The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga) (5 page)

“But how…I…” He nodded at me
, stopping me mid question.

“Have trust in my Master
.” He said before sliding the window back up and I followed the motion of it trying to see who else was in there with him.

“But…?” I said weakly as the car drove off
. Something told me the other person in the car, I not only knew who they were, but they also watched me until I went out of sight.

I did the same.

So now I was once again sat on my bed with another letter in my lap with the added legal paperwork I couldn’t yet read.

“Just what are you playing at
, Draven?” I asked out loud and then unable to resist any longer, I pulled up the seal.

Dear Keira,

I wrote you this letter directly after the first
, but I knew you needed time to process all that has happened. I know it must not have been easy adjusting back to ‘normality’ and I know my decision no doubt made you angry and upset, for this I am sorry but I still believe it was the right thing to do on my part. By now I wonder if a new being has made it into the world and if so, I do hope she is healthy and can imagine her to have her mother’s beauty, it is after all, in the family.

I did know it was a girl and never told you as I knew the surprise would light up your face the way I always loved to
see. That was the face only the baby deserved to see first-hand of her beautiful Aunt. I think now what I wouldn’t give to see a baby in your arms and I can’t tell you of the utter bliss it would have given me to see such a sight.

But
, back to the reason at hand for this particular letter and also the part that, if I know you, will be making you angry very soon, as by the time you finish reading this letter the paperwork you signed will be understandable to you. I knew this was the only way to get my stubborn girl to sign the terms of my Will. However, I do find myself smiling at the thought of being able to get one over on you and not being there for you to battle it out with me, which must be most frustrating to my Little Vixen, but please know you make me most happy in doing so, therefore it is not in vain My Love.

I will now say my last Goodbye to you My Keira
, but it is out of necessity rather than wanting, please be sure of that.

My Everlasting Love

Your

Draven   X

It was no surprise
that I had tears streaking my cheeks by the time I had read it and re-read it, but I didn’t feel the utter emptiness I had with the first letter. However, it did make me miss him just as much, if not more as I did that day and every day since. It was getting harder to ignore the fact that he wasn’t coming back, but now I understood that feeling sorry for myself wouldn’t ever be bringing him back….planning would.

I don’t know when exactly it had happened
, but I firmly believed that somehow, someone should be out there to help guide me on how to do this. I mean, if there was one man in the supernatural world that could come back from Heaven or Hell, then that man would surely be Draven. Wasn’t it? I mean… he just had to…right?

I always ignore the internal battle at this point, the one trying to tell me that if he could, then why wasn’t he already here
. But then I would argue that he just needed my help to do it and that he just didn’t want to put me in danger…well screw that! I didn’t care whether or not I had to go to Hell and back again to drag him out myself, as long as there was a chance I would be doing it! And if I died in the process, then I would just meet him on the other side, but I wasn’t giving up without a fight that I was certain about.

I folded the letter back up carefully and put it under my pillow to join the other one. Corny place to keep a love letter
, but in the middle of the night, when I would wake in a blind panic and it would take me heart wrenching seconds to come to terms with the cruel reality, then I would reach out for his written words. As my fingers touched the smooth paper, which always seemed to stay cool to the touch, I would find my tears would dry and my shaking would stop. I would instantly calm and find then that my sleep would take me to a more peaceful place.

Once I did this
, I then remembered the reason I had possession of this letter in the first place and the reason Draven knew I would be angry.

“Well, better get it over with
, but if you left me your Ferrari collection I will freak out mister!” I said looking up like he could somehow hear me. I unfolded the thick bound paperwork and looked down at it with new eyes. The whole document was now in English and it didn’t take me long before I came to the part that turned my roots red.

“Oh
Hell, No!” I shouted thinking the Ferrari idea didn’t look so bad compared to the words that spelled out the truth I was facing…

I was now a bloody Millionaire!

Chapter 5

Poorest Millionaire and the Big Bad Wolf

I was still in shock and I had to stop myself from tearing up the paperwork in anger. Ha, frustration Draven had said, well yeah that combined with about ‘seventeen million’ other emotions!

The paperwork stated that every month I would receive a cool million dollars in my bank account, with the exception of every birthday, when I would then receive five million! It was absurd and completely irrational! I never wanted a penny of Draven’s money and the very idea that I had no choice in the matter was making me see red.

It took a lot of stomping around and swearing to ev
entually calm down. I mean, I knew that Draven wanted to take care of me, but I was a bit sensitive to the money fact and had this crazy idea of earning my own money in life.

By the time I had eaten
my lunch, even chewing angrily, I decided what the first thing I would be spending my money on. I got up, fetched my laptop and was checking my online account to find, that yep, I was now a million dollars better off…fine, if that was the way things were to be played, then oh, I would play alright.

