Haunted Moon (A Moon Coven Series Novella)
Page 5
Chapter Five
“Aileen! Colleen!”
I yanked my stake from the withering heap it was attached to, giving the corpse a wide berth. I spun on my heel gearing up for another attack, only to find my parents racing toward us. The breath that I’d been holding rushed from my lungs as I glanced at my sister. She was still on the ground. She had pulled her arms and legs in to her body, making herself even smaller. Whimpering sounds escaped her mouth.
“She came at Colly, and I... I killed her...” my voice wavered.
Thump.
My mother dropped to the ground next to Colleen and began running her hands all over her huddled body, looking for any injury. My father slowed down in front of me, raising his hands in a non-threatening manner.
“Darlin, it’s me, Da,” he said tenderly. I searched his lined face. I couldn’t understand why he was speaking to me like that.
“Well, of course you are. Who else would you be?” I paused as a gentle breeze lifted my hair.
“You did well, granddaughter. Whenever you have need of me, all you have to do is call. I will never abandon you,” said an ethereal voice.
I whipped my head around. Floating a few yards in front of me was three of the most beautiful women that I had ever seen. Was I dreaming? I reached down with my thumb and forefinger, pinching my arm. “Ouch!”
Okay... what I was witnessing was not a hallucination brought on by adrenaline or just the fact that I could be insane. It was real. They were real. I opened my mouth to ask them, who they were, but my mother saved me the trouble.
“Annie? Nana? How is this possible?” my mother’s voice trembled.
I looked to my mother. She must have been satisfied that her younger daughter was not harmed. She joined me, shoulder to shoulder.
“Rosey, she fights with the same zeal as you,” said the tallest of the pearly figures.
My mum smiled as her eyes found mine. After kissing my forehead, she turned back to the ghosts in front of us. “Nana, I didn’t know that you could come back to us. And, who are... Wait, you’re Ana Moon. The one...” my mother was cut off.
“The one who began this wretched curse that haunts our family line even now. Four hundred and fifty years after my misguided attempt to save my Landon. Yes, it is I, Ana.” She lowered her transparent head.
I felt sorry for her. Because, of one moment in time, a singular choice, her entire family and the fate of the world had been altered and placed in jeopardy.
“We’re always with you, all of you. Blessed be,” Nana called, as the three figures faded.
I looked over to my sister. She was in my father’s arms being cared for.
“I am so proud of your bravery, Aileen,” she smiled at me. “We must get back to the cottage, and prepare your rite of initiation immediately.”
We gathered Colleen and my dad and started back to our home. I recounted the entire event to my parents. In telling them the story something troubled me. “Mum, how did I know how to do those spells? I’d never read about them. And whose voice was that in my head?” I asked.
Her laughter almost scared me into believing we were under attack again “Leeny, that was our Goddess and she spoke the spells right into your mind.” She placed her index finger on my temple and continued laughing.
As soon as we reached the cottage, Aunt Fi and a few of the other coven members that I recognized were there. That made another question pop into my already full mind, “Mum, how did you know that Colly and I were in trouble?” I pleaded.
Aunt Fi spoke up, “Child, your mum had a vision and took off out of here like a bat out of hell, with your Da at her heels,” she said, proudly.
“Will I have those also? The visions, I mean,” I prodded, sheepishly.
My mother just smiled at me leaving the question unanswered.
The next few days were complete insanity. Coven members popping in and out, giving updates on what progress had been made in the ritual and the vampires. From what I was allowed to hear, the vampires had retreated into Northern Ireland for the time being, but it was agreed that wouldn’t last long.
On the evening of the full moon my mother came into my room, bringing with her the initiation shift that had been passed down through our family. With her help, my mum and I had altered my appearance from a young girl, to a lively new witch. My brown curls hung loose all around me, giving the slightest appearance of a bounce as I moved. The shift clung to the shape of my body, but gave easily as I walked. Colleen walked in with a cup of my mum’s rose hip tea and handed it to me. My mother brushed a tear that leaked from her eye, before she turned and departed the room.
“You’re beautiful, Leeny!” she exclaimed.
I smiled, drinking my tea as I waited for instruction. I knew that I would not be cold with the rose hip concoction in my system, but nonetheless, I still worried.
“Aileen-Fionna Moon,” my aunt called.
