The Call of the Moon

by Kristy Breckenridge

  Another drop. Another scream.

  “You’re killing her!” Noct spoke aloud, now rushing over towards them. But as if he were blocked from some invisible shield, he could not enter the circle.

  “It’s part of the process. Now shush!” Selene glared at the vampire.

  Another drop, and Faye felt as if she could no longer handle this. She could feel those sizzles traveling on up to her chest. That had to have been the worst form of heart burn ever. And then It all suddenly…stopped.

  Faye laid there with wide eyes as she looked directly at Lily but then her gaze softened when she realized that there’d be no more. “Okay good. Maybe it’s working.” Lily said, and Roy had managed to shift so that he could pull himself out from under her. Noct came up to her, now stuffing the pillows just right behind her head, before running his fingers through her sweat filled hair.

  “It has to work. This was THE spell.” Selene spoke, and one by one, she began blowing out the candles. The room soon began to smell like one big puff of smoke because of it.

  Everyone proceeded to clean up the area. Selene and Lily were both on their knees, cleaning up the salt, and tossing it into a paper bag. “Thank you.” Faye simply said, in a gentle tone, and Noct turned to look at her. Her gaze landed on him, and she had a slight smile on her face. He too smiled, lifting one corner of his mouth, but then it faltered. “Uh, Selene. Lily.” Suddenly, he rushed over towards her.

  “What’s wrong?” Lily said.

  One look at Faye would immediately make it known. “What’s happening to her?!” Lily screamed out, now dropping the broom and dust pan to kneel down next to Faye.

  10

  Fenrir stepped up onto the porch, feeling much better after a quick shift. But his body felt like it had broken completely down. As if he were tired. Perhaps it was from such a quick shift back and forth.

  Stepping over the threshold, he was only in his pair of pants. But the commotion he heard was…sickening. This immediately made him rush into the living room. He saw Faye resting there on the couch, eyes open, and her face in a soft manner. It suddenly hit him.

  Faye was dead.

  “No.” He said, and everyone began rushing around.

  “The fucking spell didn’t work!” Lily spoke very loud, and she was obviously very afraid to. She was suddenly flipping through page after page of that book, finding the spell. “I did it right. I don’t understand what the problem is. I have the family line!”

  “I do not know. I don’t understand it. On top of that, we had the power of two witches.” Fenrir looked directly at Selene, who had been speaking. She was bleeding from the nose, quite heavily. This was no doubt from doing a spell that she was highly incapable of doing herself.

  Fenrir was feeling incredibly weak. “Is she dead?”

  “No. Her heart is still beating, but…it’s not strong. Not like it should be.” Noct said. Noct was quite observant. Of course he could hear the heart beat, because the heart beat was required so that they would not kill their host, from taking too much blood. Even Fenrir knew this. Knowing if the heart was beating, would tell the vampire, if they were close to death or not. “She does appear to be on the brink of death.” Noct just stood there, shock written on his face, as if he were trying to take in the fact, that he was losing something. Something special.

  It was when they all sat down in silence, with only Lily now sitting at Fayes side - who was leaned completely over Faye’s stomach, and bawling her eyes out - that was when Fenrir heard Noct speak in a low tone. “If Faye dies…I will personally kill you. This, I promise you.”

  Fen looked over at Noct, who was sitting at the edge of the living room chair. “I don’t think you would have to worry about that.” He looked over at Faye, whose eyes were now closed, because Roy respectfully did that for the girl. Her chest was slowly rising and falling - not deep enough and not often enough to get the preferred oxygen to the brain. “Because if Faye dies, then it is only a matter of time for me.”

  “Yet, I will have great pleasure, killing you with my own bare hands before that day happens.”

  Fenrir knew that Noct would do, just that.

  One Week Later

  Lily, Roy, and Sam all stood around the coffin that was about to be placed into the ground. The gravedigger began cranking, and the coffin was slowly being lowered into, what you’d think was a bottomless pit. Each one of them, tossed a rose into ground, watching it lower and lower. Neither one of them had a real noticeable expression on their faces.

  “Sorry, I’m so late.” Someone whispered, and Lily turned to see her best friend. Faye wrapped her arms around Lily’s shoulders, and once the hug had come to an end, she looked around at how…bare the crowd was. “Did Selene not have any family?”

  “No.” Lily shook her head, while looking down at the hole in the ground. It was at that same exact moment, Faye tossed her own red rose down into the hole.

  “Faye.” Roy spoke, coming close to her now. “You remember, when Selene said that witches were basically just humans with a special gift?”

