Blue Moon

by J. A. Belfield

  More distant voices arrived, murmurs, extra heat. My body continued to rock, the action instilling me with a massive desire to sleep. I forced my weary eyes to open, to see something—anything—and caught a glimpse of the dark hair to my left, the familiar walk.

  “Sean,” I whispered.

  I inhaled, reached out a hand to him—but he’d gone.

  Everything went black.

  18

  Great heat enveloped my stomach, my chest, even my toes and cheek, tempting me to stay put. Everything must be okay, my subconscious demanded because only Sean could fill me with such warmth and security.

  I flexed my stiff fingers, blinking against the darkness. Awareness crept in at a gentle rise and fall beneath my cheek, a strong heartbeat pulsing against me.

  “Sean?” I reached up to trace the outline of the face above my head, along the jaw, capturing the breaths blowing past slightly parted lips.

  The body shifted beneath me a little. Hands swept over my back.

  I inhaled. The second I did, everything came flooding back.

  As intense agony stabbed through my chest, a gasp exploded from my lips.

  “Shh,” Ethan whispered. A gentle rub of his hands soothed again.

  “Ethan?”

  “You were so cold. It was the only way to get your temperature back up. You’re okay now. Everything will be okay.”

  “How can it be?” I bit down against the tremble of my lip. “How—when Sean isn’t here?”

  “You need more rest.”

  I pushed onto my elbows, raising my face to look at him. “How can I rest? I need to find him.”

  “You’re exhausted.” He fingered my loosened hair and trapped it behind my ear.

  The gesture reminded me so much of Sean that my brow folded as I clenched my jaw to prevent the tears.

  “Shh, Jem.” A gentle coax of Ethan’s hand pressed my face back into his warmth, but my whirling mind would allow no reprieve.

  Pain cramped at my chest before expanding, as though attempting to infiltrate my veins and spread its disease. In defence, my body began to curl.

  My trapped feet tugged from the heat of Ethan’s legs. My hands compressed into tight fists. My knees drew up. My head tucked in.

  The first sob wracked through me with the power of a convulsion.

  Ethan shuffled until he sat. He tightened his arms and drew me onto his lap, circling my entire body as my limbs denied me any request to unfold.

  Violent shudders clattered my teeth.

  Ethan pulled me closer. “We’ll get him back. We’ll get them all back. I promise you, he’ll be home.”

  Did he even realise he made promises I could never allow him to keep?

  I’d been left, stuck with three men, all of whom I couldn’t take on my hunt—not when they could be kidnapped, too.

  My sobs and judders lessened to clear the way for strings of thought. From those threads came elucidation. I needed help of the female variety.

  “What time is it?” I whispered once my voice came back into play.

  “About half four.”

  I nodded, the movement wiping tears into the already soaked front of Ethan’s shirt. I lifted my gaze to his, blinking to clear my vision of moisture. “I need to use the toilet.”

  “Sure.” Ethan’s strong hands offered support as I uncurled myself from his lap.

  It took a second or two of being vertical to gain my balance, bearings and composure. The shadowed outline of the sofas emerged out of the dimness as I teetered around them for the door. In the hallway, I turned left, tiptoed down to the kitchen. My mobile lay in the centre of the table. Someone must have gone back for it. I took a step forward, folding my fingers around the metal. As footsteps came in behind me, I concealed it in the folds of my too big T-shirt and swung past Ethan. “I won’t be long,” I mumbled.

  The swish of socked feet against the floor told me Ethan spun to face my receding back.

  I kept going.

  At the top of the stairs, I cocked an ear for any sounds of life. Breaths sounded from the two bedrooms on the right, but no movement registered. I crept across the landing, praying my passage didn’t disturb Nathan or Connor.

  The bathroom door stood ajar. I stepped inside and closed it at my rear. From there, I crossed to the window, opened it wide and sat on the sill.

  Rain still travelled in all directions with a howling wind.

  One press of a button illuminated my mobile screen. I scrolled down my call history, took a deep breath and hit dial.

  Once second passed. Two. “Hello?” The drowsy yet alert voice answered at the speed of someone who slept with their phone beside their pillow as though awaiting that dreaded call in the dead of night.

  “It’s Jem.” Emotion distorted my whisper.

  The brush of fabric announced a shift of position. “Is something wrong?”

  “It’s Sean.” My mind struggled to verbalise it. “He’s missing.” Moving my lips to produce the words took effort. “Please, come. I need you.”

  Her breathing altered, footsteps padded across carpet. “Sit tight, honey. I’m on my way.”

  • • •

  Minutes passed. As my body shook with cold upon the exposed window ledge, beneath a partial moon, my mind could only deal with my near future and how much Nathan would tear me to shreds when he discovered what I’d done.

  When the shivers of my body threatened to topple me to the outside slab below, I pulled the window closed and left the bathroom.

  Ethan blocked the stairs, his huge bulk silhouetted against what little light arrived through the hall windows. Maybe he’d come to check I hadn’t leapt from the window and raced off vigilante style.

  The thought had crossed my mind. Common sense told me I should wait to speak to Jess before making plans, though.

