December Moon (The Raven Saga) (15 page)

Picking herself up, she dusted her clothes off and sat down by his side. She watched as he opened his palm to reveal a tiny crystal angel. He turned it around and around in his fingers, watching the little shards of light bounce off of the glass like a rainbow.

'Who are you?' she asked, knowing very well he wouldn't reply. He clearly couldn't hear nor see her.

Suddenly, December felt as if someone else was watching her. It was that same feeling she'd experienced in Battersea Park. She felt as if someone was standing right by her side, almost touching her, yet there was nobody there.

It's all right, December thought, I'm dreaming. I'm not afraid.

The invisible force remained by her side and the feeling of fear subsided. It was replaced by a feeling of calm, of safety. She felt as if someone was looking out for her and she was comforted.

The blond haired boy on her other side placed the crystal back in his pocket and took out his cell phone. He was clearly undecided whether to call someone or not. Like he had done with the crystal, he turned the phone around and around in his hands, deep in thought. Stopping, he switched it on and scrolled through the numbers. December couldn't see the names on the screen, even though she stretched over him to have a look. But he thought better of it and switched it back off again, returning it to his other pocket.

Lifting his head, he sighed and pushed his hand through his hair before placing his elbows on his knees and dropping his head down on top of them.

This boy is so incredibly sad, thought December. She wanted to help him. To reassure him that everything would be all right but she couldn't. Even if she was really there with him, he probably wouldn't accept her help. He didn't even know her. And she didn't even know who he was.

Looking around them, December spotted another figure emerging from the mist. He was tall and wore only black. His shoulder length curly hair blew in the wind as he confidently strolled towards them.

The hairs on Decembers arms stood on end as a shiver went right through her. Goosebumps covered her body.

"My, my, what do we have here?" said the attractive man as he looked down at the younger boy who was startled by his sudden appearance.

"Can I help you?" he asked, standing up to reveal a similar height.

"Why I think you most definitely can. I do believe you'd make a wonderful new-born. Someone so sad deserves a better life, don't you think? I can give you a better life, a longer life," he said, his eyes suddenly turning a dark shade of red.

"What the...?" screeched the boy as the man in black grabbed him and opened his mouth to reveal a set of fangs before ripping through the skin on his neck. Blood began to drip, spots of it hitting the sand by December's feet...

"Aaaaaargh!" screamed December.

Moira slammed on the brakes and stopped the car in the middle of the road. The driver of the car behind swerved to miss them and blared his horn before driving off, his arms waving through the car window.

"December! My goodness, what is it?" she said as she turned to her daughter who was sobbing, tears flowing from her eyes and falling down her cheeks in streaks.

"Moira, dear, perhaps you ought to pull the car over for a moment before we all get killed stopping in the middle of the highway. Well, before you get killed, that is."

Moira did as her mother suggested and deftly turned the steering wheel to drive the car to the side of the road where she turned off the engine, put on the hazard lights and turned to her daughter who was being comforted by Ruby.

"She had a bad dream," said Ruby with her eyes wide open.

Still sobbing, December could barely get a word out.

"It's okay, honey. Get it all out. It was just a bad dream, that's all. There, there. Here, wipe your eyes," said Moira as she grappled with her handbag and pulled out a tissue and handed it to her before she gently stroked her daughter's head.

"It was h..h..h..horrible. Th..th..there was a boy on a beach. He was so sad. So sad and then, then this vampire came and bit him. He just bit him. He said something about giving him a longer life. He didn't deserve that. That poor boy," she finally managed to say as the tears continued to flow.

"What do you think, Moira?" asked her mother.

Shaking her head, Moira said nothing for a moment.

"What do you mean, what do you think? Wasn't it just a dream? It wasn't real, was it?" shrieked December as her large eyes opened even wider in fear.

Ruby gave her daughter a shake of the head but Moira ignored her.

"I said once before that I would never keep anything from her, Mother. She needs to know the truth, all of it. December, my darling, these dreams might well be premonitions, something that is going to happen, or it might have happened... or it might be happening right now. In real time. I'm sorry, honey. It's something some witches have to deal with sometimes."

Shaking her head in dismay, December began to cry again.

"No, that boy... we need to help him. We need to save him. What if it hasn't happened yet? We can help. Mom, we need to help him."

"All right, all right... but we can't do it ourselves, we don't know this area well enough. We'll have to get to Powell River and figure it out from there. The people there will help us."

"But what if it's happening now?" sobbed December.

"Moira, dear. I have two words for you... floor it! You have my permission to get to Powell River as fast as you can."

"Okay, hold on girls," said Moira as she pulled back on to the highway and put her foot down.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"We've got people all over the town and there's been no sign of Duran since Lilly and Tabitha caught sight of him the day before yesterday," said Wyatt as the group gathered again in Gabriel's house.

"There's also been no other attacks. At least none that have been reported, anyway," he added.

"There seems to be no sense to these random killings and as far as we know, he hasn't made any more new-borns either. What do you think he's playing at? Rose asked Carmelo.

"I wish I knew, Rose. But the thing that concerns me the most is the fact that he followed Lilly and then watched her in the cafe in town the other day. Why target her?"

"If he was targeting me, as such, surely he would have attacked me when he had the chance? He could have easily killed me then. Why didn't he?" she asked aloud to no-one in particular.

