Moonlight Rising

by Linski, Megan

Chapter Five

  Oliver sat in his cell, picking at the fraying edges of his pants. The trial for me has been taking a long time. Nearly a week. That's how long it takes to prep another Reaper or Bringer. Were they waiting until they had a replacement for me? It can't take that long to decide to kill me, at least. I wish they would hurry up. I’m ready, now more than ever, to die.

  “Oliver Grimor. Your fate has been decided.”

  Oliver raised his head at Jeyyal's voice. Her expression was both stern, and sad.

  The door to his cell swung open, and a pair of masked Reapers grabbed his arms. They led him from the cell and through the hallways, following Jeyyal.

  “I tried to hold her off, Oliver. I really did. I figured I had given you enough time, but then Gigi moved faster than I expected. She always does, though,” Jeyyal said absentmindedly.

  Oliver walked with his head down until they entered a small courtroom, with a gigantic bench that looked more like a throne made for dozens of kings to share. They sat Oliver down in the center of the room, and Jeyyal stood before him. It would be up to her, his superior, to carry out whatever sentence they had decided for him.

  “Oliver Grimor. A name I know, yet a face that I don't. Though I really should,” a loud, deep voice boomed from the throne. A well-built Reaper stood from the throne and came to stand before Oliver, and the young Reaper gasped. He had seen this man in many pictures, depicted as the robed skeleton that humans expected of them, but still couldn't believe that he existed. The Grim Reaper.

  But something was off. He was a man, with broad shoulders and white hair combed backed carelessly. His dark gray eyes shown in his strong face, wrinkles revealing his age. His thin lips pulled back in a guilty smile. Oliver knew this man, but not as the Grim Reaper.

  “You're. . .you're my father. . .” he breathed. He thought back to the night his father was killed. He had not been the only life claimed that night, but he must have survived the attack to become a Reaper.

  “I've heard the reports of you. That you're not quite cut out for the job. You were chosen because of me, and for that, I'm sorry.” Nicholas Grimor paused, clearly uncomfortable. His brow furrowed and he ran his hand through his white hair. He sighed, his resolve set.

  “I was taken from you and your mother, but I never gave up. I fought that night with everything I had. I was dying, but I managed to kill that attacker first. I tried to take his life for myself, praying that I would survive so I could return to you. It was an ironic twist of fate that my actions granted me immortality at the price of my family.”

  His father chuckled to himself, but it was clear by the sullen expression that he didn’t feel it. He seemed waiting for Oliver to respond, but continued when the silence grew awkward, “I was kept away from you, even in this world. Preventing favoritism, they said. But now, it's come down to me to decide your fate. And if I were to go easy on you, I would pay with my own head. And it is, with selfishness, that I present to you your punishment.”

  Oliver stared in shock and awe, his mind unable to wrap his head around the situation. It doesn't matter. Nothing will matter after a few seconds, he told himself as a Reaper came up from beside the throne. He carried a confined weapon, and handed it to Jeyyal. The Grim Reaper, Oliver's long lost father, stepped away.

  Jeyyal swung the weapon away from her body, and Oliver flinched. But there was no pain, no coldness biting into him from the blade of a Reaper's weapon. He opened his eyes.

  Jeyyal was smiling at him, holding the weapon out for him to take. “It seems as though this one isn't mine, so it won't work for me. Do you mind?”

  Oliver took the weapon with shaking hands. With a jerk of his hand, his duel bladed scythe sprung to attention. Gemini shone magnificently at his touch, and he stared at it with wide eyes.

  He swallowed, and then spoke through trembling lips, “You. . .want me to. . .do it myself?”

  “Gigi was not the right choice for you, and there was no harm done to the outside world because of your actions. We, as a collective, have opted to give you a second chance, if you promise to improve your skills to their maximum capacity,” Jeyyal explained, clasping her hands behind her back. Oliver's father returned to his throne as she spoke, and rested his head in the palm of one hand. He watched Oliver with a proud smile.