I started looking through a list of charities that didn’t ever receive much
support and decided on one. I then checked the website and clicked on the link to send money directly to them, anonymously of course. The first charity I chose was to make a statement as to how ridiculous it was in sending me all that money. The rest were Cancer and Children’s charities that got the majority of the money but ‘The Badger Rescue Trust’ in England was going to get a surprise when they found someone nicknamed Badger Bee Boo had just given them $200, 000.

This was what I decided to
do every month and I found I soon had a big grin when I’d finished, with my account having just my original savings in it. Of course, I had the usual phone call from the bank thinking some nutter had decided to play charity roulette with my account, but after assuring them with my security details that I was in fact sane, they could do little with my decision other than to proceed with the donations. When I then informed them that this would be a regular thing every month, the guy nearly wept on the phone. He even suggested a really good hotel in the Caribbean that he and his wife went to on their honeymoon. He said I sounded like I could do with a holiday, to you know, think things through.  I asked for his details and sent him enough money to go on another holiday with his wife and kids…this time in a five star resort. At this point he did weep on the phone.

I felt quite good after my little spending spree and I had to giggle
, hoping Draven could see me now. I was in the bath shaving my legs, that looked as though they belonged on a Yeti, when I had looked up, as if I could see him above me and said,

“Don’t mess with me matey, you think you can get one over on me…Ha! Not this Vixen!” It would have been a co
ol statement if my leg hadn’t slipped off the rim of the bath and I hadn’t just taken a thin slice from my ankle. Man that smarted!

I got out of the bath and started to get ready
, as I had promised to see the gang tonight. It was times like this I was glad Afterlife wasn’t open, as I didn’t think I would have been able to cope with that just yet. Seeing that place and knowing that Draven wasn’t up there looking down at me, would have been a first class ticket to Misery City with a stopover at Homicidal Central.

Thankfully
, we had decided on a pizza place before the movies. I was still trying to dress when I heard the beep of Jack’s truck. I dragged the top over my head and went over to wave out of one of the bedroom windows to hold up my hand to indicate five minutes. In that time I dried off the rest of my hair while stuffing my feet into my Doc M’s. I was still putting on my gloves when I reached the front door.

Everyone asked me about baby Ella and I held the conversation until Jack was parking the car outside Pizza Pie Palace, or known as the 3P’s to everyone around here. Once we were seated in one of their biggest booths, one Chaz and Drew had waiting for us, we started chatting about what we were doing for summer.

“Yeah Kaz, are you still going travelling with Draven?” RJ asked me, before taking a bite of a slice of pizza that I swear was bigger than her head. I, of course, snorted in my coke.

“You ok Kaz?” Jack said patting me on the back while I wheez
ed, coughed and tried to find my breath that eluded me.

“Yeah…just went…down…wrong way
.” I said hoping RJ still wasn’t waiting for an answer. Of course, one look squashed that hope like a bug on a windscreen.

“Well?”

“Umm…” I looked around and now everyone had stopped and was looking at me, waiting. I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath. I knew I couldn’t have held this off forever but it still felt far too raw to be talking about this and even Libby hadn’t asked me the details.

“Me and
Dra…Dominic… broke up.” I said and in that moment all hope in my friends being tactful was lost. Lanie dropped her pizza, Drew’s glasses slipped down his nose, Chaz stopped drinking with his straw still caught against his lip and RJ…well RJ actually shouted,

“WHAT
THE FUCK!?” There only seemed to be Jack that I could depend on for even a normal response.

“Yeah, well it kind of just happened and as you can imagine
, I really don’t want to talk about it.” I added hoping like Hell RJ would get the hint.

“Who finished with who?” Well
Hell really was never going to be on my side now was it, I thought dryly.

“Ok, if you must know, he finished with me
.” I said knowing there was no other way I could play this card. I mean come on, no-one in their right mind would have believed that I finished things with him!

“Why?” She asked and I rolled my ey
es thinking just how blind, deaf and dumb could one person be at this moment. What part of I didn’t want to talk about it did she not get exactly?

“Come on sis, what part of ‘she doesn’t want to talk about it
’ don’t you get?!” Jack said as if reading my mind. Did I just project that or what? Either way it worked and even though she rolled her eyes, she still saw the insensitivity in her question.

“Sorry…I guess I am just shocked is all
.” She said but I shrugged my shoulders before responding,

“No more than me, I can assure you
.”

“Is that the reason the club is closed?” She asked and Jack groaned.

“What! I can ask that can’t I?”

“It
’s fine Jack. Look, I don’t really know all the ins and outs about the club or why it closed, but I do know that the Dravens won’t be back for a long time.” I said taking a sip of my drink to mask the emotion in my voice.

“Oh
, that’s a shame.” Lanie said quietly. I didn’t even have it in me to smile at her cute little comment.

“So
, what movie we gonna see? ‘Cause, I am thinking horror.” Jack said steering the conversation away from me and I nudged his leg under the table and mouthed a ‘Thank you’ when no-one was looking. He winked at me and continued with the tactic the rest of the afternoon.

