Approaching Night: Book I of Seluna

by Ilana Waters

  Gods, I had no idea how hard this would be. Until now, the largest thing I’d reanimated was a dead rat. I’d never done a human before, and certainly not so many at once. My arms ached, and perspiration was pouring down the sides of my head now. There was nothing to reflect the moonlight off of. I didn’t have the mirrors. I didn’t have the chandelier. The only conduit for the energy this time was me.

  Maybe I don’t need a reflective surface, I thought. Maybe, if I focus hard enough, I can kill Catron myself. I just need to harness my powers, to concentrate. But there was still the incantation. And I had no idea what it was.

  Then, the strangest feeling came over me. I felt the words rise up from my heart into my throat and out my mouth. But as I was saying them, I knew they were more than ordinary speech. I was remembering. My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was deeper, stronger, reverberating throughout the hall:

  “I am called by many names.

  I am called on many times.

  But thrice be damned

  be he, the man,

  who seeks to take what’s mine.

  My light shines on those in need

  and keeps them safe from harm.

  But if you are one

  to cause such pain,

  evil spirit, then, begone!”

  Catron seemed to realize something important was happening. The girls continued moving around him, faster and faster. He took several panicked shots at me, and at the stained glass window. But each one missed, as I somehow knew it would. Chunks of stone spewed out of the walls behind me where the bullets struck them. I felt as if I were floating, as if a misty, invisible barrier were between me and everything happening in the room.

  “I’ll see you dead somehow, you ruinous harpy!” he cried in great, heaving gasps, eyes wild. With his once pristine suit and flawless hair disheveled, he truly did look like a madman. “When I get through with you, you’ll sleep for a thousand years!”

  Sleep. It made me want to laugh. What did Catron know of such things? I wonder, when we sleep, do we enter a world as bizarre and unreal as a fairy tale? Or do we dream of home at night? The veil between the daylight world and the one we dream of, the one we know exists, is so thin we could reach out and brush it aside. One motion, one little swipe of the curtain, and our dreams are made real. That is our true home, our true reality.

  It was the message I’d been receiving all along as I slept. I had it upside down, backwards, twisted. Like sunlight that reflects off the moon or a mirror. My dreams weren’t a confused, nonsensical jumble. They weren’t showing me what was wrong. They were showing me who I was. And I’d be damned if I let Catron take that away from me.

  My arm no longer ached, but felt weightless. The front hall of Silver Hill, so intimidating when I had first arrived, now made me feel powerful. The moon shone down brighter than I’d ever seen. It created a line of light from me to Catron. I lowered one hand and used the other to point—not to the girls, but straight to my adversary. Of course! Pointing is the way to channel and direct my energy. Why didn’t I see it before?

  The rifle slid from Catron’s hands, but did not go off when it hit the floor. He froze where he stood, wide-eyed, mouth gaping at me. The moonlight was aimed right at him, but still he was not destroyed.

  I narrowed my eyes. I wasn’t going to let a silly protection spell get in my way. It wasn’t going to work, not when I was in my element. I could feel the spell around Catron, an annoying black ball.

  The hell with you, I thought. You don’t deserve protection. You are heinous and hurtful, upsetting the balance of this world. I focused on the energy coming out of my hand, pushing, pushing, till it popped through the protection bubble and burst it.

  Now, the moonlight flowed through me more easily than ever, radiating a sense of peace and stillness. Still pointing at Catron DeKay, I saw a beam literally shoot from my fingertips into center of his chest. Then light exploded all around him, and I shielded my eyes with my free hand. Somewhere in the far distance, Catron was screaming. But I was unafraid and unharmed. I knew this light, this radiance, was mine and mine alone.

  I am the power, the moon, the goddess herself.

  I lost all sense of time, so I couldn’t really tell when the spell subsided. It could have been hours, or it could have been only minutes. The beam of moonlight faded away, and I lowered my arm to get a better look at the scene before me.

