Summer's Repose

By J.L. Kudlo

Summer's Repose is the highly anticipated second installment of the Season's Series. In the aftermath of Will's battle with Loki, Will begins to accept his new life of mystery, danger and magic with a little help from Freya, the girl that has opened up his world to him. But as the lazy days of summer give way to a tragedy that shakes the small town of Galesburg, Will is forced to make decisions to keep those that he cares about safe, leaving himself vulnerable to the evils that lurk in the vast shadows of his quaint little town.

As Will faces up to his decisions, he begins to learn that he is not the only one changing. His best friend embarks on her own journey of self discovery and begins to explore her unexpected and growing feelings for her childhood friend.

When Will discovers that the enemy has taken a member of his family, he finds himself in Louisiana, a mecca of the supernatural. Here he must make the choice to stand against those that wish to destroy his world or join them in their quest to end mankind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.L. Kudlo
• Release date: Jun 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311582430

J.L. Kudlo

J. L. Kudlo hails from a small midwestern town where she lives with her husband and four rescue pets. She is a fierce advocate for the adoption of shelter pets as well as possesses an extreme love for baking. Kudlo grew up with a pen and paper in hand, jotting down short stories that would often gain her invitations to writing workshops. Realizing the narrow margin of writers that succeed professionally and taking some sage advice from her mother, Kudlo attended graduate school and became an occupational therapist, but her strong penchant for writing never faded. Kudlo combined her passion for adventure, animals, baking and growing up in Small Town, USA and created the Season's Series, character driven novels about a young man that believes he is living an ordinary life only to discover that life has other plans for him. Book one of the series, Spring's Beginning is slated to be released in early December 2014.

Book preview

Preface

By the time I had arrived, it was over. I was helpless to reverse the horror that had already happened. The life was stolen from her body and as quickly as the serpent disentangled itself from her, it disappeared into the neighboring trees to avoid any kind of retribution from those that could deliver such a sentence. She lay in the grass next to the soiled ground that gave way to lush green crops and flowers that strained their heads to welcome the sun. It was beauty that only nature could create and from where I was standing, she seemed a part of the landscape, as if enjoying a warm summer’s day, lying in the cool grass until I looked into her eyes and saw the terror in them as she stared back at me, gasping for her breath from lungs that could no longer fill with air. Her delicate arm reached out to me from across the field and I knew I could not let her die alone. I ran to her and scooped her upper body into my arms, brushing away the dirt from her cheek and her strands of hair soaked with sweat from a hard day’s work that she never could have imagined would end in a futile struggle against an immortal god.

I would have liked to think that I helped to make her last moments less frightening and that I comforted her with my words but my mind was not going to grant me that pardon, nor should it. For I knew that although my hands were not the cause of her death, I was still the murderer.

Before I was armed with the knowledge of what my life meant, I had unknowingly brought danger to this quiet town, but now I knew what could lie ahead as long as I remained selfish. It wasn’t about me anymore but about those that had only loved me from the moment I called this town my own at the tender age of four. They sheltered me. They built walls that protected me, erected from love and compassion and how did I repay them? I unintentionally tore down the barriers and left everyone exposed.

I knew what I had to do. I had to make a choice and it was an impossible choice. Either decision would most certainly be the death of me but I had to do what was right and if those that I loved were in danger because of me, than I would most certainly choose death.

Chapter 1

Over the last months, my sleep had been devoid of dreams. Since the dangers that had transpired in the spring were over, I couldn’t remember one night that I had been awakened by my mind concocting such devious plots that were worth remembering. So, when I saw Freya, the girl that I had fallen heavily in love with last spring, hovering over my bed, I was certain that it wasn’t a dream. I reasoned that she was visiting me in the late hours of the night as she had done almost every night since the spring when she told me about a life, my life. It was a life that was destined to play a role in keeping her kind and mine living in one world peacefully.

