Goddess of the Night

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***Goddess of the Night*** is the first book in the *Daughters of the Moon* series. It was first published in the United States on August 7, 2000. It was also included in the first series omnibus, comprising the first three books, published in 2010. This book focuses on Vanessa Cleveland.

## Official Summary

> *All Vanessa Cleveland ever wanted is to be like everyone else and be able to do normal things - like kiss gorgeous Michael Saratoga without disappearing right in front of him. But Vanessa is different, and having to hide her secret makes leading a normal life impossible.* *Now Vanessa is being followed. She doesn't know who's doing it. But she knows why. Her secret has finally been discovered.*
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## Synopsis

### Prologue

*In ancient times, it was said that the goddess Selene drove the moon across the sky. Each night she followed her brother Helios, the sun, to catch his fiery rays and reflect the light back to earth. One night on her journey, she looked down and saw Endymion sleeping in the hills. She fell in love with the beautiful shepherd. Night after night she looked down on his gentle beauty and loved him more, until finally one evening she left the moon between the sun and the earth and went down to the grassy fields to lie beside him.*

*For three nights she stayed with him, and the moon, unable to catch the sun’s rays, remained dark. People feared the dark moon. They said it brought death and freed evil forces to roam the black night. Zeus, King of the Gods, was angered by the darkness and punished Selene by giving Endymion eternal sleep.*

*Selene returned to the moon and drove it across the night sky, but her love was too strong. She hid Endymion in a cave; and now, three nights each lunar month, she leaves the moon to visit her sleeping lover and cover him with silver kisses. In his sleep, Endymion dreams he holds the moon. He has given Selene many daughters to guard the night. They are powerful and beautiful like their mother, and mortal like their father.*

### Chapter One

Vanessa is walking home from a Tuesday night out at Planet Bang, a night club in Los Angeles which allows entry for under twenty-ones on Tuesday and Friday. The dark of the moon makes her nervous, and hearing a scuttling noise makes it worse; she begins to suspect someone might be following her. She feels relieved once she figures out it's just leaves on the ground.

She tries to keep herself distracted with thoughts of her crush, Michael Saratoga, who she had danced with at Planet Bang that night. When her anxieties don't go away, she hears more noises. At first she suspects her best friend, Catty, might be trying to scare her, but then, afraid that it's someone with ill intent, she runs part of the way home.

During the ordeal, she whispers a Latin prayer, "*O Mater Luna, Regina nocis, adiuvo me nunc.*" She has never heard the words before, doesn't know what language they're in or what they mean. Her mother is waiting when she gets home, worried about her daughter coming home late, as it is after 1 am. She lies and tells her mother she got a ride home.

Vanessa comes close to telling her mother about her power of invisibility, but thinks better of it. When Vanessa gets to her room, she finds that her window is mysteriously open and her clock and watch have been turned around so that their faces are not visible. Vanessa again suspects Catty might be responsible.

### Chapter Two

Vanessa meets up with Catty at a Johnny Rockets diner the next day, where Catty swears she was not in Vanessa's room the previous night. Catty has the power to travel through time, and wants to go back to the night before and see who was following Vanessa to put her mind at ease. Vanessa has time traveled with Catty before, and is worried about being trapped in a different time or in the tunnel they have to go through to time travel.

Once they finish eating, Catty begins to pull Vanessa back without paying for their food, something she has done twice before, believing that their being at the diner will be erased by their time travel. Back the night before, Catty and Vanessa follow Vanessa's pursuer, a person dressed all in black with a cap. Vanessa and Catty wind up following the person through an alley, after the stalker becomes aware of their presence.

Vanessa sees a thick shadow appear where she thought the pursuer had been, and hears a message whispered across her mind: *'I'll find you later when you're alone'*. She immediately commands Catty to take them both back.

### Chapter Three

Catty and Vanessa travel forward in time, but instead of being back at Johnny Rockets, they wind up in the guys' locker room at La Brea High right as the water polo team comes in after finishing practice. Michael, a member of the water polo team, comes in with them and sees Vanessa there. Catty is amused by the mistake, but Vanessa is mortified and tries to leave as quickly as possible.

Before they can get out, they are caught by the team's coach, and issued demerit slips. Michael comes up to Vanessa afterwards and they flirt a little, and he asks her on a date for Saturday, to which Vanessa agrees.

### Chapter Four

Vanessa worries about things that might go wrong on her date, afraid that her power might cause issues if Michael tries to kiss her, for example. Catty argues that Vanessa should appreciate her gift more, and practice to get better at using and controlling it. This chapter also describes how Catty and Vanessa first met, at a soccer game where they were on opposing teams and noticed that they each wore the same matching moon necklace.

