When we arrived, it wasn’t at a house or even a flat. It was a small woodland area about an hour away. There were about twelve men standing in a circle with their heads down as if they were praying. There was a large stone on the ground, surrounded by a circle of other smaller stones. Leaves fell from the trees, gently resting on the rocks.
“Wait,” Luna whispered. “He knows we are here. Wait for him to speak. Do not speak unless spoken to.”
A man immediately turned around. He had dark hair down to his shoulders and was cleanly shaven and dressed as I was dressed.
“Ah,” he said, “Luna.”
He walked toward her and took her hand. She smiled and bowed her head.
He looked to me. “And you are?”
I hesitated before responding, not knowing if I should bow. I mimicked Luna.
“Clement Thortan,” I said quietly, lowering my head.
“Look at me, boy,” he said kindly.
I brought my gaze to his.
“Abraham is my name. And what is it you want from me?”
Luna answered. “We wish to be part of your order. We wish to be members of your remarkable studies and rituals.”
Abraham smiled. “Oh, Luna, I knew you would come my way. You look lovely as always.”
She smiled again.
“And you, my boy,” he started, “you have something about you I have never seen before.” He began circling me like a vulture.
“James,” he said.
“I’m sorry?” I questioned.
“Luna, I want this one,” he said, ignoring me.
“Sir…?” she said with a gasp.
He nodded. “I want this one.”
I said nothing, just waited as Luna had instructed.
“Do you want to be part of this order?” Abraham asked me.
“Yes, Sir,” I stuttered.
“Do you have the courage to learn the ways of the world that others do not understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Do you swear an oath to obey me as your father?”
I hesitated. Father.
“Yes. Yes, Sir.”
He pulled out a knife and led me to the circle of stones. The men crowded around the boulder and instantly looked up at me. They were all different ages, some younger than me and some much older.
“I have made my choice,” Abraham said. “I have found the one I feel is right.”
The men all stared at me solidly. It didn’t feel natural. Something wasn’t quite right.
“Take a seat,” he told me, gesturing to the stone in the center.
I pointed to it and looked at him questioningly.
“Yes,” he said. “Sit.”
I pushed through the crowd and sat on the rock. Abraham came closer and took my hand in his.
“Pain is life,” he said and sliced my hand with his knife without warning. I gasped and wrenched my hand away. He grabbed it back and held it over a goblet of wine or some other dark liquid. My blood dripped quickly into the goblet.
“Pain is life,” he said again. He gave the goblet to Luna. She took a drink from the cup and passed it along. After all of them had drunk from the goblet, he handed it to me.
“Drink.”
I didn’t answer, just took a small sip, disgusted by the idea of drinking my own blood. This was too strange for me.
Abraham beamed at me. “Then I take you, Clement Thortan, as my son, and your name from this day on shall be James West.”
“James…” I echoed.
Luna bowed her head. “Are you sure about this, Sir?”
“Have I ever given you reason to question my choices?” he hissed.
“No, Sir, you have not.”
He nodded and kissed her cheek. “Take James. Start his lessons. He trusts you.”
“Come,” she said to me. “Let’s get you established here.”
She led me to another part of the woods. There was nobody around, but it had to have been an important place. The air was still, and it all seemed so quiet. Again came that feeling, that foreboding of evil, the thoughts that she was hiding something from me. Something wasn’t right. She refused to make eye-contact.
“Luna?” When I said her name, it frightened me that my voice didn’t cut through the stillness like a knife. Everything still seemed so—dead. I wanted to scream, wanted to yell and flail my arms, anything to cure the silence. I begged for something to happen, for the floor of the forest to writhe as if in life, for the trees to fall and threaten to crush me, for lightning to come crashing through the leaves—anything, anything but silence.
“Luna,” I said again.
Finally, she turned to look at me.
“I’m not sure about this.”
“What?”
“I’m not…sure about this anymore.”
She almost laughed. “Uh…Clem—James, it’s a little late for that now.”
“Why are you whispering?” I asked her.
“Because…” She sounded furious and moved until she was only inches away from my face. “Because you have no idea what Abraham will do if he finds out you aren’t sure. You swore an oath, James. There is no way out of this now.”
“No way out?”
She shook her head. “Look,” she started. “It’s fine, okay? You have nothing left to lose, right?”
I sighed and nodded. There was nothing I could say to argue that.
“Must you call me James?”
She smiled. “Yes,” she said immediately. “Get used to it. Now let’s get started, okay?”
“All right.”
It was strange the way she acted. She refused to make eye contact and stood there just silent for many moments.
“Luna?”
She finally looked at me.
“What are you hiding from me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she hissed.
“Don’t play games!” I yelled. “Tell me what this place is, who these people are.”
“I told you.” Her voice was a whisper again. “The ones who understand the ways of the world.”
“What must I do?”
“You must understand.” She placed her hands on my shoulders. “You must understand their ways. Abraham knows how things work, the one thing that gives us strength in our days of weakness.”
Her words intrigued me. I loved the sound of that. Strength in our days of weakness.
“Tell me. What is that one thing?”
“The thing that has sustained you since before you were born. The thing that kept you alive while still in the womb.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What?”
