Full Moon Falling Faster (Full Moon Series Book 3)

by P. Mattern

  Instantly he was on the other side of the table.

  “Fress!” he intoned, looking into the young lady’s eyes.” I haven’t met your lovely friend!”

  Fress smiled.

  “Byron this is Alexiandra …”Lexi” if she likes you. Lexi this is the famous-or infamous-Byron Chance. He very bravely rescued Mitzi from Adrastos’ castle! “

  Byron thought he saw the girl’s eyes widen in recognition of his name. Up close he was even more entranced by her extraordinary beauty, filled with a sudden urgent desire to see the hidden treasures of her femininity that were hidden up under her diaphanous skirt. He was about to suggest they take their plates out to one of the linen draped tables that had been set up in the garden when the young woman Lexi gasped and moved so quickly away from him that she seemed to have disappeared.

  Byron turned to Fress, thoroughly puzzled. “Did I do something wrong?” He asked.

  Fress shook her finger at him.

  “NO Byron… but I bet you THOUGHT something wrong! Alexiandra is a mind reader - it’s one of her gifts!”

  Byron could feel his face getting hot in embarrassment as he recalled his recent rambling and provocative inner dialogue as he stood next to the girl. He’d been wondering what color her public hair was a split second before she’d vanished.

  “Oh Fress I WAS thinking naughty thoughts… but LOOK at her! I was totally taken by her beauty. Can you possibly explain to her that I just got out of ‘solitary’ at the hospital and that I didn’t mean any harm or disrespect?”

  Fress studied Byron’s handsome face for a moment, and seemed satisfied with his sincerity.

  “I’ll see what I can do but I can’t make any promises. I think that it’s good that we have a brain reader in our midst, maybe you gentlemen can learn to control your thoughts - AND your wild libidos - a little better!”

  Fress gave him a little spank as she turned to seek out Alexiandra, returning in less than four minutes.

  “Today is your lucky day Byron Chance. Miss Alexiandra has granted permission for you to join her at the table near the white roses - she says your second chance is largely due to repeated tales of your bravery on behalf of Mitzi, whom she adores. She says she will be waiting… and eating, because she’s hungry. You might as well bring your plate.”

  Feeling a tinge of anxiety, something he had never experienced when anticipating meeting with a female, Byron took his plate and headed out the back door of Mitzi’s house. He was no longer hungry at all, for chicken wings or anything else in the way of human food. His sole focus was to make amends to the young lady.

  Even from a distance, as he walked with sure strides toward her, he was positive that she was worth it. Standing in front of her with his plate of food, he looked down at her sitting sedately at the table, daintily eating macaroni salad.

  “I apologize.” He said.”And I hope that we can start fresh. I have never encountered a mind reader among vampires and would have certainly censored my thoughts had I known.”

  Alexiandra motioned to the chair next to her and Byron sat down with a great sense of relief.

  “I accept your apology,” she said, taking a sip of pink lemonade through an old fashioned red and white striped straw.” I mean, it’s not like I don’t GET how guys are, mind you, but picking up a blow by blow of what they think they’ll see as they’re undressing you with their eyes is a turnoff… especially when they are someone you’ve been wanting to meet!”

  Byron, ever the opportunist, leapt on the last and most positive part of her statement.

  “You wanted to meet me?” He asked, incredulously.

  “Yes.” She said, smiling such a warm, winsome smile that Byron felt his heart melt a little.

  “I heard… well, you know V-net gossip… I heard about what you did for Mitzi and how Adrastos tortured you for it and left you for dead. That it took practically a year for the Wetwear Center to bring you back. That’s quite a story Mr. Byron Chance - and even if it’s HALF true, quite impressive!”

  “What do you do Alexiandra? Who are you? Where have you been?” Byron asked, really feeling an urgency to have his questions answered, wanting to know everything about her at once. “And how do you know Fress?”

