With dusk came the brightening and quickening of the body and senses as the effects of the sun were bridled by the coming of the moon. I left the earth and made my way to the chapel to await her coming.
I waited whilst dusk softened everything around me and I came alive, the preternatural awakening made all the more glorious when I heard Luna making her way through the trees toward the chapel.
When I heard her footsteps, the urgency and excitement I felt at her presence, and the anticipation of her reaction to my gifts, were unintentionally conveyed to her because her footsteps quickened when she reached the clearing and she all but ran into the chapel to the altar. That was when I released the hold I had kept on her throughout that day.
Her emotions rose in a clamour, almost drowning out her thoughts and it was hard for me to decipher her reactions to the gifts, especially since I could not see her face. But I had the strong sense she was confused and anxious, especially since she was now remembering the things I made her forget the evening before.
I was about to join her in the chapel when a voice broke through to Luna’s mind, instantly dissolving my euphoria.
I told you to stay away from that place.
It was the witch. The next thing she said was like acid running through my veins.
Run.
To my dismay Luna turned away from the gifts, and although she did not run, she hurried away from the altar, down the aisle and out of the chapel.
Desperation surged along with blind panic, tightening my chest, as I listened to her footsteps receding as she made for the trees. I dove out of my hiding place and materialised in the clearing outside the chapel door, watching her slender form moving swiftly toward the trees, with increasing alarm.
I was about to call to her when she came to an abrupt stop. Her back was ramrod straight and the muscles of her neck tight with tension. She turned around and stared directly at me, fear alive in her beautiful face, the eye in the dark wide open.
“What you want?” she asked.
I vanished. She jumped in fright and only managed to prevent a scream from escaping her lips through sheer determination when I appeared before her seemingly out of thin air.
Now she was before me once more, I searched her face as anxiety churned within. Was this really her? The woman in my vision hadn't been human, yet this one was. How could this be her? Is it possible, after all these years, that I was mistaken and she—the real she—was still out there somewhere?
My fears were briefly allayed when instead of trying to move away and toward the trees, she stood and stared at me, her fear gone, her thoughts that of awe. She even took a step forward and peered at me.
I was, as always, overwhelmed by her beauty, by that direct, mysterious gaze and I found I could not speak. Without thinking about what I was doing, I reached out to touch her, stopping inches away from her face when sounds reached me from the woods, two males, one whose thoughts appeared to be on Luna. I glanced toward the woods, and delved into his mind, trying to ascertain who this male was and whether he was a threat to her. He was an African male she knew and his thoughts were only of concern.
When I returned my gaze to Luna, I saw with dismay that she was slowly edging away from me, her face contorted in fear.
Heart-wrenching sorrow and panic seized me again as she backed away to the trees. She stared at me for a long moment. Then she turned and fled.
I was left alone in the clearing beneath the bronze light of the dying sun. The light that had briefly illuminated my world when I saw her for the first time disappeared along with her fleeing form, and I was left shrouded in darkness.