Song of The Moon Artemis Lupine

by Banks, Catherine

  I finished, “Something girly?” He nodded his head and I laughed. “Nope, I like action movies.”

  “Alright, 300 it is.” He walked to the stand which held the DVD player and what seemed like every game console ever made and put the movie in. I sat down on the couch and opened up my soda and ate a chip with salsa on it. He turned the lights off and sat down beside me as the previews started to play. I relaxed into the couch and felt the stress on my shoulders. Billy sat back against the couch beside me and clicked the menu button to start the movie. I smiled excitedly as the movie started to play. I could practically say each line along with the movie, but I kept quiet so Billy could enjoy the movie as well. Halfway through the movie a message blinked at the bottom of the screen. Billy sighed. “Breaking news alert again.”

  I turned to him and asked with a shaky voice, “Can you turn to it?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. I’m surprised you want to after how much has already gone on.”

  I frowned harder. “I haven’t heard anything. Darren has been keeping me and Bret away from the television so we haven’t heard about what’s going on at all.”

  Billy’s mouth fell open. “So you don’t know what’s happening?” I shook my head. “Then you need to watch this.” He hit pause on the movie and changed inputs to go to the news.

  The reporter was the same monotone reporter we had seen at the diner. His face seemed more solemn than before. “Another attack and another country completely decimated…”

  I turned to Billy. “What is he talking about?” He shushed me and pointed at the television. Pictures started flashing on the TV of a city with buildings on fire and hundreds of dead bodies everywhere. I gasped. “What’s happening?” The look on my face shifted from curiosity to disbelief.

  The reporter came back on screen. “The entire country of Mongolia is completely devoid of human life.” The bodies in every town have all been found left in the same state of mutilation: their throats ripped out and their blood drained. Some even seem animal ravaged, but we believe that may be from scavengers who smell the decaying corpses. We haven’t been able to find a single shred of evidence as to the cause. Scientists are baffled, saying that they do not believe this is some type of disease, but no answers have been found as to what or who has been causing this. Video surveillance is unable to pick up anything either. So far the following places have been hit… Japan, Russia, North and South Korea, Nevada and now Mongolia.”

  I gasped. “Oh my God! Why wouldn’t Darren let us know about this?! It’s kind of important.”

  Billy shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  The shock slowly set in, “We were just in Tahoe. What if we had been there…” I remembered Darren making us leave so quickly from Tahoe and then it had been massacred. Could Darren be in on it? I shook my head dismissing that thought. I stood up. “I have to go.”

  Billy stood up and followed me to the door. “Okay, but will you come back?”

  “Not tonight. Thank you for a great afternoon.” I put on my best smile and put a hand on the doorknob.

  He held up one finger. “Hold on. I got you something.” He walked over to his bags and rummaged through them. I twitched nervously as he came back with a small white box. He handed it to me. “Here, I thought you would like this.”

  I opened the little white lid and gasped. A silver chain with a silver wolf hanging from it glittered in the white box. I stared at the small wolf and whispered, “It’s beautiful.”

  He kissed me lightly on the lips. “You can come by anytime you want.”

  I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Thanks. I love the necklace, and I’ll hold you to that offer.” I ran from the house to his truck and grabbed my backpack. It still didn’t feel right when Billy kissed me. Was it just me since I hadn’t been kissed before? I ran down the road, past the feed store and the side street that led to Bret’s house and out of the town’s cozy little feeling to my house. Darren sat on the front porch cleaning one of his shotguns. I frowned at him as I walked up the steps. “You shoot one of the wolves?” I asked nervously.

  He shook his head then sighed. “I wasn’t going to kill the wolf Artemis. I was just going to scare it a little.” He looked at the necklace box and sunglasses on my head and smiled. “Bret get you those?”

  I shook my head. “No, Billy did. Bret and I aren’t speaking right now.”

  He frowned. “Not speaking? When have you ever not been speaking? What happened?”

