Free Full Moon by W.J. May

off or be broken unless specific
things happen.”
    “ Like what?”
    “ I have to put it on you, it’s my blood.”
    Freaky—but kind of romantic at the same time. “You’re sister’s pretty gutsy.”
    “ Yeah, she likes pushing me when she can.” He chuckled and
relaxed. They obviously had sibling affection I’d never
experienced.
    “ Is this something Caleb’s family created?”
    “ In a way.”
    I hated how he
was answering my questions with bits and pieces. Sighing, I blew
the bangs away from my forehead. “What’s going on? You want to
talk, but you’re not really telling me anything.”
    Michael pushed
off the couch and began pacing in front of the fire. His costume
clinked and sparkled against the flickering light. I kind of hoped
it would irritate him and he’d pull the top off. He paced back and
forth about ten times. Just when I was about to suggest we head
back, he began talking.
    “ That—” He pointed to the pendant on my neck “—is the last bit
of me that still holds life.”
    “ What?”
    He stopped
pacing. “I’m not who you think I am.”
    Ah, double
crapper. I didn’t know what was going on, but after seeing that
beast a few months back nothing would seem unbelievable. “You acted
all scared about the book I got, but then got ticked when I asked
if you were one of those Grawlics.” I started laughing, the
nervousness inside of me escaping.
    “ Grollics,” he corrected. “I’m not one. We are in no way
related. But… we are the same in a sense.”
    “ You’re kidding.”
    “ I wish I was.” He sat down beside me.
    The sadness in
his eyes tore little bits off my heart. “What’re you trying to tell
me?”
    He stared at
the necklace. His eyes were bright blue against the reflection of
the fire, almost aqua-green in color. “I’m not like
you...anymore.”
    I couldn’t get
my head around this conversation. “It doesn’t make any sense. You
said this is your blood.”
    His eyes
closed. “Grace and I, we were…like you… about a hundred and forty
years ago. The man I knew as my father wasn’t my… my biological
father. Grace and I never knew.”
    This was jacked up . “What happened?”
    “ Our…My mother was raped before she married my father. On the
day of their wedding, just before they took their vows. She never
told us, we learned about it after her death.”
    My mouth fell
open. “That’s awful.” What a secret to carry. “Maybe your dad
really was your father.” I felt I was grasping at straws. “You
know, fifty-fifty chance.”
    “ No,” he spoke sharply. “Mother was raped by someone you could
never imagine.”
    “ What do you mean?” I couldn’t believe I was actually having
this conversation, and believing it.
    “ You know those Greek mythology stories about the gods coming
down and having children with humans?”
    My eyes grew
huge. “You’re the son of Zeus?”
    “ No.” He shook his head and dragged his fingers through his
hair. “Shit! I’m screwing everything up. I was trying to use it as
a comparison. The Greeks used these folklore stories because they
are partially true, they just got the heavenly participants mixed
up.” He waited, obviously wanting me to guess.
    “ Okay,” I said slowly. “You’re a soul returned back to earth.
Or, you’re living some reincarnated life?”
    “ No. I’m part…” He began pacing again.
    Something
clicked in the back of my mind. “Angel?”
    “ Sort of.” He threw his hands in the air. “This is so hard to
explain. Grace used to joke about angels, saying we were distant
third cousins, once removed.”
    “ An angel raped your mother?” That didn’t make sense. Impossible.
    “ I know what you’re thinking, but not all angels are good.
They come from both ends of the spectrum. We’re not angels. My
mother was not an angel. We still don’t know the entire process or
what exactly created us. We think it may have something to do with
fallen ones but aren’t completely sure. One