A Shattered Moon Read online

  Shattered Moon

  Book One of the Portals of ayden

  Kim Stokely

  Copyright © 2016 by Kim Stokely

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  Kim Stokely/Createspace

  Bellevue, NE

  www.kimstokely.com

  Book cover design by The Scarlett Rugers Design Agency

  www.scarlettrugers.com

  Map by Michael Weir: www.patreon.com/levilagann

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Book Layout © 2015 BookDesignTemplates.com

  A Shattered Moon/ Kim Stokely. -- 1st ed.

  ISBN 978-1539318156

  For my TNT girls.

  Because each of you face battles every day, and I know you are strong enough to win the war

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1- Waiting for an Asteroid

  Chapter 2- Got my Cake, Never Ate it

  Chapter 3- The Passage

  Chapter 4- Not in Connecticut Anymore

  Chapter 5- Red Dawn

  Chapter 6- Not Rock

  Chapter 7- Keeping Silent

  Chapter 8- Under the Stars

  Chapter 9- Ginessa’s Pool

  Chapter 10- Truth be Told

  Chapter 11- The Sanctuary

  Chapter 12- The Order

  Chapter 13- Goodbye

  Chapter 14- Learning my Past

  Chapter 15- The Keeper of the Keys

  Chapter 16- Demons and Messengers

  Chapter 17- Welcome to Ayden

  Chapter 18- Assassination

  Chapter 19- Swallowed by Earth

  Chapter 20- Hiding in Plain Sight

  Chapter 21- Spirit Travel

  Chapter 22- I’m Getting Married

  Chapter 23- A Dark Stranger

  Chapter 24- Alone with the Stranger

  Chapter 25- Into the Fey

  Chapter 26- Down the Rabbit Hole

  Chapter 27- Friends No More

  Chapter 28- The Power of the Fallen

  Chapter 29- The Breaking

  Chapter 30- Lord Braedon

  Chapter 31- Dying

  Chapter 32- Believe It or Not

  Chapter 33- A Secret Lesson

  Chapter 34- Betrayed

  Chapter 35- To Save a Life

  Chapter 36- I See You

  Chapter 37- Signing

  CHAPTER ONE

  Waiting for an Asteroid

  On a scale from one to ten—with one being a private limousine taking me and my boyfriend, Channing Tatum, into NYC to see the Broadway show of my choice; and ten being the apocalypse—this morning would normally have ranked at about a six. My mother only left me a half a cup of coffee in the carafe before she took off for work. Sour milk in the fridge meant I had to eat my generic Fruitios dry, leaving behind a coat of sugar that no amount of toothpaste could dislodge. When I attempted to spit out said toothpaste into the sink, it dribbled on my shirt, which meant I had to change clothes. That wouldn’t have been so bad if, like any normal day, my best friends, Josh and Renee, had picked me up.

  But no. On this one day, the most important of my teenage life, Josh shot me the text: Sorry. U have to bus it today. C u @ school

  I had just enough time to change my shirt, grab my backpack, make the bus, and run to sociology before the bell rang. The fact that this all happened on my sixteenth birthday meant that so far, this day ranked out at a 9.5. I figured the only thing that could make it worse would be an asteroid the size of Kentucky screaming toward Earth. Instead, I got Ms. Farley’s wrath.

  I think I would have preferred the asteroid.

  “Miss Foster?” The old woman sat hunched like a buzzard waiting to pick the meat off my sophomore bones. “May I see you at my desk, please?”

  A small chorus of “ooooooh’s” followed me from the couple of kids paying attention.

  “Would you mind explaining this?” Farley slapped a piece of paper on her desk.

  I knew what the paper showed. My mother’s name, Kennis Foster, written in bold letters with a horizontal line connected to a question mark. A perpendicular line joined her name to mine‒Alystrine Foster. That was it. At least I had put my legal name, which I absolutely never used, on the project.

