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

“What about you, Luna?” Jason’s attention averted to the blonde haired Pureblood. “Were your parents nice, or did they boot you out too?”

“My parents were wonderfully kind people. They gave me everything I could possible want in life.” Luna answered briskly.

“They ‘were’?” Jason’s curiosity was piqued instantly.

“My dad died when I was seven. My mum disappeared on the same day, but we all know she was killed too,” Luna murmured. “Before she left, she gave me a locket which contained a family photo. It’s the only picture I’ve got of them and I take it with me everywhere.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Jason replied sympathetically. “Care to enlighten us, Ash?”

“I would rather not, please,” Ash grumbled. “I don’t like talking about it.”

The rest of the journey went past in complete and utter silence until Jason announced, “We’re here!”

Luna had dozed off by this time, so she was quite startled at this. Staring out of the window, she gasped. The place they were was bursting with beauty and character – with bright green grass that looked soft as a cloud and a large cluster of fir and pine trees. Two elderly willow trees stood on the bank, their long overhanging branches just hanging over the water’s surface. Small creatures scuttled away from the sound of the truck and fled to their homes. The river itself was rather large and meandered around the bank through the forest.

“I’m surprised Demons would hide a Treasure here,” Rune remarked. “This looks such a beautiful and untouched place.”

Jumping out of the truck, Luna stood at the water’s surface, watching as the rain droplets fell and rippled. This is the moment of truth.

“The map said the Treasure was at the bottom of the river,” Atlas announced. “Who’s our strongest swimmer?”

“I’m one of the best swimmers for our age,” Ash answered. “I could find and retrieve it easily.”

“Very well, then,” Atlas acknowledged him with a nod. “Good luck and be very careful. We don’t know if there are any Demons lurking in the waters.”

“To hear is to obey, O Mighty Leader.” Ash replied mockingly, kicking his shoes off and diving into the depths of the river.

The group watched nervously as Ash swam deeper down until he grabbed something shiny and small from underneath the rocks. Atlas exhaled a large amount of air in relief. “He’s found the locket and it’s genuine.”

As Ash began to swim up to the surface, a long black tentacle grabbed his neck and dragged him back down. Luna could see the rising panic as he tried to break free, but the Demon’s grip was too tight and he was beginning to loose air quickly.

“We can’t let him die down there!” Rune screamed. “We have to help him!”

Without thinking it through, Luna kicked her shoes off and glanced back at her friends. “Fight off any Demons that come to surface. I’ll try to rescue Ash.”

Taking a deep breath, Luna jumped into the large river, making her way over to the Demon. She knew that her fire wouldn’t work underwater and her friend couldn’t use his power while being strangled, so she panicked. Think Wilde, think…

She then remembered she had a dagger in her trouser pocket, so she fumbled around for the hilt and swam towards the Demon. Praying silently in her head, she raised the dagger above her head and sank it into the Demon’s long black tentacle.

The Demon screamed, it’s tentacle dissolving into black fog and therefore freeing Ash. Luna grabbed his arm and began to make her way to the surface as quickly as she could, hoping that the Demon wasn’t following them. She eventually broke the surface a few seconds later, pulling Ash up with her. He gasped for air, still in a state of shock. His dark green eyes were afraid and lost as he stared at Luna. “Y-You saved me?”

Luna nodded. “You would have died if no one did.”

“B-But after wh-what happened yesterday…” Ash’s voice trailed off.

“Look, you’re still my best friend no matter what happens between us,” Luna promised. “I’m sorry I upset you. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to tell you about my scar.”

Ash blinked at her in surprise. “You didn’t upset me.”

“Anyway, did you get the locket?” Luna asked, changing the subject briskly.

Ash carefully removed something relatively long and silver from his neck, a grin plastered on his face. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

With a gasp of joy, Luna embraced her best friend; glad he was alive and had retrieved the first Treasure. Surprisingly, Ash hugged her back.

“I know Luna just saved your life and all, but Demons could still be lurking down there,” Atlas yelled. “Also, you’re in possession of one of the most precious objects known to the Purebloods!”

Pulling away reluctantly, Luna swam over to the bank, where Isabelle held out her hand. “I’ll drag you out.” she offered.

Luna smiled at her. “Thanks, Izzy.”

~

Luna watched the storm develop further from the window of the spare room, sitting on the windowsill clutching her legs. Since the incident earlier this morning, she’d had a hot bath, got changed into dry clothes and eaten a warm lunch.

Just as lighting flashed and a loud roar of thunder passed by, Luna spotted a young girl not much younger than her standing out in the middle of the road. It was raining heavily, but she wasn’t wet. She just stood there, not moving. Luna was suspicious instantly. Who is she? How is she not getting wet?

Opening the window, she yelled down, “Hey kid, what are you doing standing there?”

The girl didn’t reply. She just stood there, a blank expression on her pale face.

Shutting the window again, Luna ran out of the room and down the stairs, dodging Atlas as he walked past with a large book. He blinked at her. “What’s wrong, Luna?”

