The Raven Saga Box Set

Chapter 37

Lilly's cousin, Jo, was able to change. In fact, her first change had occurred some months earlier at the most opportune time. It had enabled Lilly to catch Vivian. This had its own consequences, though. During a struggle, just before Vivian's death, she had cast a spell which nearly killed Jo. Her only chance of survival had been at the hands of her newfound love, Carmelo, who had no choice but to transform her into a vampire. No ordinary vampire, though. She had become the most beautiful vampire raven woman, even though she continued to be Jo, cousin, daughter, sister, niece, grand-daughter of the Tulugaq clan.

So, with the gene well and truly part of the family, how had December dreamed about such a thing? She wasn't part of the family, not literally anyway.

Looking back at the words December had typed in, Lilly had almost missed something else rather important. The fact that December had wished for the gym to flood. It had flooded, and she had been spared from getting wet. How was that possible?

LILLY TULUGAQ: Sorry, I just got distracted. Has this kind of thing ever happened before?

DECEMBER MOON: lol. U r joking, right?

LILLY TULUGAQ: nope

DECEMBER MOON: of course not!

Having had a few moments to think, Lilly decided this was something she needed to discuss with some other members of her family. She had an inkling that there was more to December's experience and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

LILLY TULUGAQ: look, I need to go now. Can we catch up again later?

DECEMBER MOON: Sure

December yawned as she typed, unaware of Lilly's urgency to shut her computer down and dig deeper.

LILLY TULUGAQ: have a good night's sleep December. Have a great birthday. Miss u x

DECEMBER MOON: a good birthday? Lol, that'll be the day. Thanx tho hun. Speak later. Miss u too x

CHAPTER THREE

Lilly eagerly awaited the sun to set, willing it to do so. She was desperate to change into feline form, and she wanted to set off to Rose's house as fast as possible. Rose was the one person she wanted to speak to about December. If anyone had a theory, it would be her.

Rose, Lilly's aunt, was one of only two other human/feline changelings that she knew. Even though she was in her seventies, Rose was a force to be reckoned with. Not only was she beautiful, but she was strong, intelligent and great fun to be around. Their relationship was the closest thing they had to mother and daughter.

The dark finally descended.

“I'm going to see Rose,” Lilly yelled to whoever was still in the house, as she pushed open the front door and bounded towards the forest, taking in the fresh scent of the cold damp air. Running as fast as she could, you would be forgiven for not noticing that she wore nothing but a smile. The moment her body was hidden among the trees, she hopped onto a large boulder and looked around before jumping down.

Before her feet even hit the ground, Lilly was no longer a small and slim fourteen-year-old girl with bobbed black hair, but the most graceful and beautiful black mountain lion. The transformation that took place was no longer the painful and awkward motion of her initial changes, but one of speed and elegance. Rose had taught her well.

The speed with which she travelled through the trees that led to her aunt's house was courtesy of Sammy Morton, the man who would have been her brother-in-law had her sister lived. Sammy and Lilly spent hours and hours racing each other from one end of the forest, around Powell River, to the mountains where the Elders resided. Lilly was no longer a child. She was becoming a fine young woman and an even more exceptional specimen of a mountain lion. If people knew the truth about her, she would be the envy of many. At least that's what Rose told her. Lilly always struggled to believe that herself.

Coming to a standstill among the fallen leaves, Lilly stood regally, checking her surroundings carefully. There was a hint of something in the air, something out of the ordinary. Her senses were on full alert as she silently padded through the trees. All was silent, a little too silent. There were no chirping of birds, no rustling of insects, even the wind seemed to have completely died down. She stopped again, careful not to make any noise herself.

A familiar scent filled her nose. Rose was here too. Lilly turned and saw her aunt, not in human form, but as the feisty lynx that was her changeling form.

'Do you sense it?' Rose asked of her niece. The two were only able to communicate in feline form by reading each other's minds. It was a useful sense to have.

'I do. It's not something I'm familiar with. Any idea who or what it is?' replied Lilly as she sniffed the forest floor.

'It could be a bear. We haven't had any around here for quite some time, which would explain why you don't know the scent.'

Lilly nodded acknowledgement and saw a movement out of the corner of her eye.

Rose noticed it too, and the two of them slowly and silently followed the scent and the movement.

Suddenly an almighty roar filled their ears. Rose was right. A large brown bear appeared from behind a massive downed tree that lay on its side. But something was not right. The bear was injured, severely injured. He howled in pain.

'Lilly, stop. Do not approach him. Keep hidden. There's something else here. Something... something's very wrong.'

The bear began to fall to the ground, just a hundred or so metres in front of them. As it fell, it took its final breath and just as it hit the ground, its massive form changed. It was no longer a bear, but a large man with thick brown curly hair, part of which was matted with blood.

