December Moon (The Raven Saga) (9 page)

"If you prefer it, I'll try and remember to call you Mom then... Mom," she laughed at how strange it sounded coming from her lips. How strange saying Mum, Mom or Mother, really.

"It's wonderful to see you too together again," Monty said with a smile as he took over making the tea, "and it's like you've never been apart. I'm so pleased you've accepted everything that has happened, December," he added as he dropped a spoonful of sugar into the pink mug and stirred it, carefully tapping the spoon on the edge of the cup with a little ding sound.

Unsure whether or not she had accepted everything, she still didn't really know whether it had all sunk in yet, but she didn't say that. Instead, she just smiled happily and accepted the cup of sweet English tea he held out to her.

"What would you like for breakfast sweetheart? We have cereal, pancakes, bacon and eggs..."

"Just a slice of toast would be good, for now thanks... Mom," answered December as Moira opened the bread bin and took out a fresh brown loaf and carefully cut a slice before popping it into the toaster.

"And there I was thinking you'd like some of my special pancakes with maple syrup!" she laughed, opening the cupboard to reveal several tins of the sweet sticky stuff.

"Maybe tomorrow," she smiled, wondering what the fascination with maple syrup was all about.

As if reading her mind, Moira handed a tin to December to look at. "Ah, I get it. It's a Canadian thing!" she giggled after reading the back, as her mother returned it to the cupboard before removing the slice of toast from the toaster and spreading it with butter.

"Would you like jelly on it?"

"Jelly? Who on earth eats jelly on toast?" she shrieked.

Moira looked blank for a second before she realised her mistake. Laughing, she said, "Oh duh... I will get used to this whole English thing, I guess. Sorry, honey. I meant jam. I completely forgot!"

As the three of them giggled together, December nodded.

After she'd drank her tea and eaten her 'jelly' on toast, December finally took notice of her surroundings.

In daylight, December could see the true beauty of the house that was now her new home. And she was astounded. The kitchen had the same kind of shabby chic decor that her bedroom had and it suited her mother down to the ground.

"Come, let me show you both around," Moira said as she noticed them both clearly approving their new surroundings after Moira had placed the cups and plates into the dishwasher.

She led them into a grand living room, the focus of which was an enormous crystal chandelier that twinkled where the sunlight shone at it through the two huge bay windows that were decorated with cream and gold swags and tails. The same colours dressed the ornate looking three piece suite in the centre of the room, beneath the chandelier. There was no television, but a large oak bookcase covered the length of the far wall.

"I like to just sit and read in here, but don't worry sweetheart, there is a television in the snug!"

December couldn't imagine wanting to watch the TV when she had so much to discover about her new home, so much to talk about and so much to learn about her true self, but she smiled cheekily just the same.

"Here is the downstairs toilet and across there is the entrance to the basement, but there's no need for us to bother going down there... not yet, anyway," she said with another of her cheeky grins. The two followed her down a couple of stairs into a smaller room that was clearly the snug. It was filled with comfy sofas and what appeared to be hundreds of soft cushions, all facing a large flat screen TV. Moira turned, with a smile and a wink, "I do like to watch a good movie in here whenever I can."

The dining room was just as grand and with the same gold and cream colour scheme as the living room, with a table that could easily seat twelve people with room to spare. There was a little pass-through in the wall that opened into the kitchen, making it convenient to hand out hot dishes and drinks during a dinner party.

"And if we come out here, you can see our garden and all of our land."

December smirked when she heard her mother describe it as our land.

The three of them walked out of the back door via the kitchen and out into an overgrown maze of wild flowers, lawns and rickety old walls and gates. Monty's smile outshone them all. Originally a gardener before he became someone who did just about everything for Penelope, Monty was at his happiest when he was busying himself among flowers, trees, weeds, grass and the fresh air.

"Wow," he said, "it's beautiful. But I'm thinking it needs a fair bit of work... I could plant some pretty tea roses in here, and perhaps a lavender bed over there and what about some...." the sound of his excited voice trailed off as he wandered away to investigate further.

Moira and December turned to look at each other and both laughed at the same time. "I was hoping that he would sort it out a bit."

"Well, he is in our employment. We can get him to do just about anything we want!" said December loudly.

"I heard that!" he yelled back and they all began laughing again.

"Come on upstairs, let me show you my room," Moira said as December followed her back indoors and up the stairs into the largest bedroom at the far side of the house.

She pushed open two large white doors into a near replica of December's own room. The only difference was that it was somewhat larger and the floral patterns were not identical. But it was equally as beautiful.

Moira patted the bed for December to sit down on and then went over to her closet to pull out a pretty faded blue jewellery box. When she lifted the lid, a little ballerina appeared while music began to play. It was Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

December was startled, not expecting it, but it soothed her. It was a beautiful sound, almost magical.

Moira smiled and lifted out a ring. It had a very familiar design on it. It matched the necklace that December wore around her pale neck, the one that she had received in England just a few days before.

"They were your grandmother's, this box was too. She wanted you to have the necklace and for me to have the ring. She was adamant about it!"

"What happened to my grandmother, Mom?"

