Under the Blood Moon (The Stargazers Trilogy Book 1)

by Lee, Summer

  Isabella opened her hands, showing her nails like birds claws. Eric likened Isabella to some sort of wild animal. She appeared highly attuned to sights and sounds, which only made a quick movement that frightened the paid employee.

  Before he could make a move to control her, she crouched down, zeroed in on the last henchman, and easily leaped over the wall at her prey, with very little arch. That’s exactly what he was and as he realized that, he gave a look of horror when she pounced on top of him.

  Eric not only couldn’t describe what he saw next to anyone who asked him, but he knew that the image would be engraved into his memory for as long as he lived.

  When he broke out of the shock, he realized that getting away from Isabella while she was distracted was the best idea he had. With the way to the ladder blocked, he went to the edge of the roof and figured it to be a good thirty feet to the ground.

  He almost smiled when he realized that he started to have Sybil’s analyzing skills. She would analyze every possible and improbable answer to every situation. Some of her hypotheses were downright unbelievable, but that helped her to sift through to the more probable ones.

  He knew that he was more likely to get seriously injured if he jumped off the roof, even if he grabbed the edge and hung off first. If he was injured, then he would be a sitting and quite possibly tasty duck for the crazed Isabella.

  He had to make a decision soon, because she would come for him next. He wished he could have helped the men but he also knew that if he got in the way, she would have taken them both down and that would be the end of that. He sprinted to the ladder and down he went with record speed.

  * * *

  Sitting in some bushes outside of town, he saw a small church with children waving palm branches and singing. He thought there was something about that in his Bible. Eric remembered his mother had taught him about it. She once said, “A prophecy in Daniel accurately foretold the appearance of the Messiah on Palm Sunday.” The children were happy and it caused Eric to smile. “When Jesus appeared at the temple, riding on a donkey’s colt, he fulfilled the prophecy,” his mother had said. Then she would say, “We don’t want to miss the signs of the second coming.”

  He knew that war is predicted for the sixth year of the tribulation, and the son of Jessie was to come in the seventh year. He had heard that at the end of the shmitta, the Messiah would arrive.

  Although the Talmud never states in which seven-year cycle this would be fulfilled, he truly believed that the time for the Kingdom of God to come was now.

  He said out loud, “It is a holy period of time.”

  A man walking by on his way to church said, “That is not all. The Feast of the Tabernacles is always connected with a huge event. There is a Jewish tradition that the battle of Gog and Magog will be associated with a Jewish holiday. That is to be the final war to precede our redemption and the arrival of the Messiah.”

  “Really?”

  “Check it out.”

  “I will.” He would look it up on the Internet. He was shocked that so many claimed to have dreams and visions of God.

  Messengers from the Lord are proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. The number of days Daniel said to prophecy were 1,350 days. His mother had said so. While she was prophesying, she had repeated, ‘says the Lord’ several times. But now she had passed on. Was Eric the one to tell that the end of days was here?

  * * *

  Eric’s heart raced, as he started to shake and sweat. He had never been so scared in his life and his mind was shutting down in favor of the fear. There were no more new ideas and so many unanswered questions. For the first time in his life, he knew he was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it.

  Fear slowly turned into regret, and then he was on the edge of acceptance. He missed his sister and it was driving him crazy. She was his best friend. Was she now dead? He never got a chance to say goodbye.

  Peering over the edge of the rock in the field, he pictured how he wanted to die when the time was right, but that being devoured by some lunatic who he assumed was still sitting on the roof of a bar, wasn’t even close to one of them.

  He never thought his life would end so short and with very little meaning. He had never accomplished anything in his mind that would have made him feel like he was worth something. He felt that he never did anything of consequence for anyone. Both Sybil and he knew that he needed her more than she needed him, but she would never admit it.

  He thought about what Isabella had turned into and felt sad.

  Suddenly, he was jerked off of the edge by someone powerful. He felt his head snap forward, as he was thrown on the ground. Eric’s vision was blurred because of it. All he could see in front of him was the out of focus outline of who he believed to be Isabella. As Eric started to regain his vision, he noticed someone running into the blurry Isabella and knocking her over. He rolled out of the way, in case whatever attacked her was interested in him as well.

  He closed his eyes tightly and then rubbed them to hurry the process of getting his full sight back. When he opened them again, most of the blurriness was gone.

  Isabella was unconscious about five feet away from him. He didn’t see anyone else, though. He thought his mind might have been playing tricks on him. Maybe he actually beat Isabella and didn’t know, because of his whiplash. Not knowing if it was actually feasible to knock someone out when he didn’t remember even touching them was the answer he was going with. No one could tell him differently.

  Then he heard a voice coming from just behind him.

  “I hope you don’t think that I’m going to be waiting for your butt all day.” Who was the Hungarian God had sent to help him? Eric burst out laughing.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  April 4th, 9:27 p.m.

