Post by Goddess of the Night on Dec 1, 2007 0:58:03 GMT -5
I can't wait for the hwole thing
Sneak Peek of Daughters of the Moon 13 --first chapter!
Daughters of the Moon 13,
..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The Final Eclipse
CHAPTER ONE
Vanessa leaned out the window and looked up, straining her neck. The clear, boundless sky made her shudder. "Where are the shadows?" she asked. "It's almost nightfall. I know they're awake." She scanned the street below. Heat rose off the pavement, but no dark apparitions rippled in and out of the houses. She felt suddenly afraid. This had never happened before.
"Maybe everyone is inside preparing for a celebration," Serena said from the bed. She refused to look out the windows anymore. "I suppose they have holidays, but the quiet . . ."
". . . Is a nice change," Vanessa finished
calmly, even though she was screaming with panic inside her own head. She didn't want to alarm Serena yet.
"Maybe they're getting ready to kill us," Serena said.
The resignation in her voice worried Vanessa. She left the window and walked over to the bed. Serena was bone-thin, her eyes joyless, exhausted, and bruised. A week ago, she had
started screaming in her sleep, and Vanessa could no longer awaken her from the nightmares.
"Don't leave me," Vanessa whispered through the tightness in her throat. She refused to cry and upset Serena. Her eyes itched and burned from all the tears she had shed so far, and what good had it done?
"I can't go on," Serena said. "Every noise makes me jump, because I think they're coming for us, and then they don't. Maybe that's worse—when they don't. I can't stand the waiting. I just want them to get it over with."
"We'll escape. I promise. I know we will." Vanessa sat on the edge of the bed.
"Don't lie to me." Serena sank back into the pillows. "I know we won't survive as we are now. I just hope I won't remember who I was."
Like Serena, Vanessa could feel the evil growing inside her, the change so subtle she wasn't even sure when it had begun. But she knew she was no longer the person she had been when she, Catty, and Serena had tried to rescue Tianna. She wondered when the darkness would finally become stronger than her will to hold it back.
"It's my fault," Vanessa said at last. "I'm sorry."
"We all thought rescuing Tianna was the right thing to do," Serena countered.
An ancient evil called the Atrox had kidnapped Vanessa, Serena, and Catty and held them hostage until Tianna surrendered to it. But when the Atrox let them go, Vanessa had, instead of fleeing, convinced Serena and Catty to stay and free Tianna. That had been a terrible mistake.
During the struggle, Catty had disappeared. As the Destroyer, she had been destined one day to fight the Atrox alone, and because of that, she had also been its greatest threat. Vanessa knew her best friend was dead.
"All of it's my fault," Vanessa whispered again.
Serena leaned forward and stroked Vanessa's hair. She started to say something, but cursed instead. She pulled back abruptly and stiffened, her eyes wild, darting back and forth, as if she were searching for a place to hide. "They're coming," she said.
Then Vanessa felt the uncomfortable heaviness in the air. A Regulator was near.
Boots thumped on the carpet outside their door. A key turned in the lock, and the Regulator pushed into their room. He carried a silver tea set on a tray. Porcelain cups clattered against each other.
Regulators worked for the Atrox and carried out its orders. Over time, exposure to its evil, like a chemical reaction, destroyed their bodies. This one looked grotesquely misshapen. Each feature in his face appeared to have melted over the next. Wiry black hairs grew from his flattened nostrils, and he made snorting noises when he breathed. Gray-green scaly skin covered one side of his head and his right arm. He had the ability to
disguise his appearance and look male-model
gorgeous, but, while they were in Nefandus, Regulators rarely bothered, because their ugliness inspired fear and made it easier for them to police the world in which the Atrox reigned.
"Ugh!" Serena pulled the covers over her head and curled into a ball. "The Atrox gave us the ability to see so we'd have to look at these monsters," she complained, trying to sound gruff, but Vanessa could hear the tremor of fear in her voice.
