December Moon (The Raven Saga)

  "Wow... my girl kicks ass like some kind of computer game hero!" laughed Oliver as he handed her a cup of coffee.

  Lilly couldn't help but feel warm all over. Oliver had forgiven her. She was 'his girl' once again.

  December looked over at her and gave her a secret smile between friends. Life would be good if it wasn't for the fact that Duran was still out there killing. Lilly hoped that her friends were okay.

  Over an hour later, there was a knock on the door that startled everyone.

  "It's okay guys, it's us. We're back," said Zoltan.

  Lilly was the first to the door, which she opened so fast that she nearly knocked herself out with it.

  "Oops."

  "Hey easy there, Tiger!" said Zoltan, "or should I say lion?" he smiled as he walked in with a slight limp, followed by the beautiful white mountain lion Tabitha, Ursula and Carmelo.

  "Thank goodness you're all okay," said Lilly. "We've been worried sick."

  Ursula patted her on the shoulder, "Carmelo told me vhat you did. Vell done, Lilly. Zat is quite somezing."

  Not knowing what to say to the strict German vampire, Lilly just smiled as they sat down. Tabitha was quick to change back to human form in the bedroom. She came back into the living room wearing her Rolling Stones T-shirt and jeans and fell into the last remaining dining chair.

  "So... what happened?" asked Lilly anxiously.

  "He got away," said Zoltan angrily. "We were so close but we all completely lost his scent."

  "But, what about the other vampires?"

  "Zere vere seven or eight but ve managed to kill them all. It's just Duran ve couldn't track," added Ursula.

  "So now what?" Asked Oliver.

  "Now we go home... and we take you with us," said Carmelo, "Chances are that Duran will go back to Powell River and try again there. After all, he came here for you, Oliver, and he failed."

  Oliver nodded and squeezed Lilly's hand.

  "Oh God, my Mom's going to kill us. She's spent hours and hours trying to get here and then we just leave?" said December, rolling her eyes.

  Tabitha couldn't help but laugh and soon everybody in the room was laughing too. The tension that had filled the room just hours before had passed... at least momentarily.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  The next morning, there was another knock on the door and when Carmelo went to open it, he was greeted by a very worried looking Moira, followed by Ruby.

  "Come on in ladies. We've been waiting for you."

  December ran into her mother's arms and Ruby attempted to hug them too, making them both shiver.

  "I can't even describe how worried I've been about you, December. This is exactly why I had to leave you in England all those years ago, to keep you out of harm's way. And what do you do when you move here? You manage to orb yourself right into the middle of the most dangerous place around!"

  "Speaking of orbing my dear. I must say I am absolutely delighted that you are able to do it. Only the most powerful witches can orb and we haven't had an orber in our family since Millicent Roberts who died back in 1241. It's so exciting. Just wait until our ancestors hear about this... we'll be the talk of the afterlife..."

  "Mother..."

  "What darling?"

  "Zip it!"

  Ruby pretended to look offended before she casually looked around, smiled and drifted over to the kitchen where she sat down next to a very pale looking Oliver.

  "Hello dear... you must be Oliver. It's so nice to meet you. I'm Ruby. December's grandmother. December's dead grandmother," she said offering her hand to shake

  "Erm, hello R.R.Ruby... nice to meet you," he said attempting to shake her hand only to find that his went right through her own and he jumped as she laughed.

  "Are you all right, December?" asked her mother as she looked her up and down to make sure she hadn't acquired any injuries.

  "Mom, I'm fine. I've been in this apartment the whole time. I was never in any danger, not really. Look, I'm sorry about the orbing. I didn't know I could do it."

  "I'm so relieved you're okay. And don't worry about it. Just please don't orb yourself into danger like that again, okay?"

  December nodded and hugged her mother again before the two newcomers were filled in on what had been happening in Tofino.

