Her hand passes over the mirror, setting it swirling darkly before it gradually brightens into a picture of Selena's father. He is standing over a desk that is covered with a large map, a pendulum dangles from the hand hovering above the map. He appears to be angry.
"What is that on the pendulum?" She leans closer to the mirror her nose near touching the silvered glass, peering at the pendulum. "It's, I think it is hair. He must have saved some of her hair! Sneaky, sneaky. But it isn't working."
He walks over to the mirror, "Could you lean back a bit so I can see it as well? Why so it isn't working," he chuckles, "he does look angry. It isn't often he is so neatly thwarted. He must have felt the loss when the cords were cut."
"Looks like he is getting a call."
The two watch as he answers the phone, speaking briefly. As he listens to the person on the other end, an evil smile spreads across his face and he begins to laugh, carelessly tossing the pendulum down on the desk.
The two watchers look at each other, "He's found her." they say to each other in unison.
They watch as he scribbles some things in his journal and leaves to get in his car and go to the home of the one he has finally found.
“He won’t confront her yet. This is just a scouting mission. He is more calculating than to just show up right after finding her, besides, he tried that once.”
“I remember. She left and it has taken him years to find her. He has been fuming over it so long, were he human he would have had an attack of some sort by now and died.”
“We should warn her, if he gets ahold of that child, Luna will be his to control.”
“You’re right. We can’t let him have control of Selena’s mother now that she is no longer his to control. We will watch him as he scouts her house, when he has gone home we will call Selena to come to visit us.”
“Do we tell her all we know?”
“I think it is time. But what about Gabriel, he has seen Kya? He will find out soon that we knew. Do we tell him everything?”
“Let us see what his reactions are and we will decide then.”
9
Apophis
In a large house set overlooking a valley in the mountains outside the town of Ellville, North Carolina, Selena’s father hangs up the phone. He smiles, though it doesn’t make him look happy. With skin the color of clotted cream and the sinewy grace of his body, Apophis was a sight to see, even if he wasn’t happy. He presses a button on the intercom mounted on his desk and announces that he will need a car pulled round in ten minutes. After he releases the button, a voice replies, “Yes sir.”
He sits behind his desk and begins to write in a journal that lay open and waiting for his attention.
“I have found her. Luna can run but she can’t hide from me for long; she has our other child, I will need that one too. Selena’s bonds were released today. A blow to my plans certainly, but I intend to see to it that she submits willingly to a new set. I must act quickly, her mother will be trying to get to her now that she is not kept away by my spell. I see now that it was a mistake to connect the bonds and the banishing spell. If only Luna would have cooperated, she could have been part of Selena’s life all this time. Without her to breed with me, I must have Selena to breed with the right lineage. Kya is, unfortunately, not from the right lineage, but she will do to get Selena back in my power if I cannot renew the bonds tonight. Once I collect the other child of my lineage from Luna, I will have another to breed and perhaps I can bring Luna back under my command with control of both our children.”
The intercom beeps and a voice says, “Sir, your car is ready.”
He stands and leaves the study, eager to see where his wife has been hiding.
He drives the winding mountain roads to town, continuing on to the other side before turning off onto a barely noticeable dirt road with no street sign. He pulls into a long unused driveway and shuts off his car. Getting out he looks around and seeing no one he waves his hand, making his car unseen and becoming a smaller version of his other form, that of a large white snake.
Luna’s house should be only a short distance from this spot and in this form she would be unlikely to notice him. He slithers in the general direction of her home, stopping occasionally to taste the air and survey his surroundings.
He spots her house and the vines surrounding it. Roses! Always the damned thorniest roses possible because those were her favorites. He curses, knowing that he will not be able to get as close as he would like or see as much as he needs. He gets as close as he can, slipping his way up a tree for a better view. He smiles, a half-open mouth snake kind of smile; he chose his vantage point well. He can see directly into the living area where the other daughter is, not so much a child as she is not much younger than Selena. She is clearly talking to someone on the phone, but he can’t tell about what as she is texting. Luna is letting a dog out and looks concerned by all the racket it is making. She stands watchful at the doorway as the dog runs around sniffing and looking very agitated. Suddenly, the dog lifts its head and looks dead at him. The eyes! Shit, that is no dog! It’s a Hel hound! It knows I am here! The dog runs to the fence and is barking madly, Apophis sighs and throws himself out of the tree to hit the ground below and slither away as if he were a regular snake. The dog continues to go mad but now he can hear Luna calling the dog back to the house, satisfied that the dog is only overreacting to a snake.
Back in his home, Apophis paces deep in thought before sitting at his desk and picking up the phone to call Selena.
“Hi Dad! How are you doing?”
“I am doing great kiddo! You and Kya were on my mind today, anything interesting happen?”
“Well, now that you mention it, yes, some very strange things happened today. But I don’t want to talk about it over the phone, it was just too crazy.”
“Oh? Why don’t you and Kya come over for dinner tonight? You can tell me all about it while we eat.”
“I have my friends over, but they were here for all of it. Would you mind if I brought them too?”