  I groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it. I do want to talk about what’s been going on that you’ve been hiding from us. Why didn’t you tell us that people are dying or being killed? That’s kind of important, Dad! Especially when it happens at a place right after we leave.”

  He flinched. “I know. I was just trying to keep you kids happy and not worrying about what was going on.”

  I shook my head. “You knew about the attack in Tahoe. How?”

  “I can’t tell you that.” He said sternly.

  I groaned. “You are always keeping secrets from me, you have ever since I was born. Why?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry. If I tell you it will put you in danger and I want you to be safe and happy.”

  I sighed then turned around when I heard someone running down the street. Bret was running up our road with his necklace shining in the sun. I groaned. “Great. Just freaking great.”

  Bret looked down at my necklace box and frowned, but turned to Darren. “What the hell Darren? Why didn’t you tell us what was going on?”

  “I’ve heard this, so I’m going inside to pack better.” I walked away leaving the boys to talk and went to my room. I pulled out more pairs of underwear and a couple of pajama tops and bottoms and shoved them into my backpack.

  I heard Bret come in my room, but ignored him and zipped up my bag. He whispered, “So, how was your day?”

  I shrugged. “It was great until my best friend called me a slut and I found out my dad has been hiding things from me.”

  Bret sighed. “I’m sorry Artemis. I didn’t mean what I said.”

  I raised my hand stopping him and looked up into his eyes. Tears had started to well up in mine. “Don’t apologize for something you meant.”

  He wrapped his arms around me. “I didn’t mean it!”

  I shrugged and pulled out of his embrace. “Whatever. I’ll be at Billy’s if you need me.” I started to walk out of the room and Bret grabbed me by the arms and kissed my lips hard. I felt the strength he had in his hands and knew I couldn’t fight him off even though his kiss sent my stomach rolling.

  He pulled back from the kiss and whispered, “Please don’t go over there. I’m better than him. Stay with me. Please.”

  I stared up at his face and knew that if I didn’t go with him that it would crush him. Yet the disgust I felt each time I was kissed by him or Billy was too much to deal with. “I’m sorry Bret. I need some time alone.”

  Bret frowned. “You can’t go out alone with the wolves constantly showing up.”

  I snarled at him. “I can do whatever I want. Besides, I’m sure you need time to go see Skankzilla.” I pulled away from him and walked out of the house. If it had been any other girl than Skankzilla I wouldn’t have cared since I didn’t like him in that way. Why her? Why my nemesis?

  Darren called after me, “Where you going?”

  I yelled, “Away from you!”

  “She’s trying to go somewhere alone,” Bret said angrily.

  Darren frowned at me. “You going to the stable?” I nodded my head. Darren quickly put his gun back together and handed it to me. “Take this then. Just in case you need it.”

  I slung my bag over my shoulders and took the gun and the box of shells sitting next to Darren. “Thanks.”

  I walked away from Bret, who was frowning in frustration at Darren for not stopping me, and through our field. The stable sat in the center of our property and was basically an empty building for the horses and cows to use
to get out of the sun, rain or snow. The trees swayed slightly in the breeze and birds and insects chirped and clicked and built an endless stream of music as I walked. I raised my arms to the wind and reveled in the feel of it against my skin. The outdoors had always drawn me more than buildings. The forest felt like a friend waiting for me to walk with. And I could feel the moon’s presence like a buzzing in my veins, though I couldn’t see her. I jogged through the pastures past grazing cattle until I finally came to the stable. The building was dark brown instead of red and I could see a few horses dozing inside under the shade. I approached slowly making kissing noises so I wouldn’t frighten them. The horses bobbed their heads and waited patiently for me to come to them. I stroked the three horses’ heads and crooned and cooed to them. Two feral cats stared at me from their perches on the beams. Cats had never liked me or Darren so the only cats that we got were the feral ones who ate mice in the stable. In the back east corner was a ladder that led up to the small loft.

