Moonlight Denial: Shades of Moonlight Book One

Hello everyone! Welcome to another, on time, chapter. I love being on time. It’s such a nice feeling. So, here we are, another week closer to the anniversary and this is going to be a great chapter, I’ll tell you that right now. I’ve been looking forward to this one and I hope you guys share my excitement once you read it. But first you actually have to read it. So, here is the link to my replies to reviews and enjoy everyone!

Reply link: http://darkness80.livejournal.com/3683.html

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A light sigh past Nicoli’s lips as he lay with his head in Faith’s lap, her little fingers combing through his hair.

“You seem really worn out. Are you all right?” she asked in her sweet voice.

“Yeah, school’s just been really rough the past couple of days, but it’s getting better.”

It had been a trying few days, but with each new day his anxiety was going down little by little. It also helped that Amelia wasn’t mad at him. The next day after their fight she acted like it hadn’t happened and just gushed about all the good things they had seen. That made a wave of relief tickle his insides.

Another tickling sensation swept through him as fingers touched his bare feet and his legs jerked.

“Ah, Andre, will you stop trying to rub my feet?” he said, opening his eyes just a crack to glare down at Andre.

“I’m just trying to help you relax, my little Nickel. Will you just lay back and enjoy it?”

Nicoli kept his knees up near his chest.

“I don’t like people touching my feet.”

“Well, tough,” Andre said, grabbing Nicoli’s ankles and forcing the feet back into his lap so he could rub them.

“It’s better to just let him do it. You know you won’t be able to leave this house until he has his way,” Faith told him.

Nicoli just grumbled and tried not to tense or kick when Andre’s fingers went back to rubbing the pads of his feet. After a moment his body did start relaxing under Andre’s skilled fingers.

“What is this?” Ethan asked quizzically as he walked into the room and saw the scene playing out on the couch. “A Vampire Masseuse Parlor?”

“Faith and Andre are just trying to help Nicoli unwind a little,” Cora said with a smile, sitting in the chair next to the couch.

Felix trailed in after Ethan and rested his arms on the back of the couch, looking down at Nicoli.

“Well, aren’t you just the spoiled little pet?” he asked in that irritating, teasing tone of his.

Nicoli let his middle finger show Felix just how much he cared. Faith was quick to slap it.

“Nicoli, come now,” she scolded.

“Just what is going on in here?” Conrad asked, making an appearance with Gavin right behind him. He raised an eyebrow when he spotted the three on the couch. “And what are you two doing?”

“Apparently everyone thinks I’m a little uptight and need some loosening up,” Nicoli answered as Faith’s thumb began making circles on his forehead. He had to admit it felt great.

“We should let Gavin do this. Gavin gives great after training rub downs,” Andre said with a playful leer at the mentioned man. His only reply was an icy stare.

“And just what are you doing here anyways?” Conrad asked Nicoli before Andre went further in trying to get a rise out of Gavin. “I don’t remember saying I needed you for anything, so what do I owe this little visit to?”

Nicoli simply shrugged.

“I had some free time after school and, since everyone is strangely awake, Ethan suggested I come over to chill,” he said, not fazed by Conrad’s tone. Much like Trevor, Nicoli had come to find that he wasn’t that scared of Conrad anymore. After seeing that the clan leader really did have a nice side it was that much easier to brush off Conrad’s less than friendly comments.

“Chill?” Conrad repeated and Nicoli had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing. Conrad should never utter the word “Chill” in that context. “Since when has our home become–Now where in the world are you going, Gavin?”

Gavin had abruptly turned and started leaving the room.

“Someone is at the door.”

No sooner were those words out of his mouth there was a knock at the front door. Everyone in the room looked at each other curiously.

“Are we…expecting anyone?” Faith asked quietly.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Conrad said, suspicion lacing his words.

Andre turned to look back at Ethan.

