Secrets of the Moon

by Kristy Centeno

  “She’s withholding information! It was either really bad or really good.” Claire shouted from the front seat.

  “Can’t you do better than that?” Tracy asked irritably.

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay! God! You people are so damn pushy. It was an amazing date with an amazing person. There. Happy now?”

  “Not really.” Tracy tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “No details, princess. We need details here.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “What for?”

  Gee, I had some nosey friends.

  “Mental pictures, girl.” Tracy replied with a grin.

  I sighed heavily. “Nothing happened, just so you know.”

  “FYI, nobody’s saying that something happened. The thing is, you went out on a date with one of the hottest guys we’ve ever seen and I’m kind of envious right now…in a good way, I might add. Anywho, I really want details about this fantabulous date of yours so I can live out the rest of my day in pure happiness.”

  “Thanks for the sarcasm.” I leaned back against the seat and crossed my arms.

  Tracy looked at me through the rearview mirror and smiled. “No problem, princess.”

  “Ugh! Girls!” Bobby covered his ears with both hands and stared out the window.

  “Well?” Claire looked at me expectantly. “Details?”

  “We danced, kissed, went out for a bite to eat, kissed again, and then went home. That’s it!” Not exactly all, but I didn’t want to ruin the conversation by adding the incident with the giant from hell.

  “Kissed?” Tracy and Claire sounded like a church chorus.

  “Was it like an I-like-you kiss or an I’m-hot-for-you kiss?” Claire asked.

  “What’s the difference?”

  “One is a sweet peck on the lips and the other is, well, I guess like French kissing.”

  Those questions made me relive the amazing kisses of the night before and my heart sped up at the memory of Kyran’s lips on mine. “I guess they were both.”

  “Even better. I guess it helps that the guy is French!”

  “Good for you, Marjie.” Tracy sounded even happier than I did. “It was about time you took an interest in someone.”

  I shrugged. Maybe I hadn’t taken an interest in anyone else before because I was waiting for someone special. Or maybe I hadn’t realized what I wanted until Kyran walked into my life. It was hard for me to know for sure what about Kyran drew me to him, but ever since I first saw him something in me had changed.

  “Not to ruin the sudden cheerfulness of my unexpected love life, but aren’t we running a little behind schedule?” I said, hoping to change the nature of the conversation.

  “Anxious to get to class, huh?”

  “No,” I lied.

  “Yeah right.”

  When we finally arrived at campus, we had to literally run to our classes. I arrived at my first class just moments before Mr. Scalon closed the door. He scowled at me but let me in nonetheless. Kyran was sitting in his seat as I breathlessly made it to mine. His silver gaze roamed all over me as I sat down, and that caused me to be completely aware of him and myself.

  “I thought you weren’t going to make it to class today.”

  “Me too. Turns out my car pool is pretty much always running behind for one reason or another.” I made sure to inspect my phone to see if I had put it on vibrate before glancing up at his handsome face.

  “Who do you carpool with?” his gaze settled on my mouth.

  “A bunch of my friends.” I struggled to speak clearly as his gaze slowly traveled up my face as if he was looking to memorize my features.

  “Why do you carpool?”

  I almost sighed in relief when his eyes finally met mine.

  “I’m unable to operate any vehicles for the time being.” The teacher hadn’t begun that day’s lesson since he was settling some kind of miscalculation of a grade over the writing assignment with one of the students, so I felt safe to keep talking. “But I can drive, it’s just that I’m not allowed, for now.”

  “Would you like to carpool with me?” He watched closely for my reaction.

  “Won’t your family have something to say about that?”

  “Why? I don’t need their permission. Besides, I can borrow one of our vehicles, it won’t be a problem. They’ll keep driving the Lexus as usual.”

  “I guess it’s okay, if it’s all right with them.”

  “It’s settled then.” One corner of his mouth tipped up in a half smile. “I’ll pick you up Monday at seven-thirty.”