“There’s a strange kid out on the road,” Luna explained. “She’s not getting wet at all despite the weather and she’s just standing in the middle of the road.”

Atlas narrowed his dark green eyes suspiciously. “Does she look familiar at all to you? How old is she?”

“No, and I think she’s about my age, perhaps younger,” Luna replied. “I’m going to find out who she is.”

“I’ll come with you.” her friend offered.

The two ran out into the pouring rain, sharing an umbrella between them as they headed towards the road, yelling “Hey!”

The girl blinked at them and stepped onto the path in front of them. She was tall and skinny; with a black symbol on both her palms; blonde hair just above her bony elbows; very pale blue eyes and a silver bracelet on her wrist which showed two snakes curling round each other. She wore a white dress that came just above her ankles and was surprisingly barefoot. Luna also noticed that her right pupil was clouded, indicating she was blind in that eye.

“What’s your name?” Luna asked. “It’s okay – we won’t hurt you.”

The girl stared at her, confused.

“We won’t,” Atlas assured her. “You’re not a Normal and I don’t believe you’re a Demon either, so we won’t hurt you at all. We give you our word.”

“Adele Swiftwing,” the girl murmured softly. “I’m like you. I’m Pureblood.”

“What?” Atlas nearly fainted. “How can you be here? How did you know we were Pureblood? Purebloods don’t roam around randomly in the Normal world!”

“I’m lost,” Adele explained quietly. “I can’t go home. I want to, but I can’t.”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, narrowing her eyebrows.

“Nobody’s home. There’s no place to go…” Adele trailed off when Isabelle and Jason appeared at the door. Her pale blue eyes widened in fear. “Traitors! You’re helping Normals!”

“They’re helping us, Adele,” Luna explained. “We’re on a quest to recover the Phoenix’s Treasure. Isabelle and Jason wanted to help us – thanks to them we’ve got the locket.”

“I know the Treasure was stolen. I saw you rescue that boy from the river and he had the locket around his neck,” the tall girl replied. “You’re Luna, right? And you’re Atlas?”

Atlas exchanged a worried look with Luna. “Perhaps you should come inside. You’ve clearly got a story to tell if you followed us back here.”

Leading her out of the rain, Luna and Atlas showed her into the living room, where the other three Purebloods were lounging around watching TV. Clarissa was the first to notice Adele’s presence. “What’s she doing here? Who is she?” she demanded.

Luna cleared her throat nervously. “Everyone, this is Adele Swiftwing. Atlas and I found her out in the rain. She’s a Pureblood like us and she knows about the Phoenix’s Treasure.”

Ash sat up and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “I’ve never seen you before. How old are you?”

Adele pondered for a moment. “Probably about 1400 years old. I’m in the form of a 16 year old girl though.”

“Why?” Ash inquired. “How are you that old? Are you immortal?”

“The name ‘Swiftwing’ rings a bell, actually,” Atlas mumbled, flicking through the pages of a large book from his bag. “Ah. Are you a descendant of Mars and Rochelle Swiftwing?”

Adele nodded. “They’re my great-great-grandparents. I met them when I was 6 years old, but they died not long afterwards.”

“Then I can explain where you came from,” Atlas looked relieved. “You’re from The Order, aren’t you?”

“The what?” Luna and Ash asked simultaneously.

“Clearly shows you two need some educating,” Atlas sighed, placing down the book. “The Order was a small group of Purebloods who could walk in the dreams and memories of others. When they turn 100 years old, they received special marks so they could use their powers. The Order was formed by Mars and Rochelle Swiftwing back before the dinosaurs, but was destroyed in the 1800s. Only 5 people survived of the original 82 members, but it has been believed that those survivors were executed 20 years later,” He closed the book, staring up at Adele. “How did you survive?”

“The survivors were not executed. A person spread those rumours and obviously people caught wind of the story and believed it,” Adele sighed. “I survived, along with my little brother Rory and three other people. I don’t know the whereabouts of any of them, but I think two of those people live somewhere in the Normal world.”

Ash nodded curtly. “Very well then. I take it you want to bring her with us, Atlas?”

The skinny teenager nodded. “She might be useful.”

~

Luna lay down on the sofa in the spare room, her pale grey blanket wrapped around her. She was having difficulty sleeping because she kept having nightmares about her parents.

On a bed nearby, Rune slept peacefully, undisturbed by Atlas snoring. Clarissa and Adele were also silent as they slept. Ash was in a very deep sleep, but Luna noticed he had a black sketchpad on the floor that she had never seen before.

Hoping not to wake up her friends, Luna arose from the sofa and crouched down beside him, shaking his shoulder. “Ash,” she whispered. “Wake up.”

Ash continued sleeping, so Luna took the pad and sat down on the sofa, shining a torch onto it as she turned the first page. She was amazed to see a sketch of Alpha, his teeth bared and eyes fierce. The