The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga) (24 page)

“Hey! What the
Hell do you think you are doing?!”  I shouted just as I saw the man dressed from head to toe in black bending on one knee by the yellow couch. I caught him just in time to see his hand resting flat on the plush carpet right by where I had stashed my book. He tapped his fingers in a certain rhythm and I jumped as the book shot out to his waiting hand. It almost looked like a pet of his that he had been trying to lure out of hiding.

As soon as he had the book in his hand his head snapped up in my direction
, but still his face was hidden in those mastered shadows. He simply rose from his bent knee in an alarmingly graceful way considering his size.

“I could ask you the same thing
, øjesten.” He said calmly and I needed a minute to gather my courage. It wasn’t long ago that I was looking for the reasons why I felt so safe with him and now, with that predatory stance, I was feeling a little naive. I mean what did I really know about this guy? For all I knew he could have been sent by someone who wanted me for themselves and that is why the past ‘Capture Keira’ attempts had failed.

“Give that back to me!” I demanded in my strongest, I take no shit voice, one that wasn’t reinforced by a brick wall body like he had to back up that unspoken threat. He straightened to his full height and crossed his arms across his chest like a black granite statue. 

“I think not little human. Not until you explain to me in full exactly how you got your hands on
my
book.” He said with his voice dropping to an almost demonic growl. I gulped in a way that would have been comical if I didn’t have a considerable threat stood in my hotel suite.

“Wait a minute…
your
book?” I asked picking up on the important part of that demand. He nodded his head gently, but I could hear the crack of his knuckles from his fisted hands echo in the room. There was nothing gentle about that noise, I can tell you.

“But I…I…it’s mine
.” I finished in a weak little voice that even I detested hearing. But it must have had its desired effect on the big guy Sigurd as his fists uncurled and also his arms came back to his sides. He exhaled a big sigh and I could tell he wanted to run a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Come øjesten, come and sit with me
.” He moved to the side and motioned a place on the couch for me to park myself. I nodded and followed his instructions. What choice did I have? It wasn’t like I could call security and tell them someone that looked like a professional wrestler stole my book!

I sat down and waited for him to do the same. I think I actu
ally felt sorry for the battering the cushions took when taking his weight. We both sat in silence for a moment and I noticed I looked like a child does when sitting next to an adult. His legs looked like they belonged to a forest with a mass of leaves attached.

“Now tell me, who gave you this book
, Keira?” Somehow I knew by him calling me by my name this was serious business. But what should I tell him? Was I even allowed to tell him anything? Oh God this was too much! What was I supposed to do?

“You can tell me, have no fear
, as no harm will come to you in doing so.” He sounded calmer now and almost soothing to my tense nerves.

“I am not sure I am allowed though
.” I said truthfully.

“Then trust in me and look deep down into what you know is right. When I tell you that it is my birth right to know whatever happens with this book, I speak no lies. Feel the truth in my words
, Keira.” He said engulfing my hand in his. I closed my eyes and replayed his words over and over. But then he spoke them for real once more and I found myself stunned to know with utter certainty that he was telling me the truth. I found myself nodding at him before opening my mouth.

“The Oracle gave me the book
, Sigurd.” His hand tightened on mine for a moment but thankfully he released my bones before he broke them. It was obvious this had not been good news. He took a moment to struggle through the reason I gave him and then I silently screamed out in a caught breath as he grabbed my hand once more and placed it over the snake on the cover of the book.

“What are you doing?!”

“Ssshh.” Was all he said before he placed his tattooed hand over mine. I then watched in dark fascination as the black snake on his finger began to spin and shortly the one across his palm started to do the same. However, this time they all travelled in the same direction, unlike before when he was fighting the guys at Afterlife. I didn’t know what this meant but I was praying for it to mean that he was dealing with a friendly…as in friendly fire in shooting games…although I wasn’t quite sure what was friendly about firing any type of weapon, especially one that got you killed. Ok, focus here Keira and forget about Frank playing Call of Duty.

Soon, just like before, his whole hand went black like he had just dipped it into a bucket of treacle and I watched as the substance started to flow over onto the small helpless hand underneath…my hand. I felt the tingling flicker o
f constant cooling and then a flare of heat continue until every fingertip was covered and when I felt the vibrations start I tried to pull away.

“Just wait
for it, human!” He said sternly and I found myself obeying. The vibrations turned to spinning under my palm and although I couldn’t see the snake, I knew it was moving and getting ready for something. I heard a deep growl coming from the chest next to me and it sounded as if he was changing into some sort of furious animal. I started to panic inside and my heart was pounding to the point of near pain. I was breathing heavy and felt the thin sheen of sweat start to damp my clothes.

I closed my eyes and that wa
s when the nightmare began.

