“Momma, you should have seen them run! They’re so fast!”
“Daniel,” their mother interrupted. “How could you take her to chase…wolves?”
“We’re not children anymore, Mother,” he grumbled, refusing to look at her.
“Yes, you are,” she scolded. “She could’ve been hurt, or worse, killed.”
Finally, he looked up at her. “We’re twelve, Mother, we’re not children. As for Angelina getting hurt, do you really think with the powers she possesses she would allow anything to hurt her?”
She opened to her mouth to say something, but their father stepped between them. “Why don’t we go inside for dinner?” he offered.
She cleared her throat. “That sounds lovely.”
“No.” Angelina’s voice trembled.
Daniel looked at her and his heart stopped. He knew something was wrong. He felt a shiver run down his spine and looked behind him.
Their mother’s eyes darted from him to her to the forest behind them. “Get them out of here.”
“What is it?” their father asked cautiously.
“Do as I said,” she ordered. “Get them out of here now—go!”
He ushered them towards the trail in front of them.
Angelina pulled at her mother’s hand. “Momma, come with us.”
Their mother looked at her and smiled. “Angelina, you must go with your father and brother. They will protect you.”
“No, I’m not leaving without you.” She stood her ground, a tear falling down her cheek in defiance.
Daniel watched the look of helplessness wash over his mother’s face. At that very moment, he had the feeling this was the last time he would ever see her. “Come on, Angelina, we have to go.”
She pulled her hand free of Angelina’s and ushered her towards their father. “Josiah, take them and go.”
“Momma, no!” she screamed, pushing her father away.
Daniel wrapped his strong arms around her waist and picked up her. She kicked at his legs and clawed at his arms. “Let me go, Daniel, let me go! I can protect her!” she protested loudly, tears streaming down her face.
A tear ran down their mother’s beautiful face as she watched them flee down the trail. She turned and faced the force that came at her from within the forest. It was her ancient enemy, Tristan. He had come for her daughter and she would not allow him to have her.
“Hecate,” he hissed.
“Tristan,” she nodded.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she answered nonchalantly.
“Don’t play games with me,” he demanded.
“Who’s playing games?” she scoffed, glaring at him with hatred in her eyes.
“She will be mine.”
She raised her hand to the blue sky and it began to fill with dark, ominous clouds. “Over my dead body.”
He held up a rune-covered amulet. It dangled lazily from its long silver rope. “If that’s what it takes,” he said.
She lowered her hand slowly and the dark clouds disappeared. “Where did you get that?”
He smiled at her wickedly. “My father sends his regards.”
“What have you done, Tristan?”
“One way or another, she will be mine.” He grinned, placing the amulet over his head. One by one the runes began to glow bright blue. “You know, funny thing about humans.” He glared at her, wicked pleasure in his emerald-green eyes. “Their minds are fragile enough that any idea can be implanted into them.”
“Tristan, no!” Hecate yelled lunging towards him.
The last rune lit up and time stood still. Tristan grinned, walking towards her still body. “Your daughter is such an amazing girl, isn’t she?” He bent down and put his ear near her. “What’s that, you say? Oh, I’m sorry, time does funny things to people, doesn’t it?” He stood up and muttered, “even people like you.”
“Let her go,” a voice called out from behind him.
He turned around, surprised. “Well, well, where do you come from, old friend?”
“I wouldn’t quite say we’re friends, Tristan,” she replied, her icy white eyes glowing with hate.
“You look good, Ctephanyi. Apparently, time has no effect on you. You look younger than ever.”
“Time is forgiving to those who don’t age.”
He pointed to Hecate. “Look at her. She’s an immortal. She will never age, never get a wrinkle, and always watch the ones she loves die. Aren’t you jealous of that, old friend?”
“Ahh, that’s where you’re wrong,” Ctephanyi smirked. “When Hecate walks the Earth, she ages just as the humans do.”
“Maybe I should feel lucky she can’t hear us or help you right now,” he scoffed.
“I will not let you harm them,” she replied.
He touched one of the runes and closed his eyes. “None of you matter. Only Angelina matters.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she warned.
He ignored her. “They will see her as a weapon of mass destruction.”
“I’m going to give you one last opportunity to stop,” she threatened.
“They will murder all that stand in their way. They will hunt all that are unlike them.”
She shook her head and motioned to the brush behind him. “Now.”
An arrow whizzed past the side of his head, grazing his ear. “If she dies during this time, her family may not meddle with her memories and her mother may not return to Earth to be with her,” he continued.
The woman snarled. “How could you?”
He heard someone rush up behind him and opened his eyes. “It’s too late.” He winced at the pain as the sharp blade ran through him. Falling to his knees, he laughed. “You’re too late.”
She raised her hand, and the crimson moss snaked along the ground toward him. “You will never have her.”
He looked at the young man next to her—it was Nicolai. His fiery orange eyes were filled with fear and hatred. “You love her, don’t you?” Tristan asked.