It was only later that evening when he dropped me off last, after Lanie, that he turned the engine off outside my house.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked me, shifting in his seat to face me.

“Do you want to come in?” I asked thinking that, no, I didn’t want to talk about it but on the other hand, I really didn’t want to walk in the house on my own.

“Sure.” 

He locked his door and followed me into the house. Once inside
, I made us both hot drinks and we sat down in the living room.

“Do you wanna watch something?” I asked him getting up
, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm, one I wasn’t used to being touched by human hands.

“Keira stop
.” I gave up on pretending and slumped down in the seat next to him.

“I am no expert Keira
, but I have had my fair share of heartbreak and know what it feels like to go through the emotions being left behind can bring. I am not asking you to tell me all the details honey, but I am going to ask that you consider me as a friend to talk to when you’re ready, despite my devilish good looks, there is a good listener in here as well.” He said making me laugh at this last part.

“I know you are
.” At me saying this he did a dramatic head flip and pushed all his floppy hair back with both hands while saying,

“Thanks sugar, no face for radio in this house,
nope, not us!” He said breaking into a laugh when I elbowed him in the ribs.

“Hey, watch the merchandise,
gotta take this hunka burning love all the way to Hollywood someday.”

“
Hunka burning love…really?” I said sarcastically and we both burst out laughing.

Jack stayed to watch a movie and it was nice not being alone in the house. We chatted like we used to do and Draven didn’t come into the conversation again. He explained
that his plans for the summer were travelling and most of the gang were going along, if I was interested in getting away for a few weeks. I was just telling him I would think about it when he checked his phone.

“Whoa, I didn’t realise the time
.” He said standing up and stretching his tall frame. I could just see the strip of tanned stomach under today’s rock T-Shirt that was a faded Metallica logo in grey with a coiled snake underneath.

“You working tomorrow?” I asked following him to the front door.

“Yeah, although I was supposed to be taking some tourists up for a hike, only the sheriff put a stop to that. Hope it’s not for long though.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” this piqu
ed my interest.

“Haven’t you heard? Man Kaz, you really need to start reading the papers, the damn world could be ending tomorrow and you wouldn’t even know it
.” He said and I shuddered thinking he really had no clue how close that statement came to being true last December.

“Well
, that is what I’ve got my buddy Jack for, to bring me all this happy, feel good news that just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.” I said making him arch an eyebrow before he ruffled my hair like a child.

“Sure do a
nd don’t you forget it! Ok, here’s the heads up. Some weird stuff has been happening in the National Park, so do us a favour…don’t go walking in the woods alone…K?” He said becoming more serious as he put on his khaki combat jacket.

“Why?” I asked having a very bad feeling about this.

“Because some hikers didn’t fare so well the other week and from what I heard, it took a large crew to collect all the scattered body parts.” I hit him on the arm to tell him to stop joking with me but then I saw his look and knew there was no messing around in the story he just told me.

“Please tell me you have exaggerated that ‘body part’ bit?” He shot a look to the woods before coming back to my worried eyes.

“Hey don’t worry, it was probably just some wild animals or something.”

“You mean they don’t know that for sure?!” I asked not being able to keep t
he high pitched squeak from the question.

“Well
, from what I heard, they have had loads of trackers and wildlife experts up there, but so far none of them can say with certainty what animal they are dealing with, but you wanna know the weird part?”

“There’s a weirder part to that story?” I responded in disbelief.

“Sure is and the whole thing kind of gave me the heebie jeebies, ‘cause when they did their search of the camp ground they found some strange stuff.” He said pulling his jacket together and zipping it all the way up.

“Like what?”

“Prints around the bodies that suggested someone else was involved, someone who wouldn’t exactly go hiking in biker boots but the weirdest part was, it was as if someone had been looking over one of the bodies.” The mention of biker boots had me almost breaking out in a cold sweat. I remembered boots that looked as if they belonged on a biker, but it wasn’t just this part that had me close to freaking out, it was the answer to my next question.

“How would they know that someone was looking over the bodies?”

“Because of what they found lying on top of the remains, as though it had fallen from someone’s pocket…” He pushed his hair back and I noticed the little shiver he did before carrying on,

“An Oreo cookie packet
.”

That night I didn’t sleep too well and dreamt of tall men in biker boots chasing me through the forest. I even woke up, still in my dream, and saw a shadow stood at the bottom of my bed. I screamed again and then woke for real
, to find I was alone but there was no going back to sleep after that.

I just kept playing it over and over in my head. I had even dug yesterday’s old newspaper out
of the bin to look at. Jack hadn’t been exaggerating at all, even though the authorities were still holding out for it to be a wild bear or pack of wolves, as the extent of the damage done to the bodies was too extreme for a single person to do. They even found claw marks to back up their theory, but I knew differently. I knew first-hand what the other side could become, let alone do to a human body with ease.