Without a talisman or a guide to help them, people who weren't residents saw only churning mists. It was one last obstacle to keep Nefandus a secret in case someone accidentally stumbled through one of the portals. Still, Vanessa felt grateful to be able to see. Vision gave her a better chance to escape.
The Regulator began humming as he busied himself preparing their afternoon tea. He offered Vanessa a plate of ginger snaps, his hand lingering on hers. His touch made her wince. She turned away; even so, she could feel him watching her. The sheer fabric of her dress clung to her body and made her feel naked, but she had nothing else to wear.
She clutched the amulet hanging around her neck and studied the face of the moon etched in the metal. The charm had been given to her at birth. Serena wore one, too. Back home in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Los Angeles their amulets glowed when Followers were near, but in Nefandus the charms remained still and cold, their magic burned out.
"Tu es dea, filia lunae," Vanessa whispered, trying to calm herself. "You're a goddess, a Daughter of the Moon." But the words only reminded her that she had failed. Her mentor, Maggie, had explained that in ancient times, when Pandora's box was opened, countless evils and sorrows were released into the world. The last thing to leave the box was hope, the sole comfort for people during hard times. Only Selene, the goddess of the moon, saw the demon sent by the Atrox to devour hope. She stopped the creature, and then took pity on humankind and gave her Daughters as guardian angels, to fight the Atrox and safeguard hope. Vanessa and Serena were two of those Daughters.
The last two, Vanessa thought sadly.
The Regulator gave her a cup of tea. The fragrance of jasmine mingled with his foul breath. The smell made her stomach quiver. She pushed his hand away.
He set the tea and cookies on a table, then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Vanessa waited for the clank of the dead bolt. The sound always made her cringe, but it didn't come this time. She sat up straighter, alert, and listened intently.
Serena threw back her covers and stared at Vanessa. "Is he playing with us, or did he really forget to lock us in?"
"I don't know." Vanessa ran to the door and pressed her ear against the wood. She expected to hear the Regulator snickering on the other side, but all was quiet. She looked back at Serena. "I think he forgot."
"Open the door," Serena said anxiously.
Vanessa took a deep breath, gripped the
handle, and opened the door a crack. She peered out. "No one's guarding us."
"Are you sure?" Serena crowded against her. "Did you check for shadows?"
Vanessa understood Serena's fear. Regulators and some Followers could turn into shadows and blend with the dark. The shape-shifters were powerful and dangerous. They could read minds, manipulate thoughts, and even imprison people in their memories.
"It's too bright," Vanessa answered giddily, a foolish grin growing on her face.
Hundreds of candle flames glinted in chandeliers and filled the hallway with dazzling light. No raven black phantoms could have slithered around without being seen.
Serena looked out. "We'd see them for sure," she said, and then she asked, "Do we dare?"
In reply, Vanessa ventured into the hallway. She felt dizzy with excitement and fear. "Which way should we go?"
"The stairs." Serena pointed.
"We'll be too exposed," Vanessa argued. "Anyone walking by will see us."
"Then use your power," Serena urged.
Vanessa had a gift. All the Daughters had one. She could become invisible. She relaxed her body and willed herself to dematerialize—but her molecules remained firmly attached to one other.
"I can't," Vanessa said at last. She hadn't been able to use her ability in Nefandus.
"Let's go." Serena stepped boldly forward.
They crept down the marble staircase without making a sound. Giant mirrors decorated the walls and reflected back a dozen images of their thin, terrified faces.
When they reached the entrance hall, footsteps echoed down another corridor. The noise grew louder with each step.
"It was just another game after all," Serena said miserably, "to give us hope and then take it away. Over and over again they do this to us."
"They haven't caught us yet." Vanessa pulled Serena to an ornately carved door and opened it.
Light from the hallway fell across a landing and below it, across wooden stairs that led down to a dank, dirty cellar.
"It stinks," Serena whispered as she stepped inside. She clenched the handrail and turned ashen. "What's down there?"
Vanessa crowded in next to her and quietly closed the door. A vile stench wafted over her and made her eyes sting. She blinked and waited, listening to the person walking down the corridor.