He grits his teeth, “I wouldn’t mind at all, I love having your friends over. The more the merrier and maybe with all of us we will have luck with some insight into whatever it was that happened.”
“Perfect! You’re the best Dad! We'll see you in a little while, love you!”
“Love you too.”
He carefully hangs up the phone before slamming his hand down on the desk in frustration. If he had gotten her here alone, the bonds having been destroyed so recently, he could have replaced them without her noticing. Now, it would be too long before he saw her alone again and the bonds gone too long. He needed to find out what she knew so he could guide her suspicions in the right direction, far away from him. He hits a button on the intercom. A voice comes back, “Yes sir?”
“We will have guests tonight for dinner, including the children. Plan for a larger dinner and ready the usual rooms in case they stay over.”
“Yes sir.”
An hour later Selena, Linnette, Hayden, and Dwayne arrive with all the children in tow for a dinner with her father. With the agreement between all the adults that the days’ events should be discussed after dinner without the children present, they all sit down and have a magnificent meal prepared by Apophis’s cook. Afterward, the children go down the hall with the maid to watch a favorite movie and eat plenty of ice cream. Apophis takes the adults into his study where wine and dessert cakes are waiting.
Selena tells him the story of what happened; the invisible ropes and the burning of them, the reading from Hayden, and the precautions they have taken since then.
Apophis is quiet for long moments, appearing to be deep in thought. Finally, he asks, “Where do you think this came from? Have you got any ideas?”
“No. I am stumped. I can’t even guess who would want me bound like that. It makes me feel violated just thinking about them suffocating my magic for who knows how long.”
Linnette and Hayden exchange a g
lance at this point but remain silent and unnoticed as they are sitting cuddled on a loveseat outside direct view.
Apophis leans forward in his chair, “Let’s look at this logically: Who would want you to be under their control? Have you seen anyone new recently? Anyone from your past that had been out of your life? What are the odd coincidences happening for you right now?”
“Well, now that you mention it, I saw Gabriel just the other day out of the blue. I ended up introducing him to Kya. He is still sticking to that crazy lie about you telling him awful things about me. I don’t understand why he would after so long." She pauses in thought, "Another strange thing, his parents never told him about Kya. They see her frequently, but in all this time they never mentioned to him that they had been seeing his daughter. So strange.”
Apophis widens his eyes, “That is an interesting coincidence…”
“He mentioned the same thing to me when we spoke,” Dwayne interjects, “ about believing crazy things about Selena. He is really sticking to that story. We have been talking all this time as well and he never once asked about her.”
Apophis sips his wine its redness staining his lips, “That would seem to indicate that he had knowledge of and did not need to ask about Selena. As he just showed up out of the blue and accosted you to meet Kya, it would seem he was aware of the weakening of your bonds and wanted a way to get close to you in order to refresh them. Does this sound possible? You all, of course, know him better than I do. What do you think?”
The four friends exchange looks and Selena answers, “It is possible, but when would he have put the bonds on me? Did he have help? How has he maintained them all this time?”
“Ah, I can answer that. Any spell cast upon someone can be maintained by the energy of the one the spell has been cast upon, it is all in where you anchor the spell. Didn’t you say you, how did you put that? Got a level boost?”
“Oh, Dad, your right. I did. It has been feeling like I was getting stronger, Linnette was just asking me about why my potions seemed stronger before all this happened. And after, wow.”
“Yeah!” Linnette leans in, “You should have seen it, she lit up like the moon on a clear night as soon as those things dropped off of her. It was wild.”
An uneasy look crosses Apophis’ face, so quickly none of them even noticed. “Well, it sounds like we are pretty sure who is the culprit here. Now, has he asked to see you again?”
“Yes, he says he wants to get to know Kya. I gave him my card and told him to call me to set something up. He is her father and I want her to know him if at all possible.”
Dwayne clears his throat, “I think your father could be right Selena. Maybe you should be more cautious about meeting with him, at least until we can be sure he is safe for you and Kya to be around alone.”
Linnette leans forward then, “Whether or not he is the culprit, he shouldn’t be fully trusted at this point until he has earned it. After what he did, we all mostly quit being around him. None of us really knows him and he proved back then that we didn’t really know him when we thought we did. That alone calls for caution, with the added suspicions, I feel like you should at least have one of us or your father with you when you and Kya meet with him.”
“You four are the people I trust most in this world. You are my family, if you think I should be more cautious with him, and that the father of my child has possibly had me bound all this time, I am with you. So, as soon as he gets in touch with me, I’ll set up a time to meet and whoever is available will come with me. I won’t risk Kya’s welfare just for her to know a guy that until the other day, she didn’t know existed. And now that that is settled, I need to get her home.”
Selena stands as Apophis welcomes them all to stay the night as it is a long drive home for each of them. The children suddenly burst into the room begging to go home. Selena and her friends are puzzled by their behavior, but use it as a reason to decline Apophis’s invitation. They all say their goodbyes and head out the front of the house toward their vehicles.
