Chapter 7: No Turning Back
Zaltana didn't know if she wanted to stay at the house or go with her father to Kedem. "Dad, why don't you stay the night? I'm going to be seeing him tomorrow; you can just take me there tomorrow. I can cut school tomorrow its not like I will be missing all that much." She asked.
"I don't want to bring the danger here. They know me, if I'm right they don't know you yet. I would just bring them to you." Zaltana couldn't tell her father that she was already in danger and that Stanton already knew of her. Zaltana looked at her mother for support.
"Luke, one night wont hurt." She finally said. "Zal, your not cutting school. Kedem can wait. You know how long it's been since we last saw him."
"Last time I saw him was when Zoë turned 17. The daughters always did have to choice earlier then we did."
"Wait, who's Zoë? What do you mean choice?" Zaltana wasn't sure what was going on with her family or today. Since today's been pretty messed up as it was with her father coming back, being told to take up arms yet alone being asked to join two different sides in some kind of battle Zaltana didn't know what she was going to do next.
"Zoë? She's your godmother. She was a Daughter of the Moon. A great one at that. The two of you have similar powers." Luke explained. "Kedem hasn't told you yet. When a Child of the Sun turns 18, they are forced to make a choice. One option is to forget everything that they had experienced and lose their powers and live out the rest of their days as a normal kid. The other option is to become this protector or something. The way Kedem explained it, you would become a Guardian of Earth, but he doesn't know if that's what happens. That's what scared us."
"Wait if you had to make one of those choices, to be a sprit or to forget, how do you remember this?"
"We had you." Mandy said.
"Kedem couldn't let us forget what was happening because of your birth. You were born three days before I turned 18. I was planning on becoming that sprit thing, but I couldn't leave you. We didn't want to put you up for adoption; we didn't want to leave you on some crazy lady's front steps. And we weren't going to send you down stream in a basket."
"Is that why you left? Because of me?" Zaltana bit her lip hopping it wasn't true.
"Kind of. But it was agents my will. Kedem told me that I would have to leave so I could keep you safe. I stayed longer then I should have."
"Stop it. Just stop it. This isn't what I need to hear. Everything your telling me is making me reconsider not going with Stanton earlier today at the lake." She walked over to the door and grabbed her bag. "I really need to go for a nice long run. I'll be back in time to grab my school bag in the morning. Anyway you two might need to check up. That is if moms the same as she was when you left." Zaltana opened the door and started to run faster then she normally would have. She normally would have made sure her feet didn't smack agents the pavement but tonight she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of there. She ran at least a mile before she realized that no one was following her. Her father might have been telling the truth about some old evil was coming after her and her friends but she didn't really know who to trust. She started to slow down her pace when she heard sounds of a fight going on in the park down the street. She started to head over there when Stanton came out of the shadows and surprised her.
"Lovely child, your back out here alone. No one to save you, no lake for you to escape." His hand stroked her face.
"Leave me alone Stanton. I don't have time for you." She tried to push past him when his hand found its way to her shoulder. "What do you want from me? Why is this all happening tonight of all nights!"
"What I want from you is to join up with the Atrox. Why is it happening tonight of all nights, look out into the sky what do you see?"
"A bunch of low flying aircrafts, a few UFOs, some spot lights from the clubs and a few stars. Oh look there's the Space Station." She said looking at the sky.
"But you don't see the moon do you?"
"You got me their Fabio. It's the night of the new moon. And what does this have to do with me?"
"You teenagers today need to know what everything has to do with me. Its always me, me, me, me. Never looking at the big picture." Zaltana looked at her sun charm and it was glowing a slight golden color.
"You want to know what I see in the big picture?" Zaltana said while a smile crept across her face.
"This should be good."
"Death to the Atrox. What ever it is will crumble at my finger tips."
"Stay away from her." Zaltana heard from behind her. She turned to see five girls standing there.
"Are you guys the Daughters of the Moon or something?" Zaltana asked.
"Hey Chica how do you know of us?" one of them asked. She had two teardrops tattooed under her eye along with the whole 'I can kick your ass' look to her.
"I'll take that as a yes. I guess Maggie hasn't told you that your getting more Allies in the fun little holy war."