  “The moon will take on a reddish hue early Tuesday. It will do so as it appears in different phases between 2 and 4:30 a.m. The red hue is caused by refracted sunlight in the Earth’s atmosphere, which bounces off the moon while in shadow. The entire reddening process takes about an hour.”

  * * *

  After Solomon secured Isabella in handcuffs and introduced himself to Eric, he then took them both to the small church at the bottom of the hill. “It is Sunday and you both need to hear the word of the Lord.”

  When church was over, he took them to the Old Parkdale Inn Bed & Breakfast, where he had rented a room. Using zip ties, he tied Isabella to one of the chairs at the dining table and leaned her back up against the wall. That way, if she moved, she and the chair would fall together.

  He possibly made a mistake by letting Eric order something to eat, because Eric ate like a man famished. He had three orders of French fries, a large double hamburger with extra cheese and bacon, and three different types of cola.

  Solomon sat and stared. “If you keep eating that way, you’ll destroy your girlish figure. Ha ha.”

  Isabella looked disgusted, as she nibbled on her turkey melt that Solomon fed her.

  “All that training to impress me was for nothing, Eric. Hah! There goes your physique!”

  Solomon walked over to her and glared. “that will be enough out of you, girl. Mind your manners and maybe I won’t take you to te police.”

  She smirked. “They’re going to charge me for what? Being on a rooftop and fighting off the advances of that hulking brute over there? I don’t think so!”

  He looked at her as if trying to figure her out. “I don’t get you. What were you trying to accomplish? Eric can’t help you. He isn’t what you think he is.”

  She pouted while finishing the last bite of her sandwich, which Solomon was still feeding her. “I would have beaten both of you if the totality would have lasted longer. It couldn’t have been more than four more minutes.”

  “So you knew you were going to turn feral?” Solomon asked with disbelief.

  “It’s not feral. It’s primal and yes. I knew. Everyone who loves the moon as I do knows that it has a different effect on eac
h of us. Some are turned into blabbering idiots. Others get strength and ferocity.”

  “I study the moon. The Tetrads in particular. I don’t feel the need to go crazy and it has no effect on me. Why did you choose Eric? Just because he had some dreams?”

  She angrily tried to free herself from the restraints. The chair gave way and she fell onto the floor on her back. She groaned and then glared at Solomon. “It’s not just a dream! It is the dream! The dream that tells all of the followers of the moon that the time is nigh for the end of days!”

  Eric looked up from eating and stared at her. He remembered the man in his dream saying nothing but, “End of days.” But he didn’t want to think about his dream while he was eating. He started to get nauseous.

  He held onto his stomach and grimaced. “I knew this was going to happen. Talking about my dream and eating doesn’t mix very well.”

  Solomon stepped over to Eric, while still keeping an eye on Isabella, who was left her on her back on the floor. “Eric. I have all of the research your sister had. She shared all of her information with me. I wanted to tell you that I am very sorry for your loss.”

  Eric didn’t know how Solomon found out that he knew about Sybil’s death, but it didn’t matter. He could not choke back the tears, as they rolled down his cheek. He read of her death in the Portland newspaper that was thrown at him, but he did not want to believe it. His greatest fear when they were apart was losing her, but he never dreamed that his worst fear would be realized.

  He remembered when she told him that her greatest fear would be to die alone and that was exactly what happened. He had to bottle up his emotions when he was held captive, because they wanted him to break. He believed that Isabella wanted to see him in pain. He had never wronged her. He was the one who was kidnapped. She didn’t care. She was a total control freak. He saw that she controlled everything and everybody around her. That’s why she had no one who loved her.

  “I’m tired,” Eric told Solomon. “I haven’t done anything to anyone to deserve all of this. Sybil was the only one who could make sense out of the emotional stuff for me. She’ll always be a part of me, no matter where I go or what I do. She was dedicated to everything she did and I’m going to be just like her. It’s never too late to change and I thank my Heavenly Father that I have a fresh start.”

  “What?” Isabella exclaimed from her supine position. “You found religion while you were kidnapped? Oh, I can’t believe this!”

  Eric slowly stepped over to her with a new-found confidence. “It’s not religion that I found. I found God. I met His Son, Jesus. He has become my best friend.” He scratched his head. “I guess He’s the one who really found me.”

  Isabella rolled her eyes. “Can someone get me off of this floor before I get sick? Unbelievable!”

  Eric squatted down beside her and leaned in close. For the first time, she was fearful of him and became very quiet. “Listen to me, Isabella,” he said, with an unusual amount of calmness. “I learned a lot of things while I was being held captive. Even though you put me through the worst torture I could have ever dreamed, I will not get even with you. I missed being there for the final time for my sister. I will never get the chance to say goodbye. I know that you’re putting yourself through a lot of stuff because of the world being in so much turmoil. I could get revenge on you, but it’s nothing compared to what you’re putting yourself through. I can just walk away from you now and not ever worry again about what you could do to me. You can’t walk away from yourself. Ever. You have a chance, Isabella. You need Jesus. If I were you, I would take the opportunity God is giving you right now. Before it’s too late.”

