The Shadow of the Moon

by Michael Dunn

  “Oh, thank God, but we’re not out of the woods yet, um… literally,” Tony said, looking around. “My, uh, medicine can only sustain you for so long. You need a real doctor.” Tony didn’t know if she could hear him, but that didn’t matter. He said those words to convince himself more than her.

  He needed to concentrate, control his emotions, because he needed to change. He needed the strength and speed of the wolf, and tonight it was not hard to bring it about. Since his first change only a few short years ago, Tony had fought it regularly, almost daily, to keep the beast at bay. He didn’t revel in this condition the way JP did, but tonight he needed it. Earlier that evening, he was thankful to have felt like a normal teenage boy. Now, he was thankful he wasn’t a normal teenage boy. All he had to do was imagine life without Suzie and all the sorrow and rage of the last few minutes came rushing forth pushing the wolf out in seconds.

  Tony breathed deeply through gritted teeth and forced the change through. His tuxedo burst at the seams, thoroughly destroying the bloody rented formal wear. His shoes exploded off his feet during the metamorphosis.

  The change came on in a heartbeat. Tony reared his head back and roared loudly to the sky above. He growled and snarled. This was the most bestial Tony had ever been and he loved it. He just had to make sure he didn’t go too far and lose control of his mental faculties. Years of practice and conditioning prevented him from going completely bestial.

  He picked up the unconscious Suzie in his arms in the classic bridal pose, and ran through the woods. It was only three miles to the trailer park, and fifteen miles to the hospital. Tony’s next-door neighbor, Constance Roulet was a nurse and he hoped Bordeaux could do something or would do something, except kill them.

  Tony made it to Paradise Trailer Park within five minutes. The residents came out of their trailers when they heard Tony howl. The only time they heard a howl on a non-full moon night meant something was wrong. The residents of the community became alert when they heard Tony’s howling.

  As Tony came closer into the trailer park, they heard him screaming for help and saw him carrying a wounded, bloody girl in his arms. He had changed back to normal human form entering the trailer park and set Suzie down on the ground under the street light. A crowd gathered around Tony and his dying girlfriend. Constance came out to assist Tony.

  “What’s going on here?” Bordeaux stepped forward from the crowd.

  “She’s dying! She needs help!” Tony explained in a voice full of despair.

  Bordeaux knelt down to examine the wounded girl as Constance began to clean the wound and bandage her. When Bordeaux saw the bite mark on her forearm, he roared, then grabbed Tony by the throat faster than anyone could see, and slammed the desperate boy against the light post above his head. His eyes were blazing with fury and his teeth were clenched and elongated.

  He asked in a diluted growl, “WHY? Why did you do it? I expected something this stupid from John-Paul, but not you! What possessed you to do something so blatantly stupid, reckless, and thoughtless?”

  Tony sobbed. He tried to speak, but every breath brought more tears. It took some effort, but he managed to squeak out, “I couldn’t let her die.”

  “What?” Bordeaux’s tone was less menacing and more surprised.

  “I had to! I-I couldn’t let her die!”

  “Why not? Instead you have sentenced her to a life of pain. Her transformations will be agonizing. The madness will drive her insane! On top of that, you have jeopardized us all!”

  Tony sniffed and all he could say was, “I couldn’t let her die.”

  “Why didn’t you take her to the hospital?”

  “Because I didn’t want them to find out about us.”

  Bordeaux looked over his shoulder to the bloody, dying girl on the ground and then released Tony, stepping away, bewildered, and lost in thought and time. He wiped the sweat off his face.

  Bordeaux glanced at the distraught boy, and saw he was looking at a version himself nearly seventy years ago, and for brief moment, he saw the bloody, red-haired girl morph into Annabelle and change back. A moment ago, he contemplated killing Tony for what he considered a reckless and thoughtless act that threatened the community, but now looked at the boy apologetically. The onlookers were expecting Bordeaux to savagely beat Tony the way he beat JP, but he released the boy. Tony slid down the light.

  Bordeaux nodded. “Step back people. Let’s give Constance some room to work.”