Zaltana didn't know if she wanted to stay at the house or go with her father to Kedem. "Dad, why don't you stay the night? I'm going to be seeing him tomorrow; you can just take me there tomorrow. I can cut school tomorrow its not like I will be missing all that much." She asked.
"I don't want to bring the danger here. They know me, if I'm right they don't know you yet. I would just bring them to you." Zaltana couldn't tell her father that she was already in danger and that Stanton already knew of her. Zaltana looked at her mother for support.
"Luke, one night wont hurt." She finally said. "Zal, your not cutting school. Kedem can wait. You know how long it's been since we last saw him."
"Last time I saw him was when Zoë turned 17. The daughters always did have to choice earlier then we did."
"Wait, who's Zoë? What do you mean choice?" Zaltana wasn't sure what was going on with her family or today. Since today's been pretty messed up as it was with her father coming back, being told to take up arms yet alone being asked to join two different sides in some kind of battle Zaltana didn't know what she was going to do next.
"Zoë? She's your godmother. She was a Daughter of the Moon. A great one at that. The two of you have similar powers." Luke explained. "Kedem hasn't told you yet. When a Child of the Sun turns 18, they are forced to make a choice. One option is to forget everything that they had experienced and lose their powers and live out the rest of their days as a normal kid. The other option is to become this protector or something. The way Kedem explained it, you would become a Guardian of Earth, but he doesn't know if that's what happens. That's what scared us."
"Wait if you had to make one of those choices, to be a sprit or to forget, how do you remember this?"
"We had you." Mandy said.
"Kedem couldn't let us forget what was happening because of your birth. You were born three days before I turned 18. I was planning on becoming that sprit thing, but I couldn't leave you. We didn't want to put you up for adoption; we didn't want to leave you on some crazy lady's front steps. And we weren't going to send you down stream in a basket."
"Is that why you left? Because of me?" Zaltana bit her lip hopping it wasn't true.
"Kind of. But it was agents my will. Kedem told me that I would have to leave so I could keep you safe. I stayed longer then I should have."
"Stop it. Just stop it. This isn't what I need to hear. Everything your telling me is making me reconsider not going with Stanton earlier today at the lake." She walked over to the door and grabbed her bag. "I really need to go for a nice long run. I'll be back in time to grab my school bag in the morning. Anyway you two might need to check up. That is if moms the same as she was when you left." Zaltana opened the door and started to run faster then she normally would have. She normally would have made sure her feet didn't smack agents the pavement but tonight she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of there. She ran at least a mile before she realized that no one was following her. Her father might have been telling the truth about some old evil was coming after her and her friends but she didn't really know who to trust. She started to slow down her pace when she heard sounds of a fight going on in the park down the street. She started to head over there when Stanton came out of the shadows and surprised her.
"Lovely child, your back out here alone. No one to save you, no lake for you to escape." His hand stroked her face.
"Leave me alone Stanton. I don't have time for you." She tried to push past him when his hand found its way to her shoulder. "What do you want from me? Why is this all happening tonight of all nights!"
"What I want from you is to join up with the Atrox. Why is it happening tonight of all nights, look out into the sky what do you see?"
"A bunch of low flying aircrafts, a few UFOs, some spot lights from the clubs and a few stars. Oh look there's the Space Station." She said looking at the sky.
"But you don't see the moon do you?"
"You got me their Fabio. It's the night of the new moon. And what does this have to do with me?"
"You teenagers today need to know what everything has to do with me. Its always me, me, me, me. Never looking at the big picture." Zaltana looked at her sun charm and it was glowing a slight golden color.
"You want to know what I see in the big picture?" Zaltana said while a smile crept across her face.
"This should be good."
"Death to the Atrox. What ever it is will crumble at my finger tips."
"Stay away from her." Zaltana heard from behind her. She turned to see five girls standing there.
"Are you guys the Daughters of the Moon or something?" Zaltana asked.
"Hey Chica how do you know of us?" one of them asked. She had two teardrops tattooed under her eye along with the whole 'I can kick your ass' look to her.
"I'll take that as a yes. I guess Maggie hasn't told you that your getting more Allies in the fun little holy war."