As the person approached the other side of the door, Vanessa was seized with a sudden need to get away. She acted before she thought, and, taking Serena's hand, eased on to the first step. Her weight made the wood creak. She froze, too terrified to breathe.
"Is someone there?" a haughty, nasal voice called from the entrance hall. And then, after a silence, the voice asked, "Do I sense two sweet goddesses hiding from me?"
Followers fed on fear, and Vanessa could feel this one savoring her terror. His aura seeped under the door and pulsed around her. She swallowed hard to keep from crying out. Serena whimpered beside her.
The door started to open, letting light into the cellar. Vanessa closed her eyes. She didn't want to see his face.
"What are you doing here?" another voice, different from the first one, demanded.
The sound of the door slamming startled Vanessa. She opened her eyes and found herself in complete darkness again. She straightened
up, surprised. Serena fell against her, trembling violently, her breathing shallow and fast, but
she didn't cry out or utter a sound this time. Vanessa tensed and waited to see what would happen next.
Finally, the nasal voice answered. "I was only admiring the artwork."
"Then why were you opening the cellar door?" the second voice asked. "That area is forbidden."
"Of course; it was foolish of me to forget that the Atrox has become suspicious and afraid," the nasal voice sneered, and then the tone changed to one that was servile and flattering. "I must apologize. I was bored waiting for the other
members of the Cincti to arrive. I suppose I did meander into restricted rooms."
"Come with me," the other voice ordered.
The two walked away.
"That was Stanton," Serena whispered. "The second voice belonged to him."
"Are you sure?" Vanessa asked as she stepped back to the door.
"Of course I'm sure," Serena answered. "I'd know his voice anywhere."
As hard as the captivity had been on Vanessa, it had been harder on Serena. She had been in love with a Follower named Stanton. Their relationship had been forbidden until he became the Prince of Night, and then nothing was denied him. But even though his visits would have been allowed, he hadn't come to see Serena since she had been imprisoned.
"How could Stanton forget me so easily unless everything he told me was a lie?" Serena asked.
Vanessa could hear the pain in her voice. "He's a Follower," Vanessa reminded her. She wrapped her fingers around the doorknob, anxious to leave. It didn't turn. "We're locked in."
"That can't be." Serena nudged Vanessa aside and tried the door. The latch rattled, but didn't click open. "Did the creepy one lock us in?"
"It doesn't matter," Vanessa said with determination. She started down the stairs. "We'll find another way out."
Serena didn't follow her. "We don't know what's down there. The cellar could go on forever. And it stinks—something foul must live down there."
Vanessa paused. "We can't wait here. That Follower will come back. He sensed us. I know he did."
"Then why didn't he turn us over to Stanton?" Serena asked.
"Maybe he's saving us for his own amusement," Vanessa said glumly.
"If we wait here, the monk might find us," Serena said. "He's helped us before."
A monk had suddenly appeared late one night and tried to comfort them. He had visited frequently after that, but still Vanessa hadn't
trusted him. He never let them see his face, and if he was able to enter their room without using the door, then, Vanessa reasoned, he must have entered through a secret passageway. So why
hadn't he let them use it to escape?
"But what if the Follower returns before
the monk finds us?" Vanessa asked, not understanding Serena's hesitation. "It's risky to stay here."
"I'm too scared," Serena confessed.
Vanessa walked back to her and gently took her hand.
Serena was shivering. "I'm pathetic," she laughed. "You'd think I'd get used to feeling afraid by now."
"It's not something you can get used to," Vanessa said. "Not here, anyway."
"Let's get this over with." Serena took a deep breath and started down the stairs.
When they reached the cellar floor, Vanessa was overcome with a feeling that someone—or something—was watching them. She could hear strange gibbering from the corners, but nothing tried to attack them.
Fear sharpened her senses and, in spite of
the darkness, she saw another door, high above them.
"There's probably a set of stairs that lead
up to it," Vanessa whispered. "What do you want
to do?"
"More than anything, I want to go home," Serena answered.
