Once Upon a Haunted Moon (The Keeper Saga)

by Thompson, K. R.

  Nikki started screaming then, and the mist started swirling around her. Adam looked at her, and she stilled for just a second as he sent her a silent message. It didn’t take much to know what he said to her. It showed in his eyes, sparkling as gold as they had ever been. Then he whispered, a slight smile on his lips, “I love you, Nikki…”

  Then the fairy reached around, twisting, until a sickening crunch came from his neck.

  Everything happened then. Before Adam’s body had the chance to fall to the ground, Ed turned Nikki loose and switched to his wolf, springing toward Zue’s throat. But she saw him coming and blocked him, raking her fingers down his face. He yelped; blood poured from the socket where one of his eyes had been. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision, and then went back after her again.

  Tori snuck in the doorway, and was busy trying to unlatch the clasps that held Wynter in the casket, while a translucent, ghostly figure of a woman with dark clothes stood nearby, gesturing to the pins that held the hinges in place. Maria had either decided to help us or else she wanted her casket back.

  I switched the same instant Nikki did. White rolled around her like a fog, and seconds later, a solid white wolf stood in her place. Even though she was wolf, I knew she was still thinking as Nikki. There was only one thing I noticed that looked strange in that moment — her wolf had two shadows that flickered in the dull light of the lanterns.

  Deciding I must be seeing things, I shook my head and returned my attention to the fairy who headed our way. Nikki sprang, attacking Zue as if she had been a wolf her entire life instead of mere seconds. We circled the fairy, taking turns lunging at her, while carefully avoiding Ed who stayed close to the ground, striking at the fairy’s legs. Soon, she started backing away from us.

  Zue stepped over the lid that Tori had pried from the casket. She screamed, and a thin plume of smoke rose from a scorched place on her ankle. The casket was carved of sycamore.

  Nikki realized it the same time I did, sending a clear message of trying to trap the fairy in the casket.

  Zue passed in front of it, and I took my chance then. I jumped, slinging my weight against the fairy, knocking her into it. Tori stood closer than I thought, and picked up on what we were trying to do, so the exact second I was clear, she slammed the lid shut on the casket, and threw the pins back through the hinges, locking them in place.

  Zue shrieked, realizing she was once again trapped. After a moment of trying to burst out of the coffin, she quieted as she concentrated on trying not to touch the wood around her.

  Realizing the threat was now gone, Nikki switched back to herself, and returned to where Adam lay. She gathered him into her arms, buried her face in his hair, and cried. Her extra wolf shadow stayed close, sitting next to her and laying its head at her feet.

  Ed had switched back, too, and was busy ripping a piece of his shirt off to try to staunch the bleeding from his missing eye. Tori came over, standing as close as she could get to me, still watching the casket warily, and the ghost to whom the casket belonged.

  “Maria,” I whispered, looking down at Tori to give her the name of the one who had helped her, “Her name is Maria.”

  The ghost looked over at us and gave a perceptible nod as she hovered above the spot where her bones lay discarded on the floor.

  Wynter had only barely moved, propping herself against the rock vault that had once held the coffin. She seemed to be trying to heal as she concentrated on taking deep breaths. The tiny pages of her dress stopped falling, and clung now, instead, like withered flower petals.

  “I would die first than be trapped again for so many years,” a soft, musical voice pleaded from the closed casket. She waited a moment, listening to see if we had heard her, then added quickly, “Please, make it so. I would have death instead.”

  Nikki lay Adam down, and stood, coming back over to the casket.

  “It’s a trick,” I warned her, “Don’t open that thing, Nikki. Let her stay where she is.”

  “No, she wishes for death. I’m going to give it to her,” Nikki said through gritted teeth, and angry tears, “She doesn’t deserve it, but I’ll still give it to her for what she did to Adam.”