I felt locked in a cage without bars. A cage of darkness that was creeping into my soul and keeping that precious part of me open for probing. My horrific past secured deeply in the abyss I had created for my murderous captor was bubbling up. My secured vault door that held my secret memories of Draven popped open and came spilling out. And a nightmare of a flaming version of myself running
through a river of blood, fed by the deep slashes cut into my veins by my own hands. It was now all playing out in a flickered film of black and white. Surrounded by a derelict Victorian theatre, where plush velvet seats were filled by every supernatural form I had ever seen in my now 24 years. And of course the front row held those that were dearest to me.

I ran down the centre of the aisle screaming ‘No, turn it off!’ But it was too late. Everyone was already watching my nightmare, both real
, past and feared future, premiering on the crumbling screen. The closer I got the harder it became to run. All the faces of Demons and Angels in their true form were laughing in chorus, some choking on their spitefulness and hellish glee. But the closer I got, all the heads of those I cared for turned at the same time, all but one.

Libby, Frank, Justin, Jack, RJ, Sophia, Vincent, P
ip, Adam, Lucius and many more were all at the front row now staring my way as the piece of glass in my hand dug deeper into my flesh on screen.

“Dead, dead, dead, little Keira girl! Dead, dead, dead little Keira girl!

We will get you and we will kill you!

They are coming back for you, wolf in a suit’s silk will walk by your side while you cry and when your back is turned and knife plunged in deep, that will make you die!”

They all chanted cruelly and I staggered in my steps.

“No, no, no! This isn’t real…YOUR ARE NOT REAL!” I shouted before my knees hit the mouldy floor
that was covered in rotting wood and pieces of once red carpet. My long blonde hair fell forward and touched the floor to cover my crying face. I reached out and touched the golden strands that I knew were still tucked safely away on Draven’s hidden bed. Then I heard the laughter.

“Is that what you think
, you pathetic human?” No it couldn’t be! There was no way my mind would conjure up something so cruel. But no matter, in my disbelief I had to look, I had to prove how wrong it was. I raised my head and took in the cruellest beauty of all, the one of betrayed love…Draven.

His face was now the singular one in the room and I looked in horror as all others had now decayed into skeletal corpses. Their grey bones becoming one with the perished theatre that started to peel and fade upwards like floating ash. But none of this mattered to me as the one face remained.

“Why?” I whispered and I flinched at the cruel sound of his laughter.

“Why? WHY?! You know why Keira! You! You kill
ed me and sent me to this place, it is because of my stupidity that I am now to live the rest of my days in chains!” He lifted his arms and that’s when I first noticed the metal entwined around every inch of him but his face. They started to glow red like they had only just been forged and I started to howl from the pain the sight caused me to see them branding his skin.

“But…but I didn’t know! I will help you! I will…will come for you!” I shouted as the chains started to get tighter around him and I saw him gasp for breath.

“You can’t! Leave me! RUN! RUN NOW BEFORE…” The glowing links started to cut into his skin and then he was being dragged backwards towards the screen, towards the mistakes I had made still being played out on a tortuous loop.

“Before what?!” I shou
ted and then I saw with one outstretched hand the entire screen melt into burning film. Behind it was Hell itself and Draven was now getting dragged back to it.

“DRAVEN!” I screamed running towards him until his last words stopped me dead and I stared at the truth he believed in every word come through his purple eyes.

“…BEFORE I KILL YOU!”

Chapter 24

Bound to Ask

“You are blood bound?!” Sigurd shouted bolting from the chair just after I yanked my hand free and fell to the floor. I looked up still in a state of shock at what his darkness had shown me. I held my hand protectively to my chest while still kicking my legs to put greater length between us. I moved like a wounded crab and only came to a stop when my back bumped into one of the horseshoe shaped chairs that were covered in thick olive green velvet.

“What…what did you do to me?!” I shouted back, having little care for the giant presence now looming over me. He leaned forward and trapped me in with his hands holding his weight on the arms of the chair.

“Answer my question, NOW!” He growled that last command and I flinched back like he had lashed out with the back of hand.

“I…she…we…ok look, I don’t know why she did any of this, all I know is that she took some of my blood and then told me the book was connected with me in some way and that’s it! So do me a favour and back OFF!” I shouted finally replacing fear with anger. He didn’t seem too concerned with me screaming at him, but he did at least push his weight off the chair to give me space. I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath in relief.

“FUCK!” He snarled with his back to me and if I were to take a guess, I would say it looked like he was trying real hard not to pummel his fist into something. Well
, as long as it wasn’t someone then that was fine with me!

“What on this earth’s realm
was that crazy bitch thinking of?!” He snapped and I got myself off the floor silently. I straightened down my jeans from where they had ridden up in my haste and that’s when I heard a sharp,

“Well?!”

