Disclaimer: I don't own Daughters of the Moon, nor the Sons of the Dark. I don't own Stanton (that would be too amazing). All I own is this box of donuts.
Summary: Vanessa, Catty, Jimena and Serena are in grieving for Tianna, but they don't have time to mourn when a new friend is stalked by Regulators, and a run in with Catty's ex, Kyle, and his friends, the Sons of the Dark doesn't improve much. In between book 12 of Daughters and through book 4 of Sons. R & r, first fic. Flames will be used to commit arsony.
Moon slivers fell over the sleeping girl, illuminating the dark bedroom. Boxes stood in the corner, waiting to be unpacked from the hurried move. Her favorite CD had long stopped playing, beginning again quietly, and filling the air with a dark melody. She lay still, breathing slowly, her black silk sheets twisted around her. Papers littered the desk in the corner, poetry scrawled in a hurry to depict the emotions that ran through her. Tears had dried on her cheeks and a knife blade glinted dangerous silver on the bedside table. Her wrists were covered in long red scabs, proof of her attempts to end her living nightmare. People called her a danger to herself, but the real danger was much more dangerous than her own fears and dreams. It was seeping into her room, a dark shadow creeping towards her. The shadow took form in the dark, becoming a dangerously beautiful young man. His blue eyes gleamed phosphorescent in the moonlight. He strode closer to the bed, and a cocky smirk played on his lips. "You amuse me, little one. You thought I wouldn't find you here. I will find you, wherever you go. Tu es dea, filia lunae. You are a Goddess, a Daughter of the Moon. But soon you will be a dark goddess and the Atrox waits for you." His voice was filled with dark promise. His hand caressed her sleeping face, the amulet shining brighter, as if it could push him away. Power surrounded her body, glowing in a silver shimmer, ready to attack, even though he could easily overpower it and her. He smirked at it, fell back into the shadows, and was gone.
Chapter One
Ry Dunelly walked quickly along the halls of La Brea High, her messenger bag bouncing on her shoulder. Her temples pulsed with pain from sleepless nights and her
powers were misbehaving. Someone, someone she knew had visited again last night, but who, and why? Something, something she was supposed to remember……but she had forgotten. Her long white blonde hair swayed over her shoulder and her silvery eyes seemed lost in thought. She didn't hear the calls of "Hey Ry!" and "Wassup?" or even the catcalls of the guys.
Vanessa Cleveland came up to her. "Ry? Hello? Earth to Ry!" Hurled out of her thoughts, she turned to her friend in surprise. Vanessa was one of the more popular girls at school. She was more serious and studied a lot. She looked concerned, her blue eyes glancing around for Ry's problem, as if it was something she could deal with.
"Oh, hi Vanessa. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She smiled, trying to brush her fear off.
"Uh-huh." Vanessa looked at her knowingly, opening her locker. "Something's bothering you. What's wrong?"
"I can't talk about it."
Vanessa gave her a look, brushing her blonde curls out of her face. "Are you coming to Serena's sleepover?"
"Oh, yeah. That's right. Sure, I'll come," she replied, feeling slightly guilty for having forgotten it.
"We're going clubbing right after, and I think my mom will let me raid her storage room," Vanessa continued, waiting for Ry to finish putting her books away.
Ry nodded. "Okay. Sounds like fun."
"Hey," Vanessa touched her cold wrist gently. "If you need to talk, we're here for you." Ry looked at her, and Vanessa mentally drew back at her cold gaze, and smile that barely reached her eyes.
The rest of the day went by in an unassuming blur and Ry had never felt more grateful to be standing on her friend's doorstep at five like a normal teenager. Her friends were fairly new, Ry having just moved to LA. Well, that wasn't entirely true. In reality, she had lived in Los Angeles her whole life. Except, there were worse things than druggies and rapists roaming the night there. Ry started, shocked at herself. She knew better than to let unguarded thoughts slip into the air like that. Shaking her head and locking away all her thoughts about that other place, she knocked on the door of the Spanish style house and Serena's brother Collin answered.
"Hey Ry," he said, his blonde hair falling into his eyes, zinc oxide sprinkled on his nose. "Serena's in the family room with Jimena and Catty."
She smiled and walked to her friends. "Thanks, Collin. Hey!" She greeted everyone. Catty nodded, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth, her brown hair swept up into a bun as she painted star designs on Jimena's arm. Catty was an artist and her paintings were beautiful, usually resembling one of her friends in the guise of a goddess by the sea. She was fun-loving and reckless, also the only one besides Ry who didn't have a boyfriend, except Kyle, and once Chris, but she'd lost the second and broken it off with the first.
"Hey," Jimena said, smiling at Ry, her black hair spread over one shoulder. Jimena had two teardrops tattooed under her eye, reminders of por vida, and one tough attitude. She used to be a gangster but had quit the life, for reasons Ry was still unaware of. Serena leaped up and hugged Ry; her red curls bouncing and green eyes shining. Serena was stylish in a way no one else had thought of, and was extremely good at sensing things with her tarot deck. She was also almost too insightful and Ry had trouble keeping her thoughts from her.
"Come on, Vanessa should be here soon with the clothes, and then we can go. I made popcorn," she said happily, handing the bowl to Ry.
Jimena looked at her, questioningly. "Hey, Ry, is anything bothering you?"
Ry put on a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. No problem." Jimena looked as if she knew Ry was lying. Thankfully, she dropped it.
"Hey guys!" Vanessa sailed into the room, bringing Collin behind her, lugging a huge trunk of stuff she had gotten from her mother's storeroom.
An hour later, Catty looked awesome in a black tube top with a pink ribbon around the top and a matching skirt. Serena had donned a red halter with a sexy red skirt slitted up the side. Vanessa was resplendent in a blue silk dress that showed off the tattoo over her heart and Jimena was in a lavender tube top and jeans. Ry wore a white lacy camisole that crisscrossed over her bare back and a white lacy skirt. Ry's face appeared unnaturally pale in the darkening night of the last quarter moon. She swirled silver glitter all over her face, into her hairline and shoulders. She stepped back and admired her work, feeling as if the warrior goddess in her had emerged. She turned back to her friends and oddly enough, they too, looked otherworldly and mystical. "Whoa, Ry." Catty exclaimed, seeing Ry's back. "Awesome ink!" Ry blushed. "Thanks." She turned around so the others could see it. A large pair of white wings was tattooed on her back. They were lovely, with light shining on the tips, ready to take flight into the moonlight.
"I wanna know who does your ink." Jimena protested, enviously. Vanessa, Catty and Serena laughed. They smiled at each other and Ry started to ask where the party was, but a dark shadow forming in the corner cut her off. She was frozen with fear as it took shape into a young man. Serena smiled broadly as the blonde boy stepped toward them and ran to kiss him.
"Hey, Stanton!" Relief soared through Ry's body like a dove, but panic still held her. He returned Serena's kiss and held her tenderly. She pulled away to smile at him. Then he saw Ry.
His handsome features twisted into shock and rage. "Ryelle! What are you doing here? How the hell did you escape Nefandus?"