  A hand came out and gripped her ankle, startling her. Releasing her hold when Nikki noticed her there in the floor, Wynter nodded toward a wooden cross with pointed ends that lay on the floor against the wall. It had at one time adorned the top of the casket, but now it was going to be used for something else…

  Nikki picked up the cross, gripping it around its center as she held it poised like a dagger. Slowly she opened the top half of the casket where the red-haired fairy stood, carefully still…

  “It would figure the white one would be my end,” Zue said ironically, staring at her with a deep, black gaze.

  “I am only ending what should have been done a long time ago,” Nikki said quietly, deliberately not looking into the fairy’s face.

  “Strike her throat. She has no heart to pierce. She wishes to trick you and find a way to grab your arm,” Wynter whispered from her place on the floor.

  Zue’s eyes widened at Wynter’s words, surprised that her sister had deceived her so. But she had no time to answer, because then Nikki struck, sending the end of the cross deep into the fairy’s neck. Black blood bubbled from around the wood, and then her eyes went vacant. A moment later, her skin started to flake off, disintegrating into ash.

  “Not quite as threatening now,” I said to Tori, who watched the proceedings with eyes wide and mouth open.

  “No,” she grinned, “She’s not quite anything now.”

  Without another word, Nikki sat next to Adam’s body again. A few minutes passed, and we heard Erik, Tommy, and Michael come running down the stairs. They entered the room as wolves, then switched when they realized the danger had already gone.

  “Mike, Tommy, get him up top, get him some help,” Erik ordered the cousins, when he spotted Ed standing just inside the door. They immediately obeyed and lead Ed up the stairs, glad to be getting out of the cavern.

  “What happened with the cats?” I asked Erik, hoping they hadn’t actually killed anyone once we left.

  “They suddenly stopped, then looked confused as to why they were fighting us. I’m guessing that pile of ashes over there is ye ol’ fairy witch. They must have quit fighting about the same time you killed her,” Erik shrugged, looking at the pile of dust, “The guys are sitting up there, looking rather meek right now.” His eyes scanned the room, looking for his best friend, “Where’s Adam? Isn’t he down here?”

  I nodded in the direction of Nikki, silently crying, hidden from his sight behind the vault, with Adam’s body still lying in her lap.

  Erik sat down on the other side of her, and wrapped his arms around his knees, and lay his head down on them, crying. He had been certain they would have been there in time to save him. But they hadn’t. His best friend was dead.

  Tori clung to my hand, sniffling as she watched them. Then I felt someone brush by me, and I noticed Wynter finally had found the strength to get up from the floor.

  “His spirit stays by you,” Wynter’s musical voice said to Nikki, her shaking hand pointed to the shadow of a wolf that raised its head at the sound of her voice, “I only have the strength for this one thing, then I must go. I will not have the power to stay.”

  “I won’t ask you,” Nikki’s eyes were steady behind the tears, watching the fairy as if she knew what was going to happen, “If anything, you owe me, Wynter. You wanted me here. I did what you wouldn’t do. You owe me. I want Adam back. Bring him back to me, and we’ll be even.”

  “Even,” Wynter agreed quietly, tracing her wrist with one sharp, lethal-looking nail. I cringed, watching the nail go in. She sliced out a bit of opal-colored flesh then crossed over to where Adam lay, and put it in his mouth.

  “That was seriously gross,” Tori mumbled beside me, “I may wanna puke after that.” Silent, I nodded in agreement, watching Wynter as she passed by us, disappear
ing through the doorway.

  We waited with bated breath.

  Nothing happened.

  Everyone stood still, watching the spirit of Adam’s wolf as it sat next to Nikki, its shadowy head in her lap. A few minutes later, he sat up, as if he had heard someone calling for him, then turned and headed back in the direction of Adam’s body, jumping, and then disappearing, as the shadow passed over his head.

  Adam pulled in a gasping breath, and we circled around him, watching as his wounds closed, healing faster than they ever had before. A moment later, his body completely healed, his eyes opened…

  The eyes once golden — had turned to silver.

  “Adam!” Nikki wrapped herself around his neck, eager to get as close as she could to him, “I love you so much…”

  Adam held her close, whispering to her, even though he knew everyone could hear him, “I love you, too. I promised I’d never leave you.”