As the cloudiness faded from my eyes, I saw Freya sitting on my bed as the twilight of the moon cast a shadow on her face. Her signature auburn ringlets of curls cascaded past her face and over her shoulders. She was dressed in a white laced summer dress exposing her slender arms that were resting on my chest. Her skin beckoned me to touch it and I gave in to her body’s silent plea. I walked my fingers passed her hands, up her forearms, until I was skating across the smooth surface of her toned shoulder. She moaned as I continued tickling her shoulder and I heard her say my name which caused places all over my body to tighten and tingle. I wanted more than anything to hear her say my name again and I allowed my hand to further explore the wonderland of Freya’s body. My fingers glided across her protruding collar bone and found a lonely curl resting carefully, dangerously above the low neckline of her dress, dipping just out of sight. I began to twirl the curl around my finger, spiraling upward, losing my hand in the glossy sunset of her silken mane, pulling her closer to me. As Freya’s face made its descent to mine, the moonlight’s beam scanned her body until it cast its electric glow on her porcelain face…only it wasn’t Freya. It was Jormangandre!

I attempted to push her away but the spirals of her hair had tightened around my wrist. Where once reddened curls had tumbled over my arm were now black strands of shiny hair that had the jagged feel of scales. Jormangandre’s face was within inches of me, her scarlet eyes fierce. She was smiling at her apparent ability to fool me into thinking that it was Freya. I was equally surprised as I was disgusted with myself for not realizing that it was Jormangandre instead of the girl that I was so enamored with. I had hardly gone a day without seeing Freya since that morning in late spring after the battle with Loki and now I couldn’t tell her apart from the enemy.

Jormangandre did not relinquish my hand despite my pull. Instead she tried to quiet me from my struggle. Sshhhh…sshhhh, she hissed.

When I realized that I was not going to free my hand, I became still, waiting for her to attack. Instead she leaned into me, brushing her face against mine. Had Jormangandre not been the sister of Loki and had they not attempted to take my life and those that I was close to, I would have found this exotic woman in my room attractive. By any seventeen year old guys’ standards, she was good-looking with her sculpted cheek bones, elongated neck, and long blackened mane with red accents throughout, yet she oozed of impurity and vulgarity. Even her sleek figure that filled the dress that seemed sophisticated and elegant on Freya’s body now seemed tawdry as it clung to Jormangandre’s curves. Her every move was meant to be seductive, but all I saw were images of her last spring, wrapped around Rowhyn, attempting to squeeze my best friend’s last breath from her struggling body.

Sshhh, she said again. Don’t fight it, Will. You know it is only worse when you fight.

She was now straddling me and I tried to push her off by bridging my back, lifting my hips into the air, but it was useless. I had not fully developed my powers, whatever they were, and Jormangandre had years of experience over me…centuries really.

Then get on with it. You gods like to take your time instead of doing what it is you intend to do, I said, struggling again within the grips of her serpent curls.

Jormangandere glided her slippery tongue over her lips and smiled. And, what is it you think I intend to do to you? She pressed her face against mine and I could feel her eyelashes beat against my forehead and smell her musky breath as she spoke.

The heat of the night was adding to my quickened exhaustion against the struggle. I turned to the open window, but no breeze crept through to alleviate the clammy feeling that I was experiencing nor did a beautiful red head appear that could put up a better fight than the one that I was doling out against this nefarious goddess.

Jormangandre followed my gaze and seemed to understand my longing. She’s not coming, Will. She’s been, how do you say, taken care of?

I watched as Jormangandre moved her hand over the side of the bed and fished an object out before holding it into the moonlight. It was metal and its sheen against the light of the moon allowed me to gaze upon the golden necklace that Freya was never without, the Brisingamen, that only Freya could remove. The only other way it could be removed was if Freya was…dead.

I began bucking up and down, finding strength within me that seemed to surprise Jormangandre and myself, but the woman continued to hold me down, enjoying my emotional and physical suffering.

Kill me then! Kill me too! I begged, still squirming under the weight of this Norse goddess that I wanted dead.

She cocked her ear to her shoulder, seeming to consider my plea, but then shook her head, laughing. Why would I kill you, Will?

I became still. Freya had told me that I stood in the way for the gods to inherit the earth and that my demise would be their victory, but the moment I heard of Freya’s death, I knew that I was already disintegrating inside.

Because then you can have this world. I don’t want it anymore if Freya isn’t in it. I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears as images of Freya flashed in and out of my mind.

