The Aeon Star

by Hart, Lauren T.

  The

  Aeon Star

  Lauren T. Hart

  Copyright © 2016 Lauren T. Hart

  All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by any method, without express written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction.Names, characters, places and incidents ate the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

  http://laurenthart.com

  MmHmm Books http://mmhmmbooks.com

  E-Book ISBN-13: 978-0-9970565-1-8

  E-Book ISBN-10: 0-9970565-1-7

  Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-09970565-0-1

  Paperback ISBN-10: 0-9970565-0-9

  Chapter Zero

  What You Wish For...

  A Life Less Ordinary

  Fresh. Homemade. Fudge.

  Wherever You Go...

  Etched In The Stars

  The Familiarity of Strangers

  Stranger Than Science Fiction

  Said Among Friends

  Déjà Vu Is A Jerk

  Things We Don't Say

  Excluded

  Roast Beef & Remorse

  Different Ideologies

  What The Heart Wants

  Deals With The Devil

  Pride and Prejudice

  Plausible Deniability

  Knight to E-4, Knight Takes Rook

  Far From Ordinary

  Wide Awake and Dreaming

  Fire Light

  Queen to C-7, Check

  Il Cuore Vuole Che Cosa Vuole

  I Would Give You The Stars

  The Next Level

  The Numbing Charade

  Fate Is An Elegant, Cold-Hearted Whore

  Denial Feels So Good

  Perspective

  Call And Answer

  Leap Of Faith

  The Return

  Kings and Researchers

  Shared Secrets

  The Age of The Aeon

  A Little While Later

  About The Author

  Acknowledgements

  For My Beloved.

  I would give you the stars...

  Chapter Zero

  She wasn't hidden, but he'd never found her here before. She stood alone atop a craggy rock that jutted up from the ocean several miles from the shore. The wind teased her long dark hair into the air and smoothed her gown against her skin. White tipped waves crashed against the rocks, wetting her bare feet and legs with salty sea.

  She could hear voices on the wind, the distant whisper of kindred souls that spoke of circumstance and sentiment and a forgotten life she'd left behind. She knew better than to listen, than to follow, than to find. It would only make the Hunter able to find her faster, but there was something different on the wind now, something had changed. There was an excitement among the masses — a sense of urgency — a unity that made them harder to ignore. They weren't just talking; they were calling out to her.

  Could she risk a closer look? Should she?

  Something dark swept low across the horizon.

  She crouched low to the rock. It might have been a trick of the senses but she wasn't willing to risk it. It was time to go.

  In an instant she was crouched next to a wall of stone in a sunny garden. Fresh greenery and tiny buds spoke of spring and the sun was high in the sky — whereas on her stony ocean perch the sky had only barely begun to hint toward dawn.

  A scatter of imagery flashed before her: hard ground, something blue, panicked screams, ordered shouts, the smell of blood, and the loom of death filled her senses; a forgotten memory she could no longer make sense of, but she knew... this is where the hunt had begun.

  "I will find you," a hollow voice whispered through her memory, low and dark. "I will finish what I started," The hollow voice grew louder, felt somehow closer. "Death is your destiny..."

  Chapter 1

  What You Wish For...

  Jenny Taylor woke a few minutes before her alarm was set to sound. "Only a dream," she breathed as she stared up at the fading glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling above her bed. "It was only a dream." She curled into herself and pulled the gold and navy morning star quilt she'd made with her mother several summers ago over her head.

  For as long as she could remember, she'd had dreams of being hunted. They'd been getting worse over the past couple of months, but years and years of therapy hadn't made them go away or made her feel any better about having them, so she kept them to herself. Besides, she was awake now — safe now — it was time to leave it behind and let it go.

  She stretched, climbed out of bed, and switched off her alarm so as not to wake her sister, Caitlyn, sound asleep in the bed opposite hers.