“You didn’t invite a bunch of people over for a party and didn’t tell us, did you?” he asked.

“Of course I didn’t. That’s what you do, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

A moment later Gavin leaned through the doorway, a perplexed look on his face, which was an expression Nicoli had never seen him give before.

“Sir, we appear to have a situation.”

“This situation has a name, you know,” a voice said behind him and Amelia, in all her glory, walked past him and into the room. “Hey guys, how’s it going?”

Nicoli scrambled to sit up and stared at her in disbelief. What in the world was she doing!?

Before he could yell it to her Faith got up and trotted over to the new arrival.

“Amelia, it’s great to see you again. I was hoping you’d stop by for a visit once in a while,” she greeted happily.

“Hey, just call me over any time and I’d be happy to hang out with you and Cora.”

“That includes me too, right?” Andre asked with his easy smile.

“Um, no.”

“Why does no one ever want to hang out with me?” Andre asked with a pout as Cora giggled.

“Because you’re annoying,” Felix offered.

Nicoli ignored the squabbles, trying to burn a hole through Amelia’s head with his eyes instead. He rose from the couch and stalked over to her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled lowly through his teeth.

“I have business with the clan. I didn’t know you were going to be here,” she huffed and crossed her arms. “Or else I would have saved it for another day.”

“You were gonna go behind my back!?” Nicoli exclaimed, and for the first time wanted to throttle Amelia till her face turned the same color as her hair.

A throat cleared and everyone turned to Conrad, who had come very close in proximity.

“Excuse the interruption, but I feel the need to ask what all of this is about.” His eyes focused on Amelia. “What is this business you have with us?”

Amelia grinned in response.

“I’m glad you asked. I–”

Nicoli clapped his hand over her mouth, stopping the words from coming out.

“She has no business with you guys whatsoever. She just came to say hi and then leave. Isn’t that right?” he asked her.

Hazel eyes glared at him, not amused in the slightest. She then held up her index finger and blue sparks started to burst from the tip.

Nicoli looked from her finger to his hand then scowled at her.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Her face simply said, Try me, and then her finger touched the back of his hand.

“Ow! Son of a freaking bitch!” he yelled as he jerked his hand back and shook it to try and soothe the ache that had blossomed there.

“As amusing as this all is,” Conrad said, watching Nicoli wave his hand and curse profusely. “I still would like an answer as to what is going on.”

“Yes,” Amelia said, straightening her posture as she regarded Conrad. “As I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted.” She threw a glare at Nicoli, who threw one right back. “I wanted to ask you something very important. Um, sir.”

“And what is that?”

“I want to join your little group and help you with whatever you’re doing.”

A dead silence filled the room that was only broken by Nicoli covering his face with his hands and groaning.

“You want to…join us?” Conrad said, saying the words slowly, as if he were trying to speak another language.

“That’s right. I want to join the team,” she said, puffing out her chest proudly.

The vampires simply looked at each other, none of them knowing what to say. Even Andre was at a loss for words.

“Well, come on, someone say something,” Amelia goaded when no one moved.

“You’re an idiot. Happy?” Nicoli hissed and got a slap upside the head.

“Tell me,” Conrad said, and his tone had gone down a few notes. Never a good sign. “Has Nicoli told you exactly what we’re doing that would require help?” His gaze slid over to Nicoli and his eyes had grown sharp and menacing.

Nicoli gulped. He was wrong. It turned out he still had a bit of fear left in reserve for Conrad.

“N-No, I didn’t tell her anything. I swear!”

“He’s right, I’m completely in the dark about what you guys are up to. For all I know you could be plotting to annihilate everyone in Whixton. Even so, I still want in on it,” Amelia said.

“Now, why is that exactly?” Conrad asked.

“No offense to you guys, but it has nothing to do with you. I like some of you, but you’re not worth my life. This ungrateful jerk, on the other hand, is.” Her thumb jerked in Nicoli’s direction. “I want to join you so that I can keep an eye on him and make sure he’s safe.”

