14 The Moon Hideout

I woke from darkness feeling disorientated and sticky. I was laying in a bed that wasn't mine. The purple silk bed sheets were too lavish to be owned by me. The room was dark, I could barely see what was around me I could only make out the king sized bed I was in.

Scared out of my mind I check if I was wearing clothes. Relieved that I was. I remembered where I was and why I was here. I sank back in the bed.

Why couldn't I just wake up and realise that everything was a bad dream. Wake up next to Rider and make plans with Frankie and Cassidy to go out and get drunk. Listen to Frankie whined about medical school and watch Cassidy live wild and carefree. I saw in the screen of my mind Frankie's smile fade away instead I remember her face as she took her last breath.

I swore if Cherry wasn't already dead… I'd kill her myself. The door clicked open I sat up suddenly, clutching the sheets to my chest.

It was only Shane who walked in. He flipped the lights on, he was holding some towels and spare clothes. He was wearing a dark blue sleeveless shirt that exposed his cuts and bruises he had gotten from his battle with the vampires. He had them cleaned and covered.

“Fluke.” He said, closing the door behind him with his foot, he flipped on the lights.

“You're so childish.” I said. He smiled, weakly though.

He sat the towels and clothes on the bed next to me.

“Willow's clothes… I've never actually seen you wear a skirt, though.” He said.

I took them and thanked him.

There was an awkward silence between us. I needed to thank him for saving me. But I still had questions for him.

“You can ask questions in the morning Fluke.” He said before I even said anything.

“I want answers now Shane!” I demanded, I felt my tone was very serious.

“Alright only five questions so think wisely.” I had no intentions of asking only five then it dawned on me that Shane was probably just tired. He needed sleep too, he'd fought vampires and driven us all the way out here. I at least had passed out in the car and earlier in my mom's room.

“Where's Cassidy?” I asked.

He sighed, “she's asleep. Her mom's with her don't worry.”

I looked at him wide eyed. Her mom was here? I thought this place was a top secret hideout!

“Don't look at me like that Fluke. We're not amateurs that just let anyone into the hideout. Andrea is Hunter like me.” Shane explained.

I was even more shocked. Cassidy's mom was part of the Moon and it had become plain to be that Frankie's dad was too.

“What did you do with Frankie's body? Will I be able to go to her funeral?”

Shane stared at the window. The curtains were drawn but he still stared as if he could see through them. I wished I curse at the night for all I been through.

“Her parents took her, but no you won't be.”

“Why not?” I snapped.

“Because we've been sloppy.” Shane snapped back. “We should have taken you in when your father disappeared.” Shane said, his muscles flexed and he avoided eye contact with me. He knew so much and who knew what more he knew about me.

Before I could further question him he said, “ we've lost many people in this war Avalon.” He's never really used my full name before.

“Innocent people have died, like Frankie and Skylar Dean. If they managed to get to you twice it doesn't mean we've been unprofessional and haven't been watching you. It just means the Star are killing our men like ants. You're safer here.”

Skylar Dean the girl they found dead at the Pentagon. They never found out what caused her death, she was Frankie's cousin.

“What do you know about Skylar?”I asked.

stupidly. Of course he knew. “What happened to her?” I added. Shane rubbed his hands together a few times, probably thinking about what to say. I could hear the wind blowing outside, ruffling the fallen leaves, shaking the trees. It was probably very early in the morning, like, maybe three in the morning. I didn't know, there wasn't a wall clock anywhere in the room, or a little alarm clock on the bedside table.

I just realized a few hours ago I'd lost my phone. I felt so trapped in here. I had no way to communicate with the outside world. No way to get in touch with Rider. How do I tell him I'm okay without telling him everything I've been hiding from him?

“They thought she was you. I don't think they meant to kill her, but when they figured out she wasn't you they panicked.” Shane explained.

