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

A screech made Luna remove her grip on the man, who kicked her over and fled with his two companions. She landed hard on the concrete pavement, sending pain up her arm. She was still able to move it, so she just guessed she bruised it.

Rising to her feet, Luna’s blue eyes widened in horror as she saw Ash leaning against the opposite wall, one hand placed on his thigh. She could see a patch of blood around that area on his jeans, which gave her the impression that he had been stabbed.

Rune rushed straight over, followed by Luna, concern swimming in her eyes. “Are you okay, Ash?”

“Couldn’t be better,” Ash responded, screwing up his face in pain as Rune inspected the wound. “Are those two kids okay?”

“They’re fine!” Atlas called. “Shaken, but they’re fine!”

“Should I call the hospital?” the girl asked, slightly concerned.

“They won’t help me,” Ash groaned. “Besides, my friend here can heal wounds.”

Her narrow green eyes looked suspicious. “Are you Purebloods?”

Luna exchanged a worried glance with Rune, who nodded at her as to say I think we can trust them.

“Yes,” Luna confirmed. “We’re on a quest, hence why we’re in your world. How did you know we were Purebloods, anyway?”

“They killed our father,” the boy replied, joining his sister. “What are your names, Purebloods?”

“I’m Luna. The guy who got stabbed is Ash, the girl healing him is Rune, the boy with the glasses is Atlas and the scary looking girl is Clarissa,” Luna explained. “How about you?”

“Jason Warner, but everyone called me Jay,” the boy answered cheerfully. “This is Isabelle, my sister. Everyone calls her Izzy usually. I’m the oldest ‘cause I’m 16 and Izzy’s 15.”

“Same age as Atlas,” Luna commented. “He’s 15. The rest of us are 14, but Ash is 15 on Saturday.”

“Happy birthday, mate!” Jason called over to Ash before turning back to Luna. She noticed how similar they looked. They both had pale skin and slender limbs, as well as charcoal black hair and angular cheekbones. Isabelle had narrow, luminous green eyes, while Jason had wide brown eyes.

“So, where are you guys crashing?” Jason inquired.

Luna, Ash, Rune and Clarissa gave him a blank look, but Atlas was quick to answer. “We currently don’t have accommodation, but we’re heading to a river several miles away.”

“River Salt?” Jason corrected him. “We used to camp round there. Haven’t been there for a couple years now, but we were thinking of heading over there this weekend.”

“It’s of the utmost importance that we get there as swiftly as possible.” Ash added, walking over to stand beside Luna. There was no blood on his jeans, so she guessed Rune had healed him successfully.

“We would give you a lift, but we’re going to a party tonight,” Isabelle commented with a smile. “Perhaps you would all like to go with us?”

Atlas smiled back at her, his green eyes shining. “That would be great.”

“Seeing as you guys don’t have anywhere to go either, you can come back to our place.” Jason offered.

“You honestly don’t need to,” Ash insisted. “We can find somewhere without causing you two any trouble.”

“Nonsense! It’s the best we can do for saving us!” Isabelle answered. “Besides, there are many dishonest people here who will attack you like they did to Jay.”

“Come with us back to our house, or we’ll drag you by the hair.” Jason teased.

~

Luna sat down on the black leather sofa in the living room, where a TV screen blared in front of her. Isabelle sat on the armchair, a glass of milk in her ghostly pale hand.

“It’s so messy here.” Clarissa sighed, shaking her head.

“There’s always the back garden,” Isabelle offered. “It’s much tidier, but not as warm.”

“Do you two live here on your own, then?” Ash asked, sitting next to Atlas as he settled down on the floor.

Isabelle nodded. “When Jay turned 16, he left home to find his own place. My mother was seeing this jerk she called her boyfriend and he didn’t like me one bit, so they both threw me out. Luckily Jay caught wind of the story and took me in.”

“Didn’t fancy being homeless then?” Ash continued. “You could be sitting around in the cold and begging if you did. Or holding up a piece of cardboard with your heartbreaking story written in pencil to make people take pity on you.”

Isabelle narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re a piece of work and a half, aren’t you?”

“I’ve known him for about seven years. He’s an absolute nightmare to put up with if you aren’t used to him.” Luna advised her gravely.

“Anyway, we’re going to a party in a few hours, so we should all get ready,” Isabelle pointed out, changing the subject. “I hope you guys brought formal clothes.”

“I don’t really own anything formal as such.” Luna admitted, embarrassed.

“You can borrow one of my dresses – you look about my size,” Isabelle offered. “I’ll fix up your makeup and hair too. If we get started now, I can get myself sorted and everyone else can sort themselves out too.”

“Have fun.” Ash called blandly.