  “I’m Dr. Caligare’s niece by marriage. My Aunt Lolita is his wife. I just finished my undergraduate degrees at Brown University, which I did in two years. I started there when I was 16. I have a Teaching degree and also a B.S. in Quantum physics.

  Oh-and you can call me ‘Lexi’ if you like, everyone else does.” She finished, then tilted her head to the side and continued, ”So what are YOU going to do now Byron Chance? Have you figured out what your next step is yet?”

  Byron just looked at her, searching her cornflower blue eyes, hoping she could read his thoughts again, because at that moment all he could think about was how he could go about making her fall in love with him.

  The Noble twin was bored. He slid down from his kitchen bar seat in the Rabbit family home, and looked idly around for his brother. His brother was playing a video game with Jaxon, a determined look on his face, and Jaxon was cackling wildly whenever he vanquished one of his young opponent’s players and screaming whenever one of his own players took a direct hit from the opposing team. They were playing ’Soulshredder’, the prequel game to ‘Quantum Soul’, which featured men and angels of Light fighting against Demons and Angels of Darkness.

  The youngster thought the games were actually rather boring in comparison to their real lives as vampires on the planet.

  Feeling disgruntled he exited out of Charley’s back door, running across the deck area which featured at that point late in the afternoon numerous couples making out, laughing, and looking intensely into each other’s eyes. He was headed to the wooded area behind Mitzi’s house to search for his baseball that had been catapulted into the woods by Jaxon’s home run. He didn’t have that many baseballs and it was something to do.

  The woods were sticky and humid in the summer heat, the smell of rotting vegetation rising from the forest floor as he trotted through the trees, allowing his eyes to microfocus at various intervals so that he might be able to spot the lost baseball. Off and on he heard the desultory cry of a wild bird, or the sporadic hooting of an owl. There was something that simultaneously attracted and repelled him about forests, something sinister and at the same time exciting and stimulating. His mind was filled with naughty things he could do in a forest-and the first thing that came into his mind he stopped immediately and did, because he felt an urgency.

  He peed against a tree, standing far enough back so that he wouldn’t splash himself. It felt good.

  He continued searching for his ball. He knew that the force of Jaxon’s hit could have propelled it fairly deeply into the woods, but in the dark forest surround he thought the white round object would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

  He also thought of other things he could do in the woods. He hadn’t seen many little girls, and actually had never met a female vampire child. From what he understood they had a different sort of private place between their thighs than he and his twin brother did.

  He made a decision that he’d like to actually see what they had ‘down there’. He made a mental note that if a little girl ever visited he would invite her to take a walk in the woods so that he could check it out at his leisure, without any adults around.

  Suddenly, up ahead of him on the dirt path, he saw a round white object. It was the baseball and he pressed forward and stretched out his hand to grasp it.

  About 5 seconds passed as he moved toward the baseball and he realized that the ball was strangely rolling away from him. Just as he was nearly upon it, it would roll forward a ways.

  “That’s not right,” he muttered to himself, his eyes fixed groundward on the round white object.

  Just as he was about to give up the ball stopped abruptly, and as he reached for it, grunting with exertion after the merry chase it had led him, he noticed with a start that the ba
ll had stopped in front of a pair of heavy black boots with silver buckles.

  As his eyes traveled up the legs and then the torso of the owner of the black boots, his first thought was that he had never seen a man so tall. The stranger had very dark hair, black as night, falling halfway to his shoulders, a well-trimmed beard and piercing eyes under heavy dark eyebrows. His white pirate style shirt was open and a huge golden medallion hanging on a heavy chain featured a septagram containing a dragon within a circle.

  The boy was speechless.

  “Come forward boy.” The tall dark man said in a quiet but yet commanding tone, ”I want to have a look at you.”

  Immediately he became stiff with fear. Suddenly he didn’t care any more about feeling naughty or free. He just wanted his mother.

  “I’m not allowed to talk to strangers!” he said, as boldly as he could muster.

  The stranger looked down upon him speculatively and raised one eyebrow.

