Chapter Two| Night of the Crescent
I figured he had been telling me the truth, when I woke up. Not only was I in a bed staring at a ridiculously beige ceiling. But there was sunlight instead of stars in the inky blackness of the night sky.
Why does everything in the Army have to be brown or a shade of brown? Seriously brown makes me nuts. Beige and tope that’s the color of my room in our trailer sized home. I practically groaned at the thought of leaving my room to see the rest of the trailer.
“Jayd I know you’re awake so you might as well come have some breakfast.” My mother called from another room.
Now I really did groan. I actually had to get out of bed. So like any normal teenager I lounged for a moment longer then got my things together to take a shower. You know just the usual a change of clothes, my toiletries, and a towel.
The hallway was bright. Apparently we were lucky and got a trailer with a yellow hallway. Just what I needed a color that directly clashed with all the colors of my wardrobe. But I wasn’t going to be spending more than a few moments in the hallway at any given time so I should be fine. And my clothes shouldn’t burst into flame at the mere intensity of the brightness. Which would be just a little weird but stranger things have happened.
The bathroom is smaller than I’m used to. No bathtub just a shower stall and toilet and a small sink. And there was this really tiny mirror hanging over the sink that I’m assuming is military issue because its square and matches the rest of the room perfectly. Stupid precision nuts.
But the water was warm. It could have been better, hell it would have been if I didn’t keep hitting my elbows on the walls. I felt vaguely like I was on a rocking cruise ship with how cramped the space was. But I managed to take my shower with much more injury to myself.
Finishing up I brushed my teeth and dressed after I dried off and went out to the kitchen. My mother was standing in front of the sink washing dishes and dad was sitting at the table reading the paper. It was so normal looking that I almost could believe my father wasn’t in the army and we weren’t living in a trailer but our home back in Boston.
“Good morning Jayd.” My mother said turning off the water.
“Morning mom.” I plunked down in one of the free chairs at the table and served myself a portion of almost everything but the bacon and eggs.
I’m pretty bad about eating things that came from animals. Well really anything that includes protein that comes from an animal never makes it to my stomach. My dad used to joke that I was an unofficial vegan. I’m not I still like to eat meat, I just don’t eat eggs, pork, or veal.
“I see our local vegan has decided to join us finally.” My dad grumbled folding the paper and laying it down next to him.
He looked upset. Real upset and I learned a long time ago that if he looks like that don’t say anything until he’s done with whatever speech he has to give you. That and my head still hurt. There was this faint throbbing and I really just wanted to get some Advil to make it go away. But I couldn’t, not until Daddy dearest finish his speech.
“The boy you were with on the plane. Who is he?”
Well that was certainly a question out of left field.
“I don’t know. I never caught his name.” I said softly shrugging my shoulders.
“Where did he take you?”
Again I shrugged in response. It wasn’t like I could tell him I’d been unconscious for the majority of my disappearance. He’d probably go out and kill the kid.
“Did he say anything to you?”
I hesitated. I shouldn’t have. He grasped onto it and didn’t let go. Knowing that an answer in anything other than the affirmative would be a lie. Giving in I nodded slowly.
“Well? What did he say?”
I shrugged one last time. Kept my face carefully masked so that he wouldn’t catch any kind of expression that would hint at the lie I’d just fed him. He studied me and I picked at the French toast on my plate. They were still warm and really soft, just the way I liked them.
“I’m assuming from the shrug you weren’t paying any attention?”
“Basically. How much attention would you give your kidnapper?”
I wanted to slam my head onto the table at the glare he gave me. Insolence had never been tolerated and my open display of it just then had not been the wisest of the things I’ve said today. Finally after scooting my French toast around the plate a couple times I pushed my chair back. Me and my plate on the way to the garbage and then the sink to wash my dish.
“I’m going out to explore.” I said heading back to my room to grab a light jacket.
