The Red Moon: Moon Rising

by J. M. Lyons

  like energy pulling me to gaze harder at the moon, so I did. I felt

  the wind pick up a little; and the light of the fire grew a bit too,

  brightly lighting the entire area. I could hear the ripples in the

  water starting to swish around a bit more.

  Suddenly I felt warm hands on my forearms under the jacket

  that hung over my shoulders; completely releasing the odd feeling

  that I had. "Hey, you ok.?" Jon said softly. "Um, yeah I think so." I

  said, trying to shake the weirdness off. The wind slowly backed

  down again to a cool breeze. The sloshing of water seemed to

  calm, and the fire seemed to flicker slowly, now only lighting a

  small area of the yard. Everything seemed to go quiet, and still.

  Butterflies began to swirl in my stomach, spinning it into knots; the

  nerves came back and this time it was much stronger.

  "I've missed you a lot Mia." Jon said, gently turning me to face

  him. I took a step back, as shyness overcame me. "I've thought about you a lot too." I said, looking deep into his soft eyes. "I wish

  things didn't go down the way that it did, but I guess it was for the

  better at the time." He said, looking down; breaking our gaze into

  each others eyes. "Yeah you're right I guess; but neither of us was

  ready for a committed relationship anyway. I mean I wasn't gonna

  stop cheer leading just because you wanted me to; and you

  weren't ready to give up being with the boys. Not to mention, you

  cheated." I said, taking another step back.

  "It was hardly cheating, Mia. I went to a movie with her and

  kissed her that's all. Besides I didn't love her or anything." He

  replied, as he took a step closer. "Well a kiss is a kiss, and that's

  still cheating in my book, your lips are supposed to be kissing just

  mine." I said, turning my face away toward the lake. "Yeah, I

  know." He said, as he spun me around again to face him. He

  stepped closer and pressed his warm lips against mine. I jerked a

  little, caught off guard, but soon I kissed him back. The feeling of

  his warm lips on mine felt new again. It was like this was the very

  first time we really kissed. We stood there for awhile holding on to

  each other locked in a long kiss; and with every breath we took

  the butterflies faded, until there were none left.

  "Mia, Mia." I heard over the sound of the crackling of the fire. I stood there in Jon's embrace and let the sound of my name fade

  into the darkness. "I think Tucker's looking for you." Jon said, with

  a smile as he slowly pulled his face away from mine. "Um yeah. I

  can hear him." I said, as I turned back toward the house. "Over

  here." I called out, as Tucker hurried across the lawn, pass the fire

  pit.

  "Mia, we need to go. Lily just called; she said that somethings

  going on at the house. I could hear all kinds of weird sounds in the

  background." Tucker said, breathing heavily. "What." I said

  confused, looking at Tucker. "I think you should go and check it

  out." Jon said, running his hand on my back. "Yeah, I think so." I

  said turning toward him. "Can we do this again?" He said with a

  smile. "Tomorrow, tomorrow." Tucker said, trying his best to hurry

  me along. "Come on Mia, it sounded like an emergency." He

  continued, now hurrying toward the front of the house.

  We watched Tucker's silhouette disappear behind the corner

  of the house. Jon walked with me toward the front yard as

  Tucker's truck started up with a revving engine. "I'll come by

  tomorrow to pick you up." Jon said still smiling. "That sounds like a

  plan." I replied, as I hugged him tightly around his waist.

  I jumped into Tucker's truck, as he peeled out of the driveway. "So, I saw you talking with Kris earlier." I said, looking over at him

  with my wondering eyes. His eyes were narrowed onto the dark

  road, deep in concentration. "Um, yeah I was, but I don't know.

  She wants more than just a relationship and I'm not sure if I want

  the same thing." He said, still glaring at the road. "Well, at least

  Nadia wasn't chasing after you tonight." I laughed. "Now that

  would have been a problem." Tucker chuckled, as he kept his

  eyes on the road.

  "So, what did Lily tell you on the phone?" I asked, wondering

  what went wrong after I had left. "She said something about dad

  wasn't doing too good; but she got cut off,because the next thing I

  knew the phone went dead." He said, screeching his truck tires

  with every turn. "Gee Tucker slow down." I demanded, as my

  head bumped the window. I rubbed my head and looked back

  over at Tucker, who looked so worried, and scared. "I can't; I just

  have this funny feeling that something really bad is going on." He

  said, as he sped down the road.

  Before we reached the house we could see the swirling red

  and white lights of the ambulance and cop cars. The front door

  was wide open with the screen door hanging off it's hinges. "Dad."

  Tucker yelled, as he quickly jumped out of the truck, and ran up the driveway toward the ambulance. I must have been taken back

  by the emergency people there, because I didn't move at all. I just

  sat there staring at everyone rushing around the front yard.

  A police officer stopped him when he got closer. "Lily's in the

  house." He said, pointing toward the house. "Where's my dad?"

  He demanded, looking over at the ambulance. "We're gonna take

  him to the hospital but there seemed to have been an accident."