### Chapter Five

Morgan Page comes up to Catty and Vanessa, telling them she thought she had seen them at Johnny Rockets, where she had gone looking for them. Morgan calls Michael "her hottie" and tries to convince Vanessa that Michael is trouble, also claiming that "he's nothing special" to try to keep Vanessa from being interested in him. They see Serena Killingsworth and Morgan makes fun of her and fills Vanessa and Catty in about everything she knows about Serena.

She tells Vanessa that she should have Serena read her tarot cards to tell her about how badly Michael Saratoga will break her heart. Serena comes over and asks Morgan if she was one of the girls whose heart was broken by Michael, claiming that she has "acute hearing." Serena gives Vanessa and Catty her home address in case they want their fortune read.

### Chapter Six

Catty and Vanessa cut class on Friday afternoon to go to The Darma Bookstore, the shop Catty's mother, Kendra, owns. Vanessa shows Kendra the phrase she spoke when she was being chased, curious if she knows anything about it. Kendra translates it for the girls: '*Oh Mother Moon, Queen of the night, help me now.*' She explains that Vanessa was praying to the moon for protection in Latin.

### Chapter Seven

Saturday is Vanessa's date with Michael. Michael takes Vanessa to the Hollywood Bowl to listen to the L.A. Philharmonic, but rather than paying to get in, the two sit on a hill above the Bowl and listen to the music while having a picnic prepared by Michael. Vanessa gets nervous and almost goes invisible during the date, especially when Michael kisses her.

Michael accidentally brushes Vanessa's chest with his hand, and she worries that Morgan may have been right about Michael. Immediately after, however, Vanessa hears laughter from behind them in the woods, and becomes afraid that someone may have followed them there. Vanessa gets nervous and asks to leave, and Michael thinks it's because of his mistake.

Rather than going back to Michael's van, Vanessa wants to travel down the hill to the Bowl, risking being caught by security, figuring that would be safer than letting whatever is following them catch up. Vanessa becomes protective of Michael as they head down the hill. They wind up in the top row of seats at the Bowl, not being stopped by security.

Stanton approaches them at the Bowl. Michael has clearly met him before and believes Stanton enjoys making people uncomfortable, angry and jealous.

Michael drops Vanessa off back at home without a goodnight kiss, much to her disappointment.

### Chapter Eight

Back home, Vanessa calls Catty to have her sleep over for comfort, offering to pay for Catty's cab to Vanessa's house. Vanessa tells Catty about her night, and Catty begins speculating about the their origins, wondering if her mother is right about Catty being an alien, and if perhaps it was government agents following Vanessa. Catty's speculation frightens Vanessa and the girls go to sleep.

Vanessa muses that it would be nice to be able to only worry about normal problems, and the two discuss their appreciation for the other's company.

### Chapter Nine

Vanessa goes to Serena's house to have her fortune read. Serena is very friendly to Vanessa, but once they sit down to read Vanessa's cards, Serena keeps staring at Vanessa and probing her to think more specifically about her questions and problems. A couple of cards Serena draws freaks her out and she doesn't want to tell Vanessa what she has seen.

The first card Serena reacts this way to is one indicating unforeseen danger, telling Vanessa that she should be cautious. The second card, Serena refuses to explain at all and tries to invite Vanessa to hang out or go out, which Vanessa declines, saying she has to go home. On her way out, Vanessa runs into a girl going into the house, who warns her in Spanish and English to be careful.

### Chapter Ten

Vanessa avoids Michael at school out of embarrassment. Morgan suspects that Serena is following Catty and Vanessa, who brush off her suspicions and defend Serena. Morgan asks about Vanessa's date and again tries to discourage Vanessa's feelings for Michael.

After Morgan leaves, Vanessa tells Catty that she plans to tell her mom about her power of invisibility, afraid that she'll find out somehow anyway. Serena runs out of school early without a pass, not stopping when the guards yell after her.

Michael finds Vanessa later after school and talks to her about the date, worried that he did something wrong. Vanessa, having been worried that Michael wouldn't like her after her behavior on the date, is thrilled that *Michael* is actually worried. She tells him she loved the date, and he tells her that he was so put off by Stanton's behavior that he was tempted to go back to the Bowl to fight him, but knew that was exactly what Stanton wanted.

He drives her home and kisses her in the car, but she begins to turn invisible and runs away into her house, deciding that she can't have a relationship due to her power. Michael thinks she is running away because she's never been kissed before. Once in the house, someone grabs Vanessa from behind.

### Chapter Eleven

Vanessa screams and finds out the one that grabbed her was Catty. Catty is confused by her extreme reaction, asking when did she become such a screamer. Vanessa argues that she shouldn't have snuck up on her.

Catty apologizes for scaring her, and Vanessa feels bad for snapping at her, saying that it wasn't her fault that she was being stalked. They start talking about her date with Michael, to which Vanessa explains how she almost turned invisible when he kissed her. Catty slightly teases her, asking if that means they aren't over.