  “I am not a stranger.” He said, never breaking his gaze with that of the boy’s.

  The Noble twin hesitated for a moment before shaking his head doubtfully and replying

  “But I don’t know you.” Even as the words came out of his mouth he had a vague feeling that what he had said wasn’t precisely true. There really WAS something familiar about the stranger, though in his cloistered world at the Farm he was sure they’d never met.

  To his surprise the stranger squatted down closer to his level. He noticed that the strangers eyes seemed to burn with a bluish green glow in the dimming light of the forest. The strangers deep rumbling voice, which sounded like distant thunder, seemed kinder when he spoke again.

  “What is your name?” He asked.

  The boy found he couldn’t hesitate. He responded immediately with his name and also his nickname.

  “You have another name,” the stranger said in measured tones. ”One that is more true and tells of your royal lineage, and your future power and strength. It is ‘Argent’-can you say that name for me please?”

  The boy found that he was somehow no longer fearful of the stranger. He was beginning to relax and enjoy the strangers company.

  “Argent.” He said , and then ,”Do I have any other names?”

  The stranger smiled, his white teeth glowing in the forest dusk also, along with his luminous eyes.

  “Yes you do, you clever boy, but you do not have to learn them all today. Can you fly Argent?”

  “Yes.” The boy answered. “I’m not supposed to unless our flying teachers are with us, but sometimes I practice on my own when no one is looking-like when I’m in the bathroom. Wanna see?”

  The stranger nodded and rose upward and upward to his standing height again. The boy felt very small compared to the stranger, and he immediately felt for his flying muscle in order to rise. Slowly he elevated until he was eye to eye with the stranger, and then on impulse, raised upward a few more inches until he was looking down at the strangers surprised face.

  The stranger clapped his hands.

  “Bravo young Argent! You have learned your lessons well. Your control is very impressive. You may descend now, using the same control.”

  As the boy descended he again looked upward at the stranger’s face, puzzling.

  “Who ARE you?” he asked the stranger abruptly. The longer he talked with the stranger, the more familiar he seemed, the stranger’s face prodding at his memory. And now he wasn’t afraid of the stranger at all.

  Once again the stranger got down level to the Noble boy, this time on his knees with his magnificently embroidered cloak trailing on the forest floor.

  “I am Adrastos, Lord Earl of Faquier Hall, a castle located far from here. I am of noble birth-a vampire ,yes-but a vampire with magical abilities.

  …And you, young master, are my son.”

  Stunned, the boy tried to process what the stranger was telling him. Before he could react the stranger reached forward and pulled the Noble twin into his embrace. Again, the boy marveled that he wasn’t afraid, that it seemed right that the stranger was hugging him, even though the tall man was making strange sounds deep in his throat, as though he were sobbing. The stranger smelled pleasantly of evergreens and spices, and the boy felt himself relaxing in the tall man’s arms.

  Eventually the stranger pulled back. In the far distance, the boy could hear several people, including his mother Mitzi, calling his name. A strong breeze seemed to spring up out of nowhere, blowing the dark curtain of the tall man’s hair back from his face, and the boy shivered involuntarily.

  “You must go now, your mother is worried.” He said, a tinge of sadness in his voice.” I will come again to visit you, and you must keep our visits a secret. But I want to give you a parting gift before I go. Hold out your hand, Argent, palm up, please, and you will receive a gift.”

  Moving as if he were in a dream (and in his young mind he wasn’t at all sure that it WASN’T a dream), he offered his right hand, palm up to the stranger. The man took his upheld hand in his left hand and seemed to write on it with the upraised index finger on his right hand. The boy was spellbound watching him, and could feel a tingling sensation on his upraised palm as the man traced letters in a flowing script.

  “There.” He said, letting go of the boy’s hand. “I have given you the ability to make others do your bidding-anything that you wish them to do. You have to put your whole palm on them and say “Impleo” when you do it, and then give them a command.

