Moon Story: Part 1

During the next few weeks Daniel called and texted me but I gave him a different excuse as to why I couldn’t hang out with him or go workout with him. I knew that I would eventually see him when school started. As the first day of school approached my heart beated faster. Sure I was confident with my answer but I really didn’t know how I would get treated when everyone found out I was “Moonless”.

Before school started I did my fair share of research about my syndrome. Most of the “Moonless” cases were killed by a member of their community but others moved to the human cities to live their lives with them. I knew that I couldn’t live with humans because this was my home and my community I just can’t leave it behind ever.

Then the day arrived faster than what I would have liked. I started training with Mrs. Sheen who swore to me to keep my secret until the first day of school. That morning I got ready but the last thing I needed to put on was my necklace. I looked down at it with hints of dust on it. The necklace never really moved since the day I brought it home.

My heart pounded in my ears because this would be my reveal to my community that I was “Moonless”. Everyone knows about the syndrome just that there were so rare none of us took it seriously. Eventually I put on my necklace and headed out the door. My father wanted to drive me to school that day in the police car just to remind everyone who my father was. The ride to school was quite and my heart beated faster as I saw the building getting closer.

“You’ll do fine. Just call me if anything happens okay” my father’s tone was gentle but assertive he didn’t want me to back down now. I just looked at him and gave him hug before I got out of his car and started walking. There were some students just outside the main entrance talking loudly to each other and laughing. I took a deep breath and headed inside with my necklace in full view. My heart literally skipped a beat when the students stopped talking and looked at me. I just couldn’t look at them I kept my eyes glued to the floor.

Everyone knew the sign that resembled if you were “Moonless” so it would be a long day of gossip around town of the “Moonless” child. I quickly opened the door and stepped inside. Since it was the first day everyone, students and teachers alike, where in the hallways talking about their summer. At this moment I regretted my decision to stay in school and wondered if it was too late to persuade my parents to home school me.

But I knew better I knew that I had to do this or I would be a victim of this syndrome for the rest of my life. I put one foot in front of the other but kept my eyes glued to the ground. As the first students saw me they went quite pretty soon everyone within range was staring at me. I walked in the middle of the hallway and everyone standing in my way stepped aside. I was on the verge of tears I didn’t want this why did I have to be different.

The necklace wasn’t a necklace of shame but is sure damn felt like it. Pretty soon every hallway was quite and all I could hear where mumblings and my breathing. If I didn’t cry in my own bedroom I would not cry out here in front of everyone. I tried so hard to keep my tears in and it proved to be a challenge on its own.

I got to my locker and got some books that I needed for my first classes. All I kept telling myself is to not cry in front of everyone. It wasn’t until I saw someone come closer to me that I started to panic. “Hey Sam let’s go take a walk” Sean said as he got closer. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. “Go away Sean” I said with the most steady voice I could muster.

“Come on it’s just a walk…” but before Sean got any further I slammed his body next to my locker. I really didn’t know how I slammed a big muscle guy into the locker seen that Sean put on some more muscle than when I last saw him. My mouth quivered and my eyes got watery but I still wouldn’t cry in front of anyone. “It’s okay Sam…It’s Okay” Sean’s gentle tone made me rethink my actions. I let go of Sean and walked off slamming my locker and heading up towards the second floor. The news spread like wild fire in the school and when the students saw me in the second floor they went quite as well.

I started walking to my class when somewhere down the hall I saw him. Daniel packed some muscle during the summer and he looked taller. It came to no surprise that he was surrounded by a few girls. Our eyes locked and my breath became nonexistent. Daniel then looked down to my necklace and knew why I didn’t work out with him. The reason Daniel and I remained friends all these years is because we understood each other’s actions.

Daniel separated from his little girl group and headed in my direction. I really didn’t know what to do I just stood there wondering if I still had my one and only friend. Daniel got closer and I knew that he was still my friend by the way he looked at me. I don’t know what happened but I began to cry and headed straight into Daniels hug. I cried as quietly as I could into his chest.

Daniel led me into an empty room where I could let it all out. There was never any sexual thing between me and Daniel I grew up with the guy. So I wasn’t afraid to cry into his chest while he gently rubbed my back. “It’s okay Sam we can get through this. I won’t leave your side…you’re my best friend” Daniel’s words were enough to make me calm down.

