December Moon

Chapter 4

“She's right, of course. We don't know the full extent of the story. We need to know more before we accuse Frank of being a cold-blooded killer. Don't jump to conclusions,” said Sammy thoughtfully, knowing only too well what happens when people do jump to conclusions.

For many years, people had done that very same thing and concluded that Sammy was a murderer. They had assumed he had murdered the love of his life, Neleh, when he was, in fact, nothing but an innocent victim too. He had witnessed Neleh's death at the hands of Vivian before the witch had put the cruel curse on him.

For fourteen years he had hidden from prying eyes and accusatory stares. Oh, Sammy knew what it was like to be accused, all right. He had been presumed guilty right from the start, and he wasn't prepared to let another man go through the same stigma until he knew for a fact that Frank was entirely guilty.

Everyone knew what Sammy was thinking. It was written across their faces, those looks of guilt.

“Yes, Sammy, you're absolutely right. We don't want to go through that again,” said Meredith with a sad smile. Although she had no physical transformation skills, Meredith had a remarkable ability to pick up on people's thoughts every now and again.

The group decided on the best course of action: the Elders needed to be notified and soon. The victim could easily have been someone the Elders were familiar with. And they would know how to handle Frank.

The Elders lived high in the mountains, in a series of caves well hidden from the rest of the human world. They were led by the vampire Carmelo and consisted of a large group of wise beings who offered help and advice to any other creature who needed it... including vampires, changelings, werewolves, and so on.

Living among the Elders was a vast number of such creatures. Creatures that couldn't fit into the world without creating fear among humans. The Elders' caves were a sort of safe haven for them.

Earlier that year, Lilly had met many of these creatures during a journey with her grandfather Gabriel, to try and help find out what might have happened to her missing father. However, the journey had turned into a fight for survival, and Gabriel had become injured.

So injured, that he was left weaker than ever before, leading him to make the decision to leave his home and reside with the Elders as one of them.

Lilly had been heartbroken. She had only lived in Powell River a few months and had come to rely on him. Yet she knew it was the right decision for him to make. He was a wise man, after all. It was a tough choice for Gabriel, and it was one he made with a heavy heart. But he knew fourteen-year-old Lilly was mature and responsible enough to live in the house with Tabitha, Zoltan and Sammy alone. The rest of the family lived close enough to be on hand should they need any help. He had been confident that they could get by without him.

Fortunately, with Lilly's newfound ability to morph into a mountain lion, she could always travel to the caves with a certain amount of speed and stealth. He knew he could always count on her.

Everyone else had left Rose's cottage that night, promising to be extra vigilant and careful. Lilly then remembered what had caused her to visit her aunt in the first place, December. Her bizarre dream had revealed some remnants of truth, and the weird thing with the water in the school gym.

“Go on, dear... tell me. There is something else on your mind. What is it?” asked Rose as she opened the back door, letting in three of her beloved cats.

“It's December's birthday today, and something weird happened to her,” said Lilly as she proceeded to tell her aunt about the odd situation.

Rose listened intently while stroking Scully, the Siamese cat that most resembled the old lady.

“What do you know about December, my dear?” she asked.

Again, Lilly explained what had happened with her parents. That her mother had dumped her with a horrible aunt and returned to Seattle without her.

“She was a loner until she met me,” Lilly added.

“So we don't know anything about the mother,” Rose pondered, almost to herself, as Lilly shook her head.

“It is possible that she could just be extra intuitive. But I think that unlikely combined with the strange occurrence in the school gymnasium. Did you say that she had wished the gym would flood so she could get out of the class? Hmm... strange. Honestly, I really don't know what to tell you, my dear. Perhaps you ought to ask one of the Elders. I am assuming that you are going to visit some of the others?”

Lilly nodded. Whenever the opportunity arose to visit the mountains, to see Gabriel and Jo, Lilly jumped at it. This time was no different. More urgent than usual, but still no different.

CHAPTER SIX

DECEMBER MOON: U there, Lil?

No answer

DECEMBER MOON: Lilly, I really need to speak to you?

Again, nothing.

DECEMBER MOON: Buzz me when u get this!

After listening to Monty's bizarre explanations regarding the truth about her mother, Moira, December had stormed off into the house, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

Impossible. How could my mother be a witch? It's just, laughable, she thought, as she attempted a laugh.

The laughter was utterly unnatural. Oh, like my mother. Where is Lilly? I need to speak to her. She'll laugh with me at the madness of it all.

Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, but there was no way that December could know that. There was no way that she could know that Lilly had kept her own supernatural abilities from her.

A witch. My mother. A witch.

No matter how hard she tried to rid the thought from running through her mind, she failed miserably. Deep down, she knew that Monty would never lie to her. Deep down, she knew that there was something wrong, perhaps not wrong, but something different, about her. Look at the gym. I flooded the gym. I did that, didn't I? Yet I was completely safe... and dry. Huh? What's going on with me?

