New Moons (Immortal love series) 3

Chapter 4: Meeting new friends

David swung his bow around his shoulder as he knelt to the floor to examine the animal print better. As soon as he came home to read the book he had locked himself into his room only coming down to cook whatever was left in the cupboards before going back. That lasted for four weeks before the food ran out and what was left was rationed down to survive – that lasted a mere eight days – when the whole house was empty of any food David still locked himself in his room, let him starve to death, be with Ashleigh that way. After a further two weeks of starving, aside from immense hunger, and no ill effects he had decided it would be best to get out the house. He had found his bow and quiver in the same place he had discarded them last time from his previous hunt – with Ashleigh – hoping that the feel of shooting something would make him feel better he set out.

David followed the print directions knowing that the animal had headed further in the trees. He found a tree with a low enough branch and climbed for a higher purchase. With the skill of an acrobat he walked on the branches jumping from tree to tree like a lemur. Three more hops, three more trees and he spotted the boar. A fat pig with thick black coarse hair and dangerous yellow tusks protruding from beneath a snout, the animal laid on the ground with a black coloured wooden arrow sticking out from a wound where blood had dribbled down matting the hair.

David drew his bow and nocked an arrow against the line; someone else had killed this animal meaning they had either left it and was waiting for a larger game to come along or were already waiting for someone to take it from them. Not caring much for his own life but more on the meat to end his starvation David hoped from the tree limb before pacing across the ground alter for any predators. He fetched the butcher knife from his boot and stabbed the animal in the leg ignoring the blood that splashed out of the wound and soaked over his hands. He had made three quarters of an incision when he heard a leave crunch and twig snap behind him. Acting on reflexes he dropped what he was doing, leaving he knife to stick from the animal hide, and grabbed his bow and arrow from the floor swivelling around on the spot and aiming.

They were a girl. She too had a bow and arrow trained on his form, presumably for the heart.

"That's mine." She said never taking her eyes of the target and never relaxing the bow.

"I just want some meat." David replied.

"Then buy some from someone else." She said with a sarcastic fake smile.

"You're going to shoot me?" David asked as he relaxed his own bow and swinging it back over his shoulder.

The girl shrugged, "If I have to."

"Do you?"

"If you steal my meat I shall."

"Then how about I buy some meat?"

"No."

"Thirty gold?"

"No."

"Forty?"

"No."

"How much?"

"None."

"Then shoot me." David said returning back to cutting the boar with his knife, back turned to the girl.

"I mean it!" She called out behind him.

"Good." He said it loudly enough for her to hear and carried on.

THWUNK.

The arrow easily sliced through David's back, between two ribs, through the heart, and back out his chest leaving the arrow head to poke through his chest. He grunted as he poked the tip of the arrow poking out where his heart lay.

"You shot me!" David shouted incredulously. His mind raced over the different shock reasons. 1.) She had actually shot him. 2.) He had actually been hit. 3.) He had an arrow poking out his heart yet he was alive.

"Y-y-you... I-I warned you!" The girl stammered. She too must have been shocked to see a man shot through the heart still breathing and talking without collapsing to the floor.

"Yeah but I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"How are you still alive?" She asked questioningly, a hint of fear mixed in her voice.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" He asked. Magic... that's what it had to be right? Magic? Somehow his magic had protected him from dying. It's the only explanation.

The girl shook her head.

"Names David. I'm what you'd call a sorcerer." He offered his hand.

The girl was frozen to the spot, she didn't know who he was but she knew about him. He must be one of those children of the witch that plagued their town.

David pulled his knife out of the boar and grabbed the animal by the hoof pulling with might. The weakened muscle and tissue began to tear and he stood up lofting a whole leg over his shoulder oblivious to the blood that spilled at the end. "Seeing as how you can't kill me, I'll be on my way now."

As soon as he was out of eye line he cast a quick teleportation spell on the leg – within milliseconds it was broken down to energy before being re-assembled in the cupboard back home – David remained behind listening with supernatural hearing of the girl's heartbeat.