"I'm just thankful that he didn't attempt it, my dear Lilly. But you're right, Carmelo. What is it about Lilly that has him so intrigued? Perhaps he is using Lilly to get to the rest of us?" Gabriel asked.

"Zere is anozer possibility, I am afraid" answered Ursula who had been fairly quiet up until then. "Zere vas a girl in France many years ago who he vas fascinated wiz. I believe zat he turned her and zey vere togezer until she vas killed, in Seattle, I zink. She too had ze same look as Lilly, pretty, young, dark hair, green eyes. I am sorry to say it, but it looks like he may have chosen his next mate."

Lilly gasped and dropped the bottle of water she was drinking. Luckily the lid had just been carefully screwed back on.

"Why me?" she sighed, "of all the girls in all the world and he chooses me? What is it with this place?"

"It's not this place, Lilly. It's you. There is something about you that attracts attention. Sometimes the attention is unwanted and negative, I admit, but whatever it is, whether it's the blood that pumps through your veins, or the prettiness of your face, Duran seems to want you and he probably won't stop until he gets what he wants. So we have to stop him first," said Carmelo.

The sound of a car driving exceedingly fast down the driveway suddenly caught everybody's attention.

"Who is that?" said Gabriel.

"Ah, Moira has finally arrived," said Margot with a smile, "Moira is a very good old friend with a kind of connection to Duran. She is a fellow witch and I believe she has brought her daughter and her dead mother with her," she added with a grin.

"Her dead mother? Well, that's pretty gross," replied Tabitha who imagined a corpse being transported in the back of the car, as everybody stood up and rushed out to greet the newcomers.

"Hello everybody, please forgive me for being rude but we've no time for introductions, I'm afraid. My daughter has had a terrible vision and we might be too late. There's a young man in danger from a vampire and we need to figure out where he is so we can try and save him," said a pretty red-haired woman in her mid-thirties. She hurried into the house followed by a ghostly apparition and a pretty girl with red hair and huge eyes.

"December!" yelled Lilly before she slipped to the ground in a rather dramatic faint.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"Lilly, Lilly, wake up, wake up!" said a familiar voice as Lilly began to come to.

"I can't believe it, December. It is you? What on earth are you doing here?" she asked in shock.

"Girls, there's no time for this now... you can catch up later. We need to find this boy before it's too late," said Rose.

December pulled Lilly up from the floor and the girls hugged each other and turned to the group as December proceeded to explain the vision she had in her dream, just as Rose appeared with a glass of cold water for her niece.

As December described the vampire, Tabitha jumped up and went and picked up a sheet of paper from the dining table.

"Is this the vampire from your vision, December?" she asked as she presented her with the witches' drawing of Duran.

Gasping, she nodded, "That's him!" she said, tears welling up in her eyes once more.

Moira stepped forward and took the piece of paper from her fingers. Looking down at it, she began to shake her head in despair before showing it to her mother who closed her eyes and looked away. If she could cry, she would have done.

"And what about the boy, can you explain what he looks like?" Tabitha asked.

Nodding again, she described him as best as she could, "but the thing that got me was the fact that he was so sad. So incredibly sad. He carried something in his pocket. It clearly meant something to him. It was a little crystal. An angel, I think,"

"No!" yelled Lilly. "No... not Oliver. Not Oliver!" screamed Lilly, "Oh my God, we've got to find him," she screamed hysterically.

"Jo, go to Lilly's bedroom and find a photo of Oliver. We need to be absolutely sure it is him," he ordered as Jo ran as fast as she could there and back. Being a vampire did have its perks.

December's eyes grew larger as she looked across at Lilly. She remembered being told about Oliver in emails when she was still in England, but Lilly had never sent a picture, otherwise she would have recognised him.

Carrying Lilly's laptop, she opened it and clicked on the desktop. The photo she had seen before stared back at them.

With a deep creased brow, December looked back at her best friend and nodded, "I'm sorry, Lilly, but it's him. Oliver is in serious danger."

Gabriel immediately grabbed the nearest telephone and dialled.

"Come on, come on... pick up... Ben... it's Gabriel. Yes, yes. Sorry I can't explain... no, I can't talk right now. I
need
to know where Oliver is living now. It's urgent. No I can't say. Look, Ben, I'm sorry but Oliver is in serious danger and we need to help him before it's too late. Whistler? Yes, no and you don't know? I'll ring you back in a moment. Just stay there, don't go anywhere." Gabriel snapped the phone shut and looked up, "He's been living in Whistler but he's gone away for a few days. He didn't tell Ben where he was going. He sent him an email telling him he was going away for a little while."

Standing abruptly, Rose walked over to her old friend Gabriel and put her hands on his shoulders. Looking deep into his eyes, she said, "Gabriel, calm down my dear. First things first, we must get Ben over here at once. He will just have to deal with it. Tell him to bring Crystal with him. She'll be able to offer some support when he learns the truth."

Nodding, Gabriel phoned Ben straight back and told him to shut down the practice. "It's an emergency, Ben. Bring Crystal too. Just get here... fast."

Rose smiled sadly and nodded. "Secondly, December, we need to know everything... every tiny detail about your vision. Okay, dear?"