  None of us spoke, still looking at his eyes that shimmered like quicksilver in the light. It seemed he was sizing us up, too, looking at each of us in turn, though he still held Nikki tight. His gaze landed on Erik, whose round face beamed with happiness, and then he took in the colorful hoodie and grimaced, “What did I tell you about wearing tie-dye? Your wolf attracts too much attention like that. You’re breaking the rules.”

  “You died, man. I was in charge. We had to have some new rules,” Erik grinned at him happily, wiping the tears off his cheeks.

  “I hate to break this up, but can we leave now? I haven’t seen daylight in days. I’m thirsty and I’m starving,” Tori spoke up, still holding onto me.

  “Sure, let’s get you out of here,” I smiled, more than happy to leave until I spotted Maria, watching sadly as everyone stood to go.

  She looked forsaken, as sad as any ghost could look, as she mouthed the words, “Still innocent.”

  “Hey, someone needs to get those bones. She’s going up with us,” I added, looking over at Nikki, reminding her of the bargain she made with the ghost.

  Nikki nodded at Adam, who turned to Erik, “Get the bones. Take the hood off and put them in it, then you won’t have to make more trips down here to get them all.”

  Erik suddenly looked less happy as the cousins were already above ground and out of his reach. He couldn’t order them around this time. Frowning, he took off the hoodie and went about gathering the bones, collecting them in record time so as not to be left down in the crypt alone.

  Maria followed us up to the top of the stairs, stopping as Erik laid his hoodie on her husband’s vault. “John,” she said, smiling.

  “Do you want your bones in with his?” Nikki asked her.

  The ghost nodded, then whispered as she disappeared, “That’s all I ever wanted.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Brian

  “A drum is a heartbeat. It starts in your chest, thrums through your body, filling every nerve and sensation, until it reaches so far in you that it touches your soul. Then it reverberates into the ground, searching to find the heartbeat and the spirit of the next person, until everyone comes together.

  A powwow always starts with the people who bring the drum to life, and then it spreads, coming alive in the ones who hear it, and in the ones who dance. The drum brings out life. We remember Mother Earth as the sound travels through the ground we stand upon, and then we remember life because a drum is like a heartbeat. And every living person has a heartbeat.”

  “That’s beautiful,” Tori smiled up at me, green eyes sparkling.

  “That’s the only way I know how to explain it, though it does explain why everyone in the whole county comes out for the Powwow every year. It brings us all together. Most of the people here aren’t a part of any Indian tribe, but the drum still reminds them that they all still have heartbeats. They still have life,” I smiled as she cuddled closer to me. We watched as the Lakotas and Wighcomocos all gathered around the drum and the first beats began.

  “Is it all right if I hang out with you guys?” Ed had made a wide circle around the speakers and the bleachers full of people until he came to where we sat under a tree across from the drummers.

  “Sure,” I nodded, watching as he sat down and propped his back against the trunk.

  “How’s the…?” I motioned to the black eye patch covering his lost eye.

  “It doesn’t hurt anymore, so that’s a good thing.” Ed grinned, “It’s gone, but sometimes it felt like it was still there, and man, did it hurt. I’ve never had to go to the doctor for anything since I became a Keeper, but I’ve gone to quite a few in the last week. It’s healing, but just really slowly. I can’t help them with the drum this year, doctor’s orders. He’s afraid the vibrations will mess it up worse,” he shrugged, then frowned, “It’s hard to get used to this patch. It makes me look stupid.”

  “I don’t think it makes you look stupid,” Tori spoke up, her eyes sparkled as she grinned at him, “I think it gives you a rugged, dashing look. You watch. You’ll have girls hanging all over you soon. You look dark and dangerous.”

  Ed’s face flushed, and he stammered out something unintelligible.

  “Sorry! I can’t believe I’m late,” Nikki popped around the other side of the tree.

  Adam looked up from his place at the drum the second she appeared and shot her a slow, warm smile that lit up his silver eyes. He had been watching for her.

  “Why were you late? Everything okay?” Tori asked.

