Luminescent: Crescent Wolves

by Cate Maroon

  “I’m okay, a little confused about pretty much everything to be honest.”

  “That is natural after everything you have been through.”

  “I guess. It just feels like everyone is hiding things from me.”

  “Have you spoken to anyone about that?”

  “No, I have been nervous to, seeing as the last time something strange happened and I tried to talk to Jackson about it, he made me feel like I was not stupid as such but he made me feel like he did not believe me, or that he was trying to make me feel like I was seeing things.”

  “What was it exactly that you saw that made this altercation between the two of you?”

  “I wouldn’t call it an altercation as such, more of a disagreement. I saw a pack of wolves through my bedroom window a few nights ago, and it looked like they were going to come in the house. That’s when the dreams started.”

  “Do you want to talk about the dreams?”

  “Not right now. I didn’t have one last night and with everything that happened yesterday, I don’t want to tempt fate, and cause them to come back.”

  “I understand. You are going through a lot of changes right now. Your parents leaving, moving into a strange house.”

  “You know about my parents?”

  “Max told me; I hope you don’t mind?”

  “No, it’s not like it’s a secret.”

  “Then there was yesterday. Do you remember any of it?”

  “I remember everything!”

  “Have you spoken to the Taylors about what you remember?”

  “Not yet. I am still trying to work a lot of it out for myself. I know we have to talk about it at some point but for now, I’m grateful that they are giving me some space to figure stuff out.”

  “Well, here is my card, in case you want to talk about anything.”

  “Thanks.” I took the card and placed it in the drawer next to my bed.

  “I guess we should go down before the food gets cold.” I nodded in response.

  We all sat at the table; it was a little awkward at first as the boys were all silent. None of them made an effort to include themselves in the three-way conversation between me, Masie and Max. I felt sorry for her but I understood that the boys felt strange. However, after everything that Masie did for me, I thought they would be a little more courteous. I decided to do something about it.

  “Jackson, can you come and give me a hand with getting some more drinks?” He looked at me curiously seeing as there were still a few drinks on the table already, but he did as I asked.

  “Can you please try to include yourself in the conversation. I know it is awkward but Masie deserves at least that, as a thank you for what she did for me last night.”

  “I know, I’m sorry, it’s just hard. Dad hasn’t had anyone over since our mom died and I’m trying to work out what it means.”

  “I get it but does it have to mean anything? Can’t it just be two friends eating together?”

  “I guess it could.”

  “Then that’s all it is.”

  Jackson grabbed some cold bottled water from the fridge and I carried some more, placing the bottles on the table. The rest of the night went a lot better. As soon as Jackson started joining in the conversation, his brothers got involved too. Max seemed a lot happier, while Masie seemed to relax.

  Chapter fifteen

  Jackson

  I waited for Kayla to go to sleep and decided to go back downstairs. We hadn’t had a proper chance to talk since everything escalated yesterday. We had so much to talk about but with Kayla here, there wasn’t a chance to talk properly. We needed to decide what we were going to tell Kayla and more importantly, what we were going to do about the other wolf. The full moon was still a couple of weeks away, so we had some time to come up with a plan but we really needed to get the conversation started. I crept downstairs so that I did not wake Kayla. I already knew that my dad and brothers were still up, I could hear them talking quietly.

  We went down to the basement; it was soundproofed down there, so there was no chance of Kayla overhearing our conversation if she did wake up. We gathered on the old gray L shaped sofa: all of the furniture down here had come from our old house. It was all the things that my mom had loved and that was the reason we kept it. My dad sat in front of us on Mom’s old chair so that we could all get a good view of him.

  “Have you told Kayla yet?” my dad asked.

  “Not yet,” I shrugged.

  “Well you need to do it and the sooner the better.”

  “How can I when I do not know what to say?”

  “Do you want us to tell her with you?” Hunter asked.

  “Is that a good idea, she is going to be freaked out enough without all of you there.”

  “That is true but if we are all there, it could be easier to explain,” my dad stated.

  “Have you heard from her parents?” Josh asked my dad.

  “Yes. I called them last night to bring them up to speed with the situation.”

  “Are they coming back?” I asked with skepticism.

  “No.”

  “Well that makes things more difficult. At least if they were here, they could have told her the truth,” Hunter stated.

  “Any news on her grandparents?” Jay asked.

  “They are still the same.”

  “They could at least text her to let her know that her grandparents are still alive.”

  “I know, I did tell them that they needed to text her more often.”

  “They haven’t text her at all. In fact, she’s lucky if they even bother to reply to her.”

  “I know Son but there is nothing more that I can do.”

  “I understand that Dad but it is wrong on so many levels. If they did not want children, they should not have had any!”

  “All we can do is be there for Kayla.”

  “What I do not get is how they could let her go through her whole life not knowing who she really is!” Hunter said angrily.

  “I spoke to Masie about that when I walked her out last night,” my dad said.