Tracking by sound was harder than he imagined, he had to guess when the heartbeat was getting quieter or louder to determine closeness and direction. Finally they came out of the woods, David was still a good distance behind following based on her heavy beating heart – she was heaving a boar carcass – she dragged the carcass three houses beyond the woods. Stepping from behind cover of a tree David watched as an older lady opened the door for the girl and they both went inside. He memorised the house.

2 weeks later...

David knocked on the wooden door waiting patiently for someone to answer. The door opened and the same girl answered with a shocked expression.

"What do you want?" She asked timidly; the girl from the woods gone replaced by someone who knew about his mother.

David beamed a smile – although he probably looked like a perverted weirdo than a friend – and motioned to the floor beside him. On the floor was a bag, made from woven plant stems, but inside the bag was the body of a turkey. Along with the turkey there were a variety of garden vegetables such as onions, leek, cabbage, parsnip.

"Well I thought seeing as how you would have run out of the meat you got I'd bring you some more." "Wouldn't want to be shot in the back again." He winked at her flashing another grin.

For a brief second he though he saw the corners of her mouth twitch in the attempt of a smile but she quickly regained her poker face.

"What's your name?" David asked enquiringly.

"Why?" She asked timidly.

"Because I want to know who I just hunted this fine creature for."

"Danielle."

"That's a very beautiful name." He smiled but she did not return the favour.

"I was named after my grandmother."

"The woman you live with?"

She nodded

"Are you afraid of me?"

She nodded.

"Why?

"B-because your moth... mother is the witch." She replied trying to avoid his deep brown eyes.

"Do you know who I am?"

She nodded her head, "Her son."

"But do you know who I am? Me?"

She shook her head and David extended his hand. "The name's David."

Shyly and scared she shook his hand as quickly as she could without being rude and let her hand drop limply back to her side.

"Now, please, Danielle, take my gift." He picked up the stem bag and held it out.

Danielle took the bag with more confidence than before. What he had said had rung bells – she knew about the son and daughter of the witch who threatened the town with black magic, but she knew nothing about the son or daughter. She had always assumed that they would be like their mother practising the dark arts to gain power over those of less skill. But as David stood there smiling gently Danielle didn't feel in danger or fearful as she thought she should be. For the first time she allowed herself to smile back.

David returned two weeks later with a new bag of meat and items.

---------

"So do you, you know?" Danielle asked mindlessly throwing a pebble over a pond of water watching it skim three times before sinking.

"Do I what?" David replied taking his own pebble and skimming it across the pond, it bounced four times against the water surface before sinking further than Danielle's.

Danielle made a hand gesture waving her arms in a mystical manor.

"Oh." David said understanding the question.

"Well?"

David collapsed to the floor sitting down; he tugged at three stands of grass poking out the ground before weakly throwing them back down. Danielle collapsed beside him, bringing her knees to her chest and draping her long flowing blue skirt over her knees.

He looked at her, actually looked at her, the small rings and colours within her emerald green eyes, the soft and yet barely noticeable flaws of her smooth skin. By all accounts he knew he didn't love her but there was something about this girl that at least masked the void left within his heart.

"Yes." He answered.

"Oh." Danielle sighed obviously not the answer she wanted to hear.

"Why?" He asked.

"I just didn't think you'd be into the dark art."

"Whoa, Whoa, dark arts?" He calmed his tone aware that he was probably frightening the girl, he smoothed his tone taking a deep breath in, "Who said anything about dark arts?"

"But you said you practised magic?"

"Yeah but not the dark kind."

"There's a difference?"

"Of course." He replied. He picked up the three tugs of grass and entwined them braiding them together; he let a small wisp of energy escape, tingling his finger with a simple metamorphosis spell.

When Danielle looked in his hand as his fingers unclenched she gasped, no longer was there three twisted grass strands but he was holding a rose, a beautiful red rose, the tip of the stem poking just beyond his palm. He handed her the rose, "There's always a choice between light and dark."