  "Actually, we already know about some of it... we had the radio on in the car. They've been finding dead mutilated cadavers all over the place. They're attributing it to even more wild animals on the loose. Haven't you got a TV in here?" said Moira.

  Oliver jumped up and put the TV on. Every channel was broadcasting from the small Vancouver Island town where eleven bodies had been found.

  "We really should get out of here," said Ben, "We don't want the police sniffing around. They'll see Sammy for one."

  "Oh you don't need to worry about things like that. You forget we're witches. We can put spells on people to make them forget what they've seen... only if absolutely necessary though, of course," added Ruby.

  "But you are right, Ben isn't it? We ought to head back to Powell River. If Duran has gone back there he might start killing again and we don't want reporters crawling all over there too," replied Moira.

  "How are we all going to get back?" asked Lilly.

  "I think the best thing would be to rent a car and then we can all travel together," suggested Zoltan.

  "Good idea. I'll go and sort it out. Perhaps you could come with me, Moira, just in case anyone asks any... questions?"

  Later that morning, Ruby, Moira, December and Lilly set off back to Powell River in Ruby's T-Bird and the rest of the group followed behind in a hired mini van.

  The area was teeming with news crews from all over the country and from the US.

  Both Moira and Carmelo, who were driving, had on the radio to keep up to date with what the news crews were divulging. On the whole, they were safe as nobody had yet to come forward claiming to have witnessed anything out of the ordinary. As far as Tofino was concerned, the previous night had seen a gruesome attack by wild animals. Residents of the town were being told to stay indoors at least until the animals were located and slaughtered.

  Lilly shivered, knowing that they'd be waiting a long time.

  As they drove away from Tofino, she thought about her first kill. It saddened her to know that once upon a time, that man had been just that. A man. Probably an innocent man but he had been transformed into a vampire and turned into evil. Pure evil. Still, she felt sad that she had put an end to his life, a gruesome end.

  She sighed and turned to look out the window and was struck by the beauty that surrounded them. Just like Powell River, it was stunning, like looking at an oil painting, and they had tainted this small town. It would probably be forever remembered as that place where eleven people were slaughtered. Mind you, it could have been worse... one or more of her friends could have been killed.

  The thought made Lilly shudder again and December reached over and squeezed her hand. "You okay?" she asked.

  "I guess so. It's such a beautiful place, isn't it? I just wish we could have been here under different circumstances."

  December nodded in agreement and looked out the window too.

  "Thank you, by the way."

  "For what?"

  Lilly chuckled, "For protecting me"

  "It worked? The bubble?"

  Lilly nodded, "I could have drowned and I didn't even get wet."

  Moira turned off the radio and looked at the girls in the rear view mirror, "What did you just say?" she asked.

  "December did some kind of protection spell on me while I was fighting the vamps. She may well have saved my life," Lilly answered with a grin.

  "Oh My!" said Ruby, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Moira?" she asked.

  Moira nodded without saying a word.

  "What? What is it?" asked December.

  "You remember I mentioned an ancestor of ours called Millicent Roberts?" said Ruby as the girls nodded.

  "Well, she was t
he most powerful witch ever to have existed in our family. There have been very few witches in the world capable of orbing and casting protection spells from afar. Your mother and I are thinking that she may have been reincarnated... as you."

  "But why would you think that?" asked Lilly as December sat with her mouth wide open.

  "Because on Millicent's deathbed she made a prophecy,

  'unto death I fall

  only to rise once more

  whence cometh a girl

  a protector of souls

  and transporter of self

  she be the one, the body of whom

  I shall return'

  Now I don't know about you, but that certainly sounds like you to me, dear," said Ruby to her grand-daughter with a grin.

  "But what's so good about being the reincarnation of Millicent?" asked December.

  "It's not just the fact that you appear to be the reincarnation of Millicent... it's what you can do!" laughed Ruby.

  "What else could this Millicent do?" asked Lilly, intrigued.

  "Well, it is believed that she could communicate with lost souls," answered Moira.

