last thing I wanted to be doing. I didn’t give two dog turds that it was my birthday, as any happiness was not likely to be found on this day. If I was honest, it was one of the days I had been dreading since Draven…well since Draven left. I raised my hand to touch the necklace he had given me at Christmas and that’s when it started to hit me.

  So with that thought, even though I knew it was too painful, I decided to torture myself. I remembered that day so well and it made everything hurt even thinking back to it. It was Valentine’s Day and I woke to the feel of something tickling my skin. I think I must have grunted or something even less sexy, as it was the sound of a deep laugh that had me waking up fully. I opened my eyes to see Draven propped up on his side looking down at me with amused eyes.

  “It’s nice to know at least one of us is a morning person.” I said in a croaky sleepy voice. He laughed again and it sent shivers through me as he shook next to me. Seeing Draven this way always caused my body to react, as Draven naked was a sinful sight for anyone with a pulse.

  “Then let me give you a reason to be a morning person.” He hummed seductively in my ear causing heat to flare in my belly and spread out to other places. He kissed me there before pulling back and giving me a wicked grin that spoke volumes at what his intentions were this fine morning. I cleared my throat and his smile widened as my cheeks blushed for him.

  “What’s that?” I asked referring to the one hand he kept hidden behind his back, an action that caused his biceps to bulge. I almost said sod what’s behind his back and grab him by his powerful arms to pull him closer to me. But then, with a wink and bad boy smirk, he produced a perfect dark red rose that had opened fully. I smiled at the sight of a purple ribbon that wound all the way up the stem and tied into a simple knot under the head.

  “Happy Valentine’s,” he said softly and then ran the petals just as softly along my bare arm. I soon recognised it as being the same feeling that tickled me from sleep. He had obviously been having fun with it before I woke.

  “It’s beautiful… and thornless I see.” I added with a cheeky smile.

  “As it should be, you really think that I would allow something sharp near that heavenly skin of yours, no matter how beautiful it appears. Sometimes beauty can hold the most deadliest of stings, Keira.” He said se
riously and I nodded silently. Just looking at the man himself proved that statement true enough. Here in his bed, looking like a living God and even gracing me with an easy going smile, I still knew what the supernatural power underneath could do. But I would never have told him that, nor would it have ever been a danger to me. If anything, the very thought of the power he held had me wanting to claw it to the surface like a cat and scream for him and it to take me as one.

  “Well, I am lucky then I have you to protect me from this mighty enemy, you are after all my hero.” I said in an over dramatic girly voice and then flung the back of my hand to my forehead making him burst out laughing.

  “Your acting skills are adorably dreadful Keira, but if you wanted me to ravish you then you only need ask, my dear one.” He said before discarding the rose and taking me into his arms. There we made love until both our releases were spent, calling out each other’s name in rapture. Mine was screamed against the skin by his neck and his, with his body bowed and head thrown to the Gods above. The hands that had kept me gripped tightly to the bed unshackled my wrists and slid down my arms as we floated down from our addictive high.

  “Y…you know…I think…you finally did it,” I said still panting into his delicious skin. He cradled the back of my head to keep me there, obviously not wanting to break our closeness.

  “What’s that, my love?” He asked as he shifted enough to keep his bulky weight from crushing me.

  “I think I finally became a morning person.” I said and then felt the vibrations of deep laugher radiate across my body which was securely held under him. The laughter continued and he could feel my massive grin against his neck before it turned into little kisses I peppered up his jaw. Soon his laughing turned to a lustful groan.

  He turned us both quickly, causing a ‘whoosh’ sound to escape my mouth, as I was now looking down at his amused face. We were still firmly connected and I felt him strengthen inside me as I shifted, extracting another moan from us both.

  I planted my palms on his chest and leaned down to lick the seam of his lips before pulling back quickly, avoiding the kiss he wanted to take deeper.

  “Uh oh, not yet, not until I have had my Valentine’s fun.” I said leaning across to pick up the rose, that thanks to our activities had now lost a few petals. I picked those up as well and shattered them on his chest, marvelling at the contrast of colours. It looked like little pools of blood dripped on honey and as ever morbid that thought was, it was still startlingly beautiful to behold.

  “I have never seen a red rose so deep in colour,” I said reaching out to trace a line around each petal, causing him to close his eyes at one point.

  “I picked the rose not just for its beauty but also for its meaning, Keira.” He said still keeping his eyes closed. My hand stilled and I stopped tormenting him. I leaned down close to his face and whispered above his lips,

  “Tell me.” He took a deep breath and I smiled to myself at the little shudder I just caused him.

  “Dark red roses represent unconscious beauty. They symbolise the deepest and boldest expressions of love, Keira and most of all, they leave nothing unsaid. One speaks of desire, but more than one speaks of a person’s commitment to not just that desire, but to the united love that means that desire will never falter. This is the level of my commitment to you, Keira.” He said opening his eyes suddenly and then the curtains around his bed opened fully on their own. They let through the rest of the day’s light in and soon the room was almost glowing red from the sea of deep red roses that graced every surface of the room.

  “Oh…my.” I whispered as I took in the room that had been transformed into a dreamlike rose garden.