  “And what did she say?” I asked.

  “Yeah, does she know anything?” Hunter added.

  “She does and it’s not good news,” my dad replied.

  “Why would it be? We can’t catch a break lately, so why would this be any different?”

  “Yeah, sorry Son,” he sighed. “It seems that Kayla has some sort of spell on her, suppressing not only her werewolf gene but all knowledge of the supernatural, outside of fiction books.”

  “How does Masie know all that?” Josh asked.

  “She felt it when she was trying to bring Kayla back from the shock last night.”

  “That still does not explain how Masie knows about spells and the supernatural Dad,” Jay shrugged.

  “Masie is a witch and an immensely powerful one at that!” My dad stated like it was the sanest explanation. Even though, it added to a long list of questions.

  “But can she help us?” I asked hopefully.

  “Maybe she could break the spell,” Hunter added.

  “I do not know; I don’t have all the answers. I would need to talk to her, to find out,” Dad replied.

  “Can you call her?” Jay asked.

  “She is a witch Son, not a vampire.” My dad let out a small laugh, even though nothing about this whole situation was funny.

  “So?” Jay replied, not understanding how stupid he sounded. I guess he was more tired than I thought.

  “She will be sleeping. I will go and see her first thing in the morning. But either way, you need to tell Kayla everything tomorrow,” he explained.

  “Oh,” Jay said, finally getting it. “Let’s just hope Masie can help.”

  “Yeah it would be a lot easier if Kayla had her supernatural switch on,” Hunter said.

  “Right, that is the Kayla situation sorted. Hunter, grab some drinks out of the fridge before we move on. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night!” my d
ad said.

  Hunter heads upstairs to get some drinks and the twins go to help him but knowing them, they would raid the cupboards while they were up there. While they were gone, I decided to get up to go and stretch my legs. I paced around the room, while we waited for my brothers to come back, checking the security camera in Kayla’s room to make sure that she was okay. I could see her clearly and she looked like she was sleeping soundly, and I had Masie to thank for that.

  “Everything will be okay Jackson. I won’t let anything happen to Kayla or any of you for that matter.”

  “I know.” I could not really say anything else. I was still really angry at my dad and Hunter for stopping me from killing the mutt when I had the chance.

  My brothers returned with drinks and snacks, and we all took our seats back on the sofa.

  “Right back to work,” my dad said before taking a long sip of his beer. “Josh, Jay, have you found anything out about the wolf?”

  “Nothing!”

  “Yeah, the dude’s a ghost. He has no social media, I can’t find anything about him anywhere online,” Josh added.

  “Hunter, how about you?”

  “Nothing in the archives so far, but I’m going to keep looking.”

  “Wait a minute, how are you looking for him online?”

  “Jay took a photo of him.”

  “Well, why don’t you take it to the next town? Show it around, someone has to know who he is.”

  “That’s a good idea. Jay send me that photo, I’ll ask around when I go to see Masie.”

  Dad’s phone pinged before he finished his sentence. He checked his phone and then got Jay to send the photo to all of us.

  “I guess that’s all we can do for tonight,” Dad said as he stood from his chair and stretched.

  “Yeah, it’s been a long night,” Hunter yawned.

  We all went up to bed and I crept back into Kayla’s room. I climbed into bed carefully, so I did not wake her. I really wanted to enjoy laying next to her tonight because who knew what tomorrow would bring!

  Chapter Sixteen

  Max

  I was up long before anyone else in the house because I had a lot to do. How the rest of today went depended a lot on what happened with my conversation with Masie, and whether she would be able to undo whatever spell was on Kayla. I got into my truck and texted Hunter.

  Tell your brother not to say anything to Kayla until I get back tonight. Hopefully, Masie will be with me because that means she can help.

  No problem. Good luck!

  I started the truck and decided to send another quick text before I left.

  Do not let your brothers do anything stupid.

  I waited for a reply so I could relax, knowing that he had got my text.

  Do not panic Dad, we got this!

  I drove away from my home and a sick feeling settled deep in the pit of my stomach. I did not usually get nervous, but there was something about that strange wolf that had me unsettled; it was like he held some strange secret which gave him the upper hand. I hated the way it made me feel, as I was the only one who could protect my family. Right now, I was not sure that I could hold on to everything that was mine. While I could admit that to myself, I could not let anyone else share my burden. I pulled into Masie’s long driveway, which was lined with trees that were hundreds of years old. Her cherry red Lexus was parked outside the front door, a sure sign that she was home. Before I had even gotten out of my truck, Masie was on the porch waiting to greet me.

  “Is everything okay Max?”

  “Everyone is fine Masie, don’t panic.”

  “That’s good, come on in then and I will put the kettle on.”

  “That would be great, we have a lot to talk about.”

  “I know.”

  Masie’s house was exactly the same as the last time I was here over twenty years ago. Crystals were placed in each room, and various talismans, hung here and there for protection. The furniture was antique, and a lot of it had belonged to Masie’s mother, and her mother before that. It was one of the things that kept a witch connected to their family line of witches who came before them.