  "Lost souls? What does that mean?"

  "Unfortunately, it was never quite established who these lost souls were. Back in her day, many people thought she was mad because she claimed to hear voices. She was locked away on numerous occasions but because of her ability to orb, she always got out, so in the end she..." Moira looked sideways at her mother before continuing, "she was drowned."

  "Oh... but that's awful!" said December.

  "How did she drown?" asked Lilly.

  "Many local people believed she was consorting with the devil and so she was thrown into the river with a millstone tied to her neck... but not before she said her last prophecy, mind you."

  December gasped, "Do you think that has something to do with the fact that when the gymnasium flooded, I didn't get a drop of water on me?"

  Ruby turned to look at her grand-daughter in the back seat and grinned, "Absolutely, my dear. Millicent's handiwork is still clearly at work with you!" she exclaimed.

  As the four girls pondered the idea that December was in fact the reincarnation of Millicent Roberts, December suddenly had another thought.

  "There is something else that I've been experiencing that could connect me with Millicent," she whispered, before she told them about the voice she'd heard on several occasions over the past month.

  "It's the voice of a lost soul!" exclaimed Lilly, "I wonder who he is. I wonder how we can find him."

  As the girls talked about December's ability to hear voices, it wasn't lost on Lilly that there was still a lost soul within her own family, her father.

  He had been missing for well over a year and still there was no clue as to his whereabouts. There had been no sightings of him and the Elders had still come up empty handed. But Lilly hadn't given up. She never would. Until she knew what had happened to him, she would never give up on him.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The unusual group had arrived at the ferry in time to get home to Powell River by the end of the day. As the two cars drove down the driveway to Lilly's home, everybody rushed out of the house, and out of the various RVs parked outside, to greet them.

  The family was particularly eager to see them and all were relieved that the group had survived the ordeal. Not so relieved to hear that Duran was still at large though.

  "Oliver... I am so relieved to see you!" gasped Gabriel as he hugged the young man who had become like a son to him.

  "Gabriel, I'm so sorry I took off and left you all. I understand now, I understand about your family and I'm so very sorry," he uttered as he hugged the old man.

  "I wish I'd have told you when you were younger, perhaps it would have been easier, I don't know. Maybe I made a mistake by keeping it from you. But at least you're home now, back in Powell River where you belong. With Lilly," he added with a cheeky smile.

  Oliver was greeted by Rose, Meredith, Jo and everybody else in the Tulugaq family like a long lost friend. He had been gone for several months, several months too long.

  Later that afternoon, while Lilly, Jo and December were in Lilly's room chatting, the main house phone rang, all went quiet as Gabriel answered it.

  His face dropped as he listened intently. A couple of minutes later he carefully put the phone down and sat down shaking his head.

  "We've got to put a stop to this... it's Jemima Dickson, she was taken from her car en-route to cheerleading practice this afternoon. It's got to be Duran. He's probably already changed her," he said, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and mopping his brow.

  "I'll go and tell Lilly and Jo," said Oliver solemnly as he knocked on Lilly's bedroom door and walked in. She was sitting on the bed laughing with December and Jo. Their smiles soon faded when he broke the news about their school friend.

  Tears welled in Lilly's eyes, as Jo turned to her and hugged her.

  Jemima was a beautiful, popular girl, very well liked by everybody at school. They couldn't believe that she was probably now either a vampire or dead.

  Lilly jumped up from her bed and rushed out into the living room.

  "That's it. I can't take any more of this. We've got to stop him. I'm not going to sit around while he takes his pick of the people in this town. There must be something we can do?" she shrieked as the tears fell down her face.

  Oliver strolled up behind her and put his arms around her. She turned to face him and rested her head on his shoulder while she sobbed.

  "Lilly's right," said Jo, "We can't let him win. We need to set some kind of trap. Lure him in and kill him, for good."

  Each and every person in the room nodded and looked around at each other.

