December Moon <pt5>.......AerisVampire

The sun beat down on their fur, the amber and the grey. The kitten ruffled the hairs on her back to let in the warm solar rays, and though she wasn't able to open her eyes yet, Georgia could see the sun. Her mother rocked her in comforting arms as they walked slowly away from the Tribe House for the first time since the birth of Eve's litter. Vivitevka looked back to watch for her son; she had left prior to Eve's detour to Jackie. It seemed like forever they waited, but Evander appeared, closing the front door gingerly behind him. Her ran on tiptoe to catch up with his mother and Georgia. As he joined them, greeted them, their ears picked up a scream on a familiar voice.

"I guess Rachael found Clove," Eve said sullenly. Vivitevka ignored that remark as she tended to do so often. He shifted his eyes to look at her again, but even in clear daylight, unobstructed by linen curtains, she looked the same as she had this morning. His mother was growing old.

The black tips on her grey fur were fading, turning to the silver she bore as a child, like summer leaves morphing from green to orange. . . and autumn leaves fall, and are gone by the rise of the December moon. She would get old, Eve thought, and she would die. But he looked closer, looked beyond the dissolving colors, he saw her face. It was still spry and youthful, hanging on to that childlike dream, albiet wisened that the dream would never come true. Vivitevka had many mysteries, he knew, and he closed his eyes to block out thoughts of his father. He knew that was the reason he'd married Vivitevka, in addition to some of his own reasons he'd managed to con the kits out of wanting to know. But they knew anyway. Evander wondered about his mother. . . had she given a second thought to leaving her husband and best friends?

"He'll follow."

Her son stared at her with mixed emotion: joy, confusion, anger, love, but he allowed a contented smile to prevail in the battle on his cheeks. He understood now why his father loved her so much. Though his father had no way with words, it didn't matter, for Vivitevka percieved every feeling, every emotion. She was a channeler of ideas, a medium of thought. Evander could tell that it was this that caused her to seem old, this inward excess of knowledge that turned into creases beneath her eyes. He knew, because he was stronger than she was, and the 'schizophrenia' that impaired him was tearing him up.

"We're going to Launcington's first," Vivitevka continued. "Talic and Ramrod work there. We'll get a drink, and some info. Then, we'll stop by Eury's studio and see if she can find a place for us to stay until I come up with a plan."

"Mom," he said quizzically. "Don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?"

"Too seriously?" came her reply, eyebrows raised, cocked. "This is a serious situation. You've just been exiled from your family! You've been disowned, just as you disowned your father and brothers! But you know what, Eve? I'm still with you. And if you're not going to take th is situation for what it is, I will."

There was a long, painful, awkward silence when Vivitevka calmed down, and for many moments they walked without a sound, save Georgia's absent murmurings. "You killed my son, Evander, but you are also my son. Should I abandon you? I didn't abandon Milo. . ."

"You didn't help him out though!"

"I didn't have the means to."

"You did too, Mother! You had the money, and if not, Dad could have gotten some somehow," Eve growled. "Why are you leaving the tribe with me if you don't need to?"

"Because I love you."

"And you didn't love him?"

"I do love him!" Vivitevka yelled, losing her patience. "Its just that. . . I know what would have happened to you if I didn't leave too."

"What, then," -Eve raised his own voice, and the fur on his back- "would happen that's so terrible that you had to follow me and give up your home and security?"

Until now, neither mother nor son heard Georgia's mewling, neglected and distressed. Vivitevka rocked her, cooing to the kitten as she bounced her arms up and down to subdue the child. Her whispers for silence were effective and soon Georgia had quieted her discomfort. The kitten squirmed and turned her face to her brother, and slowly pried her eyes open with a pair of invisible pliers. Vivitevka allowed a breath of air to escape her throat, gasping as her adopted daughter saw the world for the first time. Her eyes first traced the outline of Evander, his silhouette in the sun, with a ghostly halo around his fur, causing him to appear as an

"Angel," Georgia said, her voice breaking into being with the softness of goose down and fleece, a voice personifying her first word.

Evander took a short breath, a would-be gasp, but inaudible, as he heard his sister speak. Shaking the voice out of his ears, he walked faster in an attempt to escape the kitten's suggestions. Vivitevka sighed and stroked Georgia's cheek, locking her eyes on Eve.

"Because that's the last thing I'd see you as. An angel. A ghost," she said with a quiver. "A corpse."

"Like Clove? Like Tantalus?"

"Exactly. I don't want to lose another son."

"Again, then, what about Milo?" he called back to her. "Haven't you lost him?"

"He isn't dead. I can still get him back," she said, and after a pause added, "And soon, I will."

Eve craned his head back toward her, following her with his eyes as she finally caught up.

"You're not breaking him out, are you?"

"No, I'm not," she smirked and glanced sidelong at her son. "We're bailing him out. Better put on your happy face, Eve, Launcington's is just up the street."

And it was. Evander growled beneath his breath and combed his head fur with his claws. If he was going to plead for help from the twins Talic and Ramrod, he would at least have to look half as good as they did, right? Eve stared at the sign above the door as slowly they approached, and quickly he became nauseous.

Thanks so much!! AerisVampire

Show all stories by   Author:  56410 ( Click here )