  Because you are so young and unseasoned in the ways of Magick, this will be but a temporary gift and will only work three times for you, so use it wisely. It is a powerful gift and I expect you to use it thoughtfully… and the next time I visit I will query you on how this gift was used. Do you understand?”

  The boy nodded soberly. The voices calling for him were getting louder but he didn’t care. He stood mesmerized by the stranger, who seemed to be the most exciting creature that he had ever encountered. The stranger got up, handing the boy the baseball.

  “Here, Argent, my beloved son. Go now to your mother. And remember what I have told you. With Dark Gifts come a Dark Responsibility. Go now!”

  And the stranger vanished, leaving behind a curious dark vapor, which dissipated within a few seconds.

  The boy gasped. Then looking down at the baseball in his hand, smiled. Running up the path as quickly as he was able with his short chubby legs he cried out, ”Mother I’m here!” He knew he would be scolded for venturing into the woods ,perhaps even get a consequence, but at that moment he didn’t remotely care because in his young tender mind it had all been exciting- and very much worth it.

  Most of all, he couldn’t wait to use his new power.

  Dendra reclined against the huge bank of silken pillows at the top of her bed, spreading her dark hair over them. On nights like this when she felt like staying in, she had gotten in the habit of conjuring up a lover, rather than go to the effort of going to one of the local nightspots. That could be exciting, she had to admit-her entrance into any place of sexual conquest generally caused a stir because of her great beauty. She never lacked for lovers which was a good thing.

  Very good in fact, because in her vampire state she was literally insatiable.

  Dendra required variety in the shape, size and ages of her lovers. Many were dark haired good looking younger male energies. Some had been young human males that she had seduced-so far she’d been with the paper boy, the lawn boy, the next door neighbor’s son and a random young man who had come by selling magazine subscriptions. Most of her lovers considered themselves extremely fortunate to have been Dendra’s lover and quite a few had attempted to make return engagements, but to no avail. Dendra went through men as though they were boxed Kleenex tissues.

  Lately she had been using some Magick skills taught to her by Sephla, before Sephla’s demise. Sephla had shown Dendra how to conjure up the headless male creatures known as ‘Murdants’, beings that existed in another more sinister dimension and were programmed by thei
r dark natures to go tirelessly from female energy to female energy, performing sexually on demand. Hesitant at first, Dendra summoned a Murdant one night out of sheer boredom and found to her amazement that they were not only exceptionally well endowed but also tireless and servile-obeying her every command. She found that she preferred her lovers headless-they never had bad breath and they couldn’t talk, drool, sneeze, give bad head or do any of the other annoying things that real lovers, whether human or immortal, did. Their torsos were beautiful, with finely cut musculature, strong legs, long thick members and well defined upper arms.

  When she wanted them to leave, she simply spoke the incantation backwards and they disappeared instantly.

  Dendra’s addiction to the Murdants took over her nights. Only once had Daniel , hearing a noise as he was coming home from Fress’s cottage and having been concerned for his mother, knocked on and opened the door to his mother’s room. The scene that greeted his eyes was shocking: he saw the backside of a naked and headless male entity on top of his mother and quickly closed the door, filled with violent disgust. The next day when they’d passed each other in the hallway Daniel had avoided looking at Dendra, even though she felt no shame and had no problem looking at him. In her mind, he was an adult just as well as she was and would have to accept HER sexuality just as she had accepted his.

  After all, urges were urges, and with the heightened sensation that came with being a vampire, they were rarely denied.

  Dendra smirked to herself. Mitzi had even confided in her that she-Mitzi, the original goody two shoes devoted mother- had been riding IAN instead of her horses for a few weeks before Cass seemed to get it together again. Dendra hadn’t bothered to inform Mitzi that she herself had had the FIRST taste of the fine sensuous lovemaking of the Welshman, and found it a great private joke that Mitzi’s ONE dalliance while technically married had been ’sloppy seconds’ with a male energy that had been one of Dendra’s first conquests.