"Me, too," Vanessa said with growing resolve. "Is it worth the risk?"
"Yes," Serena said, tightening her hold on Vanessa's hand.
Together they found the stairs and stole up to the door. Then, cautiously, they opened it and stepped outside.
Flames sputtered inside lanterns that lined the street and made shadows twitch across the towering houses. The stone faces of gargoyles glared down at them, but no Followers or Regulators lingered nearby. The street was empty except for a few pieces of trash and a discarded apple core.
"I can feel them watching us." Vanessa gazed up at the windows. "It's like everyone has been told to stay inside and let us escape."
"Then let's do it." Serena broke into a run. "Hurry."
Vanessa sprinted after her, eager to reach the portal that Catty had taken them to long ago. Maybe they did have a chance.
"Look!" Serena screamed after they had jogged for a few blocks. "There's the street." She dashed around the corner. "We made it." She spun around, letting her arms fly out, and laughed with true joy. "Now all we have to do is wait for the portal to open." She moved into the shadows beneath an overhanging balcony. "What's the first thing you're going to do when we get home?"
"Eat a hamburger with lots of pickles." Vanessa felt intoxicated with happiness; she was really going home.
"We'll go surfing," Serena said, "and see all the kids at school. I wonder what my father and Collin have been doing without me."
"I'm going to buy a huge bag of potato chips," Vanessa said, "and drive my car down to the beach."
"We'll eat ice cream until our heads ache from the cold," Serena said, giggling.
"And dance at Planet Bang," Vanessa added as she squeezed in next to Serena. "I can't wait to sing with Michael's band."
A hand grabbed Vanessa's arm and pulled her from their hiding place.
'only people with nothing to say swear''only people with nothing to say swear'TAKEN FROM THE OFFICIAL SISTERS OF ISIS MYSPACE PAGE
'only people with nothing to say swear''only people with nothing to say swear' CONFIRMED THE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON FANSITE www.freewebs.com/daughters-of-the-moon
'only people with nothing to say swear''only people with nothing to say swear' IT"S FOOKING AMAZING
I CAN'T WAIT.
Sneak Peek of Daughters of the Moon 13 --first chapter!
Daughters of the Moon 13,
..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The Final Eclipse
CHAPTER ONE
Vanessa leaned out the window and looked up, straining her neck. The clear, boundless sky made her shudder. "Where are the shadows?" she asked. "It's almost nightfall. I know they're awake." She scanned the street below. Heat rose off the pavement, but no dark apparitions rippled in and out of the houses. She felt suddenly afraid. This had never happened before.
"Maybe everyone is inside preparing for a celebration," Serena said from the bed. She refused to look out the windows anymore. "I suppose they have holidays, but the quiet . . ."
". . . Is a nice change," Vanessa finished
calmly, even though she was screaming with panic inside her own head. She didn't want to alarm Serena yet.
"Maybe they're getting ready to kill us," Serena said.
The resignation in her voice worried Vanessa. She left the window and walked over to the bed. Serena was bone-thin, her eyes joyless, exhausted, and bruised. A week ago, she had
started screaming in her sleep, and Vanessa could no longer awaken her from the nightmares.
"Don't leave me," Vanessa whispered through the tightness in her throat. She refused to cry and upset Serena. Her eyes itched and burned from all the tears she had shed so far, and what good had it done?
"I can't go on," Serena said. "Every noise makes me jump, because I think they're coming for us, and then they don't. Maybe that's worse—when they don't. I can't stand the waiting. I just want them to get it over with."
"We'll escape. I promise. I know we will." Vanessa sat on the edge of the bed.
"Don't lie to me." Serena sank back into the pillows. "I know we won't survive as we are now. I just hope I won't remember who I was."
Like Serena, Vanessa could feel the evil growing inside her, the change so subtle she wasn't even sure when it had begun. But she knew she was no longer the person she had been when she, Catty, and Serena had tried to rescue Tianna. She wondered when the darkness would finally become stronger than her will to hold it back.
"It's my fault," Vanessa said at last. "I'm sorry."
