Salem Moon, page 18
“No, I will not kill her. I have no need too. She will never speak of what passed between us. Of this I am sure. For deep in her heart, she knows that I saved her from herself. And she loves me still and fears me all at once.”
“What makes you think I will go back there? And with you, no less?”
“Because my beloved Gabriel, you are an honorable man. You will not be able to move on until you try to set things right. One of the many things I love about you, why I first wanted you and still want you.”
The conversation was cut short, as a loud rustling sound came through the woods. Darkness was imminent as the afternoon sun was now gone, and the twilight waned. The dusk was fast approaching.
Hoping that it was not one of the cemetery’s grounds keepers, Gabriel retreated into the shadows, hiding underneath the bramble bushes.
When Gabriel saw who it was heading toward him, he let out a sigh of relief and his heart beat faster, but this time not due to fear, or anger, instead to the strong rhythm of love.
Lily. He scrambled to his feet to meet her. How she had found him here, he did not know.
He’d assumed that once the decision was made to return to the past, he would never lay eyes on her again. Not unless he was able to undo the past and therefore change the future and somehow come back to her. A lot of if’s, to be sure.
She was running toward him, holding up a piece of paper. She didn’t dare call out; having just made it inside the cemetery gates before they were closed and locked for the night.
Out of breath from running, she wordlessly handed him the paper.
He examined it, seeing the margins that revealed the longitude and latitude of the exact spot he had just now discovered, the final burial place of Abigail. Here she’d lain for centuries in this desolate and long forgotten grave, buried under the layers of time, with no one to mourn her as he did now.
“You found her,” Lily said softly, wiping the dirt stained tears from his face.
She bent down and looked at the stone and her own eyes brimmed with tears. No grave should be left like this, forgotten, without even a flower set upon it, without anyone to care about it. She felt Gabriel’s pain as if it were her own because she loved him.
“I know what you’re thinking Lily. Her grave is over 300 years old and she would be dead now regardless of how she died.”
“I’m not thinking that at all, Gabriel. I understand you mourn not only her death, but her life as well, that hers was…a life not lived.”
Lily understood his pain and she was so very kind. He loved her even more for it.
He nodded. “She was not allowed to live a full life. She never had a chance to fall in love, to marry and have children. Or to grow old beside one who loved her, all of that was taken from her. And what of all the lives she might have touched on her journey? All of it, gone, taken away upon her hanging. And for what? She died in vain.”
The horror of it was that he still lived, while she had perished. The heavy burden of guilt lay upon him, strangling him as surely as the hangman’s noose.
Chapter 52
Gabriel pulled Lily gently to him and held her face in the palms of his hands. She turned her face up to him, looking into his beautiful eyes and saw the pain there. She would never tire of having his eyes look upon her, never. But oh, how she wanted to take the pain away from them. He kissed her tenderly, keeping his eyes open as if it would be the very last time he’d ever gaze into her eyes, the last time their lips would ever touch. As tender and lingering as this kiss was, it was full of passion in a soft and wonderful way. She didn’t know the extent of his pain. He was not only tormented by grief, but a sense of loss as well. He had to leave her.
“I have to go back, Lily.” Gabriel’s voice strained as he spoke the words that were so simple and yet so cruel. The meaning of them was so finite. They may never see each other again.
“I know, Gabriel…” She looked down, away from his eyes, as a single tear fell like a drop of dew upon her face.
“I will love you for all eternity, there can be no other and while I cannot bear a life without you, cannot imagine not being able to touch your face, kiss your lips and hold you in my arms, I must try and undo what has passed in time and I can only hope to do that by…going back. It is a matter of love and honor. Without honor we have nothing, and yet, without love there is nothing we would want.” His voice filled with sorrow. Knowing the words to be true, but not wanting it to be so.
She was his true soul mate, without her he was incomplete. It made no difference that they’d been born over 300 years apart. True love did not adhere to the mechanisms of time. It simply didn’t matter.
She ran her hand tenderly over his face, over his forehead, his eyelids, his perfect cheek bones, the small dimples there, down to his lips, drawing a finger gently around them. She ran her hands down his strong arms and held his hands in hers.
She wanted to ingrain the very texture of him in her memories, for they might be all she’d have left of him. She wanted to scream, wanted to sob and never stop, but she promised herself she wouldn’t cry. She loved him too much to make his already painful decision more difficult. Instead, she leaned her face against his chest, smelling the very essence of him. He buried his face in her hair and put his arms around her, crushing her to him, savoring the moment desperately. Knowing, just as she did that this embrace might have to sustain them for all eternity.
Lucien had been silent during the entire exchange between the two, but now, in the near distance there appeared a soft, white light and the ethereal vision of her. Eva. The time was nigh, he must leave within moments. He would have no peace, no respite from her as long as he was in her sights. He did not know when or how she and the others would strike. Time was not the same for angels as it was for man. He’d been successful in hiding from them only because his was a restless existence, he moved constantly in the endless span of time.
“Gabriel, if we are to leave here, we must do so at once!” Lucien commanded.
With his usual preternatural speed, he was immediately at Gabriel’s side.
“Take my hand,” he said. Reluctantly, Gabriel placed one hand in Lucien’s, the other held tight to Lily’s. She matched the strength of his grip with her own. Both made stronger by the power of love.
