Under the Blood Moon by Jenny Garcia (golden son ebook txt) 📕

I am looking down on myself sleeping peacefully in my bed with Travis at my side. His arm wrapped around me and he has one leg draped over mine. Ares is standing outside my bedroom staring at me while I sleep. He walks around the side of the house and into the front door. The house is so dark that it’s hard to see anything that is happening. He walks down the hall like a ghost making no sound as he steps along the hardwood floor. He looks to my father’s office and Denise is sitting in his office chair awake and waiting. She points down the hall and I can only assume that she is pointing him in the direction of my room. He nods his head and gives her a devilish grin. He continues to walk down the hall and he turns to my door. He turns the knob and pushes it open. Travis and I are both still sleeping. Fear is gripping me and I cant believe that I am going to watch my own death or worse…Travis’. He walks into my room and stands over us as we sleep. He pulls a long dagger out of his belt and holds it above my throat. He raises his arms and before he hand thrust the cold steel into my neck a red burst of color engulfs his body. Screams ripe out through the house and I realize that it’s not color…its fire. My vision ends and I am sucked back into reality. Time resumes its normal pace.

            I look to Ares and Travis who have not moved. Although my visions can last for about 5 minutes in reality I lose no time. To everyone around me it’s a mere second. I walk over to Travis and grab his clenched fist. My confidence is growing with the knowledge that Ares will die before he can accomplish his task. I look to the young woman who is lying on the ground and notice that she is starting to fade. Her body is beginning to turn to ash and the breeze begins to whirl her remains into the air. I look to Ares and he looks down to where she was lying and lets out an annoyed scoff. He cares for no one, not even his own soldiers. Travis can no longer contain his anger and he lunges for Ares. They both fall back and hit the ground. Dirt flies into the air as they roll around fighting. Ares gets both of his feet under Travis and launches him into the air. Travis flies back landing on his feet and sliding back further on the dirt. Lifting his head up, he looks to Ares and lets out a terrifying roar. It sends chills through my body and stands the hair on neck. He launches back towards and Ares begins to run towards him. He connects with a blur of punching and kicking. They are moving so quickly that I cannot tell what is going on. Growls and roars are ripping through that quiet forest. Denise and Mom run out from the house when they realize what is going on. Denise stands at the stop of the porch just watching the scene with her arms crossed. My mother runs to my side holding me tight. I can feel heat growing between us and I can tell that her emotions are activating her Pyros ability. I push her off and yell, “Mom…Your fire…throw it now!” She looks to Travis and Ares battling in the dirt driveway and she lifts her hand. The red glow begins to swirl in her hand and she motions her hand side to side trying to aim at Ares. She stands for a moment with sweat beading on her forehead. “Mom please! What are you waiting for!? THROW IT!” She screams back at me, “I can’t, they are moving too quickly! I don’t want to hit Travis!” Ares looks to Mom and see’s that she is summoning her Pyros and is at the ready to strike. He jumps into the air and shifts back into an owl and flies high into the tree tops. I watch him until I lose sight and look back down to Travis. He is kneeling on one knee trying to catch his breath. Blood is flowing from his nose and mouth. He has cuts all over his body and they are bleeding profusely. I rush to his side, kneel to the ground and touch his arm. He lets out a roar and pushes me with his arm throwing me across the yard. I feel my back crunch onto the steps of the porch and I cannot move. It feels like a thousand knifes are running up and down my spine cutting all my skin and muscles. Travis looks to me and hasn’t realized what he has just done. He snaps out of his rage and runs to my side. I let my head fall back and I open my eyes. Denise is standing over me grinning. She leans forward and whispers in my ear, “I guess we won’t have to kill you after all. It looks like Travis has done that for us.” All I hear is a roar from Travis and then I fade into blackness.