“Blood.”
“Blood?”
“Yes, James. Blood.”
She smiled at me and hesitated before speaking. “Abraham has instructed me to ask you a series of questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“The personal kind.”
I sighed and tried to keep from cringing.
“James, you won’t have any kind of privacy here—you’ll need to get used to that. It’s okay though. I won’t judge you.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” I didn’t care what she thought.
“Listen,” she started. “I’ll spare you under one condition.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“You have to answer one question—truthfully.” Her dark blue eyes were big, and she looked extremely serious, making me wonder what was really going on in her head. She pulled her red locks of hair over her shoulder and stared at me solidly, waiting for me to respond.
I nodded hesitantly. I felt a sudden reluctance to tell her anything.
“What is the one thing that would hurt you the most?” she asked. A smile spread across her face, and I had to avert my gaze. Her smile could have meant so many things. She had just asked me about pain, and now…she looked happy.
“Nothing could hurt me anymore.”
“Think about it!” she demanded. “Then answer me again.”
I stared at her, shaking my head. I lost my family, Walter would never care for me again, and I left the only woman I ever loved. What more did I have?
“Really, Luna. Nothing.”
“Very well.”
She led me back to Abraham. “He’s ready, Sir.”
Abraham grinned; it was a smile I had never seen anybody express before. It seemed like the true meaning behind it was hidden from me and was meant to be hidden. His followers were all cloaked in black and were surrounding the stone in the center. Their backs to me, they were perfectly still, like statues, humming some nonsense.
“It’s time,” Abraham ordered. His words weren’t spoken loudly, but his people seemed to understand and moved aside to reveal what was there for me.
I couldn’t breathe at first. I couldn’t move. I choked on the last bit of air left in me. She was there…for real this time. I didn’t have to close my eyes to see her. How could I have told Luna that nothing could hurt me? How could I have been such a fool? The very sight pained me more than I thought anything ever could again.
I heard her gasp. “Clem!” Tears were pouring from her eyes.
“Oh my God!” I tried several times to say her name, and when it finally came out, I was already crying.
“Vivian!” I rushed to her side.
“Clem,” she said again, sobbing.
“Oh God!” I cried. I looked up at Abraham. “What is this?” My voice swelled into my throat and exploded. I heard myself screaming now. “What the hell are you doing!”
I felt like I was going mad again. The pain, fear, and anger could easily have driven me right back to where I was when Vivian had first rescued me. I owed it to her to rescue her now. But how could I? How could I stand against Abraham and all of his followers? I tried to speak, but all I could do was cry. I stroked Vivian’s hair.
“It’s all right,” I said. “It’s going to be all right.”
“Who are you, Clem?” she whispered.
“This isn’t what you think, love,” I answered. “I swear to you. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
She didn’t answer, just stared at me. She looked so helpless. It made me sick to see her that way. Her beautiful dark eyes were red and swollen with her tears. Her shadow-colored hair was sticking to the moisture on her cheeks. Yet even as she looked this way, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Her face was flushed, yet her lips were pale and colorless.
“What have they done to you?”
“Nothing,” I heard Luna say. “They haven’t done anything to her, James—not yet.”
“Not yet?” I growled. “How could you? I trusted you!”
“Please…”
I stood to my feet. “I trusted you, Luna! I knew you were hiding something from me, but this? Her? How could you?”
“I had nothing to do with this!” she yelled back.
I backed away. “What?”
She sighed. “This…it wasn’t me. This was not my plan.”
Abraham chimed in. “She is a follower. She did only as I instructed, and so will you.”
I shook my head. “No.”
I heard the crowd of followers break out into a verbal yet quiet disbelief, and all of them turned to look at me. Had nobody ever said no to him before? I looked to Luna. Her hands were over her mouth, and she looked terrified, like she was about to cry.
“No?” Abraham echoed.
I shook my head, too afraid to repeat the word.
He struck me hard across my face, so hard that I toppled over and fell right beside Vivian. I sat up, coughing.
“Would you like to tell me ‘no’ again, boy?”
“Please,” I pleaded. “Let her go. I beg of you. Anyone but her.”
He smiled. “Anyone?”
I nodded, sobbing. “Anyone.” I tried to keep my voice even, but it cracked through my tears.
I heard Luna whisper something to him. I looked up to see he was nodding. He looked to a young boy who I saw walking toward me.
“Go ahead,” Abraham said to him.
The boy leaned down beside me and pulled out a knife at least four inches in length. I saw Vivian close her eyes. It took everything in me not to scream. I pushed him back with all the strength I had. I felt Luna grab me by the shoulders.
“Let me go!” I cried out. “No, don’t. Please!”
The boy just looked at me almost sadly—disgusted.
I watched as he inched the knife closer toward the woman I loved. I screamed and shut my eyes.
There was a moment of silence—a moment I wasn’t sure I wanted to be alive.
“Clem?”
I heard her voice and opened my eyes. How was it possible she was alive? I saw the stranger still staring at me sadly with her bounds in his hands. She sat up, rubbing her wrists.
“Run,” he murmured.