  Caitlyn's soft blond hair was a mess across her pillow. Her body tangled in her quilt that was the same pattern as Jenny's, but the bright swatches of color, backed with soft blue and green made the design look like flowers.

  Jenny pulled her hair into a messy bun and slipped into the sports bra, T-shirt, and sweatpants that sat neatly folded on the chest at the end of her bed.

  Even in the chill of early March, she would have preferred to run outside, but it didn't matter what time of year it was, her parents wouldn't hear of it. To say they were overprotective was an understatement. It wasn't that they had reservations about their neighbors, but "better safe than sorry" was definitely one of their favorite sayings.

  Besides, they had a perfectly good — albeit old and rundown — treadmill in the basement, so that she could run, and they wouldn't have to worry.

  And everyone was happy.

  Or was supposed to be anyway.

  Not that Jenny was unhappy, but being upset about it wouldn't change anything.

  As she started up the treadmill, she tried to keep her focus on the pictures of faraway scenic places she'd cut from magazines and hung on the walls. Ice capped mountains, rolling countryside, endless coastlines, and various cityscapes; all places she'd never been and was unlikely to ever visit.

  Her eyes caught the small window near the top of the room. On warm days, she'd open it to catch the sounds from outside, or a cool breeze. More often, she thought about climbing through and seeing how far she could run before anyone noticed. But as much as she wanted to run free, she knew she would never act on it. Jenny just wasn't the rebellious type.

  Besides, what did she need outside that she didn't have inside? And, if she closed her eyes — holding tightly to the handlebars of the treadmill at all times of course — it was almost — almost — like being outside. Racing past quaint country villages, fields of wildflowers, coastal café's... a blue sectional sofa.

  Ugh.

  No it wasn't.

  She stopped the treadmill mid run — or at least she tried to. The stop button wasn't responding to her repeated presses. Pounding didn't work either.

  Ever since her sister Megan spilled soda on the control panel the buttons had been prone to sticking and the only way to fix it was to unplug it.

  This task wasn't as easy as it sounded.

  The treadmill was set close to the wall, and permanently stuck at incline setting three. This meant she had to reach under the treadmill, past the whizzing-belt-of-ridiculously-painful-friction-burn and wrangle the plug free from the socket.

  Stupid treadmill.

  Stupid pictures.

  Stupid parents.

  Stupid Jenny.

  She stared up at the ceiling, her arm wedged uncomfortably under the treadmill, still clutching the power cord. She just didn't feel like running today, she wasn't sure why. Typically, her nightmares made her want to run more, not less. Maybe she was coming down with something, although that didn't seem very l
ikely. She didn't really get sick. Maybe it was mental. Maybe she just couldn't take another day of exactly the same thing.

  Normally, Jenny was third in line for the shower behind her brothers, Davin and Jacob. This morning, however, rather than wait she asked a still sleeping Jacob if he wouldn't mind switching her times.

  "Awesome," Jacob yawned. "Fifteen more minutes," he smiled sleepily at his pillow.

  Jenny leaned against the bathroom door and gave it a light wrap with her knuckle. Without warning the door flung open and Jenny tumbled into the bathroom.

  "Ha!" Davin whisper-shouted as he jumped from behind the door — stark naked.

  Jenny yelped, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth to quell her girlish screams.

  Of course she couldn't help but see what was right in front of her. And, it's not that she hadn't seen a naked boy before — she had four younger brothers after all, Davin was one of them — but not all grown up and definitely not... adorned?

  Davin's expression took less than half a second to change from 'Ha!' to horrified. He half stumbled, half leapt backward into the bathroom desperately searching for something to cover himself. His hand caught the ruffled edge of the shower curtain and gave it a solid yank. Curtain, liner and rod detached from the tub and flung toward Davin bouncing back and forth before coming to rest between the tub and the toilet.

  Jenny got to her feet as quick as she could, still waiting for her brain to catch up to what had just happened. A number of questions skipped through her head but all she managed was "Wha- whe- whu-"

  "What the hell, Jenny?" Davin squeaked in a whisper.