  “Mrs. Farley—”

  “Ms. Farley.” I flinched at her interruption. Before I could apologize, she plowed on. “I am not now, nor have I ever been, married. And just because your mother hasn’t married is no excuse for not completing this assignment.”

  I felt my cheeks warm with embarrassment. “I tried to explain to you before that—”

  “She didn’t just fall from the sky, did she?”

  “No but she—”

  “She must have a family, even if she chose to have a child by unconventional methods. You could have listed her mother and father. Her sisters—”

  “I’m trying to explain—”

  “What?” Farley’s green eyes flashed behind her glasses like a hawk that spied its prey. “What are you trying to explain? That she’s an alien? That she was born in a Petri dish? What could possibly explain her total lack of heritage except that you were too lazy to do the assignment?”

  “Maybe the fact that she was dumped in an orphanage when she was a baby and raped by a gang of boys when she was a teenager!” A sudden silence fell over the classroom like a wall of concrete. My stomach did a somersault. Why don’t I think before I say things? The fire in Farley’s eyes dimmed as she processed what I’d said. “I tried to tell you that before, but you apparently didn’t listen.”

  The spark lit up again. “Don’t take that tone with me, young lady.”

  In the back of my head I heard my mother’s voice urging me to be calm. To answer with respect. I ignored it. “You’ve just chewed me out and made me admit the most intimate details of my life in front of the entire class, and you’re worried about my tone of voice?”

  “Mr. Edecker’s office.” She opened her desk drawer, pulled out a stack of passes, scribbled her signature on the top paper, and then tore it off. “Now.”

  I snatched the pass from her hand. The stares of the other students made heat rise to cheeks again, probably turning them bright red. As I grabbed my backpack from the floor, Sophia Brennan whispered, “Are you okay?”

  I snorted softly. “Just ducky.”

  Stalking down the hall, I recalculated the crap factor of this day to a record infinity. Ms. Farley had hated me from the moment I’d sat down in her class. I worked my buns off for her and never got anything above a B. Steffy Majors once told me she cheated off my paper during a test and she got an A minus while I got a C. Renee told me it was because Farley hated pretty girls. I wasn’t gorgeous like my mother, but I knew I wasn’t an ugly duckling either. I think it was my auburn hair that made Farley jealous. Her’s was a mousy brown while mine, I had to admit, was long, thick, and this great deep brown with coppery highlights. A lot of people thought I got it from a bottle, but it was natural. It’s the only part of my body I liked.

  I arrived at the principal’s office, handed my pass to the assistant behind the counter then took a seat in one of the teal plastic chairs along the wall. Our school colors were supposed to be green and silver, but the district must have gotten a discount on teal and white furniture because that’s what was in the office and the classrooms. The clock on the wall ticked away the minutes to my doom.


  I stared at the rabid rodent painted on the wall across from me. Our school mascot, a groundhog, was about as threatening as a baby bunny, but the painting made it seem positively evil.

  The door to the principal’s office swung open and out walked Edecker with his hand on the shoulder of a long-haired kid in a flannel shirt and torn jeans. “Let’s see if we can go one week without another offense, okay, Jacobs?”

  Jacobs shirked away from the principal and slunk past me.

  Edecker’s jowls shook as he ran his hand over his balding head. At least he had class enough to not do the comb-over thing. He glanced over in my direction. “You here to see me?”

  I nodded as his assistant chimed, “Ms. Farley sent her down.”

  He pushed his wire frame glasses up onto the bridge of his nose then narrowed his eyes as he stared at me. “Foster, isn’t it?”

  I stood up. “Yes, sir.” See Mom, I can be polite when I’m not being chewed out.

  He scratched his double chin then pointed inside his office. “What’s going on, Amy?”

  “It’s Ally, sir.”

  He shut the door behind us after I took a seat. “Ally. What are you here for?”