Meanwhile, at Gabriel’s parents home:
Gabriel walks into his parents' home to tell them the great news. He asks them to sit down, because he doesn’t want to shock them and cause injury.
“Mom, Dad, I have great news! I have a daughter. You guys are grandparents! Things are a little complicated, but it will be fine. I can’t wait for you to meet her!”
Bath is startled and glances at Zethes, they both speak at the same time, “You have another child?” “Besides Kya?”
“What? How? You know her? You knew about Kya? How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me?” Now Gabriel sits back, a petulant air about him, waiting for the answer to why his parents knew about his daughter and he did not.
His parents look at each other, “Would you care to explain Zethe?”
With a long sigh he agrees, “I suppose. Look, son, we have known since shortly after you left for basic training. Selena came to see us after her father kicked her out. She told us what had happened and where she was staying. All of us agreed that she would tell you when you came back. We saw little Kya shortly after her birth when Selena brought her to see us. When you came home that day, irate and storming about her cheating on you, we knew that just wasn’t true. Your mother and I decided to wait until you came to your senses and asked about Selena. We really thought,” with a look at Gabriel, “that would have happened long before now. Obviously we were wrong about that. As you were holding onto that and acting like an idiot, and don’t think we haven’t heard about your exploits, we thought it in Selena and Kya’s best interests to let sleeping around dogs lie in the dark. You may not like it but someone had to look out for their best interests. You certainly were not.”
Gabriel’s mouth is hanging open by the end of this speech from his father. “What do you mean by exploits?” he asks as he tries to recover some dignity though the red spots on his face were making that seem less than likely.
“Son, the wind is mine to control and I have had it watching over you since you were a child and all over the place. It still tells me what you get up to, including who you got up in when you left here. We are well aware of what you were doing and how you were so quickly able to forget Selena. Long before you came back late from basic.”
Gabriel looks down as his face pales, “Oh… so you know about that. But still, my daughter? Why wouldn’t you tell me about her?”
“You never once asked how Selena was doing or if she was ok or anything. We thought you were not interested,” his mother looks away, “and that shamed us a bit.”
“I shamed you?” Gabriel stands in his anger, “Are you kidding me? You still should have told me. Things could have been different. I would know my daughter right now!" He takes a couple steps across the room to loom over his parents, his voice rising, "I’m your son, shouldn’t that at least have counted for something?”
Zethes face colors with irritation, his fingers twitch and Gabriel finds himself plastered to a wall. “Yes Gabriel it should,” Bath looks directly at him commanding his attention, “but all I could see down that path was you hurting them much more than your absence ever would. It was better for them that you not be part of their lives while you were being so very awful and in fact, you were at that time exactly what you accused her of being. Your father may have the wind whispering secrets to him but you forget, past and present are an open book for me. I know what you were doing at basic, even before you came back and I know that you had such a strong reaction because you thought you owned her and she would wait while you did as you pleased. We will NOT apologize for this nor will we speak of it further. If you want to talk about Kya and Selena in the now and not about this nonsense, let us do that. Would you care for some tea?”
Gabriel grinds his teeth knowing that his mother is done with the conversation and his father will abide by her wishes, “Yes mother, I would love some tea. Thank. You.” Zethes twitches his fingers once again and releases Gabriel from his prison again
st the wall.
“Excellent, let’s move this to the kitchen and I will feed us too.”
Later in the basement Bath and Zethes discuss Selena and Gabriel.
“We should have called her sooner, it is too late in the evening now. It may be too late to warn her.”
“It wouldn’t have done any good Zethes, you know some things just have to happen. This was one of them. I can't see what path we are on right now because there are so many possibilities, now that she is involved with our son again. Have a look.” She waves a hand over the mirror and it shows multiple pictures, some are Selena and Gabriel together and some are Gabriel alone while others show Gabriel and Kya standing at Selena’s grave and still others show Selena and Kya at a funeral for Gabriel.
“This one would be the best option but this would work. This is a mere fraction of what is available right now. The decisions made over the next week? Maybe two? Those will narrow the path possibilities to a more manageable number.”
“Will I call her tomorrow or?”
“No, it must be me. She doesn’t entirely trust you.” Bath shrugs, “You’re flighty because of your wind nature and Gabriel resembles you more than I. We won’t get to meet with her for a week at least, of that I am sure. She will be safe for that long. The real question is, how will she take the information?”
“What if we don’t tell her?” Zethes turns to watch Bath’s face as she answers.
“Hmm, I don’t know. I think we must decide closer to when we can meet with her. If we are still so uncertain then we will put off telling her. Or tell her only parts of it. I begin to think we should let her in on Gabriel, but that could ruin his chance at a relationship with Kya.”
“Do we really want to be responsible for that? They aren’t together anyway. That is all in the past and unless we see a reason to believe otherwise, I think it should stay in the past.”
“You’re right. We will wait and be guided by the events of the coming week.”
With that settled, she waves the mirror back into darkness as they mount the stairs to the upper levels.
Selena Rose: Daughter of the Moon Page 4