Will you not fight for your family, for your friends? Jormangandre seemed astonished by my answer and shifted to one side, unknowingly allowing me the opportunity to up end her and reverse our positions so that I was on top of her.

Jormangandre struggled underneath me but the hatred I felt in that moment could have made me move mountains. I welcomed the anger as it fueled my strength while I held Jormangandre’s neck with one hand and reached under the pillow and grabbed an object with the other. It was Phillip’s stag antler. Freya’s brother had allowed me to use this powerful weapon in an attempt to defeat Loki and now I was about to use it to destroy his sister.

I held the antler above my head, ready to bury the porous silver bone into Jormangandre’s chest when I heard Freya’s voice. Will! No! Don’t!

I looked around my book ridden room and found no beautiful silhouette to go with such a melodic voice. It was only my mind, my heart longing for her to be with me but she was gone and I would never be able to hold her close to me again. My hands tightened around the antler as I thought of Freya’s porcelain skin that I would no longer feel on my fingertips. Her lips, I would never be able to kiss again. The jade eyes that stared into mine and told me centuries of stories had now faded to black. Freya was gone.

I will fight until all of you miserable gods are gone! I roared while I plunged the antler deep into Jormangandre’s heart, falling onto her body with the force of the attack.

Silence. Gradually, I registered my heart pounding in my ear, crickets talking to one another outside my window, owls hooting, and then a familiar voice, muffled from underneath my body, tried to escape. Slowly, I pulled my torso off of Jormangandre’s lifeless body only to find Freya, fatally wounded by my own hands.

She reached for me, her slender fingers interlacing between mine. It’s okay. You didn’t know. I love you, she offered me as she placed her hand on my cheek and brushed it across my face to the other cheek, a term of endearment that she and I had exchanged since our walk on the beach of Lake Michigan, where we challenged one another, learning truths.

I placed my hand over hers and felt the life drain from her hand as it fell limp under mine. The irony of it did not go unnoticed. Freya gave life to me, it was her gift. I was living a life wasted, not living up to my true lot in life. She was showing me and guiding me, making me stronger with every day and now I stole from her everything she gave me. How could I live with myself knowing that Freya died by my hands? Selfishly, I thought about a world without her in it and how hollow I would be, but there was a larger consequence at hand. Her death would allow the opportunity for Odin and his gods to easily inherit the souls of the dead. They would command an army that would rid the world of humans so that they could rule this world alone. This meant the death of all that I cared for and I, indirectly, made this possible.

I watched as Freya lay still on my bed, almost appearing to sleep peacefully, but the blood that surrounded the antler protruding from her chest defiled what could have been a beautiful picture. I slid my hand around the stag’s antler and with a firm grip, delicately removed it from Freya’s flesh. I studied it and found the stark contrast of the blood on the porous silver object alarmingly disturbing as I manipulated it in my hands, pointing the bloodied end at my body. Without thought, I grasped it with both hands and understood what my subconscious was asking me to do. It was cowardly and it would not be what Freya would have wanted, but I was tired and defeated and knowing that I could not defend this world without Freya, I realized my world was already dead.

My arms were shaking and I closed my eyes, letting in the final moments of thoughts before everything went dark. I saw the best parts of my life pass before me like a slide show. I saw Nissa and I baking cookies, Rowhyn and I playing out by the tree swing. I saw Finn, Leo and I winning a championship rugby match. I saw Susanna, my mother, whom I believed for thirteen years to be dead, sitting in my living room. I saw Freya, a Norse goddess, staring at me with her jade eyes and supple pink lips offering me a smile. It was all that I could endure. My heart exploded into a million pieces and only she could put them back together but since she couldn’t make me whole in this life, I was to meet her in another.

I’m coming, Freya, I said as I held my breath and with a force greater than that of an arrow released from its bow, I thrusted the antler towards my rapidly beating heart.

***

"Will! Wake up! You’re dreaming!