The woman’s icy eyes filled with surprise and she looked down at him. “You love her?”
Nicolai nodded. “My heart knows what it wants, and it wants her.”
Tristan laughed and blood spewed out of his mouth. “You are fools! You can’t save her.”
The woman’s hand rose in the air and the moss rose with it. “Tristan, do you want to know what’s so similar about you and humans?”
He cocked his head to the side and smiled. “What’s that?”
“You can both be killed off so damn easily.” She smirked, motioning the moss to attack her target. It darted into him with such a force his body flew into the tree behind him. Tristan howled in pain. The woman took her free hand and turned Nicolai’s face away from the horror in front of him. “If Angelina is the one you love, then you will be forced to protect her because I refuse. She is the daughter of Hecate, and more powerful than you could ever imagine.”
He cringed as the moss tore through Tristan’s muscular body. It wrapped itself around him, covering his mouth so his cries could no longer be heard.
“Mother, please…”
“Please what?” she asked. “The damage has already been done. He’s implanted the seed of the desire for power into the humans. They will come for us and her.”
“What about her, mother?” he asked pointing the beautiful woman that stood still in front of him.
“That, Nicolai, is the goddess Hecate.”
His eyes widened. “Hecate?” he whispered.
“Yes, now we must go before time catches up,” she ordered, ushering him into the forest.
He followed her, turning around and stopping briefly as he thought he caught a glimpse of another boy his age watching intently from the brush in the distance.
“Why are you stopping?” Ctephanyi asked.
“Nothing, I thought…”
“You thought what?” she asked, curiously following his gaze.
He shook his head and continued walking. “Nothing. It was nothing.”
She stared momentarily at the brush and smiled. “You’re right, it is nothing.”
They disappeared into the forest, the crimson moss hiding their footsteps behind them, but the damage had already been done. The seed had been planted and the humans had their goal—find and control anything unlike them. Power and hate spread through them like a virus, bringing death and destruction in its wake. Species suffered at the hands of the humans and became slaves, while Tristan bided his time in the depths of the Underworld, waiting for the perfect opportunity to come back and finish what he’d started—and that time was now.
Chapter 21
Choices
Jeremiah stared in awe at Ctephanyi. “Well, just damn,” he exclaimed. “It all kind of makes sense now, except one thing…”
Nicolai looked up at him questioningly.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Nicolai lowered his eyes. “Ah, good question. Let’s let him finish his story.”
Jeremiah’s eyes darted to Daniel who was still leaning up against the tree—a smug look on his chiseled face. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “I suppose I can finish. You aren’t going to leave me alone until I do.”
“Is she still asleep?” Josiah asked, motioning to Angelina.
Nicolai smiled. “Yes, she’s dreaming.”
Daniel took a deep breath and frowned. “Basically, my dad over there had met up with Nicolai’s mother when we were younger. I had been staying with my grandmother when that took place. Though I thought of her often, I worried for her safety, so I left her alone, until the day she sought me out.”
Ctephanyi’s eyebrows rose in question. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t the important one.”
A look of hurt washed over Josiah’s face. “That’s not true, Daniel.”
Daniel looked up at him. “It was the truth. Angelina was the one that needed protection. Hey, I was okay with it. I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t let me help protect her, too.”
His father’s voice grew defensive. “Daniel, you were so young.”
“I was old enough to know that I loved my sister more than anything in this world,” he retorted angrily. “She was my twin. Every single feeling she ever felt, I felt. All the fear, hatred, sadness…I felt it all and I couldn’t be there for her.”
Jeremiah watched them bicker back and forth and suddenly understood, “You were separated. That’s why she doesn’t remember you.”
Daniel shifted his gaze towards him, anger set deep within his eyes. “I was there the day it mattered.”
His father narrowed his eyes. “What day?”
“The day she died,” he answered, his nose slightly flaring. “I killed her.”
Nicolai’s eyes flashed, fire filling them instantly. “What did you just say?”
Ctephanyi put her hand on her sons’ shoulder, “Listen.”
“That’s right.” His voice filled with weakness. “I killed her.”
“But why?” Jeremiah asked, shocked by Daniel’s admission.
He shook his head and stared into the fire. “Because she asked me to, that’s why.”
His father stared at him. “Why would she do that?”
“Because she was the strong one, father. She wanted to save humanity, so she did what she had to.”
“The men that took advantage of her in the woods…” Nicolai hissed.
“I planned it,” Daniel admitted.
“They tortured her,” Nicolai said through clenched teeth.
“No, my dear Nicolai.” He shook his head. “I was the one that ran the blade through her fragile body. I was the one who pretended to chastise her in front of those men.”
Nicolai stared at him and fought the urge to rip him apart. “I found her.”
“I know.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“How could you do it? Your own sister!” He pushed his mother’s hand away from him. Snow opened her eyes.
“Keep your voice down, you’re going to wake her.”
Snow licked Angelina’s hand and she stirred slightly. Nicolai lowered his voice. “You murdered your own sister.”