  Catron was definitely dead. There was an enormous, charred hole in the middle of the floor where he’d been standing. I could see the outline of his shadow on the stone. Some people might think moonlight was insubstantial. But I gave a little smile as I looked at the remains of my conquered foe.

  It certainly isn’t insubstantial when I wield it.

  That was why Catron hadn’t been able to find the source of my power: it was the moon. Unless he planned on pulling it down from the sky, his schemes had been all for naught.

  I stopped smiling when I saw what was happening to my dead friends. They were leaving the large circle in which they’d trapped Catron, and were walking in aimless, smaller circles. One by one, they dropped to the floor. The last one I knew instantly: Francine.

  “Wait!” I cried out as her knees began to buckle. I didn’t know if she could hear or understand me, but I couldn’t stop the words from coming. “Don’t fall down! Maybe I can help you, bring you back to life permanently.” I wracked my brain for a way to do just that. I might not have known Francine well, but at least she’d believed in me. And nothing could have shocked me more than the sound of her reply.

  “No, it is over. I am over. All of us are.” Her voice had a far-off, monotone quality as she turned to me. Her dead, unseeing eyes stared into the distance. I could see the lobotomy wounds clearly above her brow. They were still open, with small rivers of dried blood running down the sides of her face. She wasn’t even stitched up. She must have died during the operation.

  “My life here is finished; it’s time for me to leave. ‘To everything there is a season,’ and mine on this earth is done. Now, I am going home.” She knelt on the floor and sank to her side.

  “Wait—please—don’t!” I begged.

  “Good-bye, Seluna. And good luck with your mission,” Francine said. Then the dead girl closed her eyes, never to open them again. She even put her hands together and placed them under her head, as if settling down for a nap. Try as I might, I could not reanimate her—or any of the other girls—a second time. They had indeed fulfilled their mission, their purpose in life.

  It remained to be seen whether I would do the same.

  Chapter 16

  The next day, there was quite a lot of cleaning up to do.

  I swept copious amounts of broken glass and other rubble from the main entrance, glad for the changes in my wardrobe. I’d cut away the front part of my skirt and donned a pair of tight black trousers that were in a box marked “Confiscated.” I suppose Catron couldn’t have girls do anything as rebellious as wear trousers. But it was so much easier to move around this way. And there was a lot of work ahead that would be ill-performed in a skirt. For one thing, I’d moved Geraldine, Thomasina, Francine, and all the rest into a corner and covered them with a tarp for now.

  Although exhausted from the previous night’s events (and of course, tired in general during the day), defeating Catron had given me renewed vigor. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the sight that had greeted me earlier that morning.

  I’d gone out to the garden, Queen Sophia’s Book in my hand. I didn’t really know why I’d brought the Book; it just felt good to have it with me. The sky was so blue it almost hurt my eyes to look at it. Huge white clouds passed lazily overhead, and the air was balmy, inviting. The pavement stones that were previously a dull shade of gray were almost silver.

  And the garden I stepped into was not the one I remembered. It was alive! The trees were proper shades of brown and green, no longer doubled over, but standing proudly at their full height. A
few birds were even singing in them, building nests. The vines were no longer black, hateful things. When I brushed against them, they weren’t hard and sharp anymore, but soft and smooth. They moved back and forth in the breeze, and I know it sounds silly, but it almost felt like they were waving to me.

  And even though it was now early spring, the garden was in fuller bloom than the land around it. I had no idea how that could be. Also, the pond wasn’t frozen. I supposed the warmer weather had something to do with that, though I didn’t know of any ponds whose ice melted overnight. And the water was a stunning shade: so bright it was almost turquoise. When I spotted Dym in there, my heart soared. I could almost feel it, rising in my chest. He looked even better in daylight than moonlight.

  “You’re awake!” I cried as I ran to the edge of the pond. I wanted to be angry with him for failing to help me. But that desire was no match for my overwhelming relief.