  Oliver shook his head in understanding, though tears sprung to his eyes. He had prepared himself for death, had even grown to desire it. Now he would not be given release, and would be forced to start anew in the world with no one left to love him. Not even his father, who he was sure would be kept away from him just as he always had been.

  “As for your new partner…they're fresh, so you'll have to do most of the work,” Jeyyal said. “I know you're not very skilled yourself, but this particular partner seems to have a hidden knack for the job. He's willing to learn, and I truly believe that you'll get along perfectly with this one.”

  “With all due respect, Jeyyal. . .Father. . .I can't do this anymore. All I want is to rest, please. I don't deserve another cha…” Oliver was cut short by his own curiosity at the door opening across from him.

  A man about his own age wandered into the room, staring in wonder at everything around him. He held a short sword behind his back that knocked against his legs as he walked. His gray hair fell into his lifeless blue eyes, but they shone when they caught sight of Oliver.

  Coron dropped his weapon to the ground and waved his hands in a large arc over his head. Oliver leaned forward as his love approached him, falling out of the chair and onto his knees.

  Coron embraced Oliver, and the Reaper cried into the new Bringer's shoulder. Now, they would never be without each other. Oliver couldn't imagine living any other way.

  You can read more by T. Ariyanna at www.tariyanna.com

  Aura, Aura by Alicia Rades

  Chapter One

  I’d forgotten how dark Aurora High could be, and I wasn’t just talking about the vomit-colored tile and bad lighting. When I walked through the doors the first morning of my senior year, dull auras overwhelmed my senses. It was in stark contrast to the bright, vibrant colors I’d become used to over the summer while hanging out at the lake. There, people’s auras glowed blue and green, colors of serenity and balance. Here, shades of brown emanated lack of confidence, confusion, and discouragement. I noticed several students surrounded in a dark shade of green, indicating jealousy and low self-esteem. High school was a bitch, and we all knew it.

  I took a deep breath and headed toward the table my friends sat at, the same one we’d called home since freshman year. I held my head high. I wasn’t going to let everyone else’s mood bring me down.

  “Katie, over here!” Briana called, standing on her toes and waving me over to our table. Her aura glowed her usual red, communicating her energy and adventure—and her temperament.

  Beside her, Lisa smiled at me as I sat. Her blue aura hadn’t changed a bit since I last saw her. The calming color suited her well as it showed her charismatic and intelligent side.

  As I analyzed my friends’ auras, curiosity got the better of me. I glanced down at my hand. The same purple I’d become so accustomed to appeared as a haze surrounding my flesh. It represented an intuitive, loyal personality. It also meant I was unlucky in love. Yay me.

  “Hey, girls,” I greeted, setting my purse on the floor beside me. “How was your summer?”

  Lisa opened her mouth to answer, but Briana cut in before she could. “First things first. Have you seen the new guy?” Her eyes darted between mine and Lisa’s. Disbelief fell over her face when she realized we had no idea who she was talking about. “Seriously? Camden Cooper. I told you about him last week.”

  “Well, you never shut up, so sometimes it’s hard to keep up,” Lisa teased as she peeled open a granola bar and bit into it.

  “Oh, stop.” Briana swatted at her. “You remember, don’t you, Katie?” She turned to me.

  “What, me?” I exchanged a glance with Lisa. “No, seriously. I must
have blocked that out. Why should we care?”

  Briana rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat. “Um, because he’s hot. And we haven’t had a new kid in our class for, like, two years.”

  “And?” I dragged out the word.

  “And I call dibs.”

  “You can’t just call dibs,” Lisa told her. “He’s a person, not a piece of cake.”

  “Trust me,” Briana insisted. “He’s better than cake, and he’s probably not even human. He’s like a god or something.”

  Lisa and I rolled our eyes in sync.

  “He can’t be that good,” I told her as I reached across the table to sweep up Lisa’s granola crumbs. My friends had learned by now that I couldn’t stand crumbs. They no longer questioned my obsessive need to keep them out of sight.