  Bordeaux, now just as shaken as the scared teen in the ruined tuxedo, lowered his voice, but still kept it in a firm, commanding resonance.

  “We have to fix this as quickly and as quietly as possible. Larry, drive to the reservation. Tell Running Cloud we need his help. Tell them I sent you!”

  “But…”

  “Now!” The old man roared.

  2

  Larry nodded and ran to his parent’s trailer, returning with the keys to their beat up pickup truck and drove to the reservation. Everyone from the trailer park, including Larry, hated going to the reservation, especially at night, because they feared for their lives when they entered. Some of the trailers and houses on the reservation looked worse than the ones by Paradise Trailer Park, while others were much nicer.

  Larry parked the truck and ran up to the first trailer. He heard the sound of guns cocked all around him as he knocked on the door. He had to stay calm, because if he changed, the frightened teen believed they would kill him for sure. Larry closed his eyes and breathed deeply and slowly the way Bordeaux had taught him, letting his fear slide off him.

  “I’m looking for Dr. Patrick ‘Running Cloud’ Jones!” The scared boy shouted as boldly as he could. “Um… we need a doctor at the trailer park!”

  Larry could hear the crickets, and the sounds of quick, excited breathing. He smelled their fear as they were watching him, crouched and hiding. There was no response, so he had to try something else.

  “Robert Bordeaux sent me!” Larry called out. It took a second, but slowly the residents began to show themselves.

  A silver-haired, middle-aged man came out from one the nicer homes on the reservation, wearing a nice, gray buttoned-shirt, new, pressed blue jeans, and $200 alligator boots.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “Robert Bordeaux sent me,” Larry tried not to stutter or sound scared as he repeated the phrase he practiced in the truck. “We have a hurt girl at the trailer park and it would take too long to get her to the hospital in Albuquerque. We need your help.”

  Dr. Jones sighed and shook his head. “Hold on a sec. I’ll be right back.”

  The doctor reluctantly got his black bag and rode shotgun in the old truck. He had better things to do on a Saturday night than look after those people, but the age-old agreement still stood. He felt like he was the last doctor on earth who made house calls, but at least these folks kept their word with his people unlike other white people. Dr. Jones stayed quiet in the car and Larry drove as fast as he could to the trailer park.

  3

  “Robert,” The Indian doctor greeted the old man with the proper “Roe-bare” and shook the old man’s hand.

  “Running Cloud.” Bordeaux shook hands quickly, then led the visiting doctor to the patient. The girl was still unconscious. Constance had bandaged and cleaned Suzie’s wounds.

  “What happened?”

  “Car trouble,” Tony answered.

  Dr. “Running Cloud” Jones stabilized her and stitched up the wound on her scalp. He was amazed she was still alive until he saw the teeth marks on her forearm and shook his head in disgust.

  Fucking animals, he thought, but did not say it. These people could hear too well.

  “How is she?” Bordeaux asked.

  “She’ll live,” Dr. Jones muttered. “But we need to get her to a hospital. You,” he pointed to Larry, “You drive. C’mon.”

  “Wait, I’m going too,” Tony helped the doctor pick her up.

  “Who are you?” The doctor asked the boy in the
bloody and frayed tuxedo and knew the answer.

  “I’m Tony. She’s my girlfriend.”

  “Okay, then, anybody else want to go?” The doctor asked the rest of the onlookers. No one answered. “No? Okay, let’s go then.”

  The truck was cramped. Suzie lay mostly on Tony’s lap and Tony held her tightly, never letting her go.

  4

  After leaving the dance with Kristen, JP asked the limo driver to drive them around until almost one in the morning. JP and Kristen drank some more and screwed twice during that time, then he took her home. The limo dropped JP off outside the trailer park. He tipped the driver ten dollars, almost exhausting all the money he had saved for nearly a year, but it was worth it. He wasn’t worried. One of the best things about his business was that demand was never a problem. He strutted his way down the gravel road to the trailer park feeling like this was the best night of his life.

  His aloofness dissipated when he saw his neighbors standing around the center of the trailer park under the light, talking amongst themselves. This wouldn’t have been unusual if it was a night of the full moon, but when JP saw the concern on their faces, he ran toward them.