I was my fault. I've never felt so guilty for something. Remembering the blood shot eyes of Lola Dean I wondered what Frankie's mother's face looked like. How would she feel if she knew that I was responsible for her daughter and nieces deaths?

“You should get some sleep Fluke.” Shane stood up to leave. “What's going to happen now?” I asked, feeling anxious all of a sudden.

He turned to me with those pale blue eyes of his they were frighteningly unreasonable. He forced a smile, “we'll try to protect you until we can't anymore.”

I still had one question for him it didn't have anything to do with the war we were at, but it was still nagging me. I stopped him at the door and he sighed heavily and turned to me.

“Did you know you were dating a vampire?” I asked.

“Yes,” he smiled genuinely and closed the door behind him, turning the lights off. Now alone in the room I didn't feel completely alone. I felt a presence with me I wasn't sure if it was good or bad because it didn't last long. It vanished a few minutes after Shane left. I only managed to fade off to sleep when I saw the yellow sun seep into my room.

I woke up disoriented again, for a moment I thought I was still in the mystical realm my mind created. I sat up and groaned. My muscles were aching and I was all sweaty. I really needed a bath. The events of my dream were too… made up to be real, but the emotions I went through were too real to be fake. I thought about it as I sank into the massive claw footed bathtub. It was dark I'd wandered into a forest with dead trees and a village of spiders. I tried to dodge them as best as I could but I always ended up getting them caught in my hair.

I ventured deeper into the forest the deeper I went the louder the wailing became. It sounded like a woman in serious distress. My feet didn't make a sound even when I snapped twigs and branches. When I looked up I noticed red eyed ravens staring down at me, watching every move I made. Suddenly I was at the door of a cave with water streaming out of it. Go inside, I heard the whisper of a female voice in my ear encourage me. I felt the urge to go inside. Even as creepy as it looked I felt safe going inside.

I stepped inside and everything felt so surreal, there were crying women everywhere. Women with long thin hair streaming down their faces barely covering their blood shot eyes. They wore grey clocks covering their similar torn green dresses. They didn't acknowledge me, I didn't think they saw me they just continued wailing on top of their lungs.

I oddly wasn't afraid of them even after I discovered what they were. Banshees, female spirits that warn of the death of a family member. A banshee is an Irish legend, I'd never believed it. They were flying around someone, a man but he didn't look fully human. He looked like a spirit, not like the banshee though, he looked like a miserable human soul.

The banshees weren't protecting him they were simply mourning over him like a lost son. The soul was locked in a cage guarded by familiar demons, tall and boney in their black attires. Unlike the banshees they seemed to see me. So did the soul trapped in the cage. He looked at me with familiar brown eyes, they widened when they saw me.

“Avalon! Avalon!” His voice echoed. Dad! I wanted to reach him.

“Run, wake up! Wake up sweetheart!” His voice was full of desperation. I couldn't run even as the demons began to surround me. I could only hear my dad's desperate voice yelling at me to wake up.

I emerged from the water coughing and gasping for breath. I'd unconsciously slipped under the water. “Oh my gosh…” I said aloud, scrambling around for a towel. My eyes were watery and I was still coughing up water and struggling to actually breath.

“Avalon!” Mom said then knocked several times desperately. I managed to get my breathing under control to answer him.

“I'm talking a bath.” It came out more aggressive than I intended. I thought I heard her sigh on the other side of the door.

“You're going to miss breakfast. Hurry up.” She said. I heard distant footsteps and my bedroom door click shut.

I got dressed in the closes Shane brought me last night or this morning. I wore a long pale yellow skirt and and a white top. I preferred jeans, but this will do for now. My tummy rumbled on my way to the kitchen. This place was so huge, I had to be careful not to get lost.

I made my way down the grand white staircase and landed in the living room that was connected to the dinning room. I hadn't noticed that last night. The two people I'd seen last night were standing in the dinning room, they were standing on opposite sides of the long table. The pale girl from yesterday, Willow, was holding a ping pong paddle in her hand. The other guy was standing with his back to me holding a red ping pong paddle in his hand and a white ball in the other.