Danielle smiled, actually smiled gleaming her semi-white teeth, she smelt the rose inhaling the soft alluring scent. No man had ever given her something so beautiful.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked unsure of anything anymore. She had always been told the witch and family were evil. Wrong. She had been taught all magic was dark. Wrong. She had always been warned everyone has an ulterior motive....

"Why am I doing what?" David asked; voice soft and gentle.

She motioned all around her pointing in a large centric circle, "All this. Taking me out, giving me food. A rose. No one has ever done that for me – even without making it themselves. Why?"

"I--"She cut him off.

"I can't marry you."

David supressed a laugh but smirked puffing air out his nose, "You think I want to marry you?"

He sighed, could he marry after knowing Ashleigh? Would his heart ever heal enough? He suspected – no, he knew – he would never marry anyone, unless the dead could somehow be brought back, something not even magic was capable of...

"I couldn't marry you." He replied.

"Why not?" Danielle asked more curious than offended by his admittance.

"You first." He said smiling.

"Because you're still the enemy. Your mom was the witch and while I know your nice everyone else still sees you as son of the evil woman."

"And you're afraid of how you'd be treated?"

"I suppose." She said; saying it out loud sounded worse than she imagined. She didn't want to sound the way it came out – that she cared more about what others thought than her own mind – but it was the truth, some small part wanted to live happy ever after and for that she needed to find her own person. "Now you. Why couldn't you."

He sighed brushing his hand through his hair before clasping his neck where his muscles seemed to have knotted, "'Cause I love someone else."

"Who?" She asked intrigued.

"It's a tough situation. She died."

"I'm sorry."

Chapter 4: Secret not so secret

The little green dinosaur sped past the checkered finish line doing a backflip on his scooter before the manual control was taken and the computer simulated artificial intelligence took over steering the character while David's character still carried on. His character a red Italian man known as Mario, served around the last corner skidding his quad bike on a banana peel before careering of the road and into lava. After his character was dropped back onto the road by a floating man on a cloud he sped past the finish line.

Wanting to clear the awkward tension after there last time together, almost resulting in copulation, David had suggested they should do something fun. While sitting cross-kneed on the floor holding a wireless Wii remote playing video games was not his ideal time once Ashleigh had seen his assortment of video consoles and games she had literally begged him to play with her – not the best phrase one should use when the sexual energy was already palpable. The first three races he had won using craft amounts of magic to spoil her gameplay and improve his. Of course he had been found out with his glowing digits and deemed cheater; he promised not to resort to magic and played fair – only to lose the resulting four matches.

"Please.... Just one more." Ashleigh literally begged pouting.

How could I ever refuse anyway?...he directed the cursor to 'REMATCH' and clicked 'OK'.

The same start up began with the screen switching to all the characters in the race, Ashleigh and her Yoshi – pole position three – a bunch of AI computer controlled characters, then far at the back David with Mario. The clock counted down with a beep and number before the final beep signalling the race to begin. Ashleigh sped off into first place using a momentary speed boost, David stalled his vehicle and started slowly last place. Again.

For the next eight minutes Ashleigh laughed and bounced up and down on the spot as her character raced through the course annihilating all else ahead with a dazzling array of combo boxes and perfect hairpin turns. David wasn't as fortunate as his character smashed into walls, was repeatedly targeted by flying bombs or whatever, and dive bombed off the path into the sea. He still enjoyed himself though and hearing the gleeful sounds of Ashleigh made him smile.

The game ended before David could even pass the finish line much to the hysterical amusement of Ashleigh who collapsed back onto the floor giggling kicking her feet wildly in the air. He held down the power button turning off the console before putting away his controller.

"Awwhh... no need to be a sore loser." Ashleigh mocked making a grumpy face before laughing.

"For that you can put it all away." He replied poking out his tongue.

Ashleigh giggled but proceeded to put all the consoles back where they came from, a cleverly designed pull out draw built underneath the T.V stand. When she turned back around David was no longer sitting on the floor but had retreated back to the more comfortable couch. Smiling slyly she sunk to her knees and crawled forward towards him. She crawled between the gap between his parted legs and leaned forwards with her hands resting on his hardened abs.