  I trotted along the landing, peering down at him from the top step.

  “Jem?” he whispered. “Are you okay?”

  What did he want me to say? Of course I’m bloody not?

  His expression stoppered my response. The rigid set of his jaw and taut fists lent him manic appeal. He heaved a deep breath. His shoulders sagged with his exhalation. Ethan loved Sean as much as any older brother could. I’d never seen him look so defeated.

  I plodded to the step before him, cupped his face in my palms. As I pulled him toward me, his arms slipped around my waist, his face buried into my shoulder, and dampness expanded across my T-shirt beneath his eyes.

  My hands slid around to hold him tight. “Don’t worry. I’m going to find them and bring them all home. I promise.”

  If Ethan realised I’d given the same reassurances as he had, he didn’t say. For minutes he stood before he lifted his head. His glistening eyes met mine in the darkness. “You’re freezing again.”

  I took his hand, drawing him with me as I descended.

  A brilliant glow swept through the frosted glass of the front door, bathing us in light, and we both halted.

  My breath caught in my throat. I spun to warn Ethan, but he already had his hand on the doorknob.

  A single flick of his wrist freed the door of its restriction. It collided with the table as Ethan lunged outside.

  The black Lexus rolled to a stop on the driveway. The handbrake clicked on.

  “Ethan, wait. I need to explain—”

  He leaped down the steps. Shoulders braced, he strode toward the vehicle.

  The bedroom doors flew open above me.

  I spun toward the sound, eyes wide, pulse racing.

  Connor first, Nathan second appeared at the top of the stairs. They tugged on shirts as they thundered down, one after the other.

  “Who is it?” Nathan asked through fabric.

  The
y couldn’t have been sleeping as I’d assumed. My big plans to get Beth in and explain everything to her before dropping it to the men about my phone call evaporated before my eyes. I’d well and truly dumped myself in the manure.

  Connor’s face poked through the neck of his shirt. “Are they back? Is it the boys?”

  My mouth opened and closed. I turned from the two men to look outside.

  Ethan yanked on the car door, warnings about trespassing already rumbling from his lips. He swung the door wide, reached inside for the driver, and stumbled back a step as his hands lifted to rest at his nape. “Mum?” The word came out almost on a gasp.

  Fury dissipated from Ethan in an instant. His shoulders slumped as he helped Beth from the car with a tenderness he often tried to conceal.

  She stood before him. Her fingers reached up to his face. The slightest encouragement of her hand drew him into her arms, and his body shook whilst Beth provided the kind of comfort only a mother could.

  “Beth?” Connor said.

  I looked at him. Deep lines cut through his forehead as confusion consumed his eyes.

  “Beth?” Nathan’s uncertainty lasted only a second before he turned to me. In that singular glance, I found incredulity and anger, but above all else, a deep sense of betrayal.

  I rubbed at my head, taking a step toward him. “Nathan, let me—”

  “What have you done?” He stormed out to his wife.

  Connor stared hard at me. “Are you responsible for this, Jem?”

  My shoulders lifted as did my arms. “She—”

  “You called Beth?” he asked.

  Unable to conjure a better response, I nodded.

  Connor’s stare held mine as he shook his head.

  I cringed beneath the weight of his disappointment.

  As Nathan reached Beth, she lifted one of her arms, and he slid in to join the family embrace. The three seemed to stay like that for a lifetime as I stood waiting for the blow I had coming.

  When the three of them straightened, the two Holloway men didn’t turn on me right away. Under Beth’s direction, they unloaded her luggage from the boot. Judging by the number of bags, I guessed she planned on staying a while.

  Ethan hauled holdalls over his shoulder. As Nathan secured the car, Beth walked across to Connor and me.

  Her arms wrapped around Connor’s shoulders. She pressed her lips to his cheek. “I missed you, Connor.”

  He returned the gestures, his bear hug lifting her feet from the floor. “Me, too, Beth. It’s good to see you.”

  “I’m so sorry about your boys,” she said.

  Connor nodded, setting her back on her feet. “I know.”

  Beth turned to me, hauling me into her stronghold. When she pulled back, her hands rubbed the length of my arms. “You are frozen.”

  Our familiarity with one another didn’t go unnoticed by the three frowning men as puzzlement and dawning crept into their expressions.

  I tried to smile but couldn’t manage it.

  “Come with me.” Her arm worked its way around my back. “I’m running you a bath.”

  She herded me onto the first step as Ethan and Nathan entered the hall. I tried to twist, to take in their expressions, to explain. Beth’s hold tightened, nudging me higher.

  “Jem?” Nathan said.

  I turned my head to look back over my shoulder until Beth’s lips at my ear prevented the action. “Just keep walking,” she whispered.

  • • •

  Deep, booming thuds against the bathroom door accompanied Nathan’s shout. “Jem!”

  “Nathan, you’ll have to wait,” Beth snapped as I looked to her.

  The banging ceased, but the lack of retreating steps told me Nathan hadn’t moved away.

  Beth nudged me toward the over-sized tub, tugged at the hem of my scant clothing.

  I hadn’t the energy to protest. When she stood at my back and told me to lift my arms, I complied.

