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Suddenly, she opens her mouth and says with a faint smile, “The moon is beautiful tonight, don’t you think? It’s been calling to you for so long. And now you’re here, you finally heard it. It’s been waiting for this moment for such a long time.”
A shiver runs along my spine. I stare at her in horror as she comes to me and reaches out a hand.
“I think it’s time, don’t you?” she asks with her head tilted to one side. And then I feel her fingers on my arm – ice-cold like those of a corpse.
Chapter 15
I’m petrified, unable to move. I stare at Kate as her cold fingers wander across my dress and stop at my handbag.
“You always carry it with you. That’s good. You can never be too careful. That’s something you’ve had to learn the hard way.” Her spaced-out voice scares the hell out of me.
“Kate, what’s going on? You’re being really weird. Are you okay?”
She looks up at me, and her eyes are still huge. “Everything is as it should be,” she replies with a smile. “It’s time now. I was hoping you’d find your own way. But given everything that’s been happening around you, I understand why you couldn’t see it.”
“You’re really starting to scare me,” I murmur.
Kate opens my bag and slips her hand inside. I can guess what she’s going to take out of it, and I let her. She slowly pulls out the letter from her mother to Mr. Brian. As soon as she takes it out of the bag, I see a faint glow emanating from it. Kate hands it to me, and I take it, awestruck. I slowly unfold the paper. The light grows brighter.
“It’s moonlight,” Kate explains, looking up at the huge bright circle above us. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
That’s when it dawns on me that she’s been talking about moonlight a lot lately. Was this the reason? The letter glows even brighter, and the light seems to concentrate in one spot. The sphere of light contracts, becomes smaller and brighter. I stare at it, transfixed, hardly daring to breathe. Then the light changes shape.
“A crescent moon,” I realize.
The glow fades very slowly, leaving behind a black crescent on the top right corner of the letter. It looks like it’s burned into the paper. What does it mean? I turn the paper this way and that, examining it closely in the hope of finding another clue. But there’s nothing, just this moon.
Stunned, I look up at Kate, who suddenly looks different. She hugs herself and looks around in confusion.
“Do I want to know why I’m standing out here in the cold?”
Her voice resonates with fear, and I realize that she’s woken up from her trance-like state. It must be horrible for her having these blackouts and not remembering anything.
“We were at the party, and suddenly we’re standing in this garden,” she mutters, looking at me. “Where are we? What happened?”
I hold out the letter and show it to her. “You took this out of my bag. You don’t know what it means?”
She looks fearfully at the paper but doesn’t dare touch it. She quickly shakes her head. “No, I can’t remember. A moment ago I was standing at the buffet looking through the window, admiring the view. That’s the last thing I remember.”
“This symbol doesn’t mean anything to you?”
She shakes her head again. “I’m really sorry.” She runs her hands over her face and fights back the tears. “I just don’t know what’s wrong with me. What’s happening to me? I feel like a stranger to myself. I can’t keep doing this – wandering around in a trance and forgetting everything.”
I quickly go to her and put my arms around her. “We’ll figure it out, I promise. You won’t lose your memory. We’ll do everything we can to stop that from happening.”
Kate clings to me and lets the tears flow. I totally understand her fear. It’s awful what she’s going through. But what hurts most is that I don’t know how to help her. I’m determined to think that she won’t ever get as bad as her mother. I’ll do everything I can to figure out how to stop her from losing her memory. But right now, all I can do is hold her, stroke her hair, and keep telling her that I’m here for her.
For the next few days, Kate seems to be doing better. She hasn’t had any more blackouts or memory lapses. She’s coping well with everyday life and seems the like the old Kate.
And yet, when she thinks no one’s looking, I see these dark shadows pass across her face, anxiety furrowing her features and betraying what’s really going on inside her. She’s scared – scared of an uncertain future and a destiny she can’t escape.
I do my best to take her mind off things. And meanwhile, I throw everything at figuring out how I can help her. If the visions really are causing her memory loss, then there has to be a way to stop them from occurring. Or at least a way to mitigate the damage, surely?
Although I don’t hold out much hope of finding information on this phenomenon, I spend my free periods in the hunter library and even comb through the books at Fabrici house. But I don’t find a single lead. Then there’s the mysterious moon symbol. I feel like the solution is right in front of me, but I can’t grasp it.
I’ve barely spoken to Ayden since the party. Claire and the hunters seem to be doing everything in their power to keep him busy. I hope Mr. Cunningham will soon make good on his promise so that Ayden and I can be together again. We still find time to call and message each other, but it’s not the same as spending time with him.
I close my math book and snort in frustration. Right now, I just can’t seem to focus on my homework. I glance at Yoru, who’s lying under my desk and now rests his head on my feet. He looks at me sympathetically, and once again, I feel as if I know what he’s thinking.