Vanessa says that they must be, after everything that happened. Catty asks her if she wants it to be over, to which Vanessa says no. But then frets about how shocked and scared Michael would be if he saw her turn invisible, comparing it to seeing a ghost.

Catty laughs at her description, then stops to apologize. However, she says she still thinks it's funny. Vanessa says there's "nothing funny" about his kisses. She gets a fuzzy feeling as she thinks more about it. She asks Catty what she should do. Catty suggests kissing him in a dark room. Vanessa says that she isn't helping.

Catty insists that she is, and then goes on to explain how they could go back in time with her powers to Saturday, and clarifying that she's been practicing and getting better at more precise traveling. Vanessa comments about that's probably why the day felt so long, then asks her how many skips did she make. Catty says twenty at first, but then admits it was actually thirty-two, explaining that she wanted to perfect her landings.

Vanessa tells her to practice at night next time so that everyone else doesn't have to feel the effects of thirty-two hours in school. Catty points out that she doesn't have the memory of it. Vanessa agrees, but still says that at the end of the day everything felt dragged out.

Catty sniggers at hearing that and says that next time Vanessa should come along. Vanessa shakes her head no, thinking that she wouldn't have the energy for it. Catty suggests they should go back to Saturday night. Vanessa says they shouldn't because it's too far in the past now. Catty says she's figured out a way to get past this, making Vanessa feel doubtful.

Catty says she'll "leapfrog" and go back in repeating twenty-four hours until they're there. Vanessa says that must take a lot of energy. Catty says she'll rest and they can do it tomorrow night. Vanessa wasn't sure, worried about the Tunnel they must go through in order to do it. She didn't like how it smelled, rank and musky, as well as it made her feel dizzy.

Vanessa brings up that Catty's mom said there's probably a good reason why she couldn't go back more than twenty-four hours. Catty says that her mom hasn't ever time traveled before, so she wouldn't know what's best. Vanessa said her explanation made sense to her.

Catty's mom, Kendra, thought there was some natural law that stopped Catty from going too far into the past because the farther she went into the past, the more likely something small and seemingly insignificant could change the future in big ways.

Catty disagrees and says that she's thought about it, and describes it as time occurring all at once, not like a river like they're told. They just experience it like a river because that’s the way they've been taught to think about it. She describes it more like a huge lake, all time existing at once.

And that her skips back and forth, that’s all part of it, too. So she'll never do anything to change what has happened because if they were going to, she already would have, so she's not.

Vanessa partially agrees, saying that maybe it is safe, but that she still doesn't want to go.

Catty insists that they should do it, asking her if she will. Right as she's pleading, she almost accidentally bumps into Vanessa's mom, who is carrying three bolts of a glittering blue silky material. Vanessa's mother says hi to them, and mentions it would be nice if Catty could stay for dinner and how great the day has been for her personally; getting a lot of work done, before she heads back to her work table in the kitchen.

Catty grins and points out that at least someone liked her time jumping. She tells Vanessa her plans of them going back in time together to catch the person that was spying on Vanessa and Michael at their date. Vanessa dismisses the idea and asks her to promise she won't do it by herself. Catty replies too quickly with 'sure' .

Vanessa says she means it, and that at least give her a couple of days to think about it, secretly hoping that the longer they waited, the less convinced Catty would be of attempting it.

Catty says that she promises, but her eyes glance away. She says that she has to leave to do homework. Catty leaves and Vanessa goes to the kitchen to see what her mom's working on.

Her mother was working on cutting out tissue paper for the patterns for the dresses she was making. Vanessa comments how pretty they are. Her mom asks where Catty is, Vanessa says she had to leave. Her mother asks 'without eating?' And then asks if she was upset. Vanessa says she had homework.

Vanessa changes the subject and asks her if she working tomorrow. Her mom says she has the day off, but that she'll still be sewing. Vanessa brings up the idea that they could spend the day together tomorrow. Her mom agrees and says it sounds wonderful.

As they eat supper, Vanessa doesn't feel that hungry, already feeling like she ate practically two dinners. She wonders if Catty was practicing time traveling again, or simply nudging time to help with homework. She glances at her mother while she continues to eat her meal, thinking about how her mother would feel if she knew that her only daughter had powers.

Vanessa whispers an 'I love you' to her mom. Her mother looks up, slightly startled, but says that she loves her too. Vanessa says goodnight and puts her dishes in the dishwasher before heading to bed. Her mother says the same.

Vanessa gets clean and decides to do her homework before going to bed early. She eventually tries to fall asleep, but can't despite feeling tired. She ends up drifting off, and wakes up at some point to her room being cold.

She turns in bed and notices the curtains in the window slightly blowing from wind. She starts to question if she had locked the window previously. She guesses that maybe weather had blown the windows open.

Vanessa notices a shadowy figure by her chair next to her bed. Deciding to be brave and to prove no one was actually there, she reaches her hand out to touch the shadow. Cold fingers grab her wrist.