The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Something funny, you disgusting Bitch?” Eh…kettle….black much!

  “I was just thinking, you know if you swallowed a meatball you would look pregnant.” I laughed harder at his thunderous face and didn’t even flinch this time when he threw water at me… After all, I needed the wash!

  The only thing I was lucky for, was that he thought I must have some supernatural mojo at work in helping me not starve to death, as he not once suspected Percy was the cause. This rather made him ‘supernaturally thick’ or it was just so unbelievable what my friend would do for me that it wasn’t conceivable enough to consider. I liked to think a mixture of the both.

  “Soon you won’t have the strength to laugh!” I had heard this last comeback for a few days now and it was more annoyingly repetitive than threatening.

  “Yeah, so you’ve said…again and again… Say, do you know when that’s gonna happen? Do you? ‘Cause you make me want to rip my ears off and choke you with them every time I hear that line.” Yep and there was his trademark blotchy face…score million to Keira and a big fat zero for Mr Puniverse...!

  Oooh, that was a good one and was so getting used tomorrow!

  “You know, I was going to wait until later to do this, but I think any time to watch you cry is as good as any.” I frowned at this new change of events, normally he just stormed out looking ready to implode.

  “Pass me the bag you scarred little turd.” Don’t flinch, don’t flinch, I said over and over hoping this wasn’t one of those days that he hit him. Instead I slowly released a held breath when I saw him take something from Percy’s out-stretched hand, only to suck it back in again when I saw what it was.

  “That doesn’t belong to you.” I said in a voice that I didn’t recognise belonging to me. It was one that didn’t threaten violence but more like promised it.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. See, my master said I could just burn it if I chose, but I don’t think he realised what it was you had hidden inside.” He said in that snotty nasally voice that grated against my skin. He held my bag that was now torn on one side of the strap, like it had just been yanked from me.

  “You will be sorry.” I warned as he reached inside and pulled out the Ouroboros blood bound book.

  “Oh I don’t think so, let’s just take a peek and see what secrets I can report back to my master, shall we?” I felt the tingling in my fingertips and thought this might be one of those times my anger could transform into a useful weapon.

  Then I calmed slightly when I realised I didn’t need to panic about anything, which was proven when I heard his high pitched yell of pain. He had tried to open the book, only the snake on the front had lashed out and bitten him. He clutched his pale hand to his chest and I saw the black venom from the bite start to travel along his veins.

  “I did warn you.” I said not even bothering to cover sounding smug as I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Shut up, Bitch! Percy, hand me that torch!” He snapped and that was when I lost all my cool demeanour.

  “NO!” I shouted at him, coming to the bars to get closer in hopeful aid to stop what I knew he was about to do. He kept his beady eyes to me and smirked as he took the torch from the shaking hand of Percy.

  “It really does mean so much to you, don’t it?” He asked making me hate him even more. I felt my eyes turn into hard slits as I let the true rage fill me to the point where my hands grew hot against the metal bars.

  “Then watch it burn, Bitch!” He said raising the torch to the book and watching the flames engulf its pages. I watched the snake on the front hiss and writhe around the page in the face of danger.

  “NO!” This time I screamed and it was Dimme’s turn to laugh. He dropped the square of black charred pages as the flames curled the edges into ashy flakes, ready for a mere hint of a whisper in order to fly away.

  “No!” I said, falling to my knees. I had to save it, I couldn’t lose that bond, not when it was one of the very things I was counting on getting me out of here. I knew that Sigurd would somehow find me…he would tell Jared and maybe even Lucius…They would come for me…they had to!

  With this in mind, I decided my promise mattered more to me than my own flesh, so even though it was still burning, I quickly reached out my hand through the bars and snatched it back to me to hold it to my chest. I felt the heat of it but instead of pain, I felt light. I inhaled sharply as I felt part of myself being absorbed into the book. As though it was looking for something in me and once it found it, it homed in and drew from its strength.

  “NO! That’s not supposed to happen!” I heard Dimme scream out in anger and even with my eyes closed, I smiled to myself at the sound, for I knew without looking that the book was whole once again. But even better, it was now in my arms and the only way it was leaving them was being pried from my cold dead body!

  I looked up at him but what he saw in my eyes had him backing up, stumbling over the fresh bucket he brought.

  “No! It’s…it’s not possible! You’re human!” He spluttered out in shock and I had no idea what it was in me he was seeing, but I knew fear when I saw it. And the next sight of him running from the room was confirmation of this.

  “Ke…ira?” Percy’s voice was unsteady, also seeming a little frightened of me.

  “It’s alright, Percy.” I said blinking a few times wondering if what Dimme had seen was still there.

  “Your eyeths, they…changed.” I didn’t really have much to say to that as I couldn’t explain it myself. I looked down at the leather bound book in my hands and noticed that not only was it without a mark from what happened…so was I. Surely I should have been burnt?

  “You can come out my friend.” I said getting up to sit on the cot, feeling as if all the energy had suddenly been zapped out of me. I had asked this of him many times before, but never once had he come from the safety of the shadows he knew…

  Until now.

