The Hunters moon

Never Leave

Astar

It’s bright today, disgustingly so. The dark greens of this part of town claw at my eyes, the colors that stain the buildings dull to my side. Even the trees have a different smell, one that is sour, not sweet. Hell, it makes my head pound.

Pulling my Harley to the side, I park it on the only equal ground of promise. The castle-like house sits at the opposite end of town, just as the family estate does. Everything is an exact copy of that horrid mansion Draven thinks I adore so much. The only difference in this establishment is the black and green colors to represent these mongrels.

As expected, all eyes are on me the moment my feet touch the soil. Already a woman and two bulky men stand feet away from me. Not bothering to send a glance their way, I take off my helmet. Immediately, shades replaced where the helmet's protective cover had shield my eyes.

Annoyingly, the woman coughs to announce her presence.

“I can see you very well, Aurora.” Turning my attention to her finally makes my eyes bleed. Her blonde hair shimmers against that olive-tone skin, the bright green dress reflecting into my eyes achingly.

She shows a smile that does not reach her eyes. “Welcome, Ast-”

“Lord Astar.” I correct her instantly.

A male behind her growls and I smirk. She keeps her lips tight. “We only have one lord here-”

“Ah yes, one who does not have the generosity to greet me himself. Considering I have come all this way to have a meeting he called, I expect to be addressed properly by those who live in my town.”

The growling grows louder from the two males. Aurora shoots daggers at me with her cool green eyes. “This part of Morsville is not yours.”

My eyes flicker. “It may not be my territory, but make no mistake about who I am.” Taking a step to the mutt causes the two to bulge. To my surprise, Aurora stands her ground.

“Astar.” His voice cuts through the air.

Casting my eyes to the familiar silver ones, Draven stands before me with an unreadable look on his face. Straightening myself, I match his height. “Draven.” We stood there watching one another. Without taking his eyes off of mine, he said to his mutts, “You are dismissed.”

“Master Draven.” Aurora yelps.

Those dark eyes turn on them. “Dismissed.” He hisses.

They all shrink back and disband. My brother then turns his attention back to me. “For once could you not disturb the peace on my property?”

Sinking my hands into my pockets, I shot back, “I will when you teach your mutts some manners.”

His eyes burn just as bright as the sun causing my head to pound. “I’ll keep them on a tighter leash when you snip your blood sucker's wings back.”

“Maybe if you didn’t allow your mutts to murder them on sight I’d be able to calm them.”

Draven shrugs. “It’s a small town, they get antsy.”

The hairs on the back of my neck prick. A low growl sets into the back of my throat. Draven waves, “Now, now brother, I haven’t called you here to start a fight.”

“What have you called me here for then?” My tone is heavy. I don’t bother to hide the annoyance in it.

Draven holds up the red and black envelope. “Mother wrote.”

-

Draven’s hound house reeks of the mutts that litter this place. We sit alone in his office with the shades drawn. With darkness finally over me, I remove my shades allowing the fire in my eyes to burn holes into Draven’s head. “So you invited me to read this together?”

Draven hands me a drink with what I recognize to be his famous apple whisky. Bitter and disgusting. Still, I swallow it.

“It’s the contents inside that I felt you'd wish to read immediatley.” he says exhaustingly. Dravens round almond eyes match mine, dark lashes and a deep color shines through. The only difference is his silver shines where my red burns. We have the same diamond cut face shape. His is slightly more defining than mine. Our heights even equal the same. Yet, where my skin pales, it is a golden hue that’s been kissed by the sun. A long time ago, Draven and I even shared the same dark brown hair color. Now, his silver hair reflects that of our fathers, short layers with a choppy top. Where mine resembles a dying rose color. Alike and yet not alike.

Draven twists his emerald ring on his finger. Sighing, “Draven, am I meant to pull the information out of you or will you graciously give it away?”

He simply slides the letter over the granite tabletop. Picking up the envelope, I'm instantly engulfed in her deathly perfume.

To my Dear boys,

As children we were always fascinated with the wicked games you two would play. Sometimes these games would last for months on end. You’re father and I adored the way you two bonded through your love for torment. As the seasons change and time moves on, we have come to tire of this constant neglect of one another.

When the Hunter's moon sits high in the sky, during the brightest night, during the darkest hour is when the game shall begin.

An artifact has been placed in each territory of our beloved.

For Draven, on holy ground is where the droplet of moonlight reflects its brightest.

For our Astar, where the sky reflects its truest form resides a ray of sun.

The last artifact for our darling boys is the gift from both the moon and sun.

Illuminated in moonstone that’s been kissed by the night sky.

Bring all to the place where the begging and end have created one another.

You have until the midnight hour where the lines blur.