  “I love you, Keira.” He said sitting up and holding me to him with his arms up my back. His hands entwined in my hair as he gently pulled my face round to look at him. My expression was dumbfounded. He laughed and then took the lip that was hanging open in shock into his mouth to suck on.

  “Do you like it?” He asked after he played with my lip, letting it fall back into place. I nodded my head like a dog on a dashboard.

  “Words, Keira.” He ordered softly, like he had a million times before.

  “I don’t know if there are any words Draven, other than, I love it! Thank you.” I said blushing when I saw the purple flash in his eyes that drank me in.

  “You’re very welcome, my love.”

  “I wish now I had bought you something different.” I said thinking how embarrassed I was going be when it was time to give him his gift.

  “Oh Keira, don’t you know by now, my gift is the reaction I receive when your eyes take in anything I do, that is the best gift in touching my heart and with that in mind, I can’t wait until your birthday.” Now I was the one smirking at him.

  “My Birthday? Draven that isn’t for months.” I said still getting excited about the thought.

  “That may be true but the idea that I have will need about that much time in planning.” He tried to keep his mouth straight but one light smack from me saying, ‘Oi, that’s not fair’ had him breaking out into a full blown grin.

  “So, what did you get me?” He asked emphasizing his excitement with a hug and a little shake to my body that still sat snugly on top of him.

  “Candy nipple tassels, do you want to wear them now or save them for later?” I said and now I was the one laughing at the sight of his face dropping.

  “Right, that’s it! Now you’re in trouble, little Miss!” He said lifting his hips slightly so he could slap my bottom.

  “Hey!” I shouted playfully but he just flipped me again, until I was lay under him, caged in his straight arms holding himself above me. Once there he started tickling me into a snorting mess but soon the actions has us transformed from giggling idiots into moaning each other’s names once again.

  The glorious morning ended with the only words that truly mattered being heard from my well used lips…

  “I love you, Dominic!” I shouted as I came apart under my man, my love…My only heart’s owner.

  “Snap out of it!” Pythia said which brought me back to the now and a load of half melted candles.

  “Come on, just make your birthday wish already, you never know…it might come true.” She said winking at me and I had to blink a few times to halt the tears that started to form there, from falling. I stared at the cake until it blurred and I shook off the image of a room full of roses. Then I closed my eyes, letting two tears to slip down past the dam and made my wish…

  “I wish for one day to live the birthday that Draven had planned for me.”

  I took a deep breath, blew all over the cake and had to smile when not one flame flickered back at me. Pythia and Armi both clapped, cheered and handed me a knife to cut the cake.

  “Right, time for your present.” She said getting up and sifting through a rainbow coloured fluffy bag that Pip would have loved.

  “Ok, so it’s not conventional and it’s not that sparkly dagger I wanted to get you…do you remember that one Armi, wasn’t it pretty?” Pythia said to a nodding Armi.

  “Stunning.” She agreed making my chest ache with just the divine sound of one word. I wondered if she just had a trail of people weeping at her feet as she nipped out for a newspaper at the local corner shop. I had no doubt that a few words from Armi could have brought down a barracks full of SAS soldiers and Navy seals to blubbering babies, she was that heavenly.

  I looked down at the square parcel which was wrapped up in parchment that looked like Egyptian papyrus paper with red ink symbols blotted into it. It was tied with brown string that had little wooden beads at the end. I looked up to see that Pythia actually looked excited and I wondered if she had already seen my reaction and if so, why would be she even get excited?

  “Because it is the start of a new beginning, four points to an arrow leading the way to The Quarter Moon.” She said as I opened the parcel. She had heard the question in my head along with all my others ones no doubt, but this Quarter Moon business
had me more than a little confused.

  “Yes I did and trust me when I say, this will help with that.” She nodded to my lap as I pulled back the sides to reveal a smaller square of tissue paper on top of a leather bound book. I decided to open the smaller gift on top of the book first. I tore away the thin cream paper and soon was looking down at a very unusual piece of jewellery.

  It was a bracelet of thick black cord with four round stones situated at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. Each stone had silver wire wound round in such a way it looked like a Quarter Moon on one side of each smooth surface.

  “It goes this way.” Pythia said handing it to Armi, which had me raising an eyebrow. Armi came to sit next to me on the sunny coloured couch and motioned for my wrist.

  “Armi is the only one who can open it for its new owner…for now anyway…” She whispered this last part and it fell into the quickly filling category of ‘I had no clue’ part of my brain.

  “…But once the stones have connected with your inner Chakras then you will be the only one who can wear or remove it.” Pythia explained before nodding for Armi to proceed. I was just about to ask a question as to why I would need such a thing, when a bright blue light grew from Armi’s delicate fingers. Even her finger nails looked to be made from pearls as they glistened in what looked like a piece of the sky she now held in her hands.

  Suddenly the black cord snapped open from one of the stones and quicker than I could see it was clasped onto my wrist. I jumped at the feel of heated tingles that shimmied up and down my arm, paying special attention to my scars. I hadn’t bothered with gloves when getting out the shower, as I thought there was little point to it in front of a girl who knew everything that had happened in my life. The very reason I ever did in the first place was that I hated it when strangers would jump on the suicide train and ride it all the way to pity central.