  I launched in with my explanation as to what happened in Farley’s class. Edecker folded his hands on his desk and listened intently. At least he seemed uncomfortable when I told him why I couldn’t do Farley’s family tree assignment. “You can call my mother. She’ll tell you I’m telling the truth.”

  “You have to admit . . .” Edecker coughed nervously. “It does sound a bit far-fetched.”

  I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. “Call her.”

  He let out a long sigh as the passing bell rang. “I will. For now, go on to your next class.”

  From the side-long glances I got, I knew the kids in my Sociology class had begun spreading the news of my heritage. I did my best to ignore the stares as I booked my way up to my locker on the second floor. I had nothing to be ashamed of and neither did my mom. She’d been a victim, but didn’t play that card. She had me when she was just a kid herself then went back to school to become a nurse. She’d made a good life for us and I wasn’t going to let Ms. Farley or anyone else look down on her for having a tough start.

  I turned the corner and saw my locker, covered in lime green streamers. Renee and Josh stood on either side, each holding a Mylar balloon.

  “You’re squashing the decorations, moron.” Renee smacked her taller, thinner, twin brother. She squealed as she ran over to me. “Happy sixteenth, Ally!” Her spiked pink hair nearly took out my eye when she gave me a hug. Her balloon bounced against my head.

  I pried myself loose from her enthusiastic embrace. “This is why you made me ride the bus?”

  Josh shrugged. “Something had to be done to celebrate the momentous occasion of your birth.” He leaned his skinny frame against a neighboring locker. “Here.” He held out his balloon. It had a picture of a dog with a thermometer in its mouth. It read Get Well Soon. “Happy birthday. We still on for tonight?”

  “Unless my mom grounds me after my run-in with Farley this morning.” I squeezed between them and dialed the combination for my locker.

  Renee clenched her fist as if she were going to start a protest. “Sophia texted me what happened. I can’t believe Farley. She’s a freaking fascist.”

  “Nice alliteration.” Josh shook his head. “You don’t even know what that means.”

  She jabbed Josh in the arm with her pointer finger. “Remember when Farley stabbed me?”

  “She slipped with a pencil.” He rubbed his bicep. “It was an accident.”

  “It still hurt.”

  The bell rang, signaling the end of the passing period. We had one minute to get to class. Another crush of adolescent humanity scurried by us. Maybe it was my imagination, but it sure seemed like most of them looked my way. Renee tied her Mylar balloon around my wrist before running to her Chem class. I put away my sociology book then grabbed my copy of Julius Caesar for English.

  Josh propped himself against the neighboring locker. “Crappy way to start off your birthday. Sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” I slammed the door. “Not entirely, anyway.”

  His eyebrows rose. “Hey, come on. The balloons and streamers have to make up for the bus.” We walked toward our class, carried along by the tide of teenagers racing down the hall.

  “I don’t know. The bus smells weird. It’s like Oscar Mayer and Axe got together to create a new cologne.”

  He pulled me out of the congested hallway toward the alcove by the stairs. “Don’t worry about Farley.”

  “That report is worth forty percent of my grade.”

  Josh wrapped me in his arms. His chin rested on the top of my head. “Edecker will listen to your mom. They’ll come up with something else for you to do.”

  No one gave better hugs. I took a deep breath and relaxed. “We better go. All I need is to be sent down to Edecker’s office again today for being late.”

  We jogged down the hall, making it to our seats as the bell rang. Josh tied his balloon to the back of my chair while Renee’s bobbed into my head as I sat down.

  Tiffany Ross, the brunette who sat in front of me, turned around. “It’s your birthday?”

  I blinked in surprise. One of the popular crowd, the girl had never said a word to me before. “Uh, yeah.”

  Her nose wrinkled like she caught a whiff of the boys’ bathroom. “I’m surprised your mother knew the date. Maybe she made it up. You can never trust a whore.”

  I jumped up and would have strangled her if Josh hadn’t grabbed hold of my arm. “My mother has more class than a stuck-up bitch like you will ever have.” I ripped myself away from Josh just as Mr. Andrews strolled in, carrying a cup of coffee.