  Dym smiled and yawned, rubbing his eyelids. “Hey,” he said drowsily, “I like the new look.” He nodded at my half-skirt, half-trouser ensemble.

  “This? Oh, thank you,” I replied. “It’s just a little something I threw together.”

  Dym chuckled, waking up more fully now. “Or tore apart, by the looks of it. But it’s nice. I don’t think I’ve seen a girl wear anything like it before. And of course I’m awake,” he said. “Rather hard to swim in one’s sleep, don’t you think? Though I did dream I held the moon in my arms. It was almost a pity to open my eyes.”

  “But how are you . . . I mean, because I . . .”

  Dym raised his eyebrows. “Because you what?”

  I sighed. “C’mon, Dym. You must know it was me who made you sleep. After all, it was your idea in the first place.”

  “It wasn’t my idea to make me go to sleep. It was supposed to be Catron. And I did wake up with an appalling crick in my neck.” He rubbed his back, just above his shoulders. Then he stretched out his long, lithe arms, twisting them over and over. I couldn’t help but stare. Sometimes I wonder if he’s just showing off.

  “I know, but what could I do? You wouldn’t leave! I only wanted to keep you safe. It turns out the spell didn’t work because Catron already had one on him—for protection.”

  “He did?” Dym’s jaw fell, and he stopped stretching. “I’m sorry, Seluna. I never would’ve guessed that—or suggested a spell I thought wouldn’t work.”

  “It’s all right. I know you wouldn’t. Anyway, you’re probably wondering what happened in there.” I jutted my chin towards Silver Hill. “Why I’m still here. The truth is, Catron tried to kill me. And I don’t mean with his sadistic experiments. I mean really tried to kill me. With a rifle.” I went over last night’s events, including using the spell for Drawing Down the Moon. I left out the goddess part.

  “I can’t believe you were so brave,” Dym said when I was finished. “I mean, I can, but I don’t know if I’d have made the same choice you did. Going back in the asylum and all.”

  “It wasn’t really a choice. I had to do it.”

  “You could have been killed. I apologize again for the sleep spell’s ineffectiveness,” Dym said solemnly. He used his forearms to lift himself partway out of the water. It was almost as though he wanted to take my hand, or wrap his arms around me. “And I am truly sorry about your friends, especially Laura and Rose.”

  I swallowed a lump that suddenly appeared in my throat. “That’s all right. I only wish they could have had the future they deserved.”

  “At least now, they are vindicated,” Dym said. “And Drawing Down the Moon worked. Guess the protection spell was no match for it.”

  “Er, right!” I didn’t know if I should say it was my goddess power that removed the protection. Instead, I motioned to the trees and vines around us. “And can you believe the garden is in full bloom again?”

  “It’s not surprising this would happen when there’s a spillover of power. Doing something like drawing down the moon calls upon a great deal of cosmic energy. The excess generally goes to the closest place it’s needed.”

  “The garden,” I realized.

  Dym nodded. “You probably noticed a smaller example when the garden started coming back to life, little by little, when you were here.”

  “You saw that, too?” I guess it wasn’t my imagination. But why does Dym think I carry moon power with me?

  “You affect life all around you, Seluna.” Dym grinned his smirky grin. “It’s a bit hard not to notice.”

  I tried not to blush. It’s just as hard to remember I’m supposed to be angry with you.

  “Not to mention the fact that reflective surfaces act as conduits to channel the moon’s energies. It’s part of why reflections made it easier for you to reanimate things.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “How do you know all this? About the moon and the energy and the conduits? And I never mentioned anything about reflective surfaces making reanimation easier.”

  “I told you, Seluna, I’m a student of the moon.” He smiled again and made circles in the water in front of him. “I look at her, study her. Try to predict her every move.”

  “Okay, then why did the moon save the garden, but not those poor girls?” I sank down by the pond and dropped the Book by my side. Suddenly, I was saddened by the realization that the other patients could have lived, but didn’t.