Conrad’s brow rose and he tilted his head.

“That’s you’re only reason? I assure you that is not necessary. He is in safe hands with us and we will do what we can to protect him.”

Amelia was not impressed.

“Yeeeeeah, I’d have more confidence in you if we didn’t just have to go rescue Nicoli from your psychotic brother a few days ago. That doesn't leave for a big vote of confidence, now does it?”

That was a blow to Conrad’s ego if there ever was one and his jaw visibly tightened.

“I believe that we are done here,” he said, his voice rumbling with a growl. “We are not in need of–”

“Father, wait,” Faith spoke up. She beckoned him down to her level and when he bent she whispered something in his ear.

Conrad made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat and stood.

“All right, I want everyone to go up to my study where we will discuss this matter in private and we will decide whether or not Miss Fairbrooke’s assistance is needed.”

Everyone in the clan nodded and began filing out of the room. Nicoli made to follow, but Conrad raised his hand.

“No, you will not be part of this. Stay here with your friend.”

“But, Conrad, I’m just as much part of this as the others.” He was ignored as Conrad turned his back on him and went up the stairs. “Wha-hey! Conrad! Conrad!” His cries were met with the sound of the study door closing.

Nicoli growled and whirled on Amelia.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing!?” he screamed and the next minute he yelped when she touched his nose with her spark laced finger.

“Don’t talk to me like that. I’m doing this for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to do this for me. I don’t want you here. Don’t you get it? You may want to protect me, but I don’t want you getting hurt either. What if something happens and you get killed?”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to watch each other’s backs then, won’t we?” Amelia said with a simple shrug. “Nothing much more to it than that.”

“What about you’re family? They’re never going to allow this.”

“Who says I need to tell them? You've been going behind your parent’s backs since the beginning.”

That one hurt. Nicoli wasn’t proud of his deception, but he knew it was a necessary evil.

“That’s not the same thing and you know it. I can keep my parents in the dark because neither of them knows that any of this exists! Your family on the other hand is on the up and up, so there’s no way you can fool them.”

“Hey, let my family be my problem. This is about us and I’m gonna go through with this whether you like it or not.”

“Put me under great big not,” he grumbled.

“Noted, but I’m not going to change my mind, no matter what. Besides,” she said with a great big smirk. “I’m actually really curious as to what is going on. To have a family war with brothers and twin brothers and such there has to be something big driving it and I want to know. Call it me being nosy and an added benefit to me joining. So, sorry Nicoli, you’re stuck with me during normal hours and your shifty business.”

Nicoli threw up his hands and trudged over to the couch. He plopped down with a defeated sigh.

“You’re insane, you know that?” he asked through his hands that had settled on his face again.

“I’ve been told once or twice, but that’s what makes me interesting,” she said as she calmly walked over and sat down next to him. “So, what do you think they’re going to decide?” she asked, looking up at the ceiling. “Will they let me join?”

“God I hope not,” he said, also shifting his gaze upward. “But I don’t know. Conrad has major trust issues. It’s only because he loves Ethan so much that he even tolerated my existence for so long. If you’re just her on my behalf then I don’t see him consenting.”

“Well, I have a way of winning people over,” Amelia said with a confident grin as she leaned back and put her hands behind her head.

“Yeah, you really wooed Conrad with the way you just back talked him.”

“Shut up.”

A few minutes went by and the two perked when they heard the study door open. The clan came back into the room and gathered around the fireplace, facing the teenagers. Some of them had troubled faces and that made Nicoli uneasy.

“So, what’s the vote?” Amelia asked, standing to address them.

“We have talked it over,” Conrad said. “And have decided that you may join us.”

“What!?” Nicoli exclaimed, jumping to his feet as Amelia pumped her fist in victory. Conrad’s next words made them both freeze.

“On one condition.”

