The Blood Moon

Anticipation

Ryan, I thought. He had been so kind to me when he saved me from Heather, but now I wondered if that was all a stunt.

I tried to reflect on that encounter, even though I knew I'd be following the stream and not the thread. I knew Hen would tell me to pull back and would then chastise me for, once again, following my instincts instead of the timeline. But I had to witness that moment again myself. I had to look at it with new eyes and see if there was something that I missed. Something that might have revealed why it was that Ryan spoke with Dean, and why it was Heather that came to get me that night.

Then, as I thought of this reasoning for my divergence, a new image jarred me from the masquerade as if a bat swung directly into my midsection and sent me soaring through the air at 100mph.

Gasping, or at least what felt like the mental equivalent of gasping, I struggled to take in the vision before me. All I saw were flickers of dark woods and flashes of a malevolent face with pointed teeth.

"You've jumped ahead in the timeline! We're not far enough into your memories yet for me to undo this knot. If you don't pull back, you'll get lost in the fractured chaos and we may lose your memories altogether. Focus on what Dean was saying!"

I heard the snap of jaws. I saw a bloodied dagger. I glimpsed a shadow of an unexpected face. Recognition hit my subconscious before it triggered my conscious mind. Whatever or whoever that was, caused a spark to snap and pop inside me. Then, with as much force as I had left, I returned to the crowded dining room where Dean continued to share his secrets in a hushed voice.

Had I experienced it all in the real world, I would have retched right onto Dean's shiny leather shoes.

"Ryan?" asked my more physically stable past self.

"Oh, you've met him before?" Dean perked up a little at this news, though I still noticed a slight cower in his lean shoulders.

"Yeah, I've had a busy day," I said with a snarky laugh. I then looked longingly at another tray of wine passing us by. Before I could call out to the server, Dean sidestepped into my view and drew my attention back to him.

"Well, he said that the Beta is a bit old-fashioned and that he himself is a more progressive werewolf."

"Progressive?"

"Yeah," said my fellow Body with a bit of pride that straightened his back, "he believes that the future lies in fellowship with paranormal brethren, much like we do here. Ryan, who's the alpha-to-be for the Grey Ravine pack, wants to be in partnership with clans like vampires and personally felt like Lord Antonov's concern was deserving of recognition. So he came to me after breakfast and told me where they'd be having the ritual tonight."

For a moment, we stood there in silence. Even the crowd was hushed, though I figured that was all my memories doing since I must have been so struck by his response that I couldn't be bothered to listen to anything else.

"So," I replied, when he didn't elaborate on this new bit of knowledge, "what did he say exactly?"

"There's a clearing," answered Dean as the whole room dropped out of focus and only the two of us remained in the lens of my memory, "in the woods just outside the Moonshade neighborhood. It's often used for pack gatherings so you'll find a well trodden trail leading from a pack hall and a large fire pit that they have at the edge of the neighborhood. If you follow that trail for about half a mile..."

"Half a mile?" I asked in a harsh whisper. "How am I supposed to see this ritual in time if they'll be starting in under fifteen minutes? I have to get to the neighborhood and trek out there in heels..."