  Officer Green said, holding Tucker by the shoulders. I slowly got

  out of the truck and walked quickly up the driveway.

  "Tucker, what's happening?" I asked confused; as I got closer

  to everyone I kept looking around. "Mia, Lily's in the house and

  we're gonna take your dad to the hospital. Why don't we all go

  inside." Officer Green said tugging on my arm. He and my father

  worked on a few cases together before, and and he was Nadia's

  uncle.

  "Dad." I yelled out, trying my hardest to get some kind of view

  in through the small little window of the ambulance. "He's fine, we

  just need to run a few tests to make sure everything's really ok.

  Then we need to get him cleaned up." The medical responder

  said, as he quickly jumped into the drivers seat.

  I looked around at the front of the house, then watched as the ambulance quickly drove off into the darkness of the night, as the

  emergency lights shined off the tree tops. "Lily." I yelled out,

  running up the old weathered porch, then through the broken front

  door. Seeing how everything looked from the outside, I got very

  worried.

  When I got into the house I gasped; as I slowly looked

  around, taking in what everything looked like. Lily sat quietly at the

  table. She looked so scared; she was shaking and crying. I was

  shocked to find the house completely trashed. At first, when

  Tucker told me we had to leave the party, I figured that she and

  dad got into a fight or something like that; but this; this just wasn't

  normal. Everything about it wasn't normal at all.

  The couch was tossed, and dirty it looked like someone threw

  dirt and grass on it. The coffee table was broken in half, right
>
  down the middle; the pictures that were on the wall now littered

  the floor with broken frames and glass, splashed with blood. There

  was long cuts on the wall, like someone ran a knife through it. The

  window facing the back yard was broken in with the screen

  hanging off the window pane.

  "Lily; what happened?" I asked, slowly walking toward her

  trying to avoid any broken glass. "I; I don't know Mia. I was asleep; then someone drove up the driveway and your dad said that he

  would go and check it out. Then I heard a horn, or something like

  it. So I sat up, waiting for your dad to come back. All of a sudden

  I heard a loud crashing like glass breaking. So, I got out of bed,

  and opened the bedroom door; but when I got into the hallway

  there was this unbelievable strong gust of wind that kept blowing.

  It was so hard that I couldn't make it to the steps. I got on my

  knees and crawled to the steps." She explained, holding her

  hands tightly on the side of her head, with a dazed and confused

  look. "Gust of wind?" I asked startled at her story.

  Lily never lied to any of us and I had no reason to think that

  she would. But strong winds in our house; really. There was no

  strong winds when we got home, nor was there any at the party.

  "Yeah; see they didn't believe me." She said, pointing to the two

  policemen that stood the next to the refrigerator, looking at her like

  she was crazy. "I couldn't move Mia; I literally had to crawl my way

  to the steps. When I got there I could hear someone yelling, which

  was funny because I couldn't hear anything earlier; there was

  absolutely no noise, just wind. But, when I got closer I could hear

  yelling. So I kept close to the ground and crawled my way down

  the stairs.” She said trying her best to explain what happened without crying.

  "I could hear your dad, and it sounded like he was chanting or

  something; I don't know how to explain it.” She said very

  confused. “But the wind kept getting stronger and stronger. I

  couldn't make out the words; like I had no idea what he was

  saying." She said, wiping tears away from her eyes, with her

  small shaky hands.

  Just then Tucker appeared behind me, tossing his jacket onto

  the chair next to me. "What the hell." He said, looking around then

  at Lily. She didn't answer him; she just continued with her story.

  "The next thing I knew; I was on floor at the bottom of the steps,

  and your dad was in the middle of the living room on the floor,

  crouched over. He had cuts all over him, and the blood was

  scattered all over on the broken glass. So I got the phone and

  called 911." She said, still shaken over what happened.

  "Tucker can I speak with you, privately?" Officer Green said,

  stepping over the broken glass. "Um yeah, sure." Tucker replied,

  turning toward him. They both went out onto the front porch. "I bet

  he'll tell your brother that I'm crazy; and that your dad and I just

  got into a really bad fight or something like that." Lily said, looking

  out the front window. "No, he's probably saying him that everything is gonna be ok. See, they're hugging." I said, watching.

  "Come on fellas, let's go." Officer Green called out. The police

  officers all filed out one by one. "Lily, Mia, you guys alright?" We

  heard a voice say coming from the kitchen door. "Yeah, um every

  things fine. Come on in." I called out. Mrs. Hawks stepped into the

  kitchen, with her over sized nighty and her hair in curlers, she

  slowly stepped into the house; her short stature made her steps

  very small. "Sorry for coming by so late; but I heard some awful

  noises earlier. Are you ok Lily?" She asked, in a I need to know

  what happened kind of way.

  She was an old lady, and just like most older ladies, she was

  the most nosiest person in town. She always had to know

  everybody's business. "Yeah um, everything's fine, and there's

  nothing to see." I said, stopping her in the kitchen. I put my arms

  out to block her from seeing Lily who's back faced us. "Lily's fine,

  she just needs some time alone." I said, nudging her back toward

  the kitchen door.

