The Raven Saga Box Set

Chapter 36

The water continued to pour in from each corner of the room, large droplets plopping around her from the ceiling and walls. Bits of green painted plaster broke away from the wall and fell down, bobbing up and down in the ankle-high water below. December looked down at the floor and noticed that water was everywhere except within a small circular area surrounding her feet. As she moved, the dry circular area moved with her, like a bouncing bubble.

Before she could work out what was happening, gymnasium equipment began to fall and crash to the floor with the force of the running water.

How can this be? She thought. Then she remembered her silent wish, surely not? No, there had to be a rational explanation to all of this. I couldn't possibly be responsible. But the dry bubble around her told her a very different story.

As much as December wanted to hang around and enjoy watching the gym fill up with water, abruptly putting an end to her least favourite subject, she knew Miss Finnegan would eventually notice she was missing. So she skipped from the flooded room and out into the unusually bright sunlight of the October English afternoon.

#

It had been nearly a year since her best friend, Lilly, had left her behind in England and moved to Canada. It had proved to be a long and lonely year for December.

After Lilly's parents had vanished, she had moved to the other side of the world to a town called Powell River in the province of British Columbia. December had been so sad that her friend had to go, but she was also really pleased for her. They had stayed in touch and Lilly had sent numerous emails telling her all about the beauty surrounding her and the loving family that had welcomed her with open arms.

December suspected that there was more to Lilly's newfound happiness. She suspected there was something her friend wasn't telling her. After a few years of being the very best of friends, December knew Lilly too well to not know when something was going on, but she hadn't asked her about it. She knew that Lilly would tell her, whatever 'it' was when the time was right.

For now, December had her own boring life to worry about. Since Lilly's departure, her life had returned to the same awful day-to-day experiences of having to stay out of her Aunt Penelope's way and dodge the cruel comments by some of her more horrible classmates. She secretly daydreamed about the day that her own mother would return to take her home, to rescue her from her only other family member; the rich aunt, who had only agreed to look after her because her late brother, December's father, had requested it.

That and the fact that there was probably money involved, she thought later that day, when her chauffeur arrived to collect her from the school that was just across the road from Lilly's apartment. The apartment from where her parents had disappeared.

Looking up, December half expected to see that strange woman in white who had stood in precisely the same spot day after day to make sure Lilly had gone to, and returned from, school.

She shivered as a dark black cloud moved overhead. The hairs on the back of December's neck prickled and stood on end. Strange, she thought. It was almost as if she was being watched. December turned and looked all around her. The usual stream of students flowed from the school gates. Some of the boys kicked a football and laughed as it hit one unexpectedly on the back of the head. “Oy!” he shouted, with a laugh as he picked it up and kicked it as hard as he could back at his friend.

A couple of girls giggled at the group in an attempt to get their attention.

On the other side of the street, there was the usual bustling of stallholders trying to sell their many wares, everything from freshly cut flowers to second-hand books. People were going about their business. December could see no-one looking at her.

She shrugged her shoulders and hopped into the back seat of the black Range Rover.

“Have a good day, Miss Moon?” asked the driver, a man of about sixty with shoulder-length hair as white as his crisp shirt. While on duty, he wore it in a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck.

She rolled her eyes at him and grinned.

“After all these years, I wish you'd call me December, Monty. You should know by now that I'm nothing at all like that aunt of mine,” she tutted, smiling, although the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

“And my day was, well, let's just say that it was interesting.”

He nodded and returned her smile, showing a toothy grin. “Sorry, Miss, it's a habit, I suppose. Your Aunt Penelope would hate to hear me call you anything other than Miss Moon. Oh, I did it again, didn't I?” he laughed while shaking his head.

“I've been driving you to and from this school for years...Mi... December and I don't recall you ever describing your day as interesting, not since Miss Taylor left, anyhow. Want to talk about it?” he asked as a gap in the traffic finally allowed him to pull away from the kerb by the school.

Monty was the only other person December felt she could talk to. He had been in the Moon's employment since she was a toddler and he had probably been more like family than any of her actual family members. Although it was clear that her Aunt Penelope wasn't keen on him, she had kept him on, purely at her dying brother's request.

As they drove through the London traffic and headed in the direction of Battersea where they had lived her entire life, December regaled Monty with the strange story of the flooded gymnasium. What she did neglect to tell him, however, was the fact that even when the water completely surrounded her, she was kept dry by an unexplained bubble at her feet. A bubble that she was keen to get to the bottom of.

CHAPTER TWO

That night, December dreamed of the flood, but this time, the other kids hadn't been able to escape. The gym was completely full of water, from floor to ceiling, and she was surrounded by the bodies of the drowned.

Yet, December remained bone dry, even though she stood right in the middle of the chaos. A giant air bubble kept her safe, and she was the only survivor.