"We all thought rescuing Tianna was the right thing to do," Serena countered.
An ancient evil called the Atrox had kidnapped Vanessa, Serena, and Catty and held them hostage until Tianna surrendered to it. But when the Atrox let them go, Vanessa had, instead of fleeing, convinced Serena and Catty to stay and free Tianna. That had been a terrible mistake.
During the struggle, Catty had disappeared. As the Destroyer, she had been destined one day to fight the Atrox alone, and because of that, she had also been its greatest threat. Vanessa knew her best friend was dead.
"All of it's my fault," Vanessa whispered again.
Serena leaned forward and stroked Vanessa's hair. She started to say something, but cursed instead. She pulled back abruptly and stiffened, her eyes wild, darting back and forth, as if she were searching for a place to hide. "They're coming," she said.
Then Vanessa felt the uncomfortable heaviness in the air. A Regulator was near.
Boots thumped on the carpet outside their door. A key turned in the lock, and the Regulator pushed into their room. He carried a silver tea set on a tray. Porcelain cups clattered against each other.
Regulators worked for the Atrox and carried out its orders. Over time, exposure to its evil, like a chemical reaction, destroyed their bodies. This one looked grotesquely misshapen. Each feature in his face appeared to have melted over the next. Wiry black hairs grew from his flattened nostrils, and he made snorting noises when he breathed. Gray-green scaly skin covered one side of his head and his right arm. He had the ability to
disguise his appearance and look male-model
gorgeous, but, while they were in Nefandus, Regulators rarely bothered, because their ugliness inspired fear and made it easier for them to police the world in which the Atrox reigned.
"Ugh!" Serena pulled the covers over her head and curled into a ball. "The Atrox gave us the ability to see so we'd have to look at these monsters," she complained, trying to sound gruff, but Vanessa could hear the tremor of fear in her voice.
Without a talisman or a guide to help them, people who weren't residents saw only churning mists. It was one last obstacle to keep Nefandus a secret in case someone accidentally stumbled through one of the portals. Still, Vanessa felt grateful to be able to see. Vision gave her a better chance to escape.
The Regulator began humming as he busied himself preparing their afternoon tea. He offered Vanessa a plate of ginger snaps, his hand lingering on hers. His touch made her wince. She turned away; even so, she could feel him watching her. The sheer fabric of her dress clung to her body and made her feel naked, but she had nothing else to wear.
She clutched the amulet hanging around her neck and studied the face of the moon etched in the metal. The charm had been given to her at birth. Serena wore one, too. Back home in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Los Angeles their amulets glowed when Followers were near, but in Nefandus the charms remained still and cold, their magic burned out.
"Tu es dea, filia lunae," Vanessa whispered, trying to calm herself. "You're a goddess, a Daughter of the Moon." But the words only reminded her that she had failed. Her mentor, Maggie, had explained that in ancient times, when Pandora's box was opened, countless evils and sorrows were released into the world. The last thing to leave the box was hope, the sole comfort for people during hard times. Only Selene, the goddess of the moon, saw the demon sent by the Atrox to devour hope. She stopped the creature, and then took pity on humankind and gave her Daughters as guardian angels, to fight the Atrox and safeguard hope. Vanessa and Serena were two of those Daughters.
The last two, Vanessa thought sadly.
The Regulator gave her a cup of tea. The fragrance of jasmine mingled with his foul breath. The smell made her stomach quiver. She pushed his hand away.
He set the tea and cookies on a table, then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Vanessa waited for the clank of the dead bolt. The sound always made her cringe, but it didn't come this time. She sat up straighter, alert, and listened intently.
Serena threw back her covers and stared at Vanessa. "Is he playing with us, or did he really forget to lock us in?"
"I don't know." Vanessa ran to the door and pressed her ear against the wood. She expected to hear the Regulator snickering on the other side, but all was quiet. She looked back at Serena. "I think he forgot."
"Open the door," Serena said anxiously.
Vanessa took a deep breath, gripped the
handle, and opened the door a crack. She peered out. "No one's guarding us."