“Oh…you were actually asking me a question? Well…I…” I shook my head and then anger sparked again,

“…I mean how
the Hell am I supposed to know? Good God, what is it with you people?” I threw up my hands dramatically before carrying on with my rant.

“You think I know why or how or any bloody details as to why anyone does what th
ey do in the supernatural world? I mean for Christ’s sake, I have a big ass biker guardian stood in my hotel suite and I don’t even know who sent you, so why you think for one minute I know why the Oracle is using me as a pawn, I can’t figure! All I know is what she tells me and what I can figure out with all this riddle shit that now comes from that book, instead of weird kids on antique bikes, creepy warehouse guys that get the munchies for human flesh…I mean what the holy shit…? Eat a cheeseburger for God’s sake!…and then there was that weirdo on the plane, Miss pop drinking Merryweather…although that one wasn’t from the Oracle but more likely from this Gastian person, who for some reason hates me and wants revenge but there’s the problem...I don’t even know this guy!” I shouted as my rant that had me storming all around the sitting room was much too slowly running out of steam.

“I mean what was next…what did I miss this time?! Huh? Come on, tell me handsome, ‘cause I don’t know! What’s next, because at this point it wouldn’t surprise me if
a canary flew from my ass and sang me the next riddle in Swahili!” I said finally coming down from my anger mountain and deflating in the same chair I had backed up into.

I seemed to have stunned the man in black
, as he didn’t move. He just stood in front of the couch with that bloody hood covering every revealing feature on his face. Thinking back I wasn’t even sure why I had called him handsome, I mean it’s not like I had even seen most of his face. He could look like good old Quasimodo for all I knew.

“Have you finished?” He said folding his arms making the leather groan around his impressive biceps.

“Yes!” I said with plenty of attitude.

“Good, now we will eat and you can answer my questions.” I was about to reply with some witty response about the food not even being here yet
, but the sound of knocking shut me up…how did they do that?

“Good hearing.” He answered my unspoken question and motioned me to get the door with an out stretched hand. I rolled my eyes and got the door, muttering about how chivalry was clearly dead and buried.

We both ate in silence… well he ate while I, on the other hand, just picked crumbs off a sweet pastry and nibbled like a mouse. I guess that analogy worked better than any other, given it felt like I was eating breakfast with a frustrated panther.

“
Soo…” I started to break the tension while brushing the flakes of buttery goodness from my hands and lap.

“So?” He mocked after swallowing what looked like a whole piece of bacon.

“So, are you going to tell me what is going on and what it was you did to me with that damn book?!” I snapped.

“Watch your mouth
, human. That ‘Damn’ book holds a piece of my ‘damned’ soul, one you are now bound to…you get it now sweetheart?” He said in a growl, twisting the endearment into something sour.

“Yeah well this ‘Sweetheart’ didn’t exactly buy what you were selling now did
she...? Hey wait a minute…let’s rewind here… what do you mean bound to?” I forgot about the insulting tone he had now switched to and homed in on the words he used.

“What part are you finding difficult?” He asked not dropping the attitude for a second.

“Hello! Human here remember, I don’t exactly have a supernatural degree in all this, so let’s play a game should we, let’s play the ‘I am obviously talking to a human who doesn’t know shit about that book and need to use layman’s terms’ game…is that cool with you, big guy?!” I was losing my rag quickly and it wasn’t helping knowing I was only going to get my answers from Mr Clueless Human communicator over there!

He growled in response and that was when my last thread of patience snapped. I stood up and walked over to him to point in his hidden face.

“Now that’s not exactly going to help us now is it? So here’s what you’re going to do, you’re going to man up, put down the bacon butties and explain to me, in detail just what the Hell that book has to do with this!” I motioned between us with my hand but didn’t get very far as he grabbed my wrist to shackle. Even sat down with me stood up, he was large enough to put us at the same height. “Butties?” He said cocking his head to the side and I huffed out my frustration when pulling from his hold.

“
God, what is wrong with you people? All this time on the Earth and you don’t even know Northern slang for a sandwich. It’s hopeless!” I said going to sit back down in my chair and it was nice to hear his laughter for a change, rather than him growling at me.

“Ok, so I know this isn’t easy for you and I am not helping as I am clearly over-estimating your knowledge on this
.”

“Gee
, you think?” I said and I just knew that if his hood had been back, he would have been raising an eyebrow at my sarcasm.

“Look
, let’s start over shall we?” He nodded his head slowly at my suggestion and then rubbed his stubble chin with his hefty hand.

“Explain…”

“Tell me…”

We both spoke at the same time and it became very apparent that we both had more than our fair share of questions for each other.

“Ladies first.” He motioned and I smiled as I realised that chivalry had just been resurrected.