“Condition? What condition?” Amelia asked. “If it’s about keeping your guys secret you have no need to worry. I’ve been keeping secrets from people my whole life. It’s nothing new.”

“While I’m sure that’s true that’s not what I mean. Gavin.” Conrad beckoned Gavin forward.

When Gavin stepped from the throng the claws of fear sank into Nicoli’s innards. Gavin was holding the sheet bound book.

“No,” he said, too soft for anyone to hear or notice.

“What is that?” Amelia asked, stepping closer to Gavin.

Gavin unwound the sheet and presented the book to Amelia. Her eyes immediately lit up and her mouth slightly opened in awe.

“We want you to open this book. If you can do that, we will accept you with open arms,” Conrad told her as she delicately took the book from Gavin.

“That’s it? That’s all I have to do?”

“Yes, we have tried and failed countless times, but someone of your pedigree just might be able to do it. If you do then we will let you join us and tell you everything that we are doing.”

She turned the book in her hands, taking it all in. She was mesmerized by it.

“Wow, this thing is incredible. It’s so well made.” She finally tore her eyes away from it to look up at Conrad. “I’ll do it.”

“No!!!”

Everyone jumped at Nicoli’s cry and he wrenched the book from Amelia’s grasp. Conrad was not pleased by this.

“Nicoli, what do you think–”

“Shut up!” Nicoli yelled at him and quite a few eyes went wide. “There is no fucking way in hell I’m letting Amelia anywhere near this book. No way. I’m not going to let her throw her life away like that.” His eyes strayed to the burning fire behind the clan and he wished he could get to it. “I’d rather burn the damn thing than let that happen.”

“Nicoli, stand down and hand over the book,” Conrad growled.

He held the book to his chest, ready to fight against anyone who would try and take it from him.

“No, I’m not letting you do this.”

“Nicoli, come on, give it back to me,” Amelia said, holding out her hands. “I can do it. It’s just a book. Just let me open it.”

“No,” Nicoli said, stepping back from her. “It’s dangerous, Amelia. You don’t understand. This thing has more power than any of us can deal with. When I tried to open it, it left a threatening message on my chest that it wrote in fire and we just had a witch here to try and open it. She was older and probably way more advanced than you and it nearly vaporized her hands and had her running out of here in terror. If you try it may decide that it’s had enough and will kill you like it promised to do to the next person that tried. I’m not going to let that happen.”

Amelia stared at him with wide eyes and there was possible fear in them.

“It-It can do all of that?”

Nicoli turned on the clan now and his face was twisted in anger.

“And you. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. You’re willing to throw Amelia’s life away over some book? I thought I knew you guys. I thought you were my friends, but you hold more value over some stupid book, that may not even have what we’re looking for, over another person’s life? How cold can you be?”

He noticed that some of the members averted their gazes in shame and that made him feel better. At least some of them weren’t one hundred percent in on this. He knew that this was mostly Conrad’s will. He jumped when hands came out of no where and snatched the book from him. He turned and was stunned to see that it was the very one he was trying to protect.

“Amelia?”

“I understand your fears and I appreciate your concern, really, but I can do this, Nicoli.” She held the book to her, as if coddling an old pet. “I can’t explain it, but I feel close to this book. The magic that’s coming from it is so familiar, friendly, comforting even. I’ve never felt so certain of anything in my life.” She looked at Nicoli with such confidence it made him still. “I can do this. It won’t kill me. I just know it.”

Nicoli stood there, not knowing what to do. Had everyone gone mad? Was he the only one that saw the insanity behind this? No, he couldn’t let it happen, no matter how sure of herself Amelia was. He reached out to take back the book, but Conrad was beside him in the blink of an eye. Nicoli let out a strangled noise as he was lifted into the air by the back of his shirt and he was tossed over to Ethan like he was no more than a doll. Luckily Ethan was quick and caught him.