  "There are many of us with special capabilities here... if he wants war. He's got war," growled Zoltan who stood up like the warrior he clearly was. "He is just one man... one vampire against an army. Us."

  Carmelo smiled before he replied, "but don't forget it wouldn't take him long to create his own army."

  "Which is precisely why we need to act... now," replied Ruby, "he killed me and if we leave it too long he WILL kill one or all of you, given the chance."

  "And we need to track him down and find Jemima before she becomes another Dharma," said Lilly.

  "Who's Dharma?" asked Jo.

  Sighing, Carmelo began to tell the tale of Dharma and him.

  "It was Venice in 1575... a horrendous disease was killing people all over the place. It was an agonising death, people vomited blood and their bodies decayed while they were still alive. Dharma was my betrothed at that time but she contracted the disease before we could get married. My mother wanted us all to leave Venice, to flee the disease and so she told me Dharma had died. I believed her, she was my mother, why wouldn't I believe her?" he said uncomfortably, before going on, "Well, my family and I fled a day later, but it was too late, we all contracted it. I was only saved by a kind man who transformed me. I had no idea he was a vampire. I had no clue I would spend centuries as the walking dead," he finished, sadly.

  Jo rushed to him and held him tight.

  "Carmelo, it was such a long, long time ago. You must put this all behind you."

  "I thought I had... until Dharma appeared yesterday in Tofino. She hadn't died. My mother had lied to me in order to get me to leave Venice. Duran had turned her all those years ago and I'd had no idea. I killed Dharma, the vampire, yesterday. I had no choice."

  "1575 Venice? That must have been the Bubonic Plague. It wiped out much of the population," said December, who had always taken a keen interest in European history.

  Carmelo nodded.

  "Carmelo, Dharma died hundreds of years ago. The vampire you killed yesterday was not her. The vampire you killed was pure evil. Remember that... besides I am led to believe that you have a new betrothed?" said Gabriel with a sneaky smile.

  Jo's face lit up the room as she turned and flashed her hand around, revealing a stunning diamond solitair
e. She'd been wearing the engagement ring a few days but hadn't wanted to mention it in light of recent tragic events. No-one had noticed.

  "Carmelo proposed about a week ago and I accepted," she gushed. "Mom and Dad knew but I asked them not to say anything."

  "Congratulations Jo... fantastic news!"

  "Congratulations!"

  "Awesome!"

  "You guys are perfect for one another... can't wait for the wedding!" yelled Lilly above all the other cries. She hugged both Jo and Carmelo and looked around at everybody's smiling faces. When her eyes descended on Oliver's face, he grinned and pulled her over to him, holding her close.

  She was reminded of all the women in her family. They had all met their soulmates at a young age, all had married young and all had had children young. Of course Lilly wasn't ready for all that yet but she was beginning to think that Oliver was the boy for her. He had forgiven her for not telling him the truth and he had finally accepted her for what she was. Were it not for Duran's rampage, Lilly would be blissfully happy.

  She looked up into his eyes as he looked down into hers and he leaned over and gently kissed her just very briefly on the lips. Lilly's heart skipped a beat and she was lost in the moment until a massive crash outside brought her back to reality with a bang.

  "What the...?"

  December was the first to open the front door and run out. What she saw made her scream at the top of her lungs.

  The others followed outside and were greeted by the sight of a mutilated body. The corpse had been thrown to land on top of Ruby's precious T-Bird.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  As Ruby dramatically attempted to sob for the damage done to her precious car, Lilly sobbed for other reasons.

  "Oh My God... it's Jemima isn't it?!" yelled Lilly as Oliver tried to shield her eyes from seeing the remains.

  "Girls, stay here... we'll go and see," said Zoltan as he pushed Lilly and Jo back into the house and shut the door behind him. They'd seen dead bodies before, but not anyone they knew well.

  He, Carmelo, Ursula and a small group of others immediately went out to investigate, first and foremost, to see if Duran was still close by.