  In the kitchen there was a huge bookshelf that filled the length of the longest wall. It was filled with grimoires containing spells dating back to the first witch in Masie’s family. It was the most important part of a witch’s history and it made sense everything was all kept in the kitchen. This was the room that a witch spent the most time, working on spells and potions.

  I sat at Masie’s small dining table which she had painted sky blue. It had flowers and vines twisted around the legs, and onto the corners of the tabletop. She joined me at the table with a sweet-smelling herbal tea.

  “You look like you have the world on your shoulders.”

  “It was a long night.”

  “You have a lot going on.”

  “I know, I was hoping that I could get your help with some of it?”

  “If I can help in any way I will, you know that Max.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief and drank my tea, allowing myself to relax slightly. I felt as though I could get through all of this if Masie could help with anything, which would mean that I could shift more of my attention onto the wolf. I started at the beginning, filling Masie in on everything that had happened since I moved back to my hometown and ending at the point where she came to help Kyla two nights ago. She listened carefully, taking it all in and did not stop me to ask questions. When I had finally finished, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted, and that I could breathe a little easier.

  “Do you have a picture of the wolf?”

  “I do but that isn’t what I need your help with.”

  “I didn’t think it was but maybe I can help with that too.”

  I unlocked my phone and passed it to Masie with the photo of the wolf in human form on the screen. I watched her curiously as she studied the image and muttered words so quietly that I could barely hear anything that came out. It did not matter anyway, as I would not have understood her. She passed me my phone back and went over to the bookshelf, selecting one of the grimoires before she returned to the table.

  “Do you know him?”

  “No,” she replied, as she frantically flipped through the pages of the book.

  “Is everything okay Masie?”

  “I’m not entirely sure yet, give me a few minutes.”

  I sat in silence as she scanned through pages, searching for whatever it was she was looking for. Eventually she settled on a page, studied it carefully, before she read the next pages. I watched as the color faded from her caramel-colored skin.

  “There is an ancient darkness attached to this wolf.”

  “How can you get that from a photo?”

  “Pass me your phone and I will show you. It’s difficult for anyone who isn’t a witch to see.”

  I handed Masie my phone, and she plugged it into her laptop, downloading the picture to her computer. She opened the enlarged image and zoomed in on the photo. It was not clear to me what we were looking at. I turned my head in different angles, hoping that by looking at the picture differently, it would make whatever it was much clearer. It did not! I looked at Masie to point it out for me. She moved the arrow on the screen and highlighted a section of the image.

  I looked closely and could see what I would have presumed was a shadow. Masie showed me a hand drawn image in her grimoire that was practically the same as what appeared to be attached to the strange wolf. It was then that I realized it was not a shadow at all. I could now clearly see the form of a demonic-looking creature that looked like it was having a piggyback ride on the man’s shoulders.

  “I can see it, but what is it?”

  “It’s a dark entity and a powerful one at that.”

  “What kind of dark entity?”

  “That is what I cannot be sure of: it could be a witch, a deity or a wolf spirit.”

  “And it’s attached to the wolf? So, it is not the wolf that is the problem but
the entity?”

  “Not exactly. The entity merely attaches itself to a dark soul in order to feed and gain power. The wolf himself is dangerous but this entity attached to him, makes him the purest of evils.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “You said he wanted Kayla or the land.”

  “He did and we have until the full moon to come up with a plan.”

  “Well, obviously you aren’t going to give him Kayla.”

  “Not a chance in hell.”

  “Then you need to ask yourself how much your land means to you.”

  “Almost as much as my family, other than them, it’s all I have left.”

  “Then we need to find a way for you to keep both.”

  “I take it Kayla still does not know she is a wolf.”

  “No but we are going to have to tell her and that is where I was hoping you could help.”

  “I can try, what do you need me to do?”

  “Break the spell that is blocking off her supernatural side.”

  “Is that all?” she laughed nervously.

  “I know I am asking a lot of you but I really think this is the best way to explain everything to Kayla, so that we can keep her safe.”

  “It would be. If she embraced her wolf, not only would she be safer but it would stop a lot of the conflict inside of her too.”

  “That is the hope, but can you do it?”

  “I can try but the spell is old magic and I may not be able to break it. I am willing to try though.”

  “It’s all I can ask.”

  “When do you plan on doing this?”

  “As soon as possible. We had hoped to tell her tonight but I can tell that you may need more time to prepare.”

  “Usually I would but time is something that we don’t have. The sooner Kayla is free from the spell, the better.”

  “Is there anything that I can help you with?”

  “Not really and it could take me a few hours to gather everything I need. Is there anything else you needed to do while you’re in town?”

  “Well, I was going to go into town and see if I could get a lock on the wolf. I wanted to try and find out his name or anything really that could help us to defeat him.”