“Tell me about the book and why you think the Oracle gave it to me…I mean if it belongs to you or your soul or whatever, then how did she even get it in the first place, did you just leave it hanging about on the coffee table or something,
‘cause I gotta tell ya, if it held a piece of my soul it would be in nothing short of a Bank Safe and…” He cleared his throat to stop me and I blushed when I realised I had been a runaway train with my thoughts.

“He told me you were always so full of questions, I thought it was just a human thing…how wrong I was
.” He muttered looking to the side as if trying to weigh up the best way of dealing with me.

“Who told you that?”

“That’s five questions in total, so tell me lille øjesten, which one would you like me to answer first?” Ok, so I had to give him that, I had already been told it was an annoying trait of mine. One that given circumstances like this, it was near to impossible to control. When I finally kept my mouth shut I think he took this as his cue to start talking.

“To your last question, that you will never know, so stop asking me about my employer as it is none of your concern…understood?” The only answer he would get from me about that was an eye roll and a little shak
e of my head. If he thought for one minute that I would let something like that go then he was hugely mistaken.

“Good enough. Now for the Ouro
boros, Book of the Blood Bound. The book was given to me as a tool of information that I would need to do my job. This is something I will not be going into detail about as you wouldn’t likely understand, even if I did.” I was about to call him on that but he held up one hand to silence me.

“Just know that I have a job to do as my place among my people and to do this job I need certain guidelines from higher powers, that book give
s me them. I have been bound to that book from my rebirth and a piece of my soul resides within its bindings…now along with a piece of yours.” I was calm until he said this last bit.

“What!” I said standing once again.

“Keira, sit down.” He ordered softly and I only complied because of his gentle tone.

“I believe this was the Oracle
’s plan, as it seems my employer isn’t the only one trying to keep you safe, although with you that is becoming a full time job in itself.” He commented dryly.

“But we will get back to that shortly, won
’t we my bound one?” I could only nod as I knew I also had some explaining to do.

“The book was taken from me while I was watching over you and I gather the Oracle not
only foresaw my involvement, but also made walking away from protecting you impossible”

“You what? But you said…” I asked, utterl
y shocked that he was planning on walking away.

“Try and understand, after last night, after what was needed to heal you…well, it became to
o much for both of us and this was one situation…umm…person… I didn’t think wise to continue to grow attached to, am I making myself clear?” I frowned at him in confusion. No, he wasn’t making sense and one look at my face was all it took for him to continue.

“Keira
, I take it for a fact that knowing the trouble you find, that you are more than familiar with being healed, am I correct?”

“So?” I question
ed his point.

“Then you will know that a part of my essence has found home in your veins and although it will fade in time, for the moment I will be drawn to that part of you, the darker side of you
.” He whispered the last part like it was shameful to him.

“And that’s why I saw those nightmares when your…your black stuff touched me?” He nodded and then held the lower part of his face with his hand.

“That is why I was going to leave and trust me when I say it, I did not make this decision lightly, when I give my word, I give it with my life, but after the new circumstances I would do you more harm than good, as no one wants to relive their nightmares daily.” My mouth dropped slightly with the thought of being attacked by that vision every day.

“But I am afraid that option no longer is available for me
, as now we are bound by the book and until that bond is broken, then I must remain by your side. This is why the Oracle has intervened, it seems it is in both of our destinies to see this through, which brings us back to what it is I am facing…what are you doing here, Keira?” Now this was the part that I was dreading. How was I ever going to explain this crazy quest to someone who obviously wanted me to make their job easier and stay tucked up safely in a small town like Evergreen?

I remained silent and tight lipped as I gathered my thoughts. And that in itself was the main problem. With the people I dealt with being immortal, then time wasn’t
a massive issue for someone who grew patience like other people grew tomatoes! This was proven after ten minutes of silence and him obviously still waiting for an answer.

“I take it you would not believe me if I told you I was just taking a vacation for my Birthday?” I said in a quiet voice.

“I am afraid not, øjesten, but what if I started by telling you what I do know.”

“I…” He rose from his chair and plucked a lush apple from the breakfast fruit bowl
, stopping my excuses as he flipped the fruit along the top of his arm. Seeing this move reminded me of some orphaned, cocky street kid in years gone by, surviving by pick pocketing and stealing from market vendors.

“Here’s what I know
.” He started, catching the bouncing apple with his free hand before taking a crunching bite of its flesh, talking with his mouth full.

“The King goes underground and goes to extreme lengths in trying to keep you safe by giving you a life free from our existence, so what do you do…
? Go looking for it anyway!” He snapped at me taking another vicious bite to chew.

“But I…”

“I haven’t finished. So, after your little expedition to the warehouse, which thankfully Leivic was around to keep you out of trouble as I am forbidden to go there, I find you about to get kidnapped at Afterlife.”