Free Beautiful Freaks by Katie M John Page B

Heartlock’s emotions and it made him anxious.
    Heartlock took a rattling deep breath and continued, “It’s a sign of a coming violence , but it’s also a sign of strengthening; of renewal. Some say, and I am one of them, that the Blood Moon is a time of t he D evil. It’s the time when his seed bears fruit and his children are born into the world of man. Werewolves, Vampires, Hags, all manner of un-natural beings feed off of the power of the Blood Moon,” he paused, fixed Kaspian with a hard stare, lining up pupil to pupil before adding, “…even phantoms.”
    Kaspian blinked rapidly. It was no surprise that Heartlock knew his secret. In fact Kaspian’s true identity had been Heartlock’s secret long before it had been his own. What was surprising was the way in which his guardian had chosen to break the taboo. It was almost as if he was accusing Kaspian of a crime he was yet to commit.
    A thick and heavy silence fell between them . O nly the ticking of the clock could be heard. Heartlock refused to stop looking at him , and Kaspian felt a sudden surge of energy that could have been anger or grief – it was hard to tell the difference. He knew he needed to leave, get out before something terrible and irrecoverable happened between them. Heartlock had broken the bonds of their relationship in two simple words and now Kaspian could not be sure if his guardian was friend or foe.
    Kaspian’s body faded on the spot , and within less than a blink of Heartlock ’ s elderly eye, the boy vanished.
    Left alone, Heartlock’s broke into a sad smile of regret. He loved the bo y, just as he had loved his mother, and he’d handled this all wrong. But then, h e never had been very good at emotions.
     
    *
    By the time the first guests arrived, Kaspian had recovered himself as much as he could. He had bathed, dressed , and now wore the mask of a happy birthday boy. When he walked into the drawing room, Heartlock made an extra , and slightly unnatural , effort to compliment Kaspian on his evening dress. It was the offer of an olive branch and he loved the old man far too much to reject it.
    Heartlock’s friends and associates were an eccentric bunch who appeared to be friends mainly because of their common love of lunatic facial hair. They were mostly bachelor men who spent the sunlight hours in the dusty shade of their studies or laboratories. There were a few more interesting specimens amongst the group ; Professor Melfant for example , who was an archaeologist. He had been working out in Egypt for the last ten years, and had gone, as Heartlock would say in a low voice, ‘somewhat native .’ By this he meant that Professor Melfant had taken to smoking cigarettes and wore a flamboyant amount of jewellery. He also insisted on attending every social engagement with his pet monkey who would often cause a great amount of humorous cha os. Heartlock hated the monkey because he believed it was the vessel of an Egyptian demon- spirit. Kaspian thought it was just behaving like a monkey.
    Professor Melfant had a young male companion , Hugh Denvers, who was ridiculously pretty for a man. Hugh would always be found in the corner of the room, sitting languidly and smoking his Egyptian- blue cigarettes. He had heavy eyelids, the sort that might be found on a reptile , and they were laced with long dark lashes that swep t his cheekbone. Even in the colder climates of an autumnal London, he dressed in his alopecia suit, a navy polka- dot handkerchief stuffed in to the pocket. It was incredibly mo dern and Kaspian envied Hugh in his elegance and taste. But there was something else about Hugh De nvers that Kaspian couldn’t quite put his finger on. Maybe it was the way that Hugh ’s eyes would roll up from under his lashes and gaze at Kaspian when he thought no one was looking that made Kaspian feel uncomfortable.
    Kaspian was an exquisitely beautiful boy, but he had no idea just how enchanting he was. There was something that certain,