“He’s your responsibility,” Conrad told his son, his features steely and unamused. “Make sure he does not interfere again.”

Ethan’s arms went around Nicoli like sentencing chains and he immediately fought against them.

“No, Ethan, let go! Let go! I’m not going to let you do this! I won’t! Amelia, please don’t! Please!”

“Silence him,” Conrad ordered.

Ethan’s hand stifled Nicoli’s cries, but he never stopped struggling.

“Nicoli, please, calm down,” Ethan whispered to him through the mind link. “It’s going to be okay. I think Amelia can pull this off. I really do.”

Tears started to prick Nicoli’s eyes from his panic, but his body complied and he sagged in Ethan’s hold.

“If she dies I’ll never forgive you, Ethan. Never. I’ll hate you forever.”

“And I won’t blame you one bit.”

“Now that that is under control,” Conrad said once Nicoli had settled. He turned to Amelia and she visibly gulped by being regarded by him so. “Are you still up for the challenge?”

Amelia looked from him to Nicoli to the book. Her expression had been that of concern, but as she gazed upon the book her features smoothed out. She ran her hand down the cover before looking up at Conrad and nodding.

“Yes, most definitely.”

Everyone watched as Amelia placed the book down on the coffee table, much like Ursula had done, and she breathed in deep to center herself. When she was ready she placed her hands over the book.

Nicoli watched with bated breath as blue magic came from Amelia’s hands and showered the book. It reacted almost immediately. There was a low hum in the air as the book itself began to vibrate. It radiated white magic, but did not attack Amelia like it had done Ursula. Instead the white magic began pushing back the blue in an attempt to defend itself.

Amelia’s brows drew downward and her magic pushed back and the white magic did the same in turn.

“How weird,” she whispered under her breath.

“What is it?” Conrad asked.

“It’s as if it’s fighting me reluctantly. It’s like it wants to let me in, but just won’t.”

This went on for several minutes. Amelia would push her magic to the book and the book would match her. It was an odd game of magical tug-of-war. Soon sweat started trickling down her face and it appeared she was giving it everything she had.

“Stop. Fighting. Me.” She growled through clenched teeth, her magic growing brighter as she put her all into it.

Nicoli’s eyes widened as the books magic started to change. Instead of its illuminant white it melded into a burned orange and then into an angry red. He had seen that only one time before. When it had attacked him.

“Amelia, stop!” he yelled, Ethan’s hand having slipped from his mouth long ago.

“No. I’m almost. There.”

Amelia’s magic intensified, setting the whole room aglow and it inched down closer and closer to the book. The books magic grew a deeper red and it began pushing back with more force. The two magic’s were evenly matched. One not gaining much ground over the other, but then Nicoli saw something that made his insides freeze with terror.

Blood was trickling out Amelia’s nose.

“Amelia!”

Nicoli pulled his arm free from Ethan’s slacked grip and elbowed Ethan’s chest as hard as he could. When Ethan stumbled back Nicoli ran to Amelia, practically shoving Conrad out of the way. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back. Her magic disintegrated and the red magic shot upward, nearly hitting both of them with the heat of Hell, and the whole house shook as the magic collided with the ceiling.

When everything had settled and the books magic also dissipated, there was an indent in the ceiling and everyone in the room was shaking. Amelia stood beside Nicoli, but then her legs gave out from underneath her and she fell forward.

“Amelia!” Nicoli cried, one arm wrapping around her chest and shoulders and the other around her back and waist. “Amelia, speak to me. Are you okay? Please be okay.” Her body began to tremble and he heard her sob.

“I’m sorry. I tried. I really tried, but it was too strong. I’m sorry,” she said. Her tears and blood collected on the tip of her nose and dripped down, splattering the cover of the book.

“It’s okay. You did really good. You did great,” Nicoli told her.

“Not good enough, I’m afraid,” Conrad said, unmoved by the scene. “You did not fulfill your end of the bargain, therefore we cannot let you join us.”

