Haunted Moon (A Moon Coven Series Novella)

by K. B. Miller

  Chapter Four

  That night, my dreams were plagued with the monstrous figures that modeled themselves after my family, friends, and even strangers. A red eyed, Colleen, glanced up, flashing me an unnerving smile which revealed her fangs. Blood from the innocent townsfolk fell from her chin.

  Drip. Drip.

  I cocked my head just slightly to the left, trying to figure out where that noise was coming from. That turned out to be a huge mistake, because then the scene changed, and I was faced with my Da, in pieces, strewn all over the clearing.

  Once more, everything rearranged itself and then, Seamus and Mary Margaret, stared straight ahead with lifeless eyes. Their necks showed where huge chunks of flesh had been ripped away, by something or someone unseen.

  Then, my sister returned, accompanied by the two kids killed by the vampires. Only, now they too were vampires, and they had my mother cornered.

  “Agh!” I screamed.

  I sat bolt upright in my bed. My brown hair and nightgown were stuck to my body from my profuse sweating. I heard footfalls in the hallway. My terrified eyes met the door just as it swung open, my mother stood in the archway, perfectly alive, and well.

  “Leeny, what is it?” my mum demanded.

  I scanned the tiny bedroom, trying to assure myself that it was just a bad dream. Everything was fine, except...

  “Ma, where’s Colly?” I asked, apprehensively.

  My mother smiled, and sat at the foot of my bed. She patted her hand next to her and I slid into place.

  “Colleen went to spend the night with my sister, Fionna. I told you that she was coming to stay with us for a little while, didn’t I?”

  I nodded my head. “But, why is Colleen staying with her now?” I pushed.

  “Your aunt has a few baubles and bits that she just refuses to leave behind. Colleen went to help her pack. Your aunt wanted you to accompany her on the journey, but you, my dear have been rather busy.” She smiled at me. She knew that I had been at the barn.

  Well, this was as good a time as any to talk to my mum about what I had overheard.

  “I was at the barn earlier... I know that there have been five deaths already.” I lifted my still heavy eyes to meet hers.

  “Murders,” she corrected.

  “I figured that you would be. Well, then you also know that all of the covens are banding together for this one. This is already very serious, Leeny, and things are only going to get worse. I want you and your sister to stick together when you’re outside, alright?” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I agreed, immediately.

  “What I mean by that is, I don’t want you leaving the cottage grounds, at all,” she commanded.

  “Yes, mum. I understand,” I said as I crawled back under the blankets that she had straightened. She walked around to my side of the bed, bent down, and kissed my forehead.

  “No more bad dreams, only happy ones for you, my love.” My mum smiled right before she turned to go back to her room.

  I lay restlessly on my bed, begging for sleep to drag me under. But, I was sure that I had angered the proverbial “Sandman” somehow, because every time that I would get remotely close to dozing off, my body would jump, and I would be wide-awake again. By the time that dawn had rolled around, I had already gotten cleaned up and dressed, straightened my bedroom, and had begun to help my parents prepare breakfast.

  “Leeny, remember what we talked about last night?” my mum asked.

  “Yes, of course,” I replied. She glided towards me, a blessed stake in her hand.

  “I want you to keep this with you from now on,” she offered me the sharpened piece of wood.

  I reached out to touch it. “But, mother, where will I hide it?” I asked in return, looking into her electric eyes. Faster than a cobra strike, she removed her hand with the stake. A second later, I felt the wood against my back tucked in the band of my pants.

  Just then, the kitchen door swung open and in the little archway stood my sister and my Aunt Fionna. It always shocked me just how much she and mum looked alike.

  “I swear, Rose, your family just continues to grow more handsome, by the day,” my aunt declared.

  My father shuffled to the door to help my aunt with her belongings, but she shooed him off. “Declan, you may not be a witch, but we are. This is how we do things.” She clasped her gloved hands together and began softly chanting. All of a sudden, suitcases and trunks were there, in the already packed and overflowing kitchen. My mother shook her head in despair.

  “This is exactly why the others are frightened of us,” she said, suppressing a giggle.

  “Pish-tosh! Those fools are afraid of their own reflections, Rosey, and you know it,” Aunt Fi declared.

  “Hello, Auntie,” I smiled brightly. I leaned over and hugged her. Rising up to my full height, Colly’s eyes briefly met mine. I guess she was still mad at me.

