Moonlight Redemption

CHAPTER TWO: The Unseen

Melissa sat at the edge of her bed, the moonlight peeping through the curtains and casting long silver streaks across the room.

She was bewildered, trying to understand the mischievous figure she saw in the woods.

Knock knock... It was Devon.

“ I thought I’d find you here. You left the gathering.”

“ Yes, I did,'' she replied. She sat up, making a space for Devon to sit next to her.

“ Are you OK, Melissa?” He asked with his voice low.

“ No, I’m not”, she admitted, her eyes sharp and filled with anxiety. “I saw something in the woods.”

He sat beside her and held her hands in his palm. He was warm and his presence brought solace to her.

“You’ve always had an imagination and, by the way, you shouldn’t be out alone. Especially the forest, it isn’t safe these days”

She looked at him. “Then why call a gathering every year that leads people right into it?”

Devon didn't answer immediately.

“Devon, you need to believe me … I’m … I’m having dreams again: the fire, the blood, the voice. The voice calling my name but no face, I can’t recognize it… I can’t even trace it. It’s too much for me.”

He snapped his head towards hers. “Melissa, you have to stop all these….”

“No I can’t,” she interrupted. “You told me to stop thinking about the prophecy, but what if I can’t ignore it anymore? I can feel it and it’s real.”

The room was filled with silence, thick and unspoken truths.

Then, another knock came in. Urgent this time.

Kael stood in the doorway, his eyes shadowed.

“Melissa, we need to go now “

Devon stood up. “Go where?”

“To the forest… for answers. I caught a scent. The same one from earlier. It’s still here, in the woods. Circling the borders and I think this is the right time for us to figure this out and end it”, Kael replied full of certainty.

“And how does that have to do with Melissa ugh?” Devon asked abruptly.

“I think it's following us”

''Then we should alert the guards… that’s their job''

He faced Kael, this time standing in between him and Melissa. “How can I trust you with her? She might hurt too.”

“No!” Melissa said. “We go ourselves." I need to know what this thing is”

Kael nodded

Melissa looked at Devon. He held her hands, his temper was rising.

“You should rest. You just got back, so let me handle this.”

“No! She needs answers. And if she’s seeing these things, she might be the key to understanding them.”

Devon got furious. He released Melissa’s hand and faced Kael. He clenched his jaw and went closer to him, his fists tightened.

“And who are you to decide what she’s the key to or not? You know nothing about her, and you have no right to tell if she can go or not. You can’t protect her.”

Kael trembled but still managed to gauge himself.

“I saw it too, and I feel that she’s right. She deserves to know who she truly is”

“Stop!” Melissa screamed.

“I’m right here, you don’t get to decide for me, either of you… I’m going to the forest”

“You are not going alone Melissa … I’m coming with you” Devon snapped, his gaze still on Kael.

“We all are”, Kael added.

Melissa grabbed her coat and they all left.

**********

The woods were colder than they had been hours before, the trees whispering secrets in the wind, the night was still and Melissa felt her skin sting.

Kael walked ahead, eyes alert with his left hand placed in his dagger pocket, while Devon stayed close beside her, always one step closer than necessary. His protectiveness was like a constant hum in the air. She could feel it, and she loved him so much for that.

They reached the spot where she’d seen the figure - the clearing just beyond the crescent-shaped groove, they were in the middle of it. It looks normal now. Still, too still.

“Nothing”, Devon muttered.

Kael stooped down, he used his fingers to graze the soil. “There were footprints here earlier. They’ve gone now”.

Melissa turned in slow circles, looking at the trees. She could hear the sound of her chest with the pressure of knowing what was going on but having no proof. She was about to speak when a sharp cold wind sliced through the air.

Then, a flash behind them.

“Did you see that?” She whispered.

They all froze. A shape sprang between the trees, quick and silent. Devon immediately stepped in front of her, but she shoved past him. “I need to see….”

She ran

“Melissa no!” Kael cried out.

Devon went after her immediately, but she did not stop. She ran as fast as she could, her feet pounded the earth until everything blurred. Then a sharp cry pierced the silence and the ground disappeared from beneath her.

Darkness swallowed her.

************

Melissa gasped as she got up, her skin damp and cold. She was no longer in the forest. She was … in her room. Again?

“But how?” she thought.

Her heart pounded unevenly as she looked down. She saw blood. It was striped across her hands and her dress. The sheets beneath her.

She jumped out of bed with a cry, backing into the wall. The door slammed open and Devon rushed in.

“Melissa!” He grabbed her in his arms.

“What happened to me?!” She screamed, “What the f**k is this?”

Devon said nothing as he was still trying to understand what she meant.

“Why am I covered in blood?”

But Devon could not see any blood. He brushed her hair backward with his palm and held her cheeks.

“Look at me Melissa, there’s nothing here, okay, you’re safe with me now. Just calm down please.”

“I can’t”, she whispered. “I was just being chased, don’t you remember… in the woods… the trees…, the … the shadows, Devon you saw it too ugh….”

But it was all a dream and Devon never saw any of these. He remained calm.

“Where’s Kael?” Melissa asked.

“He is nowhere to be found right now. Some say he was seen earlier this morning heading into the woods.”

It then dawned on her that she had a nightmare and that broke her heart.

Devon knelt in front of her, his hands gently reaching for hers. “I don’t know what you’re talking about or going through right now, but I do know I can’t lose you, never again. And I swear with my last blood that I’ll do anything it takes to keep you safe” he kissed the back of her palm.

She looked into his eyes. Those eyes felt like home. She felt warm again and filled with his presence. She fell into his arms and began to cry.

“Devon… what if I'm not who I used to be?” She asked.

He reached out, cupping her cheeks while wiping her tears. “Then I’ll fall in love with you all over again”. Then he kissed her forehead.

For a moment, she leaned into him, drowning in the safety of his words. But a memory struck like lightning. The shadows. The feeling of being pursued. And Kael is still out there.

“I need to go find Kael,” she said, pulling away.

“No, you don’t, the guards can take care of it…”

“The guards can’t…” she snapped. “They are all in my nightmares and I know there is something in that forest that I'm drawn to. It’s awakening inside of me.

Devon tightened his fist. A flush of fear showed on his face, torn between his need to protect her and her unshakable will. She was too bold.

“You’re not doing it alone”, he said finally.

Melissa remembered the dream… that was the same thing he said to her.

But before they could say more, a thudding knock. Came at the door.

Melissa and Devon exchanged glances.

Devon gestured for her to remain in the room while he went to the door. He moved to the door and opened it slowly. Only to find a blood-streaked Kael barely standing, eyes wild and something between fear and fury.

“Kael!” Melissa rushed to him, “What happened to you ?” Her voice trembled.

“Melissa, you deserve the truth and that forest… something’s there. Remember what we saw last night?”

To the best of Melissa’s knowledge, she saw two things. One in reality and the other in a dream that felt real.

She nodded. “Yes… yes, Kael, I remember.”

“Well, that’s a sign.”

Devon didn’t like that. He got angry, approaching Kael with anger and grabbed him from his chest, pushing him to the wall.

“And if you ever make mention of that stupid prophecy, I swear I’ll rip off your head with my bare hands.”

“Devon, please stop this!” Melissa cried out.

Devon released Kael, who was panting while adjusting his messy shirt.

But he was still determined and didn't back off after Devon’s threat.

“I saw it. I f*****g saw it this morning, Melissa. "And they know you’re here,” he said in a voice that barely sounded like his own.

Melissa’s breath caught

“Who knows?” Devon asked sharply.

Kael looked up, his voice filled with tension.

“The ones that do not want the prophecy fulfilled”.