Page 10 of Blood Moon
There was a silence between the two of them until the woman spoke again.
“And I know this only makes matters worse, but there’s a man who won’t stop calling. He’s insisting that mythical creatures are the reason for the attack—guess he was listening in to the distress call, sir. So you’re aware, here’s his info.”
Then came another sound, an angrier one, as if Bobby had pounded his fist on the wood. I heard the sound of what I imagined was a notepad flopping onto Bobby’s desk.
A grumble then. “Fucking townies,” he sneered. “Now media’s gonna spin this story, and that’s the last thing we need. Can you give Dean a call? Make sure we get some extra cars out by the sight to keep the area secured. I don’t want any determined ‘believers’ to slip past security.”
“Sure thing, sir,” she said.
An invisible flash of light struck me then, and all the sound in the world went silent except for a ringing in my ears. A wild animal attack from an unseen creature. Could the same animal that attacked that woman have gotten my mother also?
The thought was on replay for the remainder of the evening until we returned home in the early morning, just hours before the sun came up.
We hadn’t noticed at first—too riled up by her absence—but we determined she’d planned to leave. She’d packed a suitcase and a bag—took most of her items with her but left a few things behind—including me and Bobby.
We never found out why her car was parked on the side of the road, or where she went.
She was stealthy, not a single footprint left behind—even after days and days of a search party.
It was almost as if she didn’t want anyone to know she’d ever been in Kansas City.
Almost as if she didn’t exist at all.
CHAPTER6
They called us wretched when we were warriors.
Article II, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
I wrestled with my thoughts as I continued to get ready for the day. I was nervous I’d end up in the wrong classroom or the wrong building. Lakeland University was large enough that it would easily take fifteen minutes to make it to my first class—a reason why I was thankful I had woken up so early.
Life bustled the moment I stepped foot outside of Hester Hall and onto the sidewalk. Bodies blurred in motion around me. Students, professors, and faculty clustered around the campus—some sat on benches as they sipped from steaming cups. Some idled in the grass as they stared at their phones. Even some of the more adventurous ones swung from hammocks they’d tied to trees while the morning sun shone on the sides of their faces—but most of them weregoing, moving, to wherever their destination was. In and out of the breeze, cutting between the masses, onward to their next journey.
A feeling came to me as gently as the morning gust. It brought a twinge of anxiety. Because there, in a coffee stand line, was the boy I’d seen glaring at me in Robertson Hall.
From here, I could see that he was tall, maybe six-three or six-four, and his dark hair was pulled into a bun. He wore a black T-shirt and dark blue jeans that were cuffed slightly above his white Converse, and hanging off his right shoulder was a backpack. His facial features were softened, different than how I’d seen him before, and it made me wonder why he’d looked at me with such agitation yesterday. Perhaps it was a mistake, even if it felt directed—because any other reason I’d considered didn’t add up—and it was as I let the smugness set in to my walk when he just so happened to turn and notice me. There was something about him so vehemently overwhelming, it almost had the power to stop me in my tracks completely.
I kept my chin high as he did a double take, his head tilting to the side as he chewed on the idea of me, whatever that was. He didn’t fluster, didn’t scowl … he justwas.
I felt a rush of pride and distinction as I walked past him, knowing full well he couldn’t take his eyes off me. The power I felt I had, the grip right beneath my fingertips—I loved it. Possiblytoomuch, but it was the only thing I had against him.
When I’d gotten a few yards away, my phone vibrated in my back pocket.
I love you bug
Hope you have a great first day
The text didn’t come as a surprise. It was Bobby through and through. My father was a complete sap, had always been the sugar to the salt in my wounds.
I wondered if I should call him during the break I had between classes to tell him about the haunting animal eyes I’d seen in the forest. It was too coincidental not to mention it, but then, even if I did, what would he do? Scope out the premises simply to find nothing there? It seemed like if I told him, he’d think I was using it as an excuse to stop attending the university, and that wasn’t the case.
As I responded with a quick thank you, another thought came to mind. One that forced a curl in my fist and brought a stutter to my chest. I couldn’t help but think of her, of Rena.
She had once promised that she loved me more than the stars in the sky, more than the air in the world, more than the life she lived … and where was she now, during one of the biggest new changes in my life?
It was lies, all of it.
Rena’s face was the only thing I could see as I looked in the mirror this morning and curled my hair. It was her dark brown eyes and pinched cheeks. Her nose. Her scattered, faded freckles. I could hardly stand the sight, could hardly stop myself from breaking the skin on the inside of my cheek.