With those words Amelia began crying harder and Nicoli glared at him, almost in hatred.

“Who cares? That thing almost killed her. Don’t you get that…or do you not even care?”

“It was her choice to go through with it. It would have been bad for the clan if she had died, but it was of her own free will if it had lead to that.”

“You heartless bastard,” Nicoli growled and at that moment Conrad was no better than Dimitri in his eyes.

“All right, that’s enough. Let’s stop now before someone says something they will regret later,” Faith said sternly, before everything got out of hand. She walked over to the table and ripped part of the sheet off that was lying on the floor. After having Nicoli seat himself and Amelia on the couch, Faith gave Amelia the fabric to press against her nose.

“You did fine, Sweetie. Much better than any of us have done yet,” she said sweetly, stroking Amelia’s knee comfortingly.

“It still wasn’t enough,” Amelia sniffled.

Nicoli and Faith did their best to calm Amelia while Conrad stood by fuming. The rest of the clan muttered quietly amongst themselves. Felix hovered just a bit above everyone, watching silently as his eyes drifted from one group to the next. Then something caught his attention.

“Um guys.” No one paid any attention. “Guys.” Still ignored. “Guys!”

“What!?” Conrad snapped.

Felix pointed down at the coffee table and everyone looked and a collective gasp filled the room. The blood and tears that had come from Amelia were moving. They had melded together and were slowly snaking across the cover, outlining the initials. The little stream then inched to the lock keeping the book closed and it swirled around, as if caught in a drain and poured into the keyhole.

When every last bit of it was gone there was a long silence in the room. Then there was an audible click and the lock fell open.

The room was completely still. No one moved and no one spoke. They just kept staring at the book that was now unlocked.

“That’s it?” Andre said, the first to break the silence, as usual. “That’s all we needed this entire time?”

“Was it the blood or was it the tears?” Cora asked.

“We may never know,” Faith said.

“And none of that matters now,” Conrad said. “All that matters is that it is open. Nicoli, open it.”

Nicoli was irked at being commanded so, but he did as he was told. He stood up and tentatively grasped the edge of the cover with his fingertips. When nothing happened he slowly opened it. He looked down at the page and his eyes widened. He flipped to the next and the next before frantically going from page to page. He couldn’t believe it. All the pages…were blank.

“You have got to be shitting me,” Ethan muttered, just as mortified as the others. “That can’t be right.”

Nicoli grabbed a handful of pages and let them fall from back to front, all of them blank.

“No, this can’t be,” he whispered.

“It must be another trick,” Conrad said, coming for a closer look. “Amelia, if there are hidden words, do you think you can make them appear?”

Hot fiery rage shot into Nicoli’s gut and spread to every inch of his body. He turned on Conrad and in that moment didn’t care if he was one of the strongest vampires in the room or the clan leader.

“Don’t you ever talk to her again!” he raged. “You have absolutely no right to ever ask her for anything. You should be groveling at her feet for what she did. She almost died trying to help you, and for what? A completely blank, useless pile of pages! You used her and didn’t even care if she had gotten hurt, and it was all for nothing. Everything has been for nothing! What Amelia just did and what I went through with Dimitri. I went through hell for you, I’m now permanently scarred from trying to protect this book for you and it wasn’t even worth it, but you don’t care. Everyone is just some kind of pawn to you and you’re just moving on and trying to find the next best way to exploit us!”

There was a dead silence in the room when Nicoli was done and everyone stared on in horror. Conrad was thrown off guard by the rage, but his features darkened when the words were absorbed. Nicoli cried out as the front of his shirt was grabbed and he was lifted into the air.

“What makes you think you can get away with talking to me like that?” Conrad growled lowly. “I could have left you at the mercy of my brother, but I came and saved your sorry hide, you ungrateful little brat.”

Nicoli had a death grip on Conrad’s hand, his feet dangling helplessly into the air, but he wasn’t about to back down. He simply scoffed.