Once all is collected and the ritual completely, the curse upon the land will be lifted.

May the Hunters moon grant you this wish.

Love, mother

My blood quickens. Leaning back, I down the remainder of the whisky. Already with the bottle in hand, Draven fills it back up before topping himself off.

“When did you receive this?” I asks while taking another swig.

His eyes look at the dreadful letter before us. “Last night. It arrived in the body of one of my men.”

Running a hand through my hair, I dare ask, “do I even want to know?”

Draven releases a low laugh. “You know our mother and her love for theatrics.” His far-off eyes down his glass.

The taste of sour whisky does nothing to dull the pounding thudding through my head. Mother's swirly handwriting sends spiders crawling over my body. It’s as if she’s actually within the room with us.

Draven’s voice is the thing that breaks the silence. “Do you think she’ll actually lift the curse from this place?”

Twisting the glass in my hand, I contemplate all that is in the letter. “Knowing the witch, it’s probably all a trap to further torment us.” When I was a boy, the very thought of badly mouthing her sent my skin ablaze as if I were burning alive. I thought I would forever live in fear of her ways of torturing me. However, my own personal Hell came when she trapped us here. Now there is no life for me. Only the endless darkness in this forsaken town.

“She may be able to hear you,” Draven says lowly. He too matches the same mask I wear.

“Let the b***h hear me, what worse can she do?”

Driven shrugs, his loose shirt falling to one side. “You’d be surprised what powers flow through her veins.”

Straightening, I lean forward to pluck the letter from the table once more. “If she wants to torment me further she’d arrive herself.” My eyes scan over the words over and over again.

Driven sits forward leaning close. “So you won’t help me look?”

“I’m obviously going to assist you in finding these.”

He c***s a brow. “I thought it was a trap.”

I shrug, “Even traps can have a loophole or two. Not to mention it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

The hollow laugh in his chest stabs me in an uneasy area. “Would it f*****g kill you to admit you want to leave as much as I do?”

I reply without taking my eyes off the paper. “Dreadfully so.”

My brother huffs and falls back onto the couch, running a hand through his hair. Something I’m sure he’s done a thousand times throughout the entire night. “The Hunter's moon is tomorrow night.”

“Clearly.”

Taking the hand away from his face, those silver eyes pierce into my skull. “So we only have until all hallows eve to solve this shit.”

Now I lift my eyes from the paper, raising my brows. “I’m surprised you figured that out all on your own.”

“Oh, piss off Astar. I’m not a blundering i***t. We both grew up learning the same things.” He begins pouring himself another glass once more running a hand through his hair. “Nice to see they still address you as our Astar. They may as well have addressed it to their favorite son.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, exhaling slowly, “Draven, do not start this right now when we have an actual chance of leaving this forsaken town.”

He holds up his hands. “Fine.” He spits then takes a large gulp of whisky.

“Besides, you clearly got the better hint.” I stood to stretch out the tension already forming between my shoulderblades.

He slams his hands down on the table. “The better hint? Astar with my luck and the way our mother is, holy ground to her could mean one of two things. One, a church where I can’t enter nor do we have one. Two, the graveyard where I’ll most likely have to dig up everything we’ve ever buried out there.”

Cocking my head to the side, “You’ve actually put some thought into this.”

Dravens's eyes widened. “This is not a damned joke, Astar.”

Holding my hands up, I nod.” Never once said it did.” Leaning down, I pick up my sunglasses.

“If you don’t think it’s a joke, then where the hell are you going?” Draven motions around as if his study is the place where our mother has these artifacts.

“I am going to the main house to go through Mother dearest things. And hopefully figure out something about my clue besides how the blistering sun ties in.” Slipping my leather jacket on, I zip it up then tug my gloves on.

“So what am I meant to do?” Draven asks me with the dumbfounded look on his face.

Turning to the door, I wave back, “Guess you better get digging then.”

His face turns cherry red. “f**k you, Astar. We are meant to do this together.”

I fully turn to him. “This is how I see it. We have two weeks to find three things then find the location. Yes, we are meant to work together, but you can only find your artifact and I can only find mine. The quicker we both locate the first things, the others should come easier.” running a gloved hand through my hair, I sigh, “I have memorized the letter, so you keep it here to help you along. The moment I find out anything solid, I will report back to you. I expect you to grant me the same courtesy.”

Draven exhales dramatically, then nods.

I nod in return. “Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a mansion to tear to shreds.”

My bike still sits perfectly, the crimson sparkling beautifully. Even though the entire thing makes my head pound worse than before, I can't shake the newfound feeling. Something I haven’t felt in a very, very long time. Hope slowly swells in my dried up heart. As I strap my helmet on and drive away, I know that I will do everything in my power to get out of this town.