  “Okay, sounds good.” More time with him, oh yeah!

  During our writing assignments, we worked together as a team. The teacher insisted we write an analogy essay which would be due in a week; so much for trying to have a social life. Class dismissed, we headed to our next one, Math. Slipping in, completely noticed by every girl in the room, we headed toward out respective seats where Angela was waiting with a frown.

  “Hi, Angie.” I greeted her.

  “Hey. Hi, Kyran.” I could have sworn I saw Angela blush.

  “Hello.” We sat in silence for the rest of our class.

  Angela had become unusually quiet and distant the past few days. I began to worry she was angry with me. She hardly spoke to me at all; she didn’t even call or text me after classes like she usually did. During class, she said nothing except when she wanted to ask Kyran something. Most times she would ignore me. However, I did happen to notice she frowned every time he spoke to me instead of her.

  At lunchtime, Kyran and I split up to go to our groups. Moments before Kyran left, my gaze settled on Alexis’s flirty smile. The look on his face caused me to blush right down to my toes. There was something so incredibly alluring about the twins. I mean, I’d seen handsome guys before, some who were right up there with the Rousseau boys, but Kyran and Alexis were different somehow. It was hard for me to explain because I had no idea why their presence lured me to them the way it did. But I understood that they meant something to me.

  When Alexis kept staring at me, Kyran frowned and practically dragged him away into the red Lexus. I laughed at the scene. Alexis was a big flirt, no doubt about that. Kyran’s words, about Alexis liking the attention he got, were true. He appreciatively appeased every girl that all but threw themselves at his feet. Where Kyran pretty much ignored the girls that begged for his attention, Alexis welcomed it with open arms and wide smiles.

  ***

  With so much work from every class we had, Kyran and I barely had time to talk, much less make any plans to go out. I was, however, hopeful he’d call or at least text me during the weekend. Having the weekend off was somewhat exciting, but spending two long days without seeing the ultra-gorgeous Kyran Rousseau didn’t appeal to me much. However, that was life, and unless he decided to pay me another unexpected visit during the night, I would have to wait until Monday to see him again.

  At home, Vicki announced two bits of bad news. Number one, she had to pick up a double shift that night. Second, Dad wouldn’t be home for another few days. Apparently, the construction company he worked for had suffered some kind of crisis and he had to stay and help. Of course, this meant that I would have to pick up my father’s chores. However, considering everything I’d put my family through the past year, I wasn’t one to complain.

  After cleaning the stalls and feeding the animals, I walked out back to the wooded area behind the barn to look for the not so good watchdogs. After the incident with the beast, I’d only seen Buggy around. The other two dogs remained missing. Vicky thought they probably wandered to the nearby Ferguson farm so she didn’t really question their absence. I, however, had the sinking feeling they were probably resting comfortably inside the beast’s belly.

  “Sassy! Kennel!” Who the hell named these dogs, anyway? “Sassy! Kennel!” Nothing. The dogs were gone for sure.

  Buggy came running toward me, tail wagging happily as he stared at me calling out for his two missing companions.

  “You wou
ldn’t happen to know where they ran off to, would ya?” Buggy sat and eyed me speculatively, as if understanding what I’d just said. “I didn’t think so.”

  With Buggy keeping me company, I ambled deeper into the woods, heading in the direction of the Ferguson farm, which was a good quarter of a mile away. I hadn’t planned on walking the entire distance to the Ferguson farm, just far enough in so that I could have an idea if Sassy and Kennel were out there somewhere. Perhaps the idea wasn’t very bright, but since Buggy was walking right next to me, I figured he’d probably warn me if I was in any real danger—at least I hoped he would. Just to be sure, I grabbed the pitchfork and took it with me.

  There were no sounds emanating from the woods at all, no birds chirping, no insects buzzing, and that threw me off a little. It was as if someone had clicked on the mute button. It wasn’t until I’d gone a good distance in that I realized that I was being followed. It wasn’t something I saw that alerted me. No, it was more of a feeling I had. The fact that I could actually sense something out there scared me witless.