Even worse, in the dream, December hadn't a care in the world. She wasn't the least bit bothered by the dead bodies that bobbed around her. Even Miss Finnegan floated by, with her eyes wide open in absolute terror. The whistle was no longer attached to her neck, but floating around behind her.

What did come as a massive shock, and immediately jolted her out of her sleep, was the presence of her best friend, Lilly.

Startled awake, December realised her body was covered in a fine film of sweat. She shivered and wrapped the blanket around her before she hopped out of bed. Holding the cover tight, she tiptoed to the window. The moon was full and bright. The brightest she had ever seen it. Noticing the alarm clock, she saw that it was just after midnight. It was her birthday. December was fifteen years old, and it was a Saturday, so she didn't have to go to school in the morning. Yay!

Grabbing her laptop, she jumped back into bed. While she waited for the machine to switch back on, she gazed out of the window at that extraordinary vision of white. Captivating, she thought.

Moments later, her computer leapt into life, and she saw her messenger was flashing.

She clicked it open and saw that Lilly had been trying to get hold of her.

DECEMBER MOON: I'm here

A couple of minutes passed when she saw 'Lilly Tulugaq is typing a message'.

Smiling, December leaned over and grabbed the packet of chocolate chip cookies that she so loved. She took one out and took a bite while she waited. Lilly still hadn't gotten the hang of fast typing, she smirked to herself.

LILLY TULUGAQ: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DECEMBER...... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!

DECEMBER MOON: lol... thanks, hun. That took you ages!

LILLY TULUGAQ: still a slow typer

DECEMBER MOON: yup, deffo. How's life? Any news yet?

Sitting alone in her bedroom on the other side of the world, Lilly instinctively knew that December was asking if there had been any further news on the whereabouts of her father. Although she had been unable to tell December the whole truth about her new life, she had offered a slightly alternative explanation: that the woman she had always thought of as her mother (Vivian) had actually been a kidnapper and murderer who had killed her real mother and sister and taken her and her father hostage.

What she neglected to tell her was that Vivian was eventually killed by a good vampire called Carmelo who was now part of the family. That, and the fact that Lilly was now able to morph into a mountain lion. All things paranormal had become part of Lilly's life, but it was something that, for the safety of her and her family, she had to keep to herself.

LILLY TULUGAQ: No. No news. Still no sign of him. What are you doing up? It must be the middle of the night.

DECEMBER MOON: Sorry babe... you'll find him soon. I'm sure of it.

LILLY TULUGAQ: Thanks

DECEMBER MOON: It's after midnight. Had a weird dream. Couldn't sleep.

Weird dreams were something Lilly knew only too well. In fact, they had become quite a common occurrence in her life. One particularly bizarre dream had caused her to sleepwalk into the forest and discover the truth about her mother and sister.

In the middle of a cold night, in a dreamlike state, their ghosts had led her to Sammy Morton, a man who had spent years living in the forest, hiding from the world.

Sammy was no longer an ordinary man. He was the victim of an evil spell, cast by the wicked witch, Vivian. A spell that endowed him with two magnificent black wings. The moment that spell had been cast, it had prevented him from ever setting foot back in the town where he had grown up. It prevented him from seeing anybody ever again. Until the ghost of his beloved, Neleh, and her mother, Serena, brought Lilly to him and the truth was finally revealed.

LILLY TULUGAQ: Tell me about it. I have weird dreams ALL the time. What kind of dream?

DECEMBER MOON: First I should tell u about yesterday at school...

LILLY TULUGAQ: Go on

DECEMBER MOON: The weirdest thing...

December debated whether to tell Lilly the whole truth and eventually decided that she would. Lilly was the one person in the world that she could trust. Even though she was aware that Lilly had a secret from her, December wanted Lilly to know that she could also be trusted and what better way than to share her own secrets?

LILLY TULUGAQ: Holy crap! How is that possible? And then you dreamed about it?

DECEMBER MOON: Yup. No ordinary dream, though. Everyone was dead. They'd all drowned. It was horrible. But u were there too.

LILLY TULUGAQ: I was?

DECEMBER MOON: Yup. But u weren't dead like the others. U weren't in a bubble either. Was really weird. U were flying. U had these great big black wings, kinda like raven's wings, I guess. How weird is that, huh?

December waited a few moments for Lilly's reply, but there was nothing. A few minutes passed and still nothing.

DECEMBER MOON: u still there hun?

Before Lilly replied, she had to compose herself after she nearly fell off the bed.

Why had December dreamed of Lilly with wings? Her family name was Tulugaq, signifying raven, and her father's side of the family had a unique gene. Call it a magical gene, if you will, that allowed some of them to physically change into ravens.