They didn’t stop me. Although I’m pretty sure Dad wanted to more than his stoic appearance let on. But neither moved as I walked out the front door. My body already set in the direction of the woods near the edge of the base. Last time I’d been here the local kids played in there often enough. Maybe I’d get lucky as the day wore on and make some new friends.
That was almost comical the very thought at least. Considering the woods being only twenty feet away seemed dark and unwelcoming to me. And I wasn’t one to ever be frightened by much of anything. Not usually anyway. But apparently something had changed in the ten or twelve years since I was here last. Changed enough to make the once friendly woods seem ominous.
The woods were just as I remembered them once I breached the outer edge of brush. The path that led from the bases side of the wood to the towns was still visible a few more yards in. I had the vague sense of homecoming like I belonged in this wood. Which was unlikely with all the moving around I would be doing now that I was old enough to know how to keep my mouth shut.
I laughed at the idea of staying in Somnus after my father was once more reassigned. I was unprepared for the wash of sorrow that followed after the hollow sound so shortly afterward. I couldn’t possibly be becoming attached to Somnus. I hadn’t been here in years. And yet the feeling of sorrow persisted.
Shrugging I followed the path before me. Going deeper into the woods and farther away from the base. I personally didn’t want to be within a hundred yard radius of their current location. Although I still had a few yards to go before I could actually say I’d achieved that goal. There was a tree stump a few yards a head and that’s where I would sit and ponder my peculiar notion of sorrow at having to leave Somnus behind one day.
Ten years away shouldn’t be doing that to me especially when I just got back. I looked at my watch. It was one of those watches with a phases of the moon dial beneath the face itself. It wasn’t so much to check the time thought as it was to check the phase.
“Waxing crescent…of my fifteenth year.”
It snuck up on me that explained the connected feeling to Somnus and his warning. My special talent would come into full tonight. An all night meditation within the woods was in order. Nothing like disappearing in the middle of the night to wake up two days in the past or future.
A twig snapped in the distance. My head snapped up like I expected to find something flying my way. But nothing was there. Not surprising. Although it would have been easier to put the feeling of being watched to rest if I could put a definite animal to the sound. But I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be that lucky.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Eyes wide I swiveled around to see the speaker. Not that I had to turn to know. Those rich sensual tones could only belong to Mr. Rich Hunk of the plane. But there was another with him, standing in the shadows just out of my sight. Squinting I tried to make them out, beginning to feel more than just a little uneasy.
“Relax. Marcus isn’t going to do anything to you. I assure you.”
I nodded slowly rolling my shoulders to release the tension. A few of the upper vertebrae cracked in response. I guess I had tensed a lot more than I had initially intended.
For a few moments questions swirled through my mind. All of them asking about him. Who he was? Why he was here? Why he’d kidnapped me? Well that one I had a half answer to already but still. However I spoke before I had any idea what exactly to ask him.
“What are you doing here?”
He chuckled at me, almost like he was amused and I noticed that his friend, Marcus, joined in. Like they were sharing a joke that I wasn’t privy to. I huffed at them both I hated secrets. I hated them more than I hated anything else in this world.
“Sorry, Jayd. I just thought a more pressing question would be: Who are you? Not What I’m doing here.” He explained his features apologetic.
Well good he should be apologetic. At least for scaring me. This didn’t tall all that much to do anymore. Sighing I closed my eyes for several minutes to calm myself. A huff escaped my lips as the very idea took on being impossible. The whole very idea seemed like something that should be avoided. But he was right in a sense. I should asking for his name not what he was doing there.
“Very well who are you?” I asked on a sigh.
He smiled at me, a lopsided curl of the lips that would have sent my heart fluttering, if it hadn’t been for it feeling that I’d walked right into a trap he laid for me.
“My names Robert, Robert White.”
The words flowed over me in familiar cadences that I had heard in my early years as a jumper. A jumper that’s what I call myself. I’m not suicidal as the term would imply to anyone else. I just call my leaps through time as jumps and others like me as jumpers. Not that I’d met any.