I heard her voice. It was smooth, melodic, like a song you play over and over. I did it and surprisingly I didn’t suffer. I felt no pain but instead felt elation as I consciously attempted to open my eyes, guided by the angel’s voice. I felt her cool hand on my face and I reached to place mine over hers to feel her slender fingers elicit the electricity that was forever present when we were together. It amazed me that in death, my body underwent the same responses as in life. When I felt the slap on my forehead, I was startled and worked my mind back to a state of consciousness. It wasn’t Freya’s touch and I began to sense my surroundings. I didn’t smell that magical combination of cinnamon, cloves, and figs, nor did I sense that cosmic feeling I experienced when Freya was near.

Fine. Stay asleep. This is kind of fun. Another blow to my shoulder.

My senses were alerted to another assault, and this time the assailant connected with my hand which I placed a firm hold on what felt like a small forearm. I opened my eyes and saw bouncing blond curls and violet eyes leaning over me. Rowhyn! For the second time she saved me from a nightmare that I was unable to recover from myself.

She struggled free of my grip and jumped off the side of the bed startled as if she had awoken a dangerous animal. There. He’s awake, Nissa. Rowhyn frowned and crossed her toned arms over her chest in disgust.

She had been out running. I noticed her black shorts and pink tank top revealing her bronzed skin that the sun had kissed during her frequent runs. Her eyes had never seemed so alive as the violet glances wore heavy on me. I also eyed something resting on her chest. It was a necklace and I knew that I had never seen it before. It was a round medallion in glossy purples and greens with a gold five pointed star in the middle. A leather cord looped through the tiny eyelet of the medallion and met in back to be secured by a typical gold clasp. Rowhyn noticed me eyeing this odd piece of jewelry and reached up to grasp it with her hand, hiding it from further inspection.

Nissa was standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, mimicking Rowhyn. Her smallish figure was dressed in a moss green flowing dress with lace at every hem. Her brown curls were pulled up in a messy pony tail but that curl that always seemed to escape imprisonment was resting on the left side of her forehead and I knew what kind of mood Nissa was going to be doling out this morning. Nissa’s freckled nose was wrinkled in disfavor of something I might have done but her face was so youthful and vibrant that her attempts of being anything less than bubbly and kind were almost comical.

Rowhyn, won’t you stay and have breakfast with us? Nissa asked Rowhyn placing a hand on Rowhyn’s shoulder as she tried to make an exit from my room.

Rowhyn looked back at me and I stared blankly at her. Neither of us were going to give in to our stubbornness. After thirteen years of friendship, we knew how to push each other’s buttons…and we did, but this was more than just a small tiff that she and I would most likely forget after a few days. This strife between us was more than anything we had encountered and surprisingly, it was over a girl. Freya.

Nissa was giving me such a stare that I knew I had two choices. I was to further offer Rowhyn an invitation to stay for breakfast or deal with the wrath of Nissa over coffee.

I chose wrath. Until Rowhyn offered an apology over her behavior for the last couple of months, I was going to remain unshakable.

My silence seemed to answer Nissa’s stare and her nose wrinkled more as her curl fell even further to the left.

I’m sure Will has more important things to do today. Thanks for asking, Nissa. Rowhyn glanced one more time in my direction before exiting my room. I heard her lightly run down the stairs and the back screen door slam. I got to my feet and looked out my window where I saw Rowhyn disappear into the woods, running along the trail back to her house. Although we were angry with one another, I still did not like her wandering through those woods alone after the horror we had experienced together on that cold spring night. Loki was gone, but Jormangandre, the villain of my latest dream, had escaped and was no doubt planning to return with a vendetta to avenge her brother’s death.

I watched until Rowhyn was out of sight and turned to face another of the strong willed women in my life. Nissa, I know what you are going to say, and you just need to let Rowhyn and I work through this…alone, I said as I rummaged through the clothes draped over my chair, happy to find my favorite pair of jeans and jumping into them. They were as comforting as always and despite their scars they received from Loki’s claws, they had survived, like me. They were missing the top button and when Nissa eyed the jeans hanging on my hips, I quickly grabbed one of my faded t-shirts and threw it over my head, adjusting it around my waist to hide what might be flaws to some but were badges of honor to me.

Will, I should…, Nissa said pointing at my jeans.

I stopped Nissa mid-sentence, holding up my hand to stress the point. No.

Nissa sighed and continued to stare at the ragged denim. What happens when they are impossible to wear anymore?