  "Oh ok Mia. You know I just wanted to make sure, because

  me and my husband thought that it was you standing in the

  driveway just before all the noise started." She said, pointing her

  finger at me. "What do you mean Mrs. Hawks? I just got home." I said confused. "Well yes Mia. There was a woman and a man

  standing in the driveway, and they blew a horn of some sort; and

  the woman looked exactly like you, she had really long red hair

  too." She said, stepped out the back door.

  She saw a woman and man standing in the driveway, I

  thought to myself. "Well, I'm not sure about that Mrs. Hawks but I

  assure you that everything is fine." I said, stepping out onto the

  back porch with her. "Well if you folks ever need anything, don't

  forget that we live right there, ok dear." She said with a smile. "Yes

  Mrs. Hawks. Thank you." I said, waving good bye as she slowly

  walked off the porch and disappeared into the shadow of the

  house.

  I couldn't believe that Mrs. Hawks thought she saw me. What

  was going on. Why would she think it was me with a man. Just

  then a horrible thought came to my mind. I wonder if my mom

  came back with James and something happened. But why? How

  could all this be happening? I thought as I locked the back door.

  "Look at this mess." Lily said, as she keeled down picking up the

  broken picture frames.

  I grabbed the trash can and helped to clean up the shattered

  glass. I dusted the couch and set the cushions back into place. Tucker stuck his head through the door, just as I heard a loud

  truck pull up. "Who is that?" I asked, looking up at Tucker. "It's

  uncle Tom; Officer Green said that he called him to come over

  before we got here." Tucker said, heading down the steps. "Lily;

  did they say anything about dad? When we got here they were

  just leaving for the hospital." I said, tossing the glass that was near

  the couch into the trash.

  "Oh my god, David." She said in a panic. "I've got to get to

  the hospital." She said, jumping to her feet. "No; maybe we should

  wait a little, until you've cleaned up a bit." I said, pointing at her

  ripped sleeping shirt. "Oh; yeah I guess your right." She said still

  very confused and dazed, as she looked down at herself. "Mia,

  Lily; Uncle Tom's gonna take me to the hospital to see dad."

  Tucker said, as he hurried in to grab his jacket off the chair.

  "Alright Tucker, can you tell your dad that I'm ok, and that I'll

  see him soon." Lily said, with tears filling up in her eyes again.

  "Sure no problem." He replied, as he rushed out the door. It took

  Lily and I a few hours to clean up the mess. All the while she

  cleaned she had this dazed and confused look on her face; I

  guess trying to make sense of everything that happened.

  I could tell she was still very unsure about what really went on. I myself couldn't understand what Mrs. Hawks meant by she

  thought it was me in the driveway. I just couldn't figure it out. After


  Lily and I finished cleaning, we both went upstairs to get changed.

  But before I knew it I was fast asleep. I didn't even hear if Tucker

  got home.

  The next morning I slowly woke to the smell of pancakes and

  coffee. I slowly opened my eyes to the bright sun that was shining

  right through my window. I wondered if Tucker got home; I

  wondered if my dad got home too. I hurried out of bed and ran

  down stairs. Dad, Tucker and uncle Tom sat in the living room.

  Uncle Tom and my dad were raised together like brothers.

  They did everything together; they went fishing, hunting, they even

  went for long hikes in the forests. Uncle Tom was much older than

  dad was, and I don't think he had a job, although he did managed

  to make ends meet. As I stood there looking at everyone, I

  noticed that Tucker had this look of complete and utter disbelief.

  "Dad, are you ok?" I asked softly, taking notice that his arm

  was in a sling, and his bruised face with little cut's all over it. "Oh

  yeah, baby I'm fine." He said with a smile. "Why don't you go help

  Lily finish breakfast." He said, still with his smile on his face. "Um

  sure. Hi uncle Tom." I said, confused about everything that was going on. "Hey Mia." Uncle Tom said as I walked closer to him.

  "Congratulations on your graduation yesterday." He said with a

  smile. "Thanks." I said, as I continued toward the kitchen.

  "Lily you need some help?" I asked, as I took the corner into

  the kitchen. "Sure, why don't you scramble those eggs for me."

  Lily replied softly. She looked much better this morning. "So, are

  you ok? I mean how are you feeling this morning?" I asked

  standing beside her, cracking the eggs into a mixing bowl. "I'm

  alright, especially now that your dads home. He got back from the

  hospital early this morning with Tom." She said, still with a smile

  on her slightly worried face.

  "That's good. I guess everything at the hospital went well then

  huh." I said also smiling, as I scrambled the eggs. "Yeah, I guess it

  did." She replied. When everything was done cooking, Lily walked

  over to the dining room to set the table. "Breakfast is ready." I

  called out. Tucker hurried out through the back door without

  eating or saying anything; and drove off in his truck.

  Dad and Uncle Tom came over to the table and sat down.

  "Where's Tucker going?" I asked watching him drive off. "Ah don't