  When I stopped to survey the area, nothing stood out or moved. Even so, I still felt as if I was being watched, so I proceeded with caution. The thickness of the surrounding brush wasn’t as bad in this part of the woods so I really didn’t have such a hard time marching ahead. The fact that every time I glanced back and saw that Buggy was still keeping pace with me was very reassuring. That lasted only a short time, however, because in an instant Buggy bounced off, happily chasing after a butterfly and leaving me standing in the middle of the woods completely alone, feeling very much like a ditz for trusting the mutt after he’d abandoned me before. What kind of watchdog was this? I wanted to strangle the dog for being so distracted. How could he walk around without paying attention to his surroundings?

  Buggy ran a short distance, stopped and sniffed the ground, then ran off to chase the butterfly that disappeared behind some thick brush.

  “Buggy! Come back! Come on, boy!” My calls were met with silence, an eerie silence that made the hairs at the back of my neck stand up.

  When several minutes passed and Buggy failed to show up, I started for the brush. I was halfway to the thicket when Buggy came out yelping and screeching, his tail tucked between his hind legs. Startled by his sudden appearance, I jumped and took several steps back. The dog didn’t even stop to see if I was still there or not; he just brushed right past me and ran all the way back to the barn, yelping the entire way. So much for the excellent watchdog that would protect our home and alert us to danger. Buggy’s previous owners had seen my dad coming a mile away.

  A very sudden and unexpected noise emanating from beyond the brush warned me I wasn’t alone and that there was something beyond that pile of overgrown brush. By the sounds it made, it had to be huge. I barely had enough time to distinguish one noise from another when the beast leapt from behind the brush, landing not three feet from me. Even standing on all four legs it was taller than my five-foot-five figure.

  I wanted to yell but the shriek stuck in my throat and refused to come out. By screaming, I could be putting my stepsisters’ lives in danger, because they were alone in the house. The second they heard me calling, they would come out and look for me. I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to them. There wasn’t any guarantee this beast wouldn’t harm them.

  As the mutant creature stood there and glared at me, I didn’t move at all, fearing if I did it wouldn’t hesitate to pounce on me. Seeing it came as no real surprise. What did surprise me were its actions—or lack thereof. It didn’t move or growl. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. People say that a dog that barks doesn’t bite. However, I wasn’t about to underestimate this overgrown mutt. Its snout alone was bigger than my head, so I wasn’t going to believe for a second that it wouldn’t want a taste of my flesh. That enormous looking mouth could take my entire cranium off in one bite if it wanted to. Bushy fur covered its entire body, which was massive and well-muscled. What impressed me the most, oddly enough, were the big grayish-silver orbs that passed for its eyes. They stared back with intelligence and no fear…as if they recognized that I was human.

  When it took one step toward me, I threw caution to the wind and swung the pitchfork forward in an attempt to lodge it in its neck. As if reading my thoughts, the beast stepped aside and the pitchfork touched nothing but air.

  Shit! I’m going to be eaten alive by Satan’s puppy!

  Being eaten alive didn’t appeal to me in the slightest bit, so I wasted no time swinging my weapon of choice again, this time sideways. The damn thing never made contact because just when it was about to, the beast bounded forward and butted its head against my stomach. The impact wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, but it was still strong enough to send me freefalling backwards. The pitchfork flew out of my hands and landed too far away for me to get. I landed in a heap with the beast just inches away from my face.

  Oh God! No one will ever find my body out here!

  Fearing it meant to finish me off, I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the blow of death to come. Of course, by this point my brain was going crazy with all kinds of gruesome thoughts, but I never really cried out. I was so frozen in fear that I couldn’t even think.

  But as I was lying there I did take notice of something that both surprised and startled me. The beast smelled nothing like I expected it to. Instead, it emitted a mixture of male body wash and cologne, contradicting my beliefs that it had to smell like decay and death. Since when do beasts shower? Wasn’t it supposed to smell like wet dog?