  She nodded.

  “Well. That is only partially true. They grow slower…just like us.” He shrugged. “Most of her family, died hundreds of years ago.”

  That was…sad. And the expression was definitely written on her face at how sad that was. “Nobody knew her?”

  “No.” Now Lily spoke. “She apparently kept to herself. It’s really the only thing you can do, when you are that old.”

  “But at least the woman died, doing something to help another.” Lothos said from behind. Faye turned, spotting him coming from another vehicle. She looked around a little bit more, not seeing Fenrir with him, but she did see another man coming out of that car. He, just like everyone else, was dressed in black from head to toe. This man was more boyish, but how he held himself, he certainly had to have been of age.

  Sam grinned from ear to ear, meeting the guy half way, and draping his arm over his shoulders. “Faye. Meet my little brother. Well…our little brother.” He looked over at Max, who was now blushing beet red.

  “So you’re the girl that everyone keeps talking about. Fen’s girl.”

  “Not anymore.” Faye spoke a little too hastily.

  The spell had worked, in it’s own way. But little did Lily know, that her own tears were like a piece of miracle all in one. Apparently her tear, landed on Faye’s mark, immediately dissolving it. Apparently that tear was something that was not listed on the ingredients list, and on purpose at that.

  One things for sure was, the mark didn’t completely disappear. Faye still had a deep impression-like scar of exactly what it once had been. And it would no doubt forever more, be there.

  “Where is Fenrir?” She asked curiously, looking up at the big tall man.

  “Right here.” Fenrir stepped out from behind a tree, and she turned to see him behind her. She turned back to the others.

  “I need to talk to him.” She nodded. This was the first time she’d seen Fenrir, since she woke up, six days ago.

  Turning, she met Fenrir half way, but stopped quite a distance before him. “I must say…you look…amazing.” He said, motioning to her dress. It was black, form fitted, and went just right above her knees. She wore a pair of matching black pumps, all of which came out of Lily’s closet.

  “Thanks.” She spoke softly, looking down at the ground. This suddenly got awkward.

  “Faye. I came here…really only to talk to you about something.” He stepped up closer towards her, and all she could do was look up at him.

  “Even though, the woman who helped us is buried over there in the ground?” She motioned to that particular spot, somewhere behind her.

  “That’s…sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. Not her but…the whole thing.” His hands buried nervously into his pockets, and he slowly but surely began. “Faye. I-” He chuckled nervously, shaking his head. “I feel absolutely stupid, for how I acted. And how I let our lives almost become completely
ruined…as well as others, because of my selfish act.” He looked off to the side somewhere, as he continued. “Yet, now that my head is clear, and I can see things in a better prospective…I just feel…” He brought his gaze back to her, took his hands out of his pockets, and stepped even closer to her. She once again had to crane her neck to look up at the man. “What if Roy was right? What if I did just take you as my mate?”

  All Faye could do was smile.

  “Things would have been better. But not just that but…” He paused for a moment before he continued. “We could have…made things better. Even if things weren’t right at that particular moment, things could have been.”

  He had a point.

  “I loved you Faye.”

  Okay, that was…weird. Her smile faded, and in it’s place, came shock.

  “I think I absolutely fucking love you.” And it was then, that he leaned down, brought his hands up to her face and captured her lips with his own. This was another one of those passion-filled kisses, just like the one in her living room, just like the one in the kitchen at Selene’s. He poured every single bit of care, deep within that kiss.

  However…Faye knew where she was. She was in the middle of a graveyard, at someone’s funeral that was practically over by now. But she also knew one thing…

  Her hands came up to wrap around Fenrir’s wrists, before she brought them down from her face. She even broke the kiss as well. “Fen…We both have to admit something. The curse between us…that is what made us feel the way we did.” She took a step back and he appeared to try and protest, but she wasn’t having it. She did smile though - one that was reassuring. “And I don’t want that. If you and I were to ever have a chance…I’d want it to be real. Not something some tiny piece of fate made us feel.”

  She knew what she meant, and she also knew that she had a very big point right there. It was the smartest thing she’d probably ever said in her entire life. But it was also the hardest.

  She’d say she loved Fenrir.

  She’d say she cared.

  But love wasn’t just given to you in a hand basket. It took time and dedication. It took real, genuine, beautiful love.

  One thing Faye Reynolds learned from those romance novels were, Mind blowing sex, confessions of love, wedding bells, and finding out that you are pregnant, did not actually happen in the span of a week.

  And for once, Faye realized, she didn’t want that kind of love.