***

There is a warm breeze caressing my body. I can smell the scent of fresh cut grass filling the air. I feel the warm sun on my face and grass under my body. I run my hands back and forth through the soft blades and open my eyes. I see my willow tree from home hanging above me with his halo of limbs draped around me. The soft leaves are twirling in the wind. I realize that I am in a dream. I miss my spot under that willow so much that I don’t want to wake up right now. I extend my arms and grab the limp limbs that hang to the ground. I twirl them around in my fingers enjoying the feeling of the soft leaves as they run through my hands. This is the first time that I have been alone in so long. I feel safe and at ease. I roll to my side and run my hands through the grass and watch the leaves dance in the wind. “Niki…” I hear a whisper on the wind. “Niki…” Again the soft voice rings through the leaves. I almost wish that there was no one here. I want to be alone right now. I have been surrounded by people ever since I left this spot to come to the lake house. I have not had a moment of peace. I roll onto my back and try to ignore the voice calling for me. I roll to my opposite side and there is a woman lying next to me. I gasp and scoot back, “Who are you!” She had golden hair that is sparkling in the sun, fair skin, bright red lips and emerald eyes. She smiles at me and reaches out for me, “You’re hurt.” He voice sounds young and excited for life. I look up and down my body and I don’t see any blood or cuts. She begins to giggle pushes my shoulder “You can’t feel pain in your dreams silly.” I let out a small chuckle but I can’t help but wonder who she is. “Umm I’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?” She looks to me and brushes a loss piece of hair from my eyes, “Well I am Asclepius.” This girl is so strange. She seems so carefree. Her answers sound so ‘matter of fact’. I respond, “That is a strange name.” She gives me a large smile, “Thank you, Queen Renee gave me the name. It’s after the Greek God of healing.” There seems to be a trend with the names. I am so tired of being in the dark when it comes to the knowledge of this world so I decide to just ask her, “Why do the Queen and King name people after Gods?” She takes a breath and lets it out, “Well I guess it’s because they like us the best and you cannot get any better than a God. We are important to them and stay with them at all times. Ares is Khan’s war dog and I am Renee’s Healer. I will heal anyone that she requests me to. She told me before she left the kingdom that she would not be returning and you would take her place. She said that I was to heal you whenever you were hurt and serve you as I served her.” She runs her fingers through her hair waiting for me to respond.

Asclepius’ explanation of her duties is the first time that I have felt like I have understood anything about this world. Maybe it’s because she explained it like a child would explain their day at school, It was short and to the point. “Asclepius, how are you in my dream?”

“You have a lot of questions don’t you Queen.” She giggles and rolls closer to me, “Well I can heal mind, body and soul. So When I need to heal someone’s soul or mind I have to find out what is broken and fix it. So I jump in their dreams.” I am confused on why she is in my dream. There is nothing wrong with my mind or soul. I ask, “Ok well the last thing I remember is hitting my back against the stairs, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with my mind or soul.” She responds, “Well Queen, you have been knocked out for a while and I wanted to talk to you, so I came in your dream. It’s a good thing that I did because I found something broken.” Confusion fills me. I don’t understand why she would find something broken. “What did you find?” She holds out a closed fist and says, “I found this. It’s a part of your soul. There are lots of parts to a soul and when one part breaks the whole soul doesn’t work right. Most humans have to find out what it is on their own to fix it. But you are lucky because I can fix it for you.” A large heartwarming smile spreads across her face. She points down with her other hand to her closed fist. Light begins to illuminate from her fist and it shakes uncontrollably. Asclepius never takes her eyes off her hands. The light begins to die down and the shaking stops. I look into her eyes and she points back down her closed fist. She opens her hand and there is a small silver band with a little diamond sparkling at the top. I can’t believe it. It’s the promise ring that Derek gave me. I threw it in our fireplace after the incident. I look back at her “I don’t understand.” She presses both palms together pressing on the ring. She opens her hands and it has disappeared. She looks back and me and responds, “You let Derek take a piece of your soul when you threw the ring into the fire. Because you don’t forgive him he holds power over you. You may think that he doesn’t deserve forgiveness but it’s not for him, it’s for you. Letting go of the anger will help you become who you were ment to be.” She lies down onto her back and folds her arms behind your head. “So what did fixing the ring do?” She closes her eyes and lets out a sigh, “I healed the anger inside it so it doesn’t make your soul