“Whatever. You didn’t save me for me, you saved me so I wouldn’t squeal about what we had to Dimitri, nothing more to it than that. Which turns out we didn’t have anything to begin with. We should have just let Dimitri have the stupid book and let him kill a couple of his people trying to open it.”

Ethan took a few steps towards Conrad.

“Okay, we’re all a little on edge now. Let’s just stop and try and cool off. Dad, please just put Nicoli down and we’ll all just have a breather,” he said.

“You know, Ethan,” Conrad said, his eyes never leaving Nicoli. “I am so tired of you bringing filth like this into our family. I have no idea what drives you to do it, but it is getting rather irritating. I guess it serves me right for giving into your whims so easily, but maybe now I should finally say that enough is enough.”

“Dad, don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”

“Oh, don’t have such a worried look on your face. I’m not going to kill him.” A vicious smirk spread across his face that shot fear into Nicoli. Just what the hell had he done? “But I may teach this boy a lesson about talking to his elders in such a manner.”

There was a small explosion as something shot at Conrad’s feet, making him step back and Nicoli swayed in his grasp. Everyone looked as Amelia was now up and her magic had engulfed her hands.

“Put. Him. Down,” she said slowly and her magic amplified to show that she was serious.

“Wow, this is getting bad fast,” Andre murmured.

“No, shit,” Felix said.

Before Amelia could launch another attack, before Gavin could step in to stop her, before Ethan could try to get Nicoli out of Conrad’s grip, before Faith could try and stop everyone an eerie wind picked up in the room. It rustled hair and clothes and made everyone forget the escalating situation.

“Um, Faith, that’s not you, is it?” Amelia asked, having seen this one time before.

“No, I can definitely say that’s not me.”

Nicoli was set down on the ground and Amelia’s magic snuffed out as everyone’s attention turned to the book. It began emitting another strange glow and its pages began to turn on their own. Faster and faster they turned until they stopped in the very middle.

Everyone stepped back as a beam of light shot out from the pages. It was so bright they wanted to turn away, but they couldn’t, too entranced by what was happening. Something started to materialize from the center of the beam. It slowly took form until it was clear it was the figure of a person. The light then died.

Hovering over the book was a woman. She had long, wavy hair, a beautiful face and her body was adorned in a lovely dress that fell to her ankles. She wasn’t a normal person, however. There was no color to her. She was made up of nothing but white’s and grays. She was a ghost.

Before anyone could move or speak the woman stirred. She stretched her arms above her head and gave a giant yawn.

“What’s all the ruckus about? Can’t a woman get her beauty sleep? And why have you kept me locked up in there for so…long?” she trailed off when she had opened her eyes and realized she was surrounded by strangers. She looked around in confusion and then concern. “Oh dear.”

Amelia was the first to react. She took a step closer to the table, her eyes never leaving the woman’s face.

“It can’t be,” she muttered. She shook her head, not believing what she was seeing and then a name slipped her lips that made shock ripple through the room.

“Deloris Mary-Weather?”

===================================Ch. 72 End

Dun dun duuuuun! Mwahaha! Do you now see why I was so excited? So much stuff happened. The book has finally been opened and now you have seen what was hidden in its pages. Not words, but Deloris Mary-Weather herself! I can’t tell you how giddy I am to have finally revealed the secret in the book. I’ve been waiting for so long, and I know you have been waiting just as long. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes now. Will Deloris Mary-Weather be helpful or harmful?

Speaking of harmful, Nicoli went way out of my control in this chapter. I never intended for him to blow up like he did at everyone. In a way I understand why he did it, but it was a very stupid thing for him to do, especially to do that at Conrad of all people. We’ll see what kind of hot water Nicoli is in after the shock and awe are over.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s going to happen next and I’ll see you all next chapter. Until then, be well! *Huggies and lickies*