  Colleen tersely spun, grabbed her scarf, and stomped out into the cold afternoon. I caught my mother’s eye and remembered that I had promised that I would stick like glue to my sister when we were out. So, I grabbed my coat and ran after her.

  “Colleen! Wait up, would you?” I screamed at her back.

  “Why are you mad at me?” I said as I grabbed her wrist and spun her around to speak with me.

  I stood, patiently waiting for her to respond. At this point, I honestly wouldn’t have cared if she spit at me. That would have been an improvement to her silence and the constant stomping fits.

  “Truthfully, you don’t know why I’m upset with you?” my sister’s voice was small.

  I shook my head as I walked closer to her. She looked so young and fragile in that moment. I glanced up realization hit me instantly. We had travelled too far. We were in the clearing.

  “Colly, listen to me. We have to get back to the cottage, now!” I demanded. Even after I spoke the words aloud, I knew it was too late.

  Crack! I whipped my head in the direction of the noise, I heard a high-pitched laughter, that reminded me of crystal glasses when they’re brought together to toast someone. Then I spotted exactly what I had been dreading.

  Her waifish figure made her movements look almost feline. The way an old tabby cat stretches without taking their eyes off of you.

  “Which one are you? I enjoy labeling what I eat.” Her derisive laughter was even louder this time. Colly dropped to the ground, pulling herself into a ball. I didn’t think that my sister could handle any more of the cat and mouse game.

  I sent up a silent prayer, Goddess, hear these words, hear my cries. Keep Colly hidden until this evil dies. Blessed be.

  I kept my eyes trained on the enemy, but I knew that my spell had worked, because the vampire’s eyes widened in disbelief. I stood between my invisible sister and the blood-sucking fiend.

  “Oh, darlin...you can’t fight me. I’m over a hundred years old. You’re Aileen, then, the eldest of Rose’s brats. You see, I’m Violet and rumor has it, that you were with your mother when she killed my love, Dillon,” she tinkled, maliciously.

  She brushed her long auburn hair off of her shoulder. At the mention of Dillon’s name one corner of her mouth twitched in a grim manner that conveyed to me, she meant business. She began moving to the right just slightly and I mirrored her movements, but only marginally. I saw the flaw or the chink in my armor, so to speak. If Violet pulled me to far in one direction or the other, she would have ample space to get behind me. That meant certain death. My mother’s words were there in my head, just on the tip of my tongue. I allowed her game to be my cover; I had weapons at my disposal. I had a stake behind me, but my first weapon was my magick. I had only been able to produce a tiny spark calling my element. I needed to embrace who I was, accept it.

  “I am Leeny Moon, daughter of the Goddess and a powerful Moon witch!” I declared. I felt the magick as it coursed through my veins. I flung my arm out in front of me, just as Violet launched herself at my left side. “Fire!” I demanded. On cue, a bri
ght orange flame left my body, scorching the whole of her right side.

  “Ow!” she howled, rubbing the side of her eerily beautiful face. “You, stupid little girl. You want to play? Then, by all means, let us play,” my adversary, screeched.

  Words began filling my head, and I spit them at her, without a clue what they would do. “Stopadh! Cuiro!” Her entire body went rigid for a moment. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the spell would only last that short amount of time. I started toward her just as the effects of the spell wore off. Bad move. I was within a few short feet of her now. I needed to fight, up close and personal. That would be the only way to pierce her heart and end this nightmare. I threw a kick at her side. She cackled as she spun out of the way. I needed a distraction, but what? I had to make her angry; my mum always said that people couldn’t concentrate on a specific task if they were mad. The answer slammed into my head, my mother.

  “Violet, I was there when my mum killed Dillon,” I taunted. We had begun our little dance again. She would start moving to the left and I compensated just a fraction.

  “You have no idea what you are up against, little girl,” she retorted, snarling.

  “I have the basic concept down. You and your little minions think that by taking out the line of witches that created your species, you’ll be safe. Right?” I laughed. I watched the veil of madness drift over her face. She was going to strike. I only had one opportunity to end this and if I failed, I would die.

  She ran directly at Colleen. I spun around and to my horror; the spell that I placed on my sister had worn off. I pulled the stake from behind me and launched myself at Violet. Her fangs were bared, eyes blazing red and I felt the sharpness of the wood pushing against my own chest.

  I looked down in the infinitesimal space between our bodies and couldn’t tell whom the stake had pierced.