  A little man walked out, who I realised was smaller than what I’d originally thought, being closer to four feet than five. He had on him a dark brown cloak, like a monk’s habit and the hood was concealing all of his face.

  “You don’t have to hide from me.” I said pushing up my sleeves and holding both of my arms out for him to see my scars. I saw him raise his head and I just caught sight of the burn marks on his chin.

  “I…I don’th wanth to fffrighten you.” I smiled at that and said,

  “I have seen many things, many terrifying things that most would class as monsters, but those monsters were all my enemies. You’re not my enemy…are you, Percy?” He shook his head making the low hood sway.

  “Then I have nothing to fear in your face.” I saw his little shoulders slump in defeat as my words rang true. Then he raised his hands enough for me to see them wrapped in thin white gauze and guide his hood back from his face. I knew that what I was about to see would be heartbreaking but I didn’t want to react. So I prepared myself the best I could.

  What shocked me the most wasn’t the face of burnt flesh, but it was the face behind the scarred mask. No amount of puckered skin and twisted scarring tissue could keep the beauty beneath it from beaming out at me. I slipped from the bed and walking on my knees, I approached him slowly. He seemed to want to back away and I raised my hand in a show of peace.

  “Please, let me.” I said softly and I didn’t move again until he nodded. I looked at his face now nothing could be hidden and no amount of fire could take away a pair of beautiful eyes that were frantically looking around as if waiting for a harsh hand. I felt like crying for him, but knew that wasn’t what he needed. So instead of pity, I gave him what I thought he needed…a kind touch.

  I reached out and he froze in fear but I would soon give him nothing to fear…not ever again if I could help it. My hand slipped through the bars and I quickly cupped his cheek before he could pull back from me.

  “I think you’re beautiful Percy, make no mistake about that, for your pure soul shines through and no amount of ha
teful words or harsh punishments will ever make that beauty die…ever.” I looked deep into his sea green eyes and saw the tears start to form, making them look like an enchanted lake, that I could only hope was filled with trust. I watched one lone tear fall down the uneven path of his cheek and I caught it, wiping it away with my thumb.

  “You will never be alone again, for I will take you with me, Percy.” Then we both cried our own silent sobs, mine brought on when he trusted me enough to take my other hand in his smaller one.

  “Thhank you, my Fffriend.” He said smiling at me for the first time. All I could do was nod and clasp his hand tighter in mine.

  That night came the next Quarter Moon and with it something new. I was stood looking up at it through the window when I heard the usual doors grating along the stone as they were being pushed open. I was not in the mood for any more of Dimme’s twisted pastimes as the day’s events had drained me. The emotional rollercoaster from nearly losing the book, to the heartbreaking reveal of Percy and then to a day full of asking the book questions it refused to answer.

  No secret messages filled me with hope, not one new word seeped into its pages and now it looked as though I had something new to contend with. I ran over to the bed and placed the book I still held on to under the thin mattress. I was on my knees rearranging the straw I had piled on top for extra warmth when footsteps stopped behind me.

  Then something disturbing crept over me like spiders covering every inch of my skin, all running over each other to find their own place next to my flesh.

  Then came the pain.

  It was as if they had all bit down at once. I lowered my head and couldn’t help the cry that broke free. I wanted to be strong but the pain was unimaginable. I just wanted it to end and it had only been seconds. It took me back in time to two different points. The first was that night so long ago in the bathroom at Draven’s. Sammael was the cause back then but he was long gone and sent back to the Hell from which he’d escaped. So the question was…who was my tormentor now?

  This brought on the second part of my journey into the past, only back then it had been into the future. Sigurd had shown this to me and I had been in this very room with my other self trying to get back. Well, there was no getting back there now, that time had gone and with it my protector. There were no arms of comfort ready to pull me from this place and hold me close. There was only me and what little power I had.

  ‘Concentrate, Keira.’ I told myself. That’s when it happened. I felt the same tingling at my wrist and looked down to see one of the stones in my bracelet was glowing. I then looked up to the Quarter Moon and felt a sense of relief wash over me like a wave crashing up the cliffs of my mind. ‘Control it’ the wind whispered over the water and suddenly there I was. I was stood on a cliff face using my inner strength to push the waves back until the water became calm once more. And as those waves started flowing in the other direction, an impossible one back out to sea, it took with it my pain.

  I took away my pain.

  Now I could move. Now there were no biting spiders or fooling my mind into believing anything I didn’t myself control. I twisted my head and looked up to see outside of my prison, a room full of demons…and I didn’t even flinch.

  Gorgan leeches with their faces full of teeth and cracking limbs all clicked their jaws, sounding out like giant crickets. In between them were more of the death army that had fought that night. Only unlike the dream, the one in front of the rest was no longer the creature with a steel bar locking his cheeks together. Because I sent him back, killing his already death host. Which made me wonder for the hundredth time…was Marcus still with his host?

  As in the dream, the demons all parted to let through the one responsible for all of this. I stood and faced him with no fear left, only undiluted anger at what he had done to me.

  “Ah, my disgusting parasite, how nice to see you again.” The same vile words passed his lips but this time it was different because now they were from lips I finally recognised…

  “You!”

