We're All Stories In The End by Megan Rees (book club reads txt) 📕

“We should head to a bank machine or whatever Rosco called it first,” Ash suggested. “Atlas can hack in to get money, so we’ll be fine. Then we should grab something to eat and study the map.”

“Who elected you team leader?” Clarissa retorted icily. “No one called a vote. I think I should be leading you dummies because I’m the best fighter here and I’ve got the most useful power. Plus, I’ve got the Demon Tracker.”

“I actually think Atlas should be leader,” Rune chirped in. “He’s the oldest and the smartest, plus he knows more about Normals than we do thanks to all those books he reads.”

“I agree,” Luna added. “Ash?”

Ash bowed his head, indicating he agreed.

“That’s settled then. Atlas is team leader.” Rune said with a smile.

“Well, as team leader, I suggest you all meet me in that restaurant over there,” Atlas suggested, pointing to a lively and brightly coloured building. “You can buy food there. Just grab a table and wait before buying anything. And don’t cause an argument!”

Going their separate ways, Luna walked alongside Ash down the pavement, gazing at all the Normals. Some of them were staring at them uncertainly, especially mothers with young children. Luna tried to figure out why, and then she noticed that Ash had his dagger hilt visible. “Put your dagger away, Ash. People are getting suspicious.”

“I’m going to keep it there,” Ash replied sharply. “The Normals could be as savage and bloodthirsty as Demons – we don’t know if they’ll mug us or something.”

A giggling group of girls started heading towards them. They were probably not much older than any of them; with slender figures, too much makeup and lots of shopping bags. Luna thought that they were laughing at her at first, but then she realised that their attention was on Ash. She quickly nudged him, which made him scowl at her. “What now?”

“Those girls fancy you,” Luna pointed out in amusement. “Shame they’re all Normals – they’re just your kind of girl.”

Ash rolled his dark green eyes. “Hilarious. But as always, I have a master plan which will avert their attention.”

As the group of Normals walked past the Purebloods, one of them deliberately walked into Ash. The tall brown haired boy glared at her, frowning. “Get some glasses. They might help you watch where you’re going.”

“These bags weigh, like, a ton!” she complained, tossing her shiny black hair over her shoulder. “You could help me carry them, if you’re, like, so worried about me!”

“I can think of much better things to do than help a load of desperate teenagers with their ridiculously huge amount of shopping,” Ash retorted. “Now shove off, or I’ll break your precious little necks.”

The girl’s jaw dropped, but she just sniffed and turned away to catch up with her friends.

“Now that was impressive,” Rune remarked in admiration. “You’ll have to teach us how to do that!”

Ash’s dark green eyes glittered in amusement, grinning. “Quite remarkable, wasn’t it? But of course, only my wonderful self can do that.”

Clarissa made a noise which sounded like a snort, which everyone ignored.

After a short while, the group eventually reached the restaurant. Delicious yet strange smells flowed out through the doors and window, making Luna’s stomach roar furiously with hunger.

Ash flung open the door, allowing the girls to go in. Luna thanked him with a nod of acknowledgement, which her friend responded to with a rare warm smile.

Luna was fascinated by the entire joint. Families and friends sat in comfy-looking long red chairs, eating burgers and pancakes. Music played quietly in the background as staff in black and white uniform went round serving food to different tables.

Rune found a table by the window and sat in so she was next to the window. Ash sat opposite and beckoned Luna over, so she obediently sat next to him and Clarissa sat opposite her.

“What is a wrap?” Clarissa inquired, studying the menu intently.

“One of those things,” Rune said, pointing to a man holding a white thing with brown speckles and rolled up like a newspaper. There was lettuce and chicken inside. “You can put in different toppings to match your taste. They’re really nice.”

“You might want to order something sugary. We’re used to sweeter tastes, so sugar will give you energy and match your taste pallet,” Luna suggested. “I’m going to order pancakes with a large chocolate milkshake and a muffin.”

“Healthy breakfast much?” Ash chuckled.

“Brunch now, actually. It’s 12:05pm.”

Luna turned her head to see Atlas standing by their table, placing a wad of cash down. “There’s about one thousand pounds here – more than enough to survive us the time we’ll be here.”