There was a tap on the door, “December, are you all right, dear? I'm sorry if I upset you. Can we talk?”

Sighing heavily, December shut the lid of her orange laptop and jumped up from her oversized bed, complete with enormous fluffy red duvet cover, and plodded over to the door. She turned the brass key and opened the door to find Monty looking sad but determined.

“There is more to this, isn't there? There's something different about me, I can feel it?”

He pushed the door open a little more and put his hands on her shoulders. Looking deep into December's eyes, he nodded.

A couple of hours later, December could be found wandering around Battersea Park alone. She had listened to what Monty had to say and, in the end, believed every word. He had no reason to lie. And she had accepted her recent experience as proof that she too, had inherited her mother's abilities. It was a lot to take in.

“December, your mother was born a witch, just like her mother before her, just as you have been. You mustn't worry though, witches are not usually like they've been made out to be in the movies and fairy tales. Granted, there are many evil witches in this world too, but your mother is certainly not one of those. She is an extraordinary woman, your mother, and she left you in your father's family's care to protect you,” Monty had gently told her earlier.

“But to protect me from what?”

“From evil, my dear, from evil.”

December had gasped. She had never known evil. Not really. Her aunt wasn't a pleasant person, but she would never describe her as evil. Vivian could be described as evil, of course, for the awful things she did to Lilly and her father, but December had never actually known her, she'd never even met her. Vivian had f*******n Lilly from having any friends, so they'd had to keep their friendship a secret.

Little did she know, Vivian had been the epitome of evil, one of the evilest witches alive at that time. But December knew nothing of this.

After her talk with Monty, she had tried, once again, to reach Lilly but she appeared to be incommunicado. She was desperate to speak to her best friend. She knew she could confide in her. Other than Monty, Lilly was the only one she could talk to.

As she wandered slowly through the tall trees, the sun barely visible through the treetops above, she thought about the last time she'd seen Lilly. Over a year ago. It had been the day she'd had to say goodbye. She'd been heartbroken, but she knew it was for the best. Lilly loved her new life in Canada, even though she was still mourning the loss of her father. Perhaps mourning and loss were the wrong words, but he had disappeared. Never to be seen again. Lilly, hoped, of course, that one day he would be found, alive and well, somewhere in the world.

If I am a witch, perhaps I could help, December suddenly thought. If my mother is reaching out to me now, maybe I can go to America. Seattle, that's where December had been told that her mother was from. And she was sure that Seattle wasn't very far from Powell River.

The idea that she might be able to see her friend again made December literally jump for joy, before she looked around, embarrassed, in case anyone had seen.

With a grin on her face, she continued sauntering through the park, hands in her skirt pockets, kicking at the dirt on the ground. A few joggers ran by as she emerged from the trees into the sunshine and began walking along a well-worn pathway towards the edge of the Thames River.

Thinking about what had happened at the school previously, December wondered whether she really did have some kind of weird 'witchy' powers, and if so, whether she ought to try them out. But how? The last time, all she had done was wish the gym would flood and it did. So now, what am I? Some kind of genie, she thought. But she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. I wish... I wish... for huge bubbles to erupt from the water.

She stood, waiting patiently and quietly for something to happen. Nothing. Looking around, she noticed a sturdy wrought iron bench, so she went over and sat down, willing the bubbles to begin churning up the calm murky water. I wish for the bubbles to appear, I wish for the bubbles to appear. But nothing happened. Not a thing.

Irritated that she could seemingly make a whole gymnasium flood but she couldn't make a few bubbles appear in the river, December gave up and jumped off the bench quickly. It's all just rubbish. I haven't got any special powers. What on earth was I thinking?

"You have to want it, December. You have to really want it," said a voice that came out of nowhere.

"Wh..what the...?" she jumped, nearly tripping over the roots of an old tree that spread along the ground beneath her feet.

There was no-one anywhere near her, yet the voice had sounded like it had whispered right into her ear.

Totally freaked out, December zipped up her short brown corduroy jacket right up to her chin, she peered all around her. She was alone. She shivered and whispered back, "Is somebody there?"

But before waiting for an answer, she made herself see sense. "This is ridiculous, December. There's nobody here, and you don't have any stupid magical powers," she said aloud to herself.

Turning to head back in the direction she had come, December suddenly felt someone standing next to her. It was as if she could feel the breath on her hair.

Terrified as to who she would discover, December turned her head to see... nothing, nobody. Yet she could sense someone. Her breathing quickened, and her entire body froze. She could feel the adrenaline begin to course through her veins. She was ready to run. The fight or flight response was prepared to kick in, and she was most definitely taking the flight route.