  "Serves you right?" she shrugged, embarrassed but not entirely sure whose experience had been worse.

  She grabbed a towel, hanging conveniently on the towel bar next to the tub, and offered it to Davin. She turned away and covered her eyes as he wrapped the towel around his middle. Not that turning away and covering her eyes could take away the image of naked — and very grown up Davin – and his intimate body jewelry that was now seared into her brain.

  Jenny had always been a little bit envious of Davin. He was 10 months younger than her and infinitely cooler. He'd always been popular, smart, and ridiculously talented — he played the guitar, the piano, and wrote his own music. On top of all that he was also really good-looking — even for a brother. His hair was brown, though not as dark as hers, and his eyes were cool blue, also like hers, but again hers were darker.

  He was also much more... uh... worldly? Apparently.

  Fundamentally though, she'd always thought they were the most alike out of all of their siblings, in that neither of them really felt like they fit in, and not just because she and Davin were the only brunettes in a family full of blonds. But the glaring difference between them — that Davin did what he wanted and Jenny just wanted — kept them from having any kind of relationship outside of just being related to one another. And Jenny had often thought this was also the reason they were so often at odds with each other

  "I'm decent," he mumbled.

  "Sorry," she apologized for his embarrassment.

  Davin just glared.

  "Is that a—?"

  "None of your business?"

  "Sorry." Clearly, asking if it had hurt to be pierced there or when he'd had it done was out of the question. She picked up the shower rod, careful to avoid letting the rings slip off the end and went about re-wedging it between the tub walls.

  "It's not a big deal, Jen."

  "I know." Jenny tried to sound casual, cool.

  "So you're not going to say anything?"

  Why did he always think she was against him? Jenny shook her head.

  Davin turned to pick up his clothes.

  Jenny gasped when she saw the large pointed cross with wings tattooed on his back — she couldn't help it — it was breathtaking and she'd always wanted a tattoo. "When did you get that?"

  Davin scowled at her.

  "I'm not going to tell anyone," she reassured. "Does Jacob know?"

  "Yeah, and he was cool about it." Davin pulled his shirt on, covering his body art.

  "I'm cool about it," she mumbled.

  Davin scoffed, reached over her and adjusted the curtain rod before storming away.

  Less than five minutes later, Jacob began rhythmically knocking on the bathroom door.

  "Finally," he huffed when she opened the door.

  "You're early."

  "Yeah," Jacob yawned. "Davin told me what happened. I laughed. He kicked me out. So, you want to see my tattoo?"

  "Funny." Jenny smirked as she grabbed her things. "And no." She stopped just outside the bathroom door. "Wait. Do you have a tattoo?"

  "No, Jenny. Duh." Jacob laughed as he swung the bathroom door shut.

  "What time is it?" Caitlyn slurred as Jenny tiptoed into their room.

  "Just after six."

  Caitlyn yawned, but didn't move.

  Jenny eyed the pink shirt and jeans she'd set out for herself the night before. She didn't want to wear them. She'd loved the idea the night before, but now it felt like all her good intentioned, plan-ahead-for-tomorrow ideals were keeping her dressed a day behind her life. Enough. It was time to change the cycle of wearing yesterday's mood. Today, she would pick out her outfit while she stood naked — well, naked in a towel — in front of her closet. It felt very daring. Rebellious almost, which could only be one color. Black.

  She might take some flack for it, but if Davin could get away with a tattoo and a rather large metal ring through his... uh... whatever... she should totally be able to get away with wearing a little black. Not that anybody saw Davin's uh... anything, but that wasn't the point.

  Unfortunately Jenny didn't own a lot of black. She picked out a blue bra and panties her aunt Janice had bought her while she and Davin were visiting her last summer in Sioux Falls. She slipped into her favorite pair of faded blue jeans and a black, slightly dressy, button up top. It was her summer funeral top — so called because the only time she ever wore black was to funerals and it had short sleeves.