Daniel stood up and Jeremiah followed suit, stepping in between him and Nicolai.
“Do you know what it’s like to have to kill the one thing that means the most to you? She was my world, Nicolai,” he growled. “When she died, I lost a piece of my soul. I lost the only thing I ever cared about. Do you know how that feels, tell me…do you know how that feels?!”
Angelina’s eyes fluttered open and she sat up groggily, pulling away from Nicolai. “What’s going on?”
“I know exactly what that feels like, Daniel.” He looked over at Angelina’s puzzled face. “She died in my arms. I was there the moment she took her last breath.”
Daniel spun around and punched the tree in front of him. “None of you will understand the emptiness I’ve felt after losing her. I loved her and did as she wanted. That’s all that matters. I don’t give a shit what any of you think.” He punched the tree, leaving his own blood on the busted bark before storming off into the forest.
“Daniel!” Josiah called out after him.
Ctephanyi put her hand on his shoulder. “Let him go.”
“But…”
Elias cleared his throat. “She’s right. Let him come to terms with his anger.”
Josiah sat down next to his daughter and gave her a weak smile. She returned his smile and leaned into his loving arms.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Confusion ran through her beautiful face as she looked at each one of them. He knew she would eventually find out the truth and when she did, he wondered what would happen. Everything made sense now.
He glanced up at the tree and studied the broken bark. There were traces of Daniel’s blood, but there was also something else. “No way…” he whispered, walking over to the tree. He ran his hand over the fresh moss feeding off his blood.
“What is that?” Ctephanyi questioned, her icy eyes watching him intently.
“The moss, look at it.”
The mossy tendril soaked the blood up like a sponge. It pulsed bright red as it continued to feed off the bloody mess.
“It’s feeding off his blood,” Jeremiah said.
Fiery anger was still visible in his orange eyes. “What does that mean?” Nicolai asked.
“My dear son.” Ctephanyi frowned. “It means we’re running out of time.”
Bethani’s lavender eyes flickered with worry. “If the moss were to reach the humans…”
“They’ll all die,” Elias finished.
Jeremiah pulled his hand away from the moss protectively. “What do you mean they’ll all die?”
Angelina picked up Snow and held her close. She watched quietly from the safety of her father’s strong arms.
“The crimson moss is a living thing and when a soulless creature walks the Earth, the moss stops feeding off the Earth because of the poison that fills it.”
Elias patted Ctephanyi’s leg lovingly. “So, it starts looking for something healthy, something fresh and alive…”
“Like a human?” Jeremiah’s mouth dropped open.
“Like a human,” Ctephanyi said.
“Are you telling me that if we don’t stop this Tristan guy, the moss is going to start attacking people?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She looked up at the moon. “When the moon is full of blood, the Earth will die.”
“What?” he asked stunned.
“If the Crimson Moon rises, we will be too late.”
Jeremiah stared into the fire, unable to speak. He couldn’t imagine the people of his hometown being torn apart by the moss that had intrigued so many people throughout the world. It had always been harmless, or so he had thought until now.
Chapter 22
Blood Hunger
I stared at all of them, astonished by the fiasco I had awoken to. I put Snow down gently and she huffed in disappointment. I smiled and touched her cold, wet nose lightly with my finger. “Don’t you huff at me, little girl.” She licked my finger and trotted over to Ctephanyi, who caressed her silky fur. I stood up and went to Jeremiah, who was still studying the mysterious blood-eating moss.
“Look at that.” He pointed, completely astonished by what he was seeing. “It’s feeding off his blood.”
“And it’s growing,” I noted.
His eyes widened. “It is!”
I reached up to touch it and he stopped me. “Angelina, don’t touch it.”
My intuition began to take over and this time I was going to trust it. “I can do this,” I whispered. I nodded touched the soft moss gently. It wound itself around my finger and ran up my arm.
“Angelina!” Jeremiah stumbled backwards in horror.
I looked up and smiled. “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt.”
Ctephanyi laughed. “She is one with the moss, Jeremiah. It’s not going to eat her.”
“What?” he asked, horrified by the sight in front of him.
“She controls all living things, the moss being one of them.” Nicolai laughed.
“Are you telling me she can stop it from eating people?”
Nicolai laughed again. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Jeremiah felt his heart begin to calm itself. “So it won’t destroy our town?”
The smile fell from Nicolai’s face. “Well…I didn’t say that.”
Jeremiah stared at him, confused by his statement.
“You see, she can control the moss, but if Tristan takes her soul…”
“She’ll use the moss to destroy the town,” he realized.
“Exactly.”
“Well, I suppose we shouldn’t let that happen now should we.” I said.
“Precisely,” Ctephanyi said, chiming in.
“Should we go get Daniel?” I asked.
My father looked up at me, sadness filling his eyes. “Perhaps you should go get him.”
Confused, I stared at them. “Okay, but he doesn’t like me all that much…”
Elias chuckled, and Ctephanyi followed suit.
Crimson Moon Page 8