  “What’s going on? What happened?” JP asked his mother, who was chatting with Maria Naschy.

  The normally cold Roxanne Grenier wrapped her arms around her son, and then she started bawling. Unsure what to do, JP hugged her back. It was also unusual for his mother to hug him and it was also not the best time to receive a hug from his mother, since he was certain she smelled sex on him.

  JP closed his eyes and sighed, Oh God, this has to be bad, he thought, and was not sure he wanted to know.

  “What happened?”

  “Tony was in a car wreck,” Roxanne said.

  JP’s mouth dropped. He couldn’t believe it. It was only a few hours ago he had seen Tony alive and very well on the dance floor.

  The way people were acting around him, JP suspected Tony must be in bad shape and JP felt like he had been shot and his world was crumbling. He whispered to his mother, “Is Tony going to be okay?”

  Roxanne whispered back, “Tony’s fine dear. His girlfriend was badly hurt. She would have died if he hadn’t bit her.”

  JP’s eyes went wide and he backed away from his mother. His sorrow now turned to terror and rage in a heartbeat.

  “He, he… bit her?” JP’s thoughts went from shock to horror, thinking, How could Tony, of all people, screw up like that?

  Roxanne said, “She was going to die if he hadn’t…”

  “HE BIT HER?” JP screamed and spittle flew from the side of his mouth.

  When JP screamed, the people around him stopped and stared, but his attention was focused on Bordeaux. JP stared at the old man, wondering how and why he let this happen, then JP remembered this community was started because a young Bordeaux had been in the same predicament as Tony, but he chose to let the girl die. Bordeaux must have let Tony and Suzie live out of remorse, but most importantly, in JP’s eyes, because Tony was his favorite and the rules could be bent for no one but Tony.

  “You let them live?”

  No one was sure if that was an accusation or a scream of relief toward Bordeaux, least of all John-Paul Grenier. Bordeaux looked at the impetuous youth, but said nothing.

  Roxanne took her son by the shoulders. “Honey, your friends are going to be fine.”

  JP calmed down when he heard that, and was a bit ashamed that was not his first reaction.

  “How… how is Suzie?”

  “Dr. Running Cloud got here in time and she’s in the hospital.”

  “Running Cloud came here?” JP was amazed. Suzie must’ve been in bad shape. “Is Suzie… infected?” JP asked the crowd. No one answered at first. Then Bordeaux spoke up.

  “I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t doubt it.”

  “What if she… what if she can’t handle it?”

  Bordeaux sighed and stared at the ground. “Then you know what you have to do.”

  Bordeaux walked away, back to his trailer.

  “Me?” JP asked. It was almost a shriek.

  “As you well know, this community is bigger than just one person, my boy. Good night all.” And with that, the old man shuffled back to his trailer with his head down.

  The people dispersed, including JP, who walked with his mother toward their trailer. He changed out of his tuxedo and into jeans and a T-shirt before going back outside. He had a lot to think about. Could he really kill his best friend in order to protect the community? It was not something he could easily answer and not sure he wanted to.

  5

  At the hospital, Tony carried Suzie inside, while Dr. Jones informed the attending doctors and nurses of the situation. Tony placed Suzie on a gurney and she was wheeled away by Dr. Jones and the nurses, watching helplessly as she disappeared past the doubled doors. The waiting room smelled of old cigarette smoke and anxious sweat that permeated through the years.

  All Tony could do was pace nervously in the waiting room, like an expectant father, practically climbing the walls and driving himself nuts waiting for news of her condition. He was unlike Larry, who fell asleep on the waiting room couch. About an hour later, Dr. Jones returned. Tony stopped pacing, ears perked eagerly awaiting any information about Suzie’s condition.

  “Well, you’re lucky. She’s going to live. I bet you’re thankful Detroit doesn’t make cars out of silver. This is not the way I planned on spending my Saturday night. Try not to be so reckless in the future.” Dr. Jones pointed to Larry. “C’mon. I want to go home.”

  Larry yawned, stretched, and got off the couch.