Lilly caught her breath and stood motionless, watching. Through the trees came another creature, a wholly unnatural creature. At first glance, it looked like an ugly man, but on closer inspection, long fangs distended from his lips and long claws shot out from his fingertips. His face was as pale as the moon that shone down on them, giving just enough light to see him from afar.

The beast pounced on the corpse and began frantically feasting on his blood.

Lilly closed her eyes, petrified that if she made any kind of movement, the creature would be on to her.

'That's right, Lilly. Just stay calm. We must do nothing but wait for him to tire of his feasting.'

It was the first time that Lilly had seen another changeling, other than those good and friendly ones that resided with the Elders. It was then that she realised she had been witness to a brutal murder.

The creature had clearly killed the bear, possibly knowing that he was also a man. Was it a vampire? She thought. He looked nothing like Carmelo and the other vampires she had met before, but then they were all good-natured vampires. None of them were cold-blooded killers. Cold-blooded? Yes. Killers? No.

Her imagination ran riot as she watched the creature feed in such a frenzy. Lilly could hear the disturbing sucking noises of his feasting. After only a few minutes, he lifted his head. His claws retracted back into his fingers, and his fangs slowly disappeared. He used the long sleeve of his black jacket to wipe away the red blood that spattered all over his face.

He looked almost human, apart from the piercing amber eyes that protruded like traffic lights from his pale, thin face, eyes that began to change colour as they watched on from a distance.

He stood up to his full height and pushed the now bloodless body with his foot. For a second, an evil smile crept across his face before it was replaced with one of shock, horror and guilt. Then he turned and ran in the opposite direction with speed.

The stench of blood filled the night air as Lilly turned to look at Rose. Even in feline form, she looked pale.

'Rose, are you all right?'

Rose shook her feline head, 'I think I know that man.'

CHAPTER FOUR

When December walked into the kitchen, she didn't expect to be greeted by any kind of birthday wishes, celebrations or fanfare. There had never been any in the past, so why would this year be any different? She thought. Of course, she was right. The kitchen was empty. No gifts, cards or cakes. No loving aunt to hug her and congratulate her on her fifteenth birthday. Just the idea of her aunt doing such a thing made December chuckle to herself. She no longer cared about what her aunt did or didn't do. She'd come to terms with that years ago.

Penelope had already left for her usual Saturday morning breakfast club. Thankfully it usually lasted much of the day, so at least December didn't have to pretend to make polite conversation with her.

“Happy Birthday, December!” she said sarcastically to herself as she poured a glass of orange juice. I wish that just once there could be a little gift or even a card, thought December.

“Sorry, Miss Moon, did you say something?” asked Amelia, the pretty young Spanish maid who suddenly appeared silently out of the utility room folding some soft fluffy white towels.

“Nothing, Amelia. I was just muttering to myself,” she said with a smile.

December was actually quite fond of all the staff members that worked for her aunt. She knew what it was like to be bossed around and treated like dirt. December was treated in precisely the same way, after all. But Monty was the only one that she actively talked to and whose company she enjoyed the most.

“Oh Miss Moon... I almost forgot. Happy birthday,” Amelia said, entirely out of the blue.

“Oh... oh, thank you,” answered December with a grin. She didn't often receive birthday wishes from anybody other than Lilly and Monty, so anything else came as a complete surprise.

“This is for you,” she said, handing December a small box wrapped in garish orange paper. “Your aunt asked me to give it to you when you woke up.”

“She... she did?”

Completely confused, December wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Her aunt always forgot her birthday. No, that's not quite right. Her aunt never forgot her birthday at all. Her aunt just wasn't interested. She didn't care. So why was this year any different?

“I think the idea is to open it?” said a voice from outside the kitchen window. Looking beyond the huge Belfast kitchen sink, out of the window, December noticed Monty tending to the rose bush just beneath the windowsill. He had stopped and was watching her, looking equally stunned.

Amelia had smiled at her shyly before exiting the room to continue with her duties.

“I don't get it,” said December, leaning over the sink and out of the window, “why is this year so special?”

The gardener/chauffeur and general dogsbody Monty shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“Happy birthday Miss Mo.... December. Go on. Open it.”

Frightened that it might be something more akin to a ticking bomb than an actual birthday present, December held the box at arm's length, shook it and then listened. When it made no sound, she slowly unwrapped the paper while Monty chuckled and shook his head at her funny behaviour.

After removing the paper, she was faced with a small brown velvet box. Opening it, she caught her breath. It was a dainty silver necklace with a charm dangling from it.

The charm looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

“But it's... it's actually really pretty,” she breathed, unable to say anything more.

“Let's have a look then, love,” said Monty from outside.

“Hang on a minute. Let me come outside, and you can help me put it on.”

Walking out of the back door, December carefully walked across the green lawn in her old comfy slippers. She soon reached the kitchen window where Monty stood, leaning on his garden fork. He wore an old pair of dark blue overalls and green wellies, the ones he always wore whenever he tended to the garden.