I considered her question. I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

"How about mending bridges?" she asked, taking advantage of the segue that I was kicking myself for offering her.

How about, I will see you downstairs for breakfast after I brush my teeth?

Nissa sighed, but knew I needed a little room to breath. She always knew what I needed. Okay, I will have coffee ready, but then you better be ready to talk. I mean, this has been going on long enough, young man.

I always had to laugh when Nissa called me a ‘young man.’ The expression seemed so old to me and since Nissa only looked as if she was in her mid-twenties, it was out of place, but nonetheless, she always used it when she was serious.

In the bathroom, I splashed cold water over my face, needing to wash away the odd feeling I still had from the dream. I tried to push away the memories of it and when I was successful my thoughts were redirected to another discomforting thought… my feud with Rowhyn.

Things between us had not been the same since the night of our battle with Loki and Jormangandre. Freya and I had defeated the evil god but not without almost dying ourselves. Rowhyn saw how strong my feelings for Freya were and something within Rowhyn changed. I saw it in her face, the pain she was feeling, when she saw me cradle Freya in my arms, both of us bloodied from battle. Rowhyn began to cross the bridge that we had built over thirteen years of friendship and pull away the planks that we had planted. It didn’t seem to matter to her that we had made a promise to always be friends and nothing more. We understood this promise and had stood firm when she and I had dated random people of interest, amounting to nothing. But we were there for each other. I would council her on why guys acted the way they did and she would encourage me to open myself up a bit and leave the brooding silent type persona at home. We would find these talks humorous because Rowhyn and I knew that no relationships ever lasted not because we failed at them but because we chose for them to end, and really for me, never allowed them to begin. If I did not understand this hole in my heart that was slowly mending, I certainly did not expect a high school girl to accept this flaw. Rowhyn understood this feeling of not being whole. She came across it later in life, but all the same, the death of her father dug a hole so deep that I didn’t even think I could help begin to fill it like she did with me. But, slowly, we both began to fill the emptiness. First with small fistfuls, later with shovels. When we began to sense the world around us treat us as if we were not wounded and we surrounded ourselves with those that we loved, the abyss became a cavern, which gently became a crevice. From the day I met Freya, that crevice became only a scar and whether it was because it happened so fast or because it was not Rowhyn that could fill that tiny fracture, Rowhyn questioned as to why it was not her. The truth was, I didn’t know but only my heart had the answers and when Freya was around, my heart spoke to me. I woke up from a sleep that I was under since I was four.

Rowhyn had asked for time when I told her about my feelings for Freya and out of respect for my best friend, I gave it to her. When I thought that enough time had passed, our time together was awkward and forced. I attempted to go back to our old ways and she did her best to tolerate my antics, but in the end, the discomfort of our company became unbearable and we gradually stopped forcing it. Nissa said we would find our friendship again and I was always encouraged when she said this, but seeing her today, made me for the first time, doubt Nissa, who was rarely ever wrong.

Chapter 2

Summer in Nissa’s kitchen were all things bright but this morning was an exception. Nissa’s noticeable snarl she gave me when she handed me a cup of coffee told me that a storm was approaching. I tried to ignore her dismay when I entered the cozy room filled with the aroma of sausage and eggs, along with a hint of rosemary from her piping hot rosemary cheddar biscuits. They were calling to me but Nissa grabbed the basket filled with the buttery deliciousness, waving her finger at me simultaneously.

Seriously? I asked, attempting to hide my laughter. Nissa did not find the situation funny.

Seriously.

Okay. I surrendered. You talk and I will drink my coffee, that is if it’s okay with you?

Nissa placed the basket on the counter and rearranged her hands on her hips. Don’t be foolish, Will. I gave you the coffee, didn’t I? The biscuits are only until I have said my peace and then if I like what you say, well, then maybe, she said, eyeing the biscuits.

Again, I tried to contain my laughter. Fair enough. Have at it.

Nissa took advantage of my willingness to listen and hastened herself to the chair across from me at the kitchen table. You and Rowhyn have been stubborn long enough and it is time that you guys stop wasting it being so darn cantankerous. Make amends. You both have been through worse. She took hold of the acorn and squirrel salt and pepper shakers that I had bought for her at a Santa’s Secret Workshop at my school when I was in the fourth grade. They were not of high quality and the tip of the squirrel’s tail had long been broken since his long fall from the kitchen table during my thirteenth birthday, but they were never replaced and dearly loved by Nissa.