  Chapter 49

  Two Down, Two to Go.

  I couldn’t believe it! After all this time of wondering who it was that was after me and now I was faced with this guy!

  “This is not happening!” I said thinking back all that time ago to that cold night following a cruel punishment.

  “Oh believe me you vile creature, this is happening and it just so happens to be my revenge.” At this my fingers curled into fist.

  “I saved your life!” I screamed at him but he just threw his head back and laughed at me. Then he straightened as if someone flicked his crazy switch,

  “You ruined my LIFE!” He screamed back at me, giving me a flash of his demon side. I shook my head trying to piece this all together but I was in too much of a shock.

  “It was you all this time…I should have let Draven kill you!” I said gritting my teeth at the end through my anger and not only at the man responsible, but also at myself for being weak in Draven’s world.

  I remembered it so well now. I was in Afterlife VIP when I bumped into a suited man… “How dare you touch me, you vile human bitch! Someone should teach you manners you disgusting parasite...GO and fuck off!” His words had been as such when he pushed me from him. Draven had seen and in his rage split his council’s table in two. That night I begged Draven to save this demon’s life after he had made the man in front of me now, beg my forgiveness in a broken mess. I had run from Draven, run from the horror and realisation of it all. Run from a world he commanded and ruled over with his iron will. And now I was here and I couldn’t run anymore…

  But I knew what he wanted.

  “You took Draven… you took me and now what…? You want to see us both beg!?” I said looking back at him with new eyes. He started laughing again.

  “You really are a stupid bitch, aren’t you?” I didn’t respond as he continued laughing at me.

  “Oh, this is so much better than watching you beg like the human dog you are! No, I don’t have your precious King! You really think if I had that type of power over him, I would be wasting my time with you!”

  “Then why?” I asked making him laugh even harder. Then I lost it, I grabbed hold of the bars and screamed,

  “TELL ME WHY?!” The laughing stopped and I heard Dimme suck in a frightened breath before whispering…

  “There, I told you master…she has the essence of…”

  “YES! I can see that you fool! You don’t scare me!” He snapped back at me and again I felt the same power making my fingertips tingle.

  “You want to know why but the why is so simple. That night you ruined me, everything I worked for, my riches, my power, my position…all of it gone just because you couldn’t walk in a fucking straight line!” This time it was my turn to laugh.

  “And now look who the stupid one is…this is all because you couldn’t keep your temper in check because someone fucking bumped into you…are you that senseless? If you had taken a second to think why a human would have been there in the first place it might have saved your ass…but don’t go blaming me for your own foolish actions!” This comeback had now turned this smug bastard in to an angry bastard instead, but I didn’t care!

  “You vile creatures don’t deserve to walk among us! But don’t worry, I will be getting my revenge.”

  “So, leaving me here to rot is your big ‘master’ plan?” I said mocking him.

  “No, that is just for my pleasure before I regain what was taken from me. I care little what happens to the likes of you and with the King now out of the way…well, it was almost too easy.”

  “You’re forgetting one massive flaw in this plan, Draven is not here you prick…so how do you suppose your revenge will work if he doesn’t even know you have me!?” This time he didn’t laugh but raised one side of his mouth in a knowing smirk.

  “Your ‘Draven’ can’t give a shit about you where he is and I care little about pointless, but more importantly, penniless revenge.” I le
t go of the bars trying to make sense of it all. What did he mean…where Draven was?

  “Then what…?” I didn’t finished as he stepped up to the bars himself and said,

  “It is simple, I am going to sell you to the highest bidder, make back my money, regain my power and not give you one more single thought…I will however be most pleased if whoever buys you is a cruel bastard, but one can only hope.” At this I screamed and lunged for him. I didn’t end up doing as much damage as I would have liked but he was now sporting three bloody scratch marks down his face. He wailed out like a banshee, clutching his injured face in his hands and said,

  “You will regret this!” But that was the last I heard as Gastian and his minions all vanished from the room, leaving me with my thoughts.

  That night something in me changed and I knew it was all down to the Quarter Moon and the bracelet of stones. How did I know this? Well, after Gastian and his demon posse left me, the book woke up and told me so.

  On the first Quarter Moon, the Blue moonstone stone will light the path for a protector to find his balance. Blood will bind together these souls and aid them both when travelling towards the prophecy. Clarity of mind and inner vision will flow clearly, building trust for future altered states of awareness. Life lessons will be learned through each other’s fates, entwining destinies into one goal…

  Life must be conquered.

  This I knew referred back to my birthday and when Sigurd had saved me. But why was the book only telling me this now…was it because up until this point I had not asked or even taken much notice of my bracelet? Well, now I was taking notice and found that for the first time, two of the stones instead of being a milky grey colour, were different than before. The first one that must have changed was now a stunning deep sky blue that had such a depth to it, the stone almost looked alive.

  I touched it and felt its energy buzzing through me, as if somehow keeping me balanced. Then I turned round the black cord they were all attached to and found the next stone. This time it had been changed into a pure white stone that had a pearlescent sheen across the top of its smooth surface. I looked down at the book and asked it,