Juliet was texting while seated on a dining room chair that had been pulled away from the table. All other chairs had been separated from the table, just like the cloth and bowls of fruit and other decorations.

“This is stupid Eagle.” Willow stated.

He laughed, “stop whining, give it a try.”

“You must be enjoying this.” Willow said, placing the paddle on the table.

“I'm just trying to get you a little active, Will.” Eagle said.

“Forgive me for not being sporty, Eagle.” Willow said.

“You never cease to amaze me Eagle. Only you are capable of trying to teach a blind girl to play ping pong.” Juliet said, amused.

She's blind, I thought. Her eyes were a pale shade of grey they almost looked silver. Her skin was as white as snow, I wanted to know if she was human or some kind of mythical creature.

“Hey, if Andrea Bocelli can ride a horse, why can't Willow play ping pong?” Eagle said enthusiastically. I liked him immediately. A small smile spread across Willow's pale face, but vanished quickly.

“Avalon?” Juliet's voice snapped me back to reality. I was here to have breakfast. Eagle and Juliet were looking at me as if I were some kind of intruder. I couldn't quite tell what Willow was looking at.

“I… I—” I stuttered, not really knowing what to say.

“Sorry, these two idiots cleared out the table. There's breakfast in the kitchen though.” Juliet said matter of fact, no humour in her voice what's so ever.

“Thank you.” I said and quickly walked away. Then loud conversations came from the hallway. One of them was definitely Mr. Lohan ranting. Nicholas was trying to argue and mom was saying something about “patience,” there were other voices that I didn't know. They argued for several minutes before I heard the front door close shut.

Nicholas cursed then suddenly appeared in the kitchen my mother behind him, surely trying to console him. I sat on the kitchen table buttering my bread so I could make toast. His chest was rising and falling with anger. What ever meeting they had probably didn't go well.

“Avalon? You look okay today.” He said rather nervously, as if he didn't have anything to say, but wanted to say something to me.

I nodded avoiding his eyes. So this is how they met, I thought. He looked seriously angry, he wanted to say something to mom but couldn't maybe because of my presence.

Mom put a hand on his shoulder and said, “he's very upset right now and you have to understand him. He just lost his daughter and she's not even buried yet. Plus his right.”

Nicholas shrugged her hand away. “How can you say that Sarai? He's crazy forging an alliance with the wolves will only cause more conflict.”

“We need the extra help. We're only mere mortals. We can't take on an army of vampires! We can't fight black magic.” Mom said.

Nicholas for a brief moment looked at me, but mom stared at him as if to say no.

“I'd rather hear back from headquarters about Lohans plan.” Nicholas said.

“You know you have no say in this Nick. Gabriel is the head of the guardians, he makes the decisions. He doesn't even need to consult headquarters of this matter.”

Nick licked his lips then turned and marched out of the kitchen. Mom sighed and sat down next to me.

“What's going on Mom?” I asked. She smiled at me genuinely and ran her hands through my hair. She wore black pants and comfortable loafers. A white t—shit and leather jacket.

“Well there's no use hiding anything from you now. Grandma told me that you know everything.” She chuckled.

“Well almost everything.” I said. She tucked some hair behind my ear.

Never in a million years would I have guessed my mom lived a secret life so awesome, she's like spy. Just by looking at this house and it's interior I knew they were filthy rich. Mom told me she was hunter, like Shane, who oddly I hadn't seen all morning. I couldn't imagine her facing off vampires and demons, carrying around daggers or knives.

I looked into those eyes of hers that looked very much like mine and remembered the dream I had. I vividly remembered my father's eyes and those were definitely his that was definitely his voice telling me to run. I wondered what that dream meant, with all the banshee flying around and wailing. Did it mean he was dead?