  I climbed up and shook out the bedroll to make sure there weren’t any creepy crawlies hiding within the folds. The horses nickered and snorted and talked to each other relaxing my nerves. I set the gun against the wall and opened the necklace box. The wolf charm sparkled in the sunlight that was streaming through the windows. I picked the charm up in my hand and screamed in pain as it burned my fingertips. I dropped the charm and stared at the red blisters now present on my fingertips. The silver burned me? I held my palm out flat and laid it against the charm and screamed again as the charm burned me. “What the hell?!” I cradled my hand against my chest and squinted against the tears trying to squeeze out. Something isn’t right. I needed to get cream for the burn or it would get infected. “So much for my alone time.” I muttered as I used the bedroll to put the necklace back in its box and close the lid. I grabbed the gun again and grimaced at the pain from holding the gun against my burn. I climbed down from the loft and ran through the pastures towards Bret’s house.

  I hadn’t forgiven him, but I needed to take care of my burns and I didn’t want to see Darren or Billy. How could I explain that the necklace burned me? Bret’s house came into view and I saw him sitting on his back porch talking on the phone. As soon as he saw me he hung up and ran out to meet me. “Hey.”

  I frowned and looked down at the ground. “I haven’t forgiven you, but I hurt my hand and need to treat it before it gets infected. So, even though I’m still mad at you can I please stay the night?”

  Bret nodded his head and held his hand out for the gun. I gave it to him and gritted my teeth as I released the cold metal from my burnt hand. I followed him into the house and into the bathroom. He tried to help me with it, but I told him to leave. I sat down on the toilet and stared at the wolf-shaped burn on my palm. I squeezed burn ointment on it and wrapped gauze around my hand. I smeared some ointment on my fingertips and walked out to the living room where Bret was watching a movie.

  I kept quiet the rest of the night so that I wouldn’t start any more trouble between us. I leaned against Bret as I started to get tired. He put his arm around me and rubbed my arm as he watched the movie. I rested against his familiar body basking in his familiar cologne. I used to hate cologne, but Bret’s had just become his smell. I shivered and Bret walked to the closet and got a large afghan out. He laid down against the back of the couch and I laid down in front of him as he wrapped us up together. He put his arm out and I laid my head on it in the perfect curve of his elbow. This had become such a common occurrence that I could be practically incoherent and still do this. Although doing it now felt wrong somehow. I shook my head and ignored that thought.

  I was almost asleep when I heard two gun shots. Bret jumped up and we ran to the window to see what was going on. Billy stood a few feet in front of Bret’s house facing away from us and aiming his gun into a clump of trees. I stared into the trees and saw the reflection of amber eyes. Wolves. I ran to the door, flinging it open and ran outside. The wolves had started to walk towards Billy, snarling. I ran in front of Billy and put my arms out in front of me, “No. You three leave!”

  The wolves stopped and stared at me. I instantly recognized the three wolves as the ones that had been around the area today. They looked extremely large, but were always too far away for me to be able to tell. The middle one was obviously the alpha and took a step forward so I mimicked him by taking a step towards him. Billy started to grab me, but I waved him away. Bret whispered loudly, “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to show the wolf that he is not dominant to me. I am alpha here, not him,” I answered quietly.

  Bret groaned. “Great, you’re going to make the wolf attack you.”

  I shook my head at him then squared my legs and stared straight in the wolf’s eyes. He stared back at me, unwilling to be seen as submissive. One of the other two wolves nudged the alpha in his side. The alpha’s hackles rose and he snarled. I stayed perfectly still and for once wished I had a tail so I could show that I wasn’t scared of him. The other wolf nudged the alpha and the strangest thing happened…the alpha sighed. The alpha snapped his teeth at me and then ran off into the trees with his two pack members. I turned to Billy and saw the white of his face. “What’s wrong? They weren’t really going to hurt you Billy.” I reached out to him and he backed away.

  “Don’t touch me Artemis,” he said quickly as he backed up.