Shooting him an angry glare, Isabelle led Luna upstairs and into her room. Her walls and ceiling were painted black, but there were golden swirls on the ceiling which Luna admired very much. She had a few pictures and ornaments scattered about on numerous shelves and a desk. Luna was amazed to see that the pretty teenage girl had a bookshelf with a couple of classics and romance novels – mainly about vampires. Isabelle also had a king-size bed with dark red bed covers, matched with an assortment of black and dark red pillows. She even had dark red curtains to match. She also had a huge walk-in wardrobe, which was also painted with gold swirls that looked like a tree.

While Isabelle looked through her clothes, Luna stared at one of the shelves. She eyed one particular photograph – a family photo. Isabelle and Jason clearly got their black hair from their mother; who had raven black hair. Luna also spied a small white Yorkshire Terrier on Isabelle’s lap.

“That photo was taken when I was eight,” Isabelle commented, her voice thick with grief. “It was about a year before my father died.”

“I’m sorry,” Luna murmured. “My parents were killed when I was seven.”

“See that dog? That’s Snowdrop, the best dog I could ask for,” Isabelle went on, changing the subject. “When my mum started seeing that awful Kai, she was the only company Jay and I had. She died of old age when I was eleven and I was heartbroken, but Kai told me I was being childish. So I stopped grieving and moved on.”

She then handed Luna a very short black dress. “Try that on.”

“It’s so short.” Luna commented uncertainly.

“It’ll be fine. Go into the bathroom and try it on!”

With great reluctance, Luna wandered into the bathroom, which was a very pale blue. She quickly got out of her jeans and purple checked shirt and put the dress on. Warily gazing at her reflection the mirror, she saw the dress just came down to her knees, making her feel very exposed. How can Normals wear such short dresses?

Sighing, Luna gathered up her clothes and returned to Isabelle’s room. She had got changed into a long red dress with a black leather jacket. The thin girl turned as she heard Luna come in and lit up. “You look great!”

“Can’t I put a jacket on?” Luna asked with a sigh. “I’ve never felt so exposed in my entire life.”

“I’m not finished with you yet,” Isabelle assured her. “I’ll find you some fishnet tights. Have you got any flat shoes?”

Luna shook her head blankly, so the tall girl tossed her a pair of flat black shoes. She took in a sigh of relief to see they were plain.

Soon enough, Luna was wearing the short black dress, fishnet tights, the flat shoes, a long silver bead necklace and a black hair flower. She had to admit that she did like the outfit, but she still wasn’t sure about the length of the dress.

“It will be fine,” Isabelle insisted with a sigh. “Come on; let me do your makeup. I think your hair will be fine loose – I’ll put some glitter in it to make you look sparkly.”

Isabelle sat Luna down on a chair in front of a mirror and nearly covered her entire face in glitter. Luna didn’t exactly see most of what was going on because Isabelle had covered the mirror with a towel, but she had applied black eye shadow, mascara and eye liner. She certainly likes the colour black.

“Done!” Isabelle announced brightly, removing the towel. “What do you think?”

Luna gasped in surprise, not recognising herself at all. Isabelle had done a fantastic  job. Luna’s usual boring blue eyes looked sharper and brighter, plus her face looked more defined. Her wavy blonde hair was covered in specks of glitter, shining wherever the light caught it. “I look amazing!” she breathed at last.

Isabelle grinned. “Let’s go and smash this party.”

The two girls went down the stairs, only to be welcomed by everyone else. Rune was wearing a pretty cream coloured dress with a white jacket and shoes. Her long black hair – usually hanging loose to about halfway down her back – was tied up in a bun. She didn’t have makeup on, but she didn’t need to. Luna believed she was already pretty the way she was.

Clarissa just wore a long black dress and a black jacket. She did put lipstick on, but it was such a pale pink that it looked quite terrifying. She couldn’t really do much with her hair because it was so short.

The boys hadn’t tried as hard as Isabelle, Luna and Rune. Jason wore a black jacket, trousers and shoes; along with a white shirt. His short black hair looked a bit wet, like he’d had a shower.

Atlas wasn’t really as much as a party person, so he just wore a plain black t-shirt and black jeans. The t-shirt showed a long scar on his left arm that Luna had never noticed before, which made her wonder how he got it.

Ash looked a little like Jason. He wore a white shirt and a black jacket, but like Atlas he’d worn black jeans and white trainers. Only Ash would clash formal with casual.

Most people rested their gaze on Isabelle, who looking stunning. She wore a very long red dress; black leather jacket; fishnet gloves; a long silver necklace with the infinity symbol attached and flat black shoes. Her makeup was done similarly to Luna’s, but she had bright red lipstick and only her charcoal hair was covered in glitter.

Atlas was the first to spy Luna, hitching his glasses higher up. “You look great,” he commented. “but don’t you think that dress is a bit short?”

“It was Isabelle’s choice, not mine,” Luna pointed out. “Seriously though, who packs formal clothes to go and kill a load of Demons and retrieve three insanely important objects?”

Atlas grinned. “Maybe they wanted to take them down