My eyebrows went up questioningly. However I managed to restrain my shoulder from shrugging in an ‘-should-care-way’ gesture. Something told me I shouldn’t piss them off. My eyes shooting toward where Marcus was still standing in the shade of the trees.
“You’re going be difficult tonight aren’t you?” I heard Robert murmur in my ear, “On this nigh of the crescent moon.”
My body stiffened in response. My parents didn’t even know that the crescent moon tonight symbolized a big change in my life. How did they know about it?
A chuckle brought me out of my reverie as my eyes settled on Robert.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I told you, I can hear what you’re thinking.”
“Well isn’t that pleasant.” My voice dripped with sarcasm as I spoke. “Stay out!”
Again he laughed at this time Marcus joined him. I turned my gaze to him. I hadn’t noticed before but his eyes were silver, and almost glowed in the semi darkness of the shade of the trees. It was then that I realized what he was exactly. No human being could ever have silver eyes like those. Sure I knew of plenty of people with gray silver eyes but not one of them had eyes that almost could be said to glow in the dark.
“Ah I see you’ve placed the origins of one of us. But I wonder…” His melodious voice was once more near my ear as he spoke this time it was deeper and if I hadn’t been well versed cadences and sounds I wouldn’t have been able to place the slight husky tone to it, “can you place what I am?”
I shied away from him instinctively. My feet pushing my body out of its sitting position into one standing a good ten feet away from him. Halfway between him and Marcus, and again I got the feeling that I had just let myself walk right into a trap.
“Robert.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Marcus sure to keep my other eye on Robert. Just in case. I didn’t want to be caught off guard. But his voice, well everything about him really as he stepped a little out from the shadows. If it had been anyone else… If he had been anything else I could have sworn it was love at first sight. But he was a demon, I still wasn’t sure just what kind of demon but a demon nonetheless.
“Before you scare her, just tell her why we’re here.” Marcus said his voice strong like you would expect of someone who was used to getting his own way all the time. But it held that same lulling lilt to it. Later I would think it ironic that they would seem so similar in some very odd ways.
“Fine. We’re here to keep you safe. And don’t tell us you don’t need it. Especially tonight you’ll need it more than ever.”
Robert seemed to be fighting between calm and scowling because his features didn’t have that charming appeal they did a few moments earlier. Then his words sunk in, keep me safe. From what? Seriously if anything happened I could simply time hop back and change what I did just before. Well it isn’t exactly that simple but that’s really all there is to it.
“And you’re to protect me from what exactly?” I asked my voice sound incredulous to my own ears.
Robert glared at me before turning to face Marcus. The two of them seemed to share a silent communication. Probably through telepathy although I’d never heard of a demon possessing telepathic abilities. Or maybe it was through subsonic speech.
There were a few demonic species that shared that particular trait with the vampire. I stared wide eyed at Robert. Well that sadly made just as much sense as Marcus being a demon. The green-gold eyes should have tipped me off when I was in the car with him. Apparently I hadn’t been paying very good attention.
They seemed to come to some sort of agreement as I placed my hands close to my throat. My fingers clutching at my Scorpio charm beneath my shirt. The only gift my great-grandmother was able to give me before she died under suspicious circumstances. She had told me that it would protect me from all things wishing to harm me.
Of course I had been five at the time and I hadn’t really understood what she was talking about. But as I became more and more abnormally aware of time and started passing through different time periods her words actually started making sense.
“Our orders were to bring you with us. Beyond that we can not tell you who or what we’re protecting you from.” Marcus said finally causing my head to turn around at a painful angle.
I shook my head. They were evil creatures. I had a power from the light. They could not harm me as long as I wore the charm and they could not take me away as long as my connection to this forest stood. I was safe from them always.
“You’ll come with us Jayd.” Roberts voice murmured softly in my ear as something hit me at one of the pressure points at my neck.
My eyes seeking a face found Marcus’s and as I tumbled to the ground everything went black around me as unconsciousness claimed me. Barely aware of the glare Marcus shot Roberts way.