I passed the empty mug to my sister’s outstretched hand and headed for the door. I gave my room one last parting look. I would never enter this room as a girl again. From tonight forward I would be a witch. My cheeks began aching from the smile that I had plastered on my face. I floated down the stairs, and with my aunt in the lead, I followed in her wake to the clearing. My father and sisters followed behind me. But, where was my mother?
The flames danced higher and higher, with every step that I walked nearer to the already formed circle. There she was. Of course, she had to open the circle before I could enter. She was the leader of our coven, the Moon Coven.
“How do you come into this circle?” my mother asked.
“I, Aileen Moon, stand before you Goddess in this sacred place with only perfect love and perfect trust in my heart. I give my blood oath to serve you willingly, to help keep the natural balance in order. I vow to protect those that cannot protect themselves,” I finished.
I took the athame that my mother offered and poked the tip of my finger. I walked over to the cauldron and gave three drops of my blood. My mother had crept up behind me, nudging my arm. I slowly turned around. In her hand was a beautiful moonstone. I knew what had to be done. I rubbed the tip of my bloody finger on its smooth surface then tossed it into the bubbling potion.
“This is my sacrifice to you, Goddess!” I proclaimed to the night.
As I turned around to once again face my mother and the coven, they were all together laughing and smiling. My mother held up her finger and from it an amazing chain of silver dangled. However, it was the object dangling from the chain that rendered me breathless. Dazzling prisms of light played on the chunks of moonstones that had been finely crafted, and set into my amulet. This one had all five elements marked.
My mum clasped the chain around my neck and whispered, “Never, take it off. My little precious one.”
I sent up a silent prayer to my Goddess. “I promise to always walk in your light and do my very best.”
I had met so many members of the surrounding covens that evening; I knew that I would never remember any of their names. After briefly speaking to the last of the party guests, I found my way over to the offering table and poured myself a cup of wine. My parents were very rigid on their rules of no drinking, but this was a Wiccan ceremony, my mother had agreed to one glass. I allowed the strange tartness of the drink to take hold of my senses for just a moment. I heard a musical giggle from behind me. I knew without turning around, who I would find.
“So, are we still anxious to become a witch?” I searched her forever-changed eyes.
“Not now...I still want to be one, but I can wait. Too much responsibility for me,” my little sister’s melodic voice giggled again.
I felt strange. Perhaps it was the wine. The trees began to wobble and the earth under my feet felt as though it was quaking. My vision blurred, I was no longer in the clearing, with my friends, family, and coven. I saw myself older. The wind raged mercilessly off of the water. I was on a ship, and I had company...Seamus stood protectively close to
me.
“Leeny, I have been giving this a lot of thought. Will you marry me...” his voice trailed off.
Just as quickly as that glimpse into the future began, it had ended. I felt the corners of my lips twitch as Seamus McNamara caught my attention from across the field. He smiled brightly at me in the firelight, and I returned the gesture. My sister nudged my shoulder.
“What happened? You completely blacked out for a moment. Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.
I smiled at her and whispered
“I had my first vision. I am going to marry that man,” I said, as I smiled, pointing at my future husband.
The Beginning
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The Moon Coven Series:
Compulsion
Harvest Moon
Conversion (Book 2) Coming 2013
Once Upon A Zombie Apocalypse - Kylee
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Supernatural Society Part 1
Hecate’s Awakening
Ghosts from my Past
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Author Biography
Okay, so I’m supposed to tell you about me ...
Seriously, if I wrote a book about myself, it would take you ten minutes to read and you would be bored stiff after the first two! LOL
I’m a full-time writer, wife, and mother. Which basically means there’s always a surplus of pencils lost somewhere in my hair, I usually have some place to be (I’m always late), I have a bad habit of calling family and friends random character’s names (from my books), I talk to myself because no one else listens to me, and I can throw together a mean dinner for eight with only ten minutes notice and four ingredients in the pantry, LOL.
If you can’t find me on the sidelines of my sons’ football games, online, cooking, cleaning, shopping, at the local coffee joint or on the phone wandering aimlessly throughout my house then I’ve probably hidden myself in my “bat-cave” to write.
I have a positive attitude, and absolute fun-loving approach to life. That makes it easy for the voices in my head to take over on a regular basis providing endless hours of entertainment for my pleasure, and hopefully yours.
Love, Hugs, and Twitchy Witchy Kisses, K.B., xoxo