"So what now?" She asked looking up at him.He truly is handsome. Even for a brother.

"Whatever." He replied nonchalant shrugging his shoulders. She's going to ask to practise magic....

She smiled seductively and leaned further her breast pressed against his stomach as her lips found his. "I can think of something."

"Oh really. And what is this?" He kissed her back.

She got off her knees and sat across his lap like a kid visiting Santa, only instead if Santa it was her brother, and instead of telling him her wishes she closed her eyes and pressed her mouth to his. Her tongue wormed between his lips tasting his unique aroma.

"Eww! You're kissing your brother!"

Ashleigh's eyes popped open and widened as she pulled away quickly from David's lap standing to attention staring at their unwelcome visitor.

"Danielle?" Ashleigh asked confusion all over her face.

"Hi." Danielle replied sweetly.

"I thought you had gone for the week?" David asked clearly undisturbed by the event.

"I'm back." She shrugged.

"Wait what!?" Ashleigh interrupted; "You're cheating on me?"

"What!? No!" David replied.

"Then tell me what the fuck is going on!?"

David sighed, "Me and Danielle know each other. We have history."

"How much history?"

"About a thousand years' worth." Danielle replied.

Ashleigh neck whipped around to Danielle who seemed completely calm. "You said brother?"

This time Danielle didn't look calm, her face instantly displayed shock and horror. "You didn't tell her?" Her voice was high.

"I told her." David replied.

"You know about us?" Ashleigh asked turning back to Danielle.

"Of course. Took me a while to find out."

It was at that precise moment Simba decided to walk through the door. He sniffed Danielle once before lazily sauntering over to David to collapse on the floor over David's feet. Rather than sleep he watched the whole conversation while licking his paw.

"You mean at school you knew who David was?" Ashleigh asked Danielle.

She nodded but didn't speak.

"And you didn't tell me!" Ashleigh's voice climbed an octave as her emotions began spiralling; she clenched her fist but could still feel her thundering heartbeat banging repeatedly against her ribs.

"I told her not to." David answered.

"You stay out of this!" Ashleigh pointed menacingly at him seething, they had lied; all of them lied to her.

"Ashleigh please--"Danielle begged.

"Shut up!" Ashleigh screamed as her whole body ignited in a glowing white. The pink line that bonded her heart to David's grew more brilliantly but more white than pink.

Ashleigh wanted to cry. The one person she loved had lied to her, and the one friend she trusted more than anything had lied. The two most important people in her life had betrayed her. They had known each other all along, laughed behind her back while she remained ignorant to the truth, she wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, but most scary of all she felt powerful.

Like some kind of energy David was always blabbering on about had taken over her body, she felt invincible, energised, as if she could run a thousand miles or fly if she thought to do so.

David could only sit, some kind of invisible barrier had moulded around his body forcing him into a paralytic state. He knew who it was; it had to be Ashleigh who had done it, but how? Up to a few days ago she never even knew about magic and now she was creating unimaginable forces of will that even he couldn't bend? Something was going on. Something was wrong.

Ashleigh screamed in frustration; her head felt like it was going to explode. Her vision blurred and blurred until all she could see was white. She heard David and Danielle gasp but all the noises in the house suddenly enhanced like turning the world on loudspeaker. The ticking of the clock upstairs, the beating of three heartbeats, even the steps of an ant walking across the floorboard echoed in her ears. Then it all stopped.

David watched in horror as Ashleigh collapsed to the floor. "Ashleigh!" He screamed jumping from the couch as the invisible barrier disappeared. He shook her by the shoulders but she never woke. He pressed his head to her chest listening for her heartbeat but only silence.

He sobbed, "Ashleigh?" He asked quietly, his voice breaking. A single tear trickled down his face.

Danielle put her hand on his shoulder kneeling beside him as he wrapped Ashleigh's limp body in his arms. He kissed her lips as her head rolled limply back.

"What happened?" Danielle asked softly.

"I don't know." He replied.

"I don't know."

To be continued...

Book 4: Powerful danger... (Immortal love series)

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