  She leaned over and stuck in her hand to swish the bubbles. “Okay, get in.”

  The water scalded my frozen body, but I blanked it. I drew my knees up and hugged them with my arms, disappearing inside the high-sided bath and the wisps of bubbles crackling against my chin.

  “Stay in there. Don’t get out until you’re warm.” Beth strode for the door. As she opened it, Nathan’s body filled the gap. Beth blocked him, bumping against him with her hip until outside the room, and closed the door at her rear.

  “I want to speak to her,” Nathan said.

  I tilted my head to listen.

  “Why?” Beth asked. “To rant at her? To tell her she had no right to contact me? Can you not see how she’s feeling, Nathan? The girl’s distraught.”

  “She didn’t have a right to contact you.”

  “So, are you saying you wouldn’t have let me know our son is missing?” Beth said.

  “Of course I would.” Nathan’s response brimmed with passion.

  “Then, what’s the difference? I’d still have been here today, anyway.”

  “But, I trusted her, Beth. I gave her access to all your details and—”

  “What are you talking about?” Beth cut in. “I approached Jem, not the other way round. Jem hasn’t betrayed your trust—I did.”

  Silence arrived and stayed for seconds.

  “I was curious,” Beth said. “I wanted to see what she was like, see for myself how safe her life was. So I’ve been following he—”

  “You’ve been what?” Nathan’s deep voice growled out of him.

  “Following Jem—for weeks.”

  Silence resettled in. I thought they’d left and I’d missed their footsteps until thuds banged against the door.

  “Jem! Get out here!”

  “Leave her alone, Nathan. There was nothing for her to tell you. She didn’t even know before yesterday when she spotted me at the store—and she might not have known then if you hadn’t shown her photographs.”

  “She should have told me.”

  “I asked her not to,” Beth said. “I wanted to tell you myself what I’d done. She only did what I requested.”

  “But—”

  “And I think she’s had a little too much on her mind since, don’t you?”

  “But …why? Why call you? She must have known I would—”

  “She’s terrified. And she most probably feels alone right now.”

  “She’s not alone.” Nathan sounded offended. “She’s got us.”

  Beth huffed. “You’re not female, Nathan. You are not on the same wavelength as her. I’m the only person who can possibly understand what she’s going through right now. She needed me. So she called me. Simple as that. Don’t you dare blame her for this because I will stand by her.”

  More silence. I smiled at Beth’s tenacity.

  “Okay,” Nathan murmured.

  “Now, what about you?” Beth’s tone turned tender. “How are you coping?”

  “Honestly?” The door handle to his room gave its familiar squeak before their padding footsteps followed. “I feel out of my depth, Beth.”

  As the closing of the bedroom door muffled their voices, I let out a deep sigh and lowered my lids. I sank low into the water, raised my face only high enough to allow air to enter or escape.

  The heat of the water soaked into my skin. Gentle ripples soothed every part of me. Bubbles continued their crisp tune.

  Even if my mind wouldn’t accept it, my body required a few minutes of replenishment.

  No sounds reached my deafened ears, only the thick whoosh that came with being underwater. From the jumble of words that filled my head, I tried to formulate a plan.

  Images and ideas flickered behind my lids. Where could the boys be? Were they okay? How could the
witches have overpowered them? What had they done? Sean had gone in there alert. Kyle, too, no doubt. Were the witches more powerful than I gave them credit for? Each thought bounced aside to allow the next to move in—a circulation of mental mumblings.

  A dark form blocked the light. My eyes flickered open to a huge towel levitating at the bath side. I pushed up until my head and shoulders emerged. As I climbed to my feet, the towel circled me, revealing Ethan. He leaned in and pulled out the plug, taking my elbow to assist my climb out. My soles had barely flattened against the floor, and he gathered me into his arms.

  “I owe you, Jem.” His murmur hit my hair.

  I tilted my face to him.

  He pressed his lips to my cheek. “Because of you, Mum’s home. Ten years I’ve waited to see her again. Thank you.”

  • • •

  Somewhat warmer in jeans and T-shirt, I checked the time. Almost six. I decided to give Jess an early wakeup call.

  She answered after about six rings, sounding half asleep. “Flipping heck. Do you know what time it is?”

  “Sorry, but this can’t wait. I need your help.”

  “What’s up? Did the witches do something else?” She must have heard something in my voice, switching to alert in an instant.

  “They took Sean.” My brow creased, jaw tightened.

  “They took . . .. They what? What do you mean they took Sean? Wh …what happened? How?”

  “They—Marianne asked Josh over last night. Said she needed his help with something.” I almost spat in anger at the recollection. “He had Dan with him, like she expected, but Kyle and Sean were with them, too. None of them came home.”

  “D’you think she already intended to take Josh and Dan?” Jess’s all-business tone set in.

  I nodded but remembered she couldn’t see. “Yes.”

  “Are you absolutely certain that’s where they are?”

  “Yes, because we rang all their phones, and Sean’s was the only one answered . . .”

  “What did he say? Did he know where—”

  “It wasn’t answered by him.”

  A moment of quiet followed before she murmured an “Oh,” and returned to silence.