"Are you sure?" Serena crowded against her. "Did you check for shadows?"
Vanessa understood Serena's fear. Regulators and some Followers could turn into shadows and blend with the dark. The shape-shifters were powerful and dangerous. They could read minds, manipulate thoughts, and even imprison people in their memories.
"It's too bright," Vanessa answered giddily, a foolish grin growing on her face.
Hundreds of candle flames glinted in chandeliers and filled the hallway with dazzling light. No raven black phantoms could have slithered around without being seen.
Serena looked out. "We'd see them for sure," she said, and then she asked, "Do we dare?"
In reply, Vanessa ventured into the hallway. She felt dizzy with excitement and fear. "Which way should we go?"
"The stairs." Serena pointed.
"We'll be too exposed," Vanessa argued. "Anyone walking by will see us."
"Then use your power," Serena urged.
Vanessa had a gift. All the Daughters had one. She could become invisible. She relaxed her body and willed herself to dematerialize—but her molecules remained firmly attached to one other.
"I can't," Vanessa said at last. She hadn't been able to use her ability in Nefandus.
"Let's go." Serena stepped boldly forward.
They crept down the marble staircase without making a sound. Giant mirrors decorated the walls and reflected back a dozen images of their thin, terrified faces.
When they reached the entrance hall, footsteps echoed down another corridor. The noise grew louder with each step.
"It was just another game after all," Serena said miserably, "to give us hope and then take it away. Over and over again they do this to us."
"They haven't caught us yet." Vanessa pulled Serena to an ornately carved door and opened it.
Light from the hallway fell across a landing and below it, across wooden stairs that led down to a dank, dirty cellar.
"It stinks," Serena whispered as she stepped inside. She clenched the handrail and turned ashen. "What's down there?"
Vanessa crowded in next to her and quietly closed the door. A vile stench wafted over her and made her eyes sting. She blinked and waited, listening to the person walking down the corridor.
As the person approached the other side of the door, Vanessa was seized with a sudden need to get away. She acted before she thought, and, taking Serena's hand, eased on to the first step. Her weight made the wood creak. She froze, too terrified to breathe.
"Is someone there?" a haughty, nasal voice called from the entrance hall. And then, after a silence, the voice asked, "Do I sense two sweet goddesses hiding from me?"
Followers fed on fear, and Vanessa could feel this one savoring her terror. His aura seeped under the door and pulsed around her. She swallowed hard to keep from crying out. Serena whimpered beside her.
The door started to open, letting light into the cellar. Vanessa closed her eyes. She didn't want to see his face.
"What are you doing here?" another voice, different from the first one, demanded.
The sound of the door slamming startled Vanessa. She opened her eyes and found herself in complete darkness again. She straightened
up, surprised. Serena fell against her, trembling violently, her breathing shallow and fast, but
she didn't cry out or utter a sound this time. Vanessa tensed and waited to see what would happen next.
Finally, the nasal voice answered. "I was only admiring the artwork."
"Then why were you opening the cellar door?" the second voice asked. "That area is forbidden."
"Of course; it was foolish of me to forget that the Atrox has become suspicious and afraid," the nasal voice sneered, and then the tone changed to one that was servile and flattering. "I must apologize. I was bored waiting for the other
members of the Cincti to arrive. I suppose I did meander into restricted rooms."
"Come with me," the other voice ordered.
The two walked away.
"That was Stanton," Serena whispered. "The second voice belonged to him."
"Are you sure?" Vanessa asked as she stepped back to the door.
"Of course I'm sure," Serena answered. "I'd know his voice anywhere."
As hard as the captivity had been on Vanessa, it had been harder on Serena. She had been in love with a Follower named Stanton. Their relationship had been forbidden until he became the Prince of Night, and then nothing was denied him. But even though his visits would have been allowed, he hadn't come to see Serena since she had been imprisoned.
"How could Stanton forget me so easily unless everything he told me was a lie?" Serena asked.