  “Can I see her?” Tony asked.

  “Yeah, but she’s still unconscious. She’s in the third room on the left through those doors.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” Tony nodded, and went to shake the doctor’s hand, who refused it.

  Dr. Jones shrugged and headed out the door.

  “Wait!” Tony called out. He may have saved Suzie’s life, for which Tony was eternally grateful, but he was sick of the doctor’s attitude.

  “I just wanted to remind you it was me and JP who took care of those boys who were going to shave the heads of Robbie Thompson and his sister a couple weeks ago. Have you forgotten? We already did our part. Now, we’re even.”

  “Oh, right,” Dr. Jones said and scoffed. He had forgotten about that. The other boys later apologized to Robbie and Christine once they got out of the hospital.

  Tony went in to see her. Suzie was pale and looked barely alive with her eyes closed lying on the bed. A white bandage covered her forehead and there was a blood bag running into one arm and an IV running into another. At least she was alive and going to make it, but she still needed time to heal. Tony sat in a chair near Suzie’s bed and held her hand.

  The hardest part was going to be telling her how he was able to save her, and that would lead to a much harder discussion about the life she was going to have to lead. He didn’t like it much himself, and it was going to be even worse for her, but it was better than death, wasn’t it? She was going to be known as an ‘infected,’ and would probably be an outcast among the normal people, as well as the people in his community. She would have to learn how to control the changes as soon as possible. Tony, JP, and everyone else in the community had years to prepare before the first change and her first change would occur in about three weeks. It was not enough time. Not by a long shot. He understood why Bordeaux prohibited infected among the community, because they would be too wild and too unpredictable to control and train.

  Tony leaned on the side of the bed thinking about what he had done. Suzie grabbed his hand, squeezed it, and it felt like a vice grip. Tony jumped. Suzie opened her eyes, blinked a couple times, focusing on her surroundings.

  “Tony?”

  “Oh, Suzie, you scared me.” Tony leaned forward and hugged her.

  “Where am I?”

  “You’re in the hospital. We-we had a car accident. You lost a lot of blood,
but you’re going to be just fine now.” Tony said, and then thought, Kind of.

  “What happened?” Suzie asked. She was still very groggy.

  “We hit a tree.”

  “Must have been a big tree.”

  “It was.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m a little banged up, but I’ll be all right.” Tony paused a moment, organizing his thoughts, trying to find the right words to tell her.

  “Suzie, um, look… there’s something I have to tell you. It – it’s about the accident. It’s about how and why you survived. You see . . . you might consider it a miracle… with a few repercussions.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I . . .”

  Jack and Dee raced into the room. Dee ran to the side of Suzie’s bed, while Jack charged toward Tony, grabbing him by the lapels of his ripped and bloody tuxedo, and pushed him into the far wall. His eyes were glowing with murderous rage as spittle formed at the corners of his mouth. He was ready to rip this boy to pieces.

  “What the hell happened?” Dee asked.

  “We-we-we had a car wreck.” Tony cowered back from the barking mad Jack Keaton. “I-I got Suzie here as fast as I could! I’m sorry!”

  “You were drunk, weren’t you?” Jack screamed. “You had been drinking, and this was what happened!”

  “No, I wasn’t drinking! I swear!”

  “DAD!” Suzie shouted.

  “Jack, leave him alone!” Dee yelled to her husband. “Suzie’s okay. That’s what’s important. It was an accident, Jack! Tony got her here in time! She’s alive!”

  “Then why isn’t he hurt?”

  “I got lucky,” Tony said. “I hit the steering wheel with my arms and then bounced on the seat. Suzie, I’m going to go now. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Bye and thank you,” Suzie said smiling.

  Tony flashed a brief, nervous smile, and then walked out, and headed for home. It was a long walk home. However, it wouldn’t have been so long if he changed, but he didn’t have the energy to do that.

  Jack and Dee patted their groggy daughter until Jack saw the bandage on her forearm. Since most of Suzie’s wounds were cranial related, this wound was unusual. Curious, Jack undid the bandage. He had a suspicion and had to see for himself.