“Should be easy enough surviving here, then.” Ash remarked, staring out of the window at an alleyway, where two people walk down. They looked happy and joking, teasing each other in what looked like to be sibling affection. Luna sighed at them longingly, wanting a brother or sister of her own. She, Atlas and Ash were only children, as Rune had two older siblings and Clarissa had a baby brother. Luna’s parents had died when she was seven years old, killed brutally in a Demon attack. She could remember when her father went to kill Alpha, but instead got his chest slashed with the Demon’s poison tipped claws and died straight away. Her mother had hidden her in the library with Atlas, Rune and Rosco. Before she left, she had given Luna a silver chain necklace with an oval shape attached to it. It opened up to reveal a picture of the family, taken only days before the battle. Her mother had told her to keep it safe, which she had.

Luna took the necklace out of her bag and opened the oval shape, gazing at the photo. Her mother had long chestnut coloured hair with a tall petite figure and sharp, luminous green eyes. She looked stunningly beautiful in her lacy white dress, a black shawl around her shoulders, cream sandals and a long gold necklace with a dove attached on the end. Her father was smaller but broad shouldered and long-limbed, with short blonde hair and hazel eyes. He wore a black suit with a black tie, white shirt and black shoes, but had a huge smile on his face with his arm around his wife. Seven year old Luna was standing in front of them, smiling broadly like her father. Her hair was loose and she wore a dress and shawl like her mother, but her dress was pale blue and her shawl was white. Luna still had the shawl and had brought it with her, but thinking about it made tears form in her eyes.

She hadn’t noticed Ash averting his attention away from the brother and sister and to her family photo. “I forgot how little you used to be.” he commented in amusement.

Luna rolled her blue eyes at him. “Shut up, Ash.”

“I’m just teasing,” Ash reassured her, nudging her playfully. “You resemble both your parents well.”

“I wish I had my mother’s hair,” Luna sighed, stroking the picture with her finger. “I don’t look much like her. People say I always took after my father.”

“You inherited your father’s height and hair colour, but you have a similar figure to your mother,” her friend commented. “She didn’t like being really tall, even you knew that. She wanted to be short like you. Besides, I prefer short people because they just make me feel like a giraffe.”

Luna laughed cheerfully, which earned her another warm smile from Ash. “You have your mother’s laugh too – all sunny and happy.”

Atlas then returned with a large tray of food, passing it round to everyone. Checking to see that no one was around, he nodded at Ash. “Get the map out, Ash.”

Ash fished out the parchment from his bag and rolled it across the table. A red dot appeared on the map, not far away from the border between Nighthollow and the Normal world.

“We must be there,” Luna guessed, pointing at the dot. Scanning the map, she saw another dot, this time in yellow. “And this must be where the first Treasure is.”

“That’s ages away!” Clarissa complained with a groan.

“Not if we hitchhike,” Atlas suggested. “Some Normals catch lifts from strangers to get to certain destinations.”

“That’s not a very safe idea,” Ash pointed out. “Normals are wary of Purebloods because of who we are and what we do. Besides, we might get in the car of some creepy robber who will use us for some purpose.”

“Well, we’re all too young to drive a car. So we’re stuffed.” Atlas sighed, munching on a bagel.

Luna examined the map closely, her eyes widening with confusion. “That’s odd. It says the first Treasure is located in a river.”

“It’s likely, knowing the Demons,” Ash commented. “Shame, I didn’t pack my swimming trunks.”

Ash’s comment brought the conversation to a close. The Purebloods ate in complete silence, savouring the taste of the new food.

Once finishing, Luna heard a loud scream coming from the alleyway she and Ash had seen the two Normal siblings walking. Staring out of the large window, she saw the brother being attacked by three men, while the sister watched on in horror. Her eyes widened in terror. “We have to help those people!”

“They’re strangers, Luna. Normal strangers, at that. We shouldn’t get ourselves in their business.” Clarissa replied menacingly.

“Normal or not, we should help them. They don’t look much older than us,” Rune pointed out. “I understand your concern, Clarissa, but those people aren’t much different from us.”

 An excited grin appeared on Ash’s face. “Let’s go and kick some Normals where it hurts!”

The Pureblood teenagers emerged from the restaurant and headed towards the alley, running as fast as they possibly could. Luna noticed that some people were giving them strange looks, but she didn’t care. She was only focused on helping the unfortunate passer-bys.

Once reaching the alley, Ash pulled one of the men away, punching him in the face and kicking him hard in the stomach. Rune went straight over to comfort the frightened girl, while Atlas and Clarissa dealt with one of the other men. Luna dragged the final man away from the stunned boy and pushed him against a brick wall. He tried to pull a knife from his pocket, but the blonde haired teen yanked it out