Above their heads, the sound of thunder, the flash of unnaturally intense lightening and here, Lucien pulling him, back and away from her as they tried with all their might to hold on to each other for as long as possible.
And Lily’s eyes desperate, the tears flowing freely as Gabriel’s image began to fade along with Lucien’s.
“I love you Gabriel!” Lily shouted over the deafening sound of the booming thunder. The lightening illuminating their faces, turning the night into day as if it were just made for the two of them, so they could look upon one another fully.
“And you, my love, will always be my lady. I have waited 300 years for you…”
“Promise…you’ll come back to me!”
“If there is a way, I shall find it.” His image was fading away, his words barely audible now.
Fading, almost ghostlike and finally, just a milky silhouette. Lily looked down at her hand, as it closed around nothing but empty air. The thunder and lightning came to an abrupt end. The sky above was now pitch-black. The stars were so vast and beautiful for only a moment before the moon loomed again large and swollen and pale yellow. Was he out there somewhere, perhaps looking at this same moon?
She sank down to her knees and sobbed. Her hand automatically went to her throat, to touch the locket and she closed her hand tightly around it. She felt a strange sensation on her fingers, like the tickle of a feather. When she opened her hand and brushed her fingers along her neck, there was nothing there. The locket like Gabriel himself had disappeared as if it had never existed.
She was so utterly lost in her misery; she didn’t see the figure standing a few yards away. A hooded outline of a person stood stock still in the shadows, its arms hanging by its sides. Only the grim line of the mouth was visible. It was just watching her.
The figure began to walk slowly toward her. She caught its movement out of the corner of her eye and she stood up at once, a gasp escaping her lips as her heart jumped into her throat and she began to tremble in fear.
When the figure became discernible, she let out a breath of relief. It was her brother, Dylan. He approached her, his face somber beneath the black hooded sweat shirt. In his hands he held a small book, about the size of a pocket dictionary. Without a word he held it out to Lily.
“Take this, Lily, and use it wisely,” he said seriously; more seriously than Lily had ever heard him speak in her life. Even when he’d been at death’s door, even when she’d pulled him back from that very doorway.
She took it from him. The book was a faded red in color, like the stain of old blood that’s been washed, but will never completely fade away. The inscription upon its cover was written in old fashioned script. She looked hard at the title, “The Witches Book of Obscure Spells and Theories.”
She looked at her brother. He nodded, staring her straight in the eye. Dylan had marked a place in the book with a torn match cover and had also brought a small flashlight so that she would have everything she’d need. Lily turned to the bookmarked page and read the caption there: “The ability to travel through time by means of this spell.” As she read, her mouth agape at the simplicity of the spell, she felt something soft brush against her legs. It was her cat, her familiar, Magick. Its green eyes glowed in the darkness as she awaited her command. Where ever Lily went, so would she.
“I…don’t know about this Dylan…”
“I do know. I know that you love him. And I also know you fear your own powers. You must look to your heart to tell what you already know. If you never use your powers for anything ever again, use it for this one thing, Lily.”
“I…miss him already. My heart aches for him and it’s only been mere minutes that I’ve been without him…”
“True love does not even know its real depth until the pain of separation becomes a reality,” Dylan said softly. “I cannot fault Gabriel for leaving you to save his sister because I would do the same for you. But I think he needs you Lily. You’re strong and you make others around you strong just by your presence. If you choose to do this, do it here and now. The police are at our house right now. Nick and Trevor have been murdered, and they’re looking for Gabriel to question him. Do not go home.”
Lily was stunned. Oh my God, Nick and Trevor dead! And she knew it was Lucien, without being told any of the grisly details.
She nodded, allowing the tears to flow.
She flung her arms around him and told him how much she loved him.
“Okay…this is getting too mushy. Say something ‘Dylan-ish,’” she said breaking away from him.
“Hmmm, how ‘bout this? When life throws something at you, throw it back…and make it a fast ball!” He grinned and walked away, turning only once to wave goodbye. Magick jumped up into her arms.
“Okay.” she took a deep breath. “Here we go, Magick.”
Lily closed her eyes for only a moment before reading the words of the spell. She allowed the power she’d denied most of her life to come surging through her, like a blast of hot air. For once, she embraced it and it took her into time itself, toward the past, toward him.
Upon the breath of air was a whisper of her last words, lingering in Salem in the year 2010.
“I will come to you… no matter the time or place. I will be by your side…”
Now Available Salem Moon # 2:The Fallen and the Pure
Coming: April, 13th, 2012
Where all will be revealed!
Meet Scarlet BlackI was Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, later moving to York, Maine where I lived for years. I now reside in Florida. I’m a wife, mother and writer and a graduate of Hesser College with a degree in Psychology and Journalism. I’ve been married for 30 years and have one amazing son, who is my muse. We share our home with two rescue dogs as well.
I’ve been writing since I was a child. Back then, I wrote short stories in pencil (okay, a crayon). Later, I was encouraged and inspired by my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Jamison to pursue a career in writing.
That year, I wrote and put on a screenplay for the class called “The Cemetery.” While it wasn’t nominated for an Oscar and the tombstones fell over during the performance, the audience liked it.
I love nothing more than bringing my readers along on my literary journeys. So, buckle your seat belt, and enjoy the ride!
-Best always,
Scarlet Black
www.scarletblack.webs.com
www.scarletblack-author.blogspot.com
Scarlet Black, Salem Moon