I tried to yell, but my voice was caught in my throat and came out in a throttled plea. “Vivian—run!”
She stood up and inched toward me. “Who are you?” she whispered.
“You wouldn’t understand,” I said. “Please, my love, just leave this place. I’ll come back to you someday like I swore I would.”
She shook her head. “Clem—James, whoever you are, do not find me.”
“Viv—”
“Please.” She started backing away from me. “Leave me alone.”
“Run,” the boy repeated.
She turned and ran, almost stumbling over her feet. I watched as she disappeared into the trees. I had this maddening urge to chase after her, to lose myself in the forest, with her in my arms. The thought left the very instant I heard Abraham’s voice.
“Yes, Luna,” he said. “Fair enough.”
“Come,” Luna murmured.
“Where?”
She gestured me with her hand, a look of sheer disappointment on her face. I couldn’t pay attention to her. My thoughts were fixed on Vivian. How did they find her? How could they have known? The answer came to me before I finished asking myself. Luna. She told Abraham everything—before this day. Of course she had lied to me. I knew she was lying. Why didn’t I run? Why was I following her now? Wasn’t Vivian some kind of test I failed? Wasn’t she going to kill me now?
“James?”
“Yes?”
“We are alone now. Abraham has left me with specific instructions.”
“Luna, if you are going to kill me, just do it quickly.”
She laughed. “Kill you?”
“Aren’t you supposed to kill me?”
Her laughter hadn’t ceased. “Of course not. Vivian was an attack on your heart. Abraham does that to us all. He wanted you, remember? He chose you.”
I couldn’t respond to her. I just kept thinking about Vivian.
“Look,” she began, sighing. “You need to start slowly. How do you feel this very instant?”
“Distressed. Devastated. Lost.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Yes. That means we can begin now. Do you remember what I had said about blood?”
I nodded.
“It gives us strength and helps protect us when we are emotionally broken.”
I narrowed my eyes.
I watched as she leapt into the air. I gasped and stumbled backward. She twisted her slender body as she floated to the ground, her gown disguising the movement of her legs. It was almost…inhuman the way she had moved.
Before I could speak, she was there in front of me like she hadn’t even moved at all. She brushed her red hair from her face and looked into my eyes.
“What…?” I wasn’t sure what I was planning to ask her.
“Look.”
She opened her hand to reveal a bundle of feathers. There was blood running down her wrist, contrasting wonderfully with the snow whiteness of her flesh. That’s when I realized it was more than a tuft of feathers; it was a bird—an actual bird torn right out of the air. It took a moment for me to process what I had seen.
“How—?”
She put her hand up to silence me. “Practice”.
“Practice?” I almost bellowed the word. “You practice snatching birds right out of the air?”
She smiled. “Yes. Are you surprised?”
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I didn’t. She reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and turned her back to me. When she faced me, she was holding a tiny, silver goblet. It looked Greek perhaps and very old. It was designed with winged horses and clouds. It was beautiful. She handed me the cup. There were bloody fingerprints where she had been holding it, but I tried to ignore the disgust it brought from me. I peered inside.
“Luna, is this…?”
She grinned at me, almost mischievously.
“I… No. Luna, no. I’m not drinking this. I’m not drinking…blood.”
“Yes, you are. You are, James.”
I shook my head and held the goblet out toward her. She sighed heavily.
“Listen to me carefully,” she said. “This will help you.”
“How?”
“This is more powerful than you know. You may not understand yet, but I promise you—this will help. It may take time for you to notice the effects, but it will make you better.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither did I. But I do now, and I know now that this”—she pointed to the goblet in my hand—“is power.”
Chapter Five
His name was Alex, and he looked quite young with light-colored hair and a very round face. I recognized him instantly as the boy who cut the bounds off Vivian’s wrists. He greeted me warmly.
“Hello,” he sang, lending me a childlike hand.
I nodded my head once and shook his hand.
“Clem,” I said. “Err—James.”
“Which is it?” He chuckled.
“James. My name is James.”
“So you’re my brother now. That’s what Father said.”
“Yes—I suppose we are family.”
Alex smiled widely. “I’ve always wanted a brother.”
“Yeah…uh…me too.”
I dropped my hand, and Alex was still smiling. My mind was still focused on Vivian, and slowly, the pain of losing her was diminishing. Shouldn’t I be weeping for hours? Shouldn’t I be chasing after her, begging her to listen to me? I couldn’t understand why I was suddenly so numb to the grief that was trying to swallow me alive. Even the death of my parents was a memory that seemed so far away that I rarely even cared anymore. Something wasn’t right. But this was what I had wanted, wasn’t it? This was what I had asked Luna for. I wanted someone to help me deal with my pain and my grief, and now, that’s what I found in Abraham and his followers. I couldn’t turn my back on them now. I couldn’t betray them. There was a reason for all of it. If I left, my grief would consume me. I felt I had no other choice but to stay. Days, weeks, even months passed quickly, and the blood Luna gave me every day began to taste sweeter and sweeter until it came to the point that I craved it like a child craves chocolate. It was like I couldn’t be without it when my heart began to ache.
Summers' Shadow (Hunters Trilogy Book 2) Page 4