  “What part of ‘trust me’ don’t you understand?” Briana gritted her teeth.

  Lisa didn’t give me a chance to answer. “How do you know how hot he is?”

  “Um…the Internet,” Briana said like it was obvious. “He moved in next door to Austin, who told me about him. Believe me, you’ll know him when you see him.”

  “Well, geez,” Lisa teased. “It sounds like you two are practically soul mates.”

  I laughed, but Briana didn’t seem to notice.

  “We could be. Austin and him are already friends, so I have an in since I’m a family member and all.”

  “You’re cousins,” Lisa pointed out. “It’s not like Austin’s your brother and the new guy will be over at your house all the time or something.”

  While Lisa talked, my heart sank. So the new guy didn’t even have to try to fit in. He just walked in here his senior year with everything figured out while I had to go through two months of freshman hell before finding Lisa and Briana when I was new here. I already hated the guy.

  The bell rang, shutting Briana up for the first time that morning. I rose from my seat and slung my purse—that doubled as my book bag—over my shoulder. I walked by the trash on my way to my locker to toss away the crumbs in my hand.

  As students filtered down the halls, my attention turned back to the auras I’d been studying earlier. Pops of color showed up here and there, but in general, seeing the student population as a whole was depressing. Coming from a line of aura readers didn’t make high school any easier.

  I couldn’t help but mutter under my breath. “Welcome to Aurora High, one stop from Hell.”

  By the end of first period, I decided this year wasn’t going to be that bad. I mean, it could only be as bad as I made it, and it was actually exciting to see people again. Plus, our semester English project sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun.

  “Miss Miller.”

  I stilled at the sound of my name. The rest of my classmates shuffled out the door while I turned to Mr. Morgan.

  “You didn’t sign the attendance sheet.” The corners of his lips turned down. Despite this, his aura remained a vibrant orange, showing his honest and kind heart.

  “Oh, sorry! It must have missed me.” I quickly pulled the pencil out from the spiral in my notebook and clicked on the end of it.

  Mr. Morgan handed me the clipboard, turning his frown into an encouraging smile. It took a few moments to find my name, but once I did, I quickly checked it off.

  “You have a good school year, Miss Miller,” Mr. Morgan called as I hurried toward the door.

  “You, too.” I glanced back at him in a friendly gesture, but I worried I wouldn’t have enough time to make it to my locker and then to my next class before the bell rang.

  I spun around just in time to slam into something hard, and my books flew from my hands. It took one glance at the open textbook with its pages planted into the floor for me to instantly fall to my knees and snatch it up. I smoothed down the pages. Crap. If I ruined this textbook, I’d owe the school a ton of money I didn’t have. I inspected the corners of the book, but it didn’t seem too damaged.

  “Here,” a deep voice said. Someone shoved my purple notebook in my face.

  I took it, briefly wondering where my pencil had gone. I glanced around the hall and noticed it about four feet in front of me. Before I could rise from my knees to claim it, a pair of white sneakers came down to crush it. Students hurried so fast to second period that no one seemed to notice. And that was my best pencil. Lovely.

  A wave of frustration fell over me. Not only was my favorite pencil now ruined, but there was no way I was making it to second period on time. Just what I needed, a tardy on the first day of school.

  “You okay?” the same voice asked.

  I sighed. “I’m fine.” I stretched forward to grab my pencil. The poor thing didn’t stand a chance. I’d have to go back to those cheap yellow pencils I had stashed in my locker.

  “You sure?”

  “Yes. There’s just no point in rushing now that I’m going to be late for class anyway.”

  “In that case, you might as well ditch.”

  I gave a light laugh. “I’d ditch my whole senior year if I could get away with it.”

  As I readjusted my belongings in the crook of my elbow, I finally turned to look at the guy I’d bumped into. My heart nearly stopped, and not because he was drop-dead gorgeous. He may have looked like a god as Briana had said—with bright blue eyes and perfectly symmetrical features—but there was definitely something wrong with this Camden guy.