  I stared at him in shock. “Why are you acting like you are afraid of me? All I did was use some of my nerdy research to show the head wolf that I wasn’t afraid of him. I did it to save your life. It’s not like I talked to the damn wolf.”

  Bret stood beside me and stared at Billy. “Dude, what is your problem?”

  Billy shook his head. “You can’t expect me to believe that you just used common wolf knowledge to show you were tougher. You had to have been communicating with him.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Right, communicate with a wolf. Have you lost your mind?”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry Artemis, but I can’t see you anymore.” I frowned at him and was about to say something when he tossed me a large box. “Here, now you don’t need mine.”

  I stared at the box and read the label. “Pay as you go cell phone. Uh, thanks.”

  He nodded his head then ran down the street away from us. Bret folded his arms across his chest. “No wonder the wolf was going to eat him. Billy’s a puss.”

  I nodded my head and walked back inside the house, opening the cell phone box as I went. I put the phone together and plugged it in so that I could use it to call Koda tomorrow. Hopefully he would answer. Bret turned on the news channel and we laid back down on the couch under the afghan. I sighed in contentment against his arm as my body warmed back up.

  The monotone news reporter came on the channel looking as somber as ever. “What I am about to show you is very disturbing. If you have small children or sensitive individuals you should make them leave the room.” I looked back at Bret and he shrugged, staring at the TV.

  “A cell phone caught footage of an attack in London. We aren’t sure how the video got to the internet, but sources believe the boy had set his phone to automatically send when he was done recording. Please, brace yourselves for what you are about to see.” A new grainy video came on the screen showing a dark London night where two men were surrounded by people as they prepared to fight. Just as one of the men arched back to throw his punch two of the people in the circle around them started screaming and were thrown across the road and into a building. Their bodies made disgustingly, loud, wet thuds as they hit the brick wall. Everyone started looking around unable to see what was going on. Four more people in the circle disappeared screaming only to land a few blocks away on the cement, no longer breathing.

  White mist appeared around one of the fighters and he screamed in pain then was flying through the air. The second fighter and the boy with the phone started to run, but three more patches of mist appeared in front of them. They started to back up and then the mist sped forwar
d wrapping around them and their screams stopped with a loud crack and a strange hissing sound. I turned to Bret and saw he had the same shocked and scared expression on his face. The news reporter came back on. “As you can see, it appears that the strange mist is causing these deaths, but we aren’t sure how the mist is capable of doing the physical damage we have seen done to the bodies. Some have had their throats torn out, some have had their necks broken and others have been found completely drained of blood. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn of new developments.”

  Bret turned off the television and I shuddered against him. He wrapped his arms around me and I wrapped the blanket tighter around us. I closed my eyes, willing them to forget the horrified expressions frozen on the victims’ faces as they were thrown through the air. What could cause this? What is the mist? I shivered at the thought of what this could mean for us and closed my eyes. Bret stood up and carried me to his bedroom. He gently laid me down then climbed in bed with me. I got into our sleeping position with my head on his chest and sighed as our bodies heated up the sheets around us and the heavy comforter made me feel even more secure. Bret hummed a soft song as I fell into a deep sleep.

  The branches stung as they hit my face. I ran as fast as I could, trying to keep up with Darren. He dashed and dodged and jumped over and around trees and bushes. I started to fall behind him and yelled for him to wait, but he ignored me. I could hear the wolves getting closer and I knew I didn’t want to die. I increased my speed, but the wolves continued to gain ground. I could see Darren just ahead in a clearing and a small spark of hope seeped through me. I ducked under a low tree branch then stopped running. Darren’s body twitched and convulsed then fur sprung out from under his skin. The wet splitting sound made me cringe in disgust, but what stood in Darren’s place replaced my disgust with awe. A medium-sized brown wolf stood over Darren’s shredded human skin. I stared at this wolf and gasped as its eyes turned to me. “Dad?” The wolf nodded its head and then bound away as the wolves following us pounced on top of me.