Moon Sick

CHAPTER 1. I have left my home town. It's the only place i have ever known. I needed to find something better than what I had. I was not going to survive the situation I had put myself into. My name is Vivian Tanner. I am almost 18 years old. I am an only child. My birthday is August eighteenth, which is a month and a week away. I don't care about my birthday. They are just like a regular day for me. Once i turned 13, my parents decided i was old enough to do my own thing for my birthday's to come. My parents and i don't get along. My father works at a papermill and is an alcoholic. My mother is one of the towns doctors and was hardly home. Most nights, it was just me and my father at home. I would always try to stay away from him when he got drunk and angry. He would get angry about my mother's absence and take it out on me. I pretty much took care of myself the last few years of school. After I graduated, I got a job at the Red Barn Restaurant in town. There, I met a couple of people I became really good friends with. Joshua Miller was the cook there. He was 19 years old, tattooed, and a smartass. Candice Gardner was a waitress like myself. She was 18, a fiery redhead, is really spontaneous, and likes to seek out trouble for fun. FAST FORWARD TO PRESENT... The train comes to a screeching hault, and my eyes snap open to see the petrified looks on everyone's faces. My heart hammers in my chest. I was almost asleep before this happened. I look around the box car. There are about twenty to twenty-five people in the box car that I am in. Mostly adults but some children accompanied by their parents. It must be around three o'clock in the afternoon. The sun looks the highest in the sky. From my seat in the back of the box car I look around to find the cause of our abrupt stop that has everyone in a panic. Some people were out of their seats and looking out the windows, some remained in their seats and others were asking each other what was going on. We were clearly not in an accident, but something surely happened for this train to stop the way it did. In the midst of the chaos, I see a man who works on the train. I think he is a coach attendant. He has on a uniform, which is crisp and neat. However, I can't miss the beads of sweat that threaten to fall down his forehead as he goes to walk through the box car. Before he is about to leave, I stop him. POV Vivian "Excuse me, sir, can you tell me what has happened? Is everyone ok?" He looks at me momentarily as if he might say something but changes his mind and then dashes away like he is on a mission. I get no answer as to what has happened, but i could see the slender coach attendant was clearly panicked about something and was in quite a hurry to check on all the passengers. We must have sat here on the tracks for about twenty-five minutes before the train started moving again. I felt relief settle me as I heard the trains creak and groans as it is about to start moving again. POV Vivian "Thank God that's over," I said to myself. My anxiety is high, and the further away I can get from Parishville, the better I will feel. I don't want to feel like this anymore! I haven't been able to sleep any of the 7 hours I've been on the train. I have too much on my mind, and my fear hasn't subsided any yet. As the train starts pulling away, I notice a man standing on the side of the tracks. He is clearly very upset. His chest is heaving in anger, and I can see it all as he doesn't have a shirt on. This man looks more beast than man. He is huge, rugged, and probably the tallest man I have ever seen. He has dark features with a strong jawline. He is very muscular and looks to be about thirty years old or so. Just as I am about to look away, he turns his head and looks right into my eyes. It's a cold stare. It sends goosebumps and chills right down my body. As i am about to look away, i see his lips move up just enough for him to have this eary smile that makes the hair stick up on the back of my neck. I quickly look away. Something about this man doesn't seem right. As we pull away further out of that man's sight, I can't help but think about what just happened and what that was all about. The situation has left me feeling very uneasy. I don't know if it's my past situation or the one that just occurred that has me questioning my life choices. Maybe it's both. Why was this half-naked man just standing there and so angry? The more I thought about it, the more details I had remembered. Like, him not wearing shoes, and I could have sworn I saw claws coming from his fingertips. Wow, I must really need some sleep because I feel like I am losing my mind. Once again, I lean my head back, close my eyes in thought. FLASH BACK... On the weekends, Joshua would sneak Candice and I into his older brothers bar/ nightclub. I didn't care about drinking, but I loved to dance. Candice would find a new guy every time to flirt with and get him to buy her drinks. Joshua would hang out with the super hot, blonde bartender and pretend he didn't stare at her ass and tit's and he would keep an eye out for me and make sure no pervs would bother me. Those were the good days. I am going to miss them both so much! The last time I saw Candice was when we said goodbye to Joshua for good. Candice and I sat up on the hill and watched the services until everyone was gone. Then we quietly went down the hill and sat down with a bottle of tequila that Candice had brought with her and did a shot one last time for Joshua and said our goodbyes. That night, I stayed at Candice's house. I couldn't sleep. I lay there next to her on her bed, listening to her cry herself to sleep. I held her close until her breathing evened out, and I knew she had dozed off. I knew that after tonight I had to leave. Once everyone found out our secret, everything would be over for us, and I couldn't stick around and wait for that to happen. END OF FLASH BACK. I am on my way to stay with a friend from high school. She is in college and stays at the dorms there. Her name is Eva Monroe. Her last name fits her well, and she looks like Marilyn Monroe. Her eyes and nose are the same. She also has a mole almost in the same spot that Marilyn did. The only difference was that her hair was dark brown, almost black. God, I can't wait to see her! I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the sound of the train coming to a stop. The sound of the steam and the breaks squealed very loudly. I was so excited to finally be here. I am in need of a shower and food. I am so hungry. I feel like I have an angry gnome inside my belly pounding on the inside, demanding a meal. It's six o'clock at night and I've had about 3 hours of sleep. I'm standing here at the train station waiting for Eva to come pick me up. This train station is pretty busy. Lots of people are coming and going. I feel someone grab my arm. I turn to see if it's Eva and I am face to face with a man who I do not know. He looks concerned. POV Strange, man "Are you Ruth?"He asked me. Vivian " No sir, I am not. Now, will you please let go of me!" POV Strange, man " But I have to talk to you, Ruth. we don't have much time!" Vivian "I said, let go!!" I pull my arm from him and start walking fast with my duffle bag over my shoulder. I keep looking back to make sure he is not following me when I walk right into someone. Vivian "Eva!!"OH my god, am I glad to see you! Get me out of this place. There are some crazies here." Eva looks around. POV EVA " What do you mean? Are you ok?" She asked me as she looked me up and down. I can tell I must look a bit disheveled to her because she is concerned. Vivian " OH yeah, I'm great now. Hey, thanks for coming to get me. I've missed you so much! POV Eva "OF course Viv, there is no way I'd make you take a cab. Besides, I've also missed you as well and I couldn't wait to see you! I bet you can't wait to get out of those clothes and freshen up. I ordered diner. I hope you don't mind Chinese." Vivian "OH my god, that sounds amazing! You are the best. I am so glad that I reached out to you to stay here. I am so grateful