  “In all my life, no one has ever talked to me like I am actually human.” She said that she was used for just about anything possible and always betrayed. She laid there with her mouth open and tears rolling down her face.

  Solomon was shocked as he looked at Eric and then at Isabella. “You did it. You actually got to her. But I see something in her eyes. She has a demon.”

  “I don’t like it,” she said. “The demon controls me. I want to get rid of it.” With tears rolling down her cheeks, she asked Solomon to pray for her. “Will you tell the demon to go away?”

  Eric pulled the chair upright and used a small knife that Solomon had in his pocket to cut the ties. Solomon prayed with real power. Isabella went limp. When he finished, she said, “Thank you. I am free.”

  “We could really use your help on the last Tetrad, Isabella. This is your chance to prove the world wrong. Don’t judge all of humanity by what a handful of people did to you. It was their choice to harm you and it was wrong, but you now have a choice as to how you’re going to change and do something good of humankind. Don’t let them win by being trapped by the past. There’s someone who wants to forgive you, so that you can start life over. His name is Jesus. He suffered on the cross, so you don’t have to.”

  Solomon smiled. “Amen, bro.”

  Isabella had nothing to say.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  September 19th

  Solomon went to the kitchen and let Eric take responsibility dealing with Isabella. “I’m right here,” he said. “I’ll keep an eyes on her as well. Just in case.”

  “Thanks.” Eric nodded.

  Isabella looked at Eric as if through new eyes. She said, “I want to hate you, but can’t help but wonder why no one ever spoke to me like you just did. How come there’s nobody in my life that talks like that? Why does everyone just use me for whatever they want and then throw me away like I’m an old candy wrapper?” She was pleading more than just talking. Eric could tell that she subconsciously cried out for something she never had.

  Eric listened to her and thanked God, in his mind, that she was asking instead of attacking. Solomon just smiled and listened. She rambled on and on, and then broke down and cried.

  “I used to read the Bible with my mother when I was growing up,” Eric finally volunteered. “I remember at the time, I just wanted to be a young boy and not have to pay attention to the Lord and His amazing wisdom. But I’m paying attention now. Everything I learned—but didn’t think I would remember—is coming back to me now. All the scriptures and lessons were always there in my subconscious mind. I just needed something to bring them to the surface. I guess I really should thank you, Isabella, for putting me in a situation where I had no choice, but to turn to God. It was the best choice I ever made.”

  Unbelievable to him, Isabella softened her stance and leaned into Eric, embracing him. She had released the tears of pain, and showed hope for change. Eric looked to Solomon for advice. Solomon smiled and just pointed to hug her. He then went into the other room to give them some privacy.

  Eric held her in his arms and said, “Isabella. You said that everyone treated you like an old candy wrapper. What you didn’t realize was that you could have stopped it at any time. Yes, some situations are harder to get out of than others, but admitting that the situation needs to change is half the battle. The harder the situation is, the harder it will be for you to change, but you have to. No one is going to do it for you. You have to love yourself before you can be loved. God believes in you and loves you so much, that He sacrificed His one and only Son, so that you can have a chance for everlasting life, where there is no pain, no hate, and no being used.”

  “Thanks.” Sniffing, she let her emotions out. “I will never question your sincerity. I feel peace for the first time in my life. I already feel a sense of worth just from your words.”

  Later, Solomon told Eric that, although he didn’t mean to eavesdrop, he could not help but overhear Isabella’s display of emotion. He said, “I’ve thought about everything you said, Eric. It all makes sense to me. You’re a man of wisdom.”

  “I appreciate your kind words.”

  “Knowing what I know about you, thanks to Sybil’s research, I see why God chose to give you dreams about the last Tetrad. Because this is the end times, the blood moons will have the biggest dis
play to the world.”

  Chapter Thirty-six

  September 20th, 2015, 1:45 p.m.

  Eight days before the final moon in the Tetrad

  Much happened in the months between the third Tetrad and the last one. Isabella had cut off all ties with her past and accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. She never contacted any of her henchmen or anyone from her previous life again. She listened when Eric talked about God. She said that she didn’t feel worthy of God’s love. She cleared out all of her bank accounts and bought a small house on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon and put the deed in Solomon’s name, much to his surprise. When he asked her about it, she just shrugged and explained that it seemed like the right thing to do. The trio also was able to get two vehicles. Both were Dodge Caravans. Eric was impressed with her generosity.

  Isabella put the rest of the large amount of money in a joint account with Eric. He saw that she was really getting good at wanting to please God.

  Eric and Isabella read the Bible together on a nightly basis, They invited Solomon to join them, and developed a family Bible study. Eric had some soul searching of his own to do, so he needed Solomon’s input.

  * * *

  When Callista and Solomon were first taken to the hospital after their rented house had collapsed in the earthquake, Solomon was released after a few days. Callistra had a shattered hip bone and had to stay longer. It was over a week later that she healed enough to be released from the hospital. She joined her son in the house that Isabella bought. Ironically, she stayed in the basement of the new house. It was by choice.