Moira looked into her daughter's eyes and December saw the pain that lay deep within. The story of her grandmother was clearly a sad one. December said nothing, waiting for Moira to explain.

A smile turned the sides of her mouth upwards, even though it did not reach her eyes and she began to speak.

"Your grandmother was one of the greatest witches I ever knew. She was such a character, full of life. We had the kind of relationship a mother and daughter can only dream of. Exactly the kind of relationship I hoped for you and me, my angel, although we did bicker a lot but it was always fun. We never got angry with each other," she said as she took December's hand in her own and squeezed.

"She spent so much of her time fighting the forces of evil... and you must know that there is so much evil in this world. Not just evil witches, but...." her words came to a sudden halt.

"What Mom, go on..."

She shook her head, "Honestly December, I'm not sure if you're ready to hear this yet."

"I am. I know I am, Mom. I've... I've experienced some weird things lately and I need to know why I was frightened. I'm fifteen now. Don't you think I have a right to know about the things that might try to harm me?"

"Has someone tried to hurt you?" Moira asked, alarm filling her face.

December recalled the events at school, of the flooded gym, the strange dream she'd had and then the feeling of being so close to someone but there being nobody there. Moira sat, not saying a word, until her daughter had finished what she had to say.

She nodded, raised her eyebrows and rubbed her ear, "Oh my angel. And there I was thinking that you were completely oblivious to these things. How wrong I was! Yes, you're right. You need to know. Come, I need to show you something."

She stood up, followed by December, but before she headed out of the bedroom, she picked up the ring and put it on. "My mother told me that when we were together again, we should both wear these. She said it would make us stronger."

The moment the ring was on her finger, December felt her neck grow warmer. She fingered the necklace and her heartbeat increased momentarily. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. She felt good. She looked across at her mother and noticed she had experienced the same thing. They both smiled as they walked out of the room and closed the doors behind them.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The police had found no evidence of any foul play and so Mrs Murray's death was reported merely as a vicious animal attack. The residents of Powell River were told to be especially cautious whenever they were outside and were told under no circumstances were they to go out at night alone. In the meantime, the police and some of the locals went out to hunt the mysterious beast.

It was during their search that they found the brutalised body of the murdered man / bear who Lilly and Rose had seen being attacked.

His rotting remains were carted off to the local pathologist for a post mortem to be carried out and the authorities released an announcement to say that the beast had killed yet another victim. This time they warned people to avoid leaving their homes at any time of day unless absolutely necessary, at least until the beast had been slaughtered.

The Tulugaq family knew, of course, that no such beast would be found. The first attack was at the hands of Frank Jensen, who was under house arrest, waiting for the arrival of some of the Elders to take him to the mountains where he would be safe, and the second was at the hands of another brutal vampire. One who so far had managed to elude those that were looking for him, or her.

However, people still had to make a living and so Lilly spent the day helping out the local vet, and close family friend, Ben. He had spent hours talking about what kind of animal could be capable of so much brutality. The sadness he was feeling was not lost on Lilly. She was well aware that Ben's thoughts were firmly fixed on the fact that his own parents had been killed by a wild mountain lion when he was just a boy, leaving him and his baby brother, Oliver, to be raised by close family friend, Gabriel.

But Lilly chose not to talk about it. Her family had to keep their secret from Ben and Oliver, especially knowing how devastating it would be for them to discover that she was part mountain lion herself.

She had been right about the devastation. Some months before, Lilly and Oliver's feelings for each other were becoming clear. Even though she was barely fourteen at the time, and he was seventeen, they had a connection. Well, they did until her very first transformation had happened right in front of him. It had been the shock of a lifetime for them both. The look on Oliver's face when she changed would haunt her forever. Unable to cope with the reality, Oliver had decided to leave Powell River without another word to Lilly. Although he told his brother he'd had a massive falling out with Lilly, he chose not to reveal the truth to him. His one, final promise to Gabriel.

Although Oliver had kept in contact with his brother, he had asked him not to tell Lilly where he had gone. He had made it painfully clear that he wanted nothing more to do with her.

She was devastated, heartbroken. But she'd had no choice but to accept his decision and move on.

While she worked at her part time job with Ben, she no longer asked questions about his younger brother. All she knew was that he was alive and well and that had to be good enough for her.

She would have loved to have been able to confide in Ben about all this supernatural stuff... it would've certainly helped his work, but she had to keep her mouth shut. It was her biggest secret and she hated not being able to share it with her friends.

Later that day as Ben closed up shop, his girlfriend Crystal arrived. She'd had to close up her hairdressing salon early.

"No-one is in the mood to get their hair done," she said, "everyone's scared to death of this wild animal. People are trying to stay indoors."

"Which is exactly what you should be doing," he scolded her as he planted a loving kiss on her lips, "I couldn't bear anything happening to you. Come on, get in the pick-up. We'll drop Lilly off before we head home," he said as he turned the key and locked the door to the practice.

"No, there's no need, Ben. Tabitha is coming to pick me up. She'll be here any minute," lied Lilly.

"We'll wait until she arrives then."

"No... there really is no need. I'll be fine. I can't imagine that beast will be hanging around here. She'll be here any second. You two go. I'll be fine"