Thankfully Daniel and I had almost the same classes this year and stayed by his side the whole time. Some people who I didn’t know talked to me I guess out of sympathy. Some teachers treated me differently than other students. But when it came down to our fighting class it came to no surprise that I was exempted from it. Everyone in the Junior class, my class, could completely shift into their own wolf expect me. I took the time to head over to Mrs. Sheen’s class and practice some more moves on defending myself against all four legged creatures.

The next few months were a blur I kept my head down more than usual and stayed by Daniel’s side. I even apologized to Sean for slamming him into the lockers which he just shrugged it off and told me he understood. In no time Sean and I became friends but still had those awkward conversations. One day I was in the library and I don’t know why it bothered me so much because I somewhat saw this coming.

I found out that no “Moonless” person can ever be fully mated. According to the article there were some cases in which a pair, shifter and “Moonless”, tried to mate. The “Moonless” person died because her body couldn’t handle the wolf venom that was injected into her by her mate. Shifters have a higher immune system than humans so there are rarely any diseases in the shifter community. If two shifters mark each other with their bites they would be fine because their immune system would kill of the venom of the bite and leave a mark letting the world know they were taken.

But seen that the “Moonless” person doesn’t have any perk the bite is considered dangerous and sometimes fatal. I read that word over and over again “SOMETIMES fatal”. There were other cases that the “Moonless” person did survive the bite and still lived with their mates. I guess it was a fifty-fifty chance if a “Moonless” person ever gets bit from their mate.

It was in mid year when my worst dream came true. I was waiting for Daniel to finish and the class was inside the gym. I got a bit restless so I headed outside into the cool air. I was in the field minding my own business when I heard a voice behind me “You don’t belong here” Frank an arrogant Senior who had everything handed to him since birth said. I just scoffed and started to walk off when Frank got my arm and started to squeeze hard. “Don’t walk away from me.

Your family was always been a disappointment it’s no wonder they would have a son who can’t even shift into a wolf. You are just useless and you should just leave before you cause the community shame and another thing…” Frank didn’t get to finish his statement because my fist connected to his jaw. The hit was enough for Frank to let go of my arm and caused him to lose his balance.

But what I didn’t think about was how pissed off he would be after I punched him. Frank quickly got up and bared his teeth at me. In a few seconds Frank shifted into his wolf form. Frank’s wolf was a dark grey color with black streaks. Frank was also ready to tear me apart for punching him. Frank launched at me but I dodge his attack easily I even punched him in his stomach.

My heart was beating but Mrs. Sheen’s lessons were there to protect me. The punch made Frank more furious at me and launched at me a second time. I barely manage to dodge out of his way but I knew I couldn’t dodge him forever. I kept my arms up like a human boxer would but kept my hands open ready to dodge or hit at any giving notice.

When Frank saw that I was slowly making my way back to the building he launched at me again. I dodge of course but not before his claws got my right arm. I screamed in pain but kept my focus on Frank ready to dodge his attack. My arm started bleeding bad and I knew it was a matter of time before I felt light headed and could keep up dodging Frank’s attacks. But before it came to that Daniel came out running as fast as he could.

Somewhere along the way he shifted into a pure white wolf that tackled down Frank’s dark grey one. The animals fought as if they were fighting for a piece a meat which in a strange and twisted way they were. I couldn’t move because Daniel was fighting Frank in wolf form and I had to make sure he was going to be okay. When Frank got Daniel by the neck a loud whimper came out from Daniel. Frank threw Daniel like a rag doll away and snarled at me.

Frank stocked me as if I was his prey. All I could do is slowly back away while holding my bleeding arm. Frank took a swipe at me with his sharp claws but I dodge. When I dodge however, I threw myself backwards so I was on my back in the ground helpless. My eyes widen as Frank made his way towards me ever so slowly while still snarling at me. I didn’t even hear anyone coming when a large light brown wolf came over my head and tackled Frank to the ground.