  “Open your books up to Act III scene two.”

  Tiffany spun back around in her seat. “Happy bastard . . . oops, I mean birthday.”

  “Ignore her,” Josh whispered, pulling on the hem of my shirt so I had to sit down.

  But I couldn’t just ignore her. Instead, I drew stick figure doodles of an asteroid smooshing Tiffany Ross flat.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Got my Cake, Never Ate it

  I’d just sat down in my Geometry class an hour later when a disembodied voice crackled over the intercom. “Mrs. Shields?”

  “Yes?”

  “Please send Ally Foster to the office.”

  “Will do.” Mrs. Shields raised one eyebrow as she looked in my direction. “Got any idea what this is about?”

  I stood up. “I had a run-in with Ms. Farley this morning.”

  Mrs. Shields let out a soft chuckle. Her blue eyes twinkled. “Say no more. If this is something to do with her, you’d better take your things with you.”

  I grabbed my book bag and headed to the principal’s office. Again.

  My heart jumped into my throat when I saw my mom through the office door window. I didn’t think Edecker would get her down here so soon to talk about this morning’s fiasco. Where was an asteroid when you needed one?

  I kept my cool as I opened the door. The delinquent sitting where I’d waited earlier drooled as he stared at my mother. She’d pulled her long blonde hair up into a twist. Her white blouse fell open tastefully, giving the kid a good look at her creamy skin as she leaned over to sign a piece of paper on the counter. Her tight blue pencil skirt showed off her legs to their best advantage.

  I took a deep breath. “Hey, Mom.”

  Instead of the glare of doom I’d been expecting, I got a huge smile. “Hello, birthday girl! You ready to party?”

  “What?”

  “I thought we could have an early birthday celebration since I have to work tonight.” She dug her keys from her purse. “Get your things. I’ll wait in the car.”

  I texted Renee to let her know that I wouldn’t be at lunch. I skipped to my locker, grabbed my books and my balloons, then hurried to find out what my mom had planned.

  It turned
out she’d made an appointment at the DMV so I could take my driving test. Two hours, several forms and a myriad of lines later, I drove us to the Shore House for my birthday lunch. The small stone café overlooked Long Island Sound. We followed a waiter to a table for two by one of the picture windows toward the back of the restaurant. The afternoon sun sparkled on the white caps formed by the brisk spring wind. We ordered mozzarella sticks and Caesar salads with shrimp and diet colas. I stared at my license while we waited for our appetizer to arrive.

  My mom held out her hand. “Let me see it again.”

  I passed it over to her. “Is it a law that all license pictures look like mug shots?”

  “I think so.” She inspected the card. “This isn’t so bad. You look tired.” She handed it back. “Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

  I slipped it into my wallet. “I think I was just worried about Farley.”

  “Did you work out that assignment?”

  “No.” I jabbed my straw into the soda. “I tried to talk to her before it was due and she wouldn’t listen. Then she got all bent out of shape when I turned in what I had.” I stirred the ice cubes around in a furious whirlpool. “I think the principal is going to be calling you soon.”

  “I’ll get it straightened out. Try not to let it ruin your day.” She peeled the wrapper from her straw and stuck it in her soda. “That’s not all that kept you up, was it?” She always had a way of reading my mind.

  “I had a nightmare.”

  She took a sip of her drink. “What about?”

  “I was walking somewhere. You know how in a dream you know you’re home, but it’s not your real home?” Mom nodded. “It was like that. I was walking in a garden, and then there was a river. I could see the moon reflected in it. It was full and bright, but when I looked up in the sky, it shattered like glass.” I struggled to remember what I’d seen. “There were faces in the shards. Yours, mine…people I didn’t know, but somehow they were familiar. They called my name.”

  The creases between my mom’s eyebrows deepened. “Have you had this dream before?”