  Surprisingly enough, the beast merely stared at me, its big round eyes appraising me in a not-sinister way. Its hot breath brushed softly against my skin. Frozen, I merely stared back. I had no idea what to do next.

  That’s what happened when you had no survival skills at all. No survival skills my ass.

  Since it didn’t seem too convinced about whether or not to kill me, I took advantage of its hesitation and allowed my arm to fall sideways. Immediately, I searched for some kind of weapon I could use to aid my escape. When my hand made contact with a reasonable sized rock, I brought it up and smashed it against the beast’s black nose. It yelped in pain and stepped back just far enough for me to collect myself and start running. I willed my legs to move and carry me away as fast as possible. I ran furiously, not bothering to look back. I didn’t want to know if it followed me or not. However, the sounds of branches breaking behind me told me all I needed to know.

  My heart raced, my blood rushed through my body like an overflowing river. Fear motivated me to keep running in the hope of reaching the barn before the beast trailing after me caught up. What kept me going were the adrenaline rush and the raw desire to live. With the barn within view, I ran even faster until, by the grace of God, I made it to the entrance and bolted inside. The loft was at the end of the barn and I didn’t wait to see if the beast was following or not. I bolted up the ladder, breathless and in a panic. It seemed as if it took me forever to get to the loft but in fact it only took several short seconds. When you’re running for your life, any event, however short, can seem like an eternity.

  Once at the top of the ladder, I ran toward the only available window at the very back. There was a door next to the window which opened onto a porch-like structure with a wooden staircase that led down the outside of the barn. However, since the window was already open, I headed straight for it. I would only have mere seconds to jump out and land on the small porch, so I couldn’t stop to unlock, then open, the door. But as I got close to the window, I saw the beast standing beneath a huge oak tree behind the barn.

  It hadn’t followed me inside. It was standing perfectly still as it sniffed the ground. When it moved its head up, I saw a blotch of redness above its nose: blood. When I’d hit it with the rock, I’d actually caused it to bleed. If it wasn’t out for my blood before, it would be now. I dared not move as I kept close watch on it. My heart pumped hard against my ribs and I was havi
ng trouble breathing.

  The beast-like creature lifted its head and raised its eyes toward me. I shrank as I observed it observing me. It knew exactly where I was, but for whatever reason decided not to follow. It watched me for what seemed to be hours instead of seconds. Finally, the beast turned and bolted quickly toward the woods and out of sight.

  I wanted to cry. I was entirely shocked by the experience. My knees finally buckled and I leaned against the wall for support. My entire body was shaking both from fear and relief.

  This unknown animal was roaming these woods, possibly searching for prey. Its size alone was a sure threat. The grotesque picture of the mauled cows came to mind. If it could do that much damage to four cows, how much damage could it inflict on a person? I seriously needed to say something to someone about this.

  What if I did say something and everyone called me crazy?

  What if I didn’t say anything and someone died?

  For ten minutes, I remained there trying to calm my racing heart and ponder my limited options. Nothing came to mind; I was still too shocked to think clearly.

  When I could move without collapsing, I started back the way I came. The time it took to walk to the ladder, go down it, and make my way toward the barn’s wooden doors seemed to stretch forever. My legs shook badly and I had to place a hand on the wall to keep from falling. Slowly, I made my way out of the barn, making sure to scan my surroundings before I headed for the house. The horses were neighing quietly, so I assumed they detected no danger.

  Behind the wooden steps of the porch lay Buggy, our very brave Labrador.

  “Thanks for leaving me alone to get eaten, you mutt!” He turned to look at me with sad eyes. I swore that dog understood everything I said to him. “What kind of dog are you? You don’t even bark when you sense something coming. You just take off and leave me alone to fend for myself!”

  Whoa! Was I really arguing with a dog?

  “Why are you so mad at Buggy?” Cynthia was looking at me like I’d just lost my mind.