Vanessa could hear the pain in her voice. "He's a Follower," Vanessa reminded her. She wrapped her fingers around the doorknob, anxious to leave. It didn't turn. "We're locked in."
"That can't be." Serena nudged Vanessa aside and tried the door. The latch rattled, but didn't click open. "Did the creepy one lock us in?"
"It doesn't matter," Vanessa said with determination. She started down the stairs. "We'll find another way out."
Serena didn't follow her. "We don't know what's down there. The cellar could go on forever. And it stinks—something foul must live down there."
Vanessa paused. "We can't wait here. That Follower will come back. He sensed us. I know he did."
"Then why didn't he turn us over to Stanton?" Serena asked.
"Maybe he's saving us for his own amusement," Vanessa said glumly.
"If we wait here, the monk might find us," Serena said. "He's helped us before."
A monk had suddenly appeared late one night and tried to comfort them. He had visited frequently after that, but still Vanessa hadn't
trusted him. He never let them see his face, and if he was able to enter their room without using the door, then, Vanessa reasoned, he must have entered through a secret passageway. So why
hadn't he let them use it to escape?
"But what if the Follower returns before
the monk finds us?" Vanessa asked, not understanding Serena's hesitation. "It's risky to stay here."
"I'm too scared," Serena confessed.
Vanessa walked back to her and gently took her hand.
Serena was shivering. "I'm pathetic," she laughed. "You'd think I'd get used to feeling afraid by now."
"It's not something you can get used to," Vanessa said. "Not here, anyway."
"Let's get this over with." Serena took a deep breath and started down the stairs.
When they reached the cellar floor, Vanessa was overcome with a feeling that someone—or something—was watching them. She could hear strange gibbering from the corners, but nothing tried to attack them.
Fear sharpened her senses and, in spite of
the darkness, she saw another door, high above them.
"There's probably a set of stairs that lead
up to it," Vanessa whispered. "What do you want
to do?"
"More than anything, I want to go home," Serena answered.
"Me, too," Vanessa said with growing resolve. "Is it worth the risk?"
"Yes," Serena said, tightening her hold on Vanessa's hand.
Together they found the stairs and stole up to the door. Then, cautiously, they opened it and stepped outside.
Flames sputtered inside lanterns that lined the street and made shadows twitch across the towering houses. The stone faces of gargoyles glared down at them, but no Followers or Regulators lingered nearby. The street was empty except for a few pieces of trash and a discarded apple core.
"I can feel them watching us." Vanessa gazed up at the windows. "It's like everyone has been told to stay inside and let us escape."
"Then let's do it." Serena broke into a run. "Hurry."
Vanessa sprinted after her, eager to reach the portal that Catty had taken them to long ago. Maybe they did have a chance.
"Look!" Serena screamed after they had jogged for a few blocks. "There's the street." She dashed around the corner. "We made it." She spun around, letting her arms fly out, and laughed with true joy. "Now all we have to do is wait for the portal to open." She moved into the shadows beneath an overhanging balcony. "What's the first thing you're going to do when we get home?"
"Eat a hamburger with lots of pickles." Vanessa felt intoxicated with happiness; she was really going home.
"We'll go surfing," Serena said, "and see all the kids at school. I wonder what my father and Collin have been doing without me."
"I'm going to buy a huge bag of potato chips," Vanessa said, "and drive my car down to the beach."
"We'll eat ice cream until our heads ache from the cold," Serena said, giggling.
"And dance at Planet Bang," Vanessa added as she squeezed in next to Serena. "I can't wait to sing with Michael's band."
A hand grabbed Vanessa's arm and pulled her from their hiding place.
'only people with nothing to say swear''only people with nothing to say swear'TAKEN FROM THE OFFICIAL SISTERS OF ISIS MYSPACE PAGE
'only people with nothing to say swear''only people with nothing to say swear' CONFIRMED THE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON FANSITE www.freewebs.com/daughters-of-the-moon
'only people with nothing to say swear''only people with nothing to say swear' IT"S FOOKING AMAZING
I CAN'T WAIT.