  Dym stopped smiling and took my hands. The gesture surprised me so much I almost cried out. His hands were wet, of course, and I expected them to be cold. But though they left damp spots on my trousers, Dym’s hands were as warm and caring as any I’d ever held.

  “The moon can only work with what it’s given, Seluna,” he said softly. “The garden was alive all along, underneath. But the girls’ life energy was all but gone.” He stroked the backs of my hands with his thumbs.

  I took several deep breaths and willed myself not to cry. I’d never had trouble controlling myself before, except the last time I saw Dym. What was it about him that made my emotions crash on top of me all at once?

  “If you don’t mind my saying so, I think you should bury them in the garden. I can help, if you like.”

  I almost regretted having to pull my hands away from Dym’s to stop the tears from coming. For a moment, I put them over my eyes, which stayed dry.

  “They’ll be part of the earth again, and will help the garden grow,” Dym added.

  “I don’t suppose their families will come looking for them,” I said at last.

  “Sadly, I didn’t suppose that either.”

  “But the garden will keep growing, won’t it?” I lifted my head to look at the trees and vines above. “I don’t think I can bear the thought of all this flowering beauty turning back into death.”

  “It will if you take care of it from now on.” Dym rested his elbows on the ground. “It only died because Catron let it. Most of us need constant light and attention to live, from one source or another. When we are unloved, neglected . . . when our potential and possibilities wither, evil things take root.”

  “I’ll certainly do everything to prevent that from happening here,” I said. A green leaf—green!—fell from the tree overhead, and I turned it over and over in my hands. “But what I don’t understand is why Catron’s psychic said an evil event would occur at all. You’d think ridding the world of people like him and Cutter would be considered a good thing.”

  “Because it was Catron’s fortune being told, the psychic saw those deaths as evil and inauspicious for him,” Dym explained. “The outcome of the fortune all depends upon your perspective.”

  “Speaking of fortune-tellers,” I looked darkly at him, “why didn’t you tell me these things were going to happen? The girls getting hurt. Me getting hurt. So many innocent people dying.”

  “Seluna, if I was shown something I thought could keep you—or anyone—from harm, you know I’d tell you in a heartbeat. But it’s like I said when we first met: psychic abilities can be unpredictable. If a feeling or visio
n comes, it’s like an unexpected gift.”

  “Next time you get a gift like that, do me a favor?” I sighed. “Keep the receipt.”

  “Rather difficult, with no pockets in my swimming costume.”

  I managed a smile. “Then get a box specifically for receipts at home.”

  I thought Dym would smile back. Instead, he looked at me for a long moment.

  “Actually, Seluna, the sea is my home.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean, ‘the sea is your home?’ No one lives in the sea . . . unless that person is a fish.”

  Dym looked at me for several more long moments, a reluctant expression on his face.“Seluna, I have something to tell you.” He pushed himself back from the ground and into the water, then stopped. “Actually, it may just be easier to show you.” He swam towards the center of the pond. “Ah, you may want to stand back a little.”

  I had no idea what Dym was about to do, but I got up and moved several feet away from the pond.

  Dym took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes.” He sank underneath the surface of the water.

  When he didn’t resurface right away, I began to get nervous. “Dym?” I called. Then louder. “Dym?”

  Suddenly, Dym came bursting out of the pond, leaping straight up. He made a wide arc with his body before slicing back into the water. Over and over, he flew above the waves, each time landing back with an enormous splash, only to explode out again. Incredible, I thought. I didn’t realize he was such a strong swimmer. But his swimming abilities weren’t the most startling thing. No, that honor was reserved for the lower half of Dym’s body.

  It was an enormous fin covered in scales.

  I gasped. The blue-green fin was long and agile, tapering into two points at the end. It sparkled brilliantly in the sun. Beautiful. Just like every other part of Dym. I was still gasping for breath when he swam to the shore.