  “Yeah, just busy hiding that book again. Mom has been ripping everything apart trying to find out what smells so bad. She thinks something died in the house,” Nikki groaned, then looked at me, “I owe you an apology for making fun of you with your Tupperware bowl and trash bag. Apparently everyone smells it but me.”

  “Apology accepted,” I grinned, “Consider yourself blessed that you seem to have no sense of smell.”

  The drum stopped a few moments later, and Adam, Rune and Erik got up to enter a cordoned off area for the dancers. Rune stopped by the tent where a young woman busily rearranged wires to the speakers.

  I met her before the powwow began. She was a slight girl with a pixie-like face and a mass of black hair that she normally kept in a ponytail at the back of her neck. Her name was Tearsa and she was one in charge of the sound equipment. I had been extremely happy to meet her when I realized she was Rune’s wife.

  The two had just realized they were going to be proud parents, and Rune was stopping by the tent to check on her before he went into the circle to dance. She smiled at him. He reached up and cupped her cheek, and gave her a tender kiss.

  I was so happy Rune was in love with his wife. The fact that he and the others had cordially introduced themselves to Tori again after we left the cemetery, had been proof enough that they truly didn’t remember anything that Zue had forced them to do.

  Everything was right again between the tribes, and all was forgiven, though Tori, understandably, still kept a respectable distance from all the Lakotas.

  “The warriors dance,” Ed said, smiling, as the drum started back up and the drummers began to chant.

  “What is the warriors dance?” Tori asked.

  “Each dance tells a story,” Ed explained, “The warrior’s dance, or hunting party dance, is the dancer’s way of telling about a great adventure. It may have been about a deer they tracked, or a buffalo they killed, or some other adversary they encountered. You have to watch to see.”

  It was an amazing dance of three different stories. I wished that I could watch each one in turn. From what I could tell, Rune, resplendent in colorful feathers and beads, was dancing a story of hunting a deer, as he went down to check the earth every few feet for tracks.

  Erik’s and Adam’s stories entwined somewhat. Erik, was telling the story of searching for Adam, as he looked for tracks and footprints in the grass.

  Adam’s dance was the most aggressive. It was the one I paid attention to. He was dancing the story of his final fight with the Fire Witch.

 
; Though he told it as human, his body still moved with the fluid grace of his wolf. He defended, feigning attacks as he circled his unseen foe. Then he would jump away, crouching in a low stance. He fought the invisible attacker bravely, dancing a beautiful, yet lethal dance. As the drum went on, he told the story of how he weakened, his movements becoming slower, until the drum stopped, and his body stilled, near the ground.

  I heard a sniffle beside me, and turned to see Nikki trying not to cry. “Sorry,” she said, “It’s hard to watch.”

  The next dance was even harder to watch. Erik and Rune left the circle, leaving Adam in its center. He paid tribute to his grandfather in the crossing-over dance.

  The drum began and with tears shining in his silver eyes, Adam danced, remembering the man who had taught him to fight…the man who died trying to help them.

  When the drum ended, tears streamed down Adam’s face. But he wasn’t alone, because drums have heartbeats…and so did everyone who was there.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Brian

  “I’m going to miss you when I go back next week,” Tori smiled up at me, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. She held my hand tight as we walked back through the parking lot. The Powwow was over and I decided a romantic moonlit walk was in order.

  “I’ll miss you, too.” I really would, I realized. I loved being with her. Just the thought of her hundreds of miles away was depressing. We walked a little farther, I smiled, trying to keep upbeat, “We still have a few days left.”

  “I wish I hadn’t gotten kidnapped. It took too much time away,” she murmured, stopping on the sidewalk in front of the high school, then smiled, “But it was nice being saved by you.”

  “I hadn’t ever been more worried about someone. It felt like everything in my world would end if I didn’t find you. I’ll always come to save you, wherever you are.”

  I froze, wondering if what I had been thinking had actually come out of my mouth. She probably thought I was a complete moron. Slowly, I glanced down to see if she had heard me.