I nodded my head at her and thought about us having been through worse. We had been through much worse but those situations didn’t involve a relationship shift, but steadfast friendship. I conveyed to Nissa half of my thoughts. You are right. We have been through worse, but do you know what caused all of this? I asked, waving my hand around.

Nissa observed my dramatics and stood to pour herself some more coffee. Not exactly, but I have my suspicions.

And was it also your idea to call her over here today?

Maybe…she still asks about you and I was worried. Nissa turned and stared out the window.

About?

About the fact that you have spent so little time with your friends lately. You work and you spend time with Freya. You can’t just forget those that were there for you in your times of need. She continued to stare out the window as her voice trailed away, and I knew Nissa was thinking of the past and how what was done couldn’t be undone. What was learned couldn’t be unlearned and we all had to grow because of it. Nissa was wishing she could.

I took another sip of coffee and stood next to her, looking out the window. I still see Finn and Leo. We just got back from a camping trip in Pictured Rock. I spent three days with those maniacs and I can hardly believe Finn was in the hospital only four months ago.

I remembered Finn recovering from three broken ribs and visiting him in the hospital daily as he rehabilitated and flirted with the nurses and the therapists mercilessly. I cringed at the memory of Loki throwing him against the tree and the terrible noise of his ribs cracking upon impact. When Finn asked about that night, I told him the whole truth with Leo and Rowhyn present. Like good friends, they listened and couldn’t help but believe the truths having experienced it for themselves, but we also never spoke of it again.

Nissa nudged me with her hip, bringing me out of my memories.

And, Nissa, don’t worry about Rowhyn and I. Somehow things will get straightened out between us. You know Rowhyn, I teased, sneaking a biscuit from around Nissa’s back and kissing her on the cheek.

I sat at the kitchen table buttering the warm confection while Nissa dished out some scrambled eggs and sausage and delivered the plate to me. She placed it carefully on the table before asking her next question. And, Susanna? Where are you at with your forgiveness for her?

Entertaining Nissa’s questions about Rowhyn was one thing, but to have me comment on the subject of Susanna, my mother, whom until four months ago I thought had been killed by Odin, the god that wanted this world for himself and other gods, was another. I took a bite of my biscuit and drank down the last of my coffee, watching Nissa contemplate my every move.

Nissa, I appreciate what you are trying to do. Really, I do. But let’s just take it one issue at a time. That’s what I am willing to do, okay?

I went to the back door to let in the rambunctious brown and white terrier that was waiting to enter after her morning stroll. Brucie was a creature of habit and was waiting for her treat before her first morning nap. She rushed me and jumped in my arms, offering kisses before I retrieved the snack from Nissa. She then retreated to her dog bed by the pantry. A morning ritual.

Good girl, Brucie. It’s nice to see that some things never change, Nissa smirked as she prepared the dishes for washing.

Nice. Way to be subtle, I said, hugging Nissa and giving her a look of understanding and appreciation for trying to keep the peace.

You are incorrigible, William Huntlsow, she said, snapping a towel across my behind.

I learned from the best. Okay, I am meeting Finn and Leo to work out at the gym. You remember them right? My long lost friends? I was teasing her and Nissa blushed at the quick witted banter.

Go away, you.

I retreated to the bathroom off the kitchen and changed into an old t-shirt and shorts, preparing for my morning run. Oh, by the way, I yelled, sticking my head out from the bathroom. You should stop using phrases like ‘young man’ and ‘incorrigible’. Old people say those things, and remember, I know your secret now. I ran out the door as she chased after me in fun.

I was just down the stairs off the back porch when she grabbed me by the back of the shirt. I closed my eyes, waiting for a nudge on the head or an elbow to the shoulder. Instead, she embraced me. You could get lost in Nissa’s hugs and I never pulled away first. When she put her arms around me I felt enveloped in everything that brought me joy. I was safe and comforted.

When she did release me, she kept her hands on my arms and smiled up at me. I am so glad you know my secret.

"Me