  “I could walk you to class and let your teacher know it was my fault,” he offered.

  “No, that’s okay.” I ducked my head and started toward my locker two halls away.

  Camden’s footsteps followed behind mine. I increased my pace. Only a few students remained in the hall, so I had no one to slow me down.

  “Well, would you let me make it up to you somehow? I was the one who bumped into you.” He fell into step beside me. With his long legs, he probably didn’t even realize I was practically racing now.

  “No, really,” I insisted, keeping my gaze down. “It’s okay.”

  As we neared the next hall, I made the snap decision to head to my right toward my science class instead of to my locker to grab a new notebook. I figured we wouldn’t be taking any notes today anyway, and I needed a quick escape. To my surprise, Camden followed down the hall with me. My frustration quickly turned to panic. All the other students had already filtered into their classrooms.

  “Why are you following me?” I snapped before I could stop myself. My gaze fixed on the open doorway to room 113, my second period class.

  “I’m not following you,” he defended. “I’m going to class.”

  I stopped just outside the door. “Well, this is my class, so I guess I’ll see you around.” I finally glanced up at him again, praying I would not be seeing him around any time soon.

  A smile stretched across his face. “Mine, too. Looks like we share second period.” He pushed past me and into the science lab just as the bell rang.

  I let out a groan and slipped in behind him. Briana waved to me from the back.

  “Were you just talking to Camden?” she asked under her breath as I took the seat beside her. The chatter around the room nearly drowned out her words.

  “Not really?” I said it like it was a question.

  “Isn’t he hot?” She tossed her curls over her shoulder and stared across the room at Camden, who’d taken a front row seat next to Austin.

  “I guess so…”

  She managed to peel her eyes off the back of Camden’s head. “But…?” she prodded.

  I spoke slowly as I tried to come up with a response. “But…you called dibs, so I’m not allowed to look at him like that.”

  Briana patted my back in show. “You’re a good friend.”

  Mr. Abbott rose from his desk and stood at the front of the room. Everyone went silent, and I was thankful for this. What else would I have said to Briana? I certainly couldn’t have told her the truth. I didn’t even want to consider it myself. It made no sense. Yet as I stole another glance Camden’s way, th
ere was no denying it.

  Camden Cooper didn’t have an aura.

  Chapter Two

  I spent the next two periods contemplating what was up with Camden and his aura. The only thing I could think of was that he didn’t have a soul. And, okay, I didn’t know everything there was to know about souls and stuff, but that had to be bad news, right?

  Worry continued to taunt me as I entered the cafeteria for lunch. I tried to put Camden out of my mind, but the whole having-no-aura thing really bothered me.

  “Ugh,” Lisa complained when I met her in the lunch line. “I already have homework for history. What about you?”

  I looked up from the nail I was picking at. “No, no homework yet. The morning was pretty boring so far.”

  Except for Camden, I thought to myself. I couldn’t help but scan the lunch line for him. Maybe I’d made a mistake. Maybe he did have an aura and it just blended into the blue lockers behind him. I tried to remember if there’d been blue behind him in the science lab, but I didn’t think so. I needed to catch another glimpse of him to make sure, but I didn’t spot him in the lunchroom.

  “Are you looking for Briana?” Lisa asked. “Did you see where her locker is this year? It’s right next to the lunchroom, so she was one of the first in line.”

  I followed Lisa’s gaze to our table, and my gut twisted. Camden sat between Briana and Austin. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he laughed at something Briana had said. Why did my friends have to be the ones to befriend the soulless guy?

  I stared at Camden, searching for a trace of his aura. When I couldn’t find it, I studied the backdrop behind him, wondering if maybe it was blending in, but I knew that wasn’t the case. I could see everyone else’s aura at our table except his. Camden’s eyes locked on mine, and I quickly averted my gaze.

  “Maybe we should go off campus for lunch,” I suggested to Lisa.

  “What?” she squeaked. “No way. The school’s serving pizza. It’s the best.”