  She eyed her tennis shoes for a moment then slipped into her most comfortable pair of black heels. She grabbed the brush from her dresser and started to pull her hair back into its standard ponytail. As she reached for an elastic hair band, her fingers found a pair of scissors. She combed her long dark tresses across her face and wondered how she might look with bangs.

  "Don't do it," Caitlyn mumbled. "You'll regret it."

  "You're probably right," Jenny conceded, with scissors in hand. Two minutes of contemplation at 6:15 in the morning was probably not the best time to decide to make any long lasting changes in her appearance.

  "Black shirt, but no skirt... did one of the animals die or something?" Caitlyn planted herself on the floor next to Jenny, which meant she wanted Jenny to braid her hair. "Was it the treadmill?" she said, putting a consoling hand on Jenny's knee.

  "Ha. Ha." Jenny laughed then picked up her brush and began to smooth Caitlyn's sleep tangled hair. "I just felt like wearing something different from what I always wear, that's all."

  "So I can borrow your pink shirt?"

  "Yes."

  "Sweet. I'm gonna wear the rose quartz bracelet Jory gave me." Caitlyn beamed. "Rose quartz is all about love and the heart you know."

  "So you've told me."

  Caitlyn sighed. "Do you think Mom and Dad would totally flip out if we got engaged while we were still in high school?"

  "Yes. You're fifteen; you've got eight more months before they let you date."

  "Seven and a half," Caitlyn countered.

  Once she finished with Caitlyn's hair, Jenny took the dryer to her own, and quickly traced on a bit of make-up.

  "I think you should wear these today," Caitlyn handed Jenny an amethyst necklace, bracelet and earrings. "Amethyst is very balancing," Caitlyn said. "It's supposed to be good for nightmares too," she added softly.

  "I'm sorry I woke you," Jenny said.

  "You didn't," Caitlyn
assured, but Jenny could tell she was lying. "It was just a feeling I had. Working with stones makes you more intuitive you know."

  "Thanks, Caitlyn." Jenny gave her a quick hug.

  Her morning routine was back on track by 6:30 as she helped her mother, Nancy, rouse the rest of her siblings: Megan, Joseph, Angela and Dayton, and helped them get ready for school.

  "Why are you so dressed up?" Ten-year-old Angela cocked her head at Jenny.

  "I just felt like it, that's all." Jenny tugged at the hem of her shirt. "What do you think?"

  Angela folded her arms very seriously as she considered her oldest sister's outfit. "I like it," she said. "You look good."

  "Thanks." Jenny smiled and ran her hand over Angela's long blond locks. "Would you like braids or a ponytail today?"

  "Braids," Angela answered. "Then tomorrow I can wear it all crinkly."

  Quincy, her father — and whoever else had breakfast duty that morning — poured cereal, scrambled eggs and made toast. The other kids read out loud from the newspaper and fed animals: two dogs, three cats, a turtle, a parakeet, three rats, and seven fish.

  Most of their pets were rescue animals; which had all started with Rascal, their first dog, who Jenny had found on a camping trip. The most recent additions were the goldfish. They suffered the misfortune of being leftover prizes from a school carnival. Jenny had taken Angela to the bathroom just in time to save them from being flushed. She'd had to reach into the toilet to rescue a couple of them — but it was worth it.

  Davin and Jacob were trying to convince their father that they needed their own car. It was a common debate.

  "But Jenny's got a car," whined Jacob.

  "No I don't." Jenny pitched in. "I have a taxi service."

  "And when your sister goes off to college," Nancy joined in, "you and your brother can take over for her."

  "Oh joy of joys." Davin chimed sarcastically.

  Of course, Jenny knew that her parents were buying Davin a car for graduation. Lucky. Jenny had just sort of inherited the van by default when her parents realized they had another driver to help charter kids about.