The light color wolf was unmistakably Sean protecting me from Frank. I got up and looked at the two large wolfs fight it out. It wasn’t until almost the entire class came out and watched the fight. By this time Daniel got up and joined the fight but Frank could take both Sean and Daniel at the same time. I felt eyes on me and some of the students were looking at me knowing that they were fighting because of me.

My stomach turned in knots as I feared that the students wanted to attack me as well. I slowly backed away and when I was a good distance away I ran home. It was about three miles between the school and my house. I ran the whole way while still holding onto my bleeding arm. When I reached my house my mother and father were home. I don’t know why but I got scared when they saw my bleeding arm and came closer.

I ran to my room and locked the door. My father tried to open it but when that failed he demanded I open the door. I started to cry because for some reason I thought my parents were going to attack me like Frank. I knew I wasn’t safe here but I just ignored what my brain was telling me. I bandaged my arm as quickly as I could and headed for my closet. I packed a bag with some clothes, food, money and one of my father’s guns.

I picked up my runaway bag and placed on my bed. The opened the window to my bedroom and stopped. My mother’s gentle voice came through my locked door “Sweetheart please open the door. Your father and I just want to make sure you’re okay” I looked at the door as if at any moment my mother would opened it. “Just please go away” I say trying not to sob into my words. “Sweetheart what happened?” again my mother’s gentle tone reached me. But before I could answer the doorbell rang.

I could hear my father opened the front door. “Carl please come in” my father said with a gentle tone. My eyes widen as the alpha is in our house. There was also a case not too long ago that an alpha attacked a “Moonless” person. The person survived the attack because the alpha stopped attacking before he could kill him but he left the “Moonless” person misshapen for the rest of his life. I didn’t have any intention of letting my alpha kill me because of my condition.

I quickly got my bag and squeezed through my open window. I rushed out of the backyard and into the street. I was a good two miles away from the edge of the town. I took the back roads and made sure I wasn’t seen by anyone of the town. Even though the day was cold I still sweated buckets mostly because of the adrenaline and fear of getting attacked. For me these weren’t members of the community but people who would attack me for been different.

It took some time but I got to the edge of town. I knew that I couldn’t steal a car because that would look bad on my parents and I liked most of the people in the community. So my plan was to go over to the next town and steal a car there. However the next town was a good thirty miles away but it’s almost cut in half if I take the short cut. As soon as I got to the edge of town a loud howl came through the air. I knew that was my father’s howl. It was a howl that every parent made when their cubs were missing.

I knew that everyone in town was going to be looking for me and it wouldn’t take my father too long to pick up my scent in wolf form. I ran into the woods hopping that I would have a good gap between me and my father. Somewhere along the way I picked up a thick stick to use as my walking stick. The sun was starting to go down but that didn’t stop me from slowing down.

Within every step there was a pain in my heart knowing that I would never return to this place because everyday presented a new way to be attack by people who I cared about. I slowed down a bit to catch my breath but still kept going forward. As I made my way around a large boulder I stopped dead in my tracks. Ten feet in front of me was a beast tearing away at a rabbit. My eyes widen but I manage to get my breathing under control. The beast snarled as it tore into the rabbit’s delicate body. I started to back away slowly until my foot snapped a twig.

The beast stopped chewing into the rabbit and turned to look at me. Fear and chills went up my spine as I looked into those dark black eyes of the beast. There was nothing human about it except the way it looked. It let the rabbit drop from its large hands making a thud sounds. The beast put its nose in the air smelling the fresh blood that tainted my bandage. The beast snarled at me and started stalking me almost savoring the meal that’s to come.

The beast launched itself at me but I manage to dodge. When the beast landed I wasted no time in swinging my stick at its back. The beast roared in pain and swiped away my stick. The beast turned around and snarled at me hatred built in its eyes. I back away slowly while fumbling into my backpack trying to fish out my father’s gun. The beast attacked again and I dodge but not before it clawed my left thigh. I screamed out in pain as blood began to make its appearance. The beast took a second to lick its fingers tasting my blood. Once it liked it clean it snarled at me wanting more.

I tried again to find my father’s gun but couldn’t find it. The beast got ever so closer to me with its saliva slowly dripping down its mouth. It was right then that I knew I would die out here in these woods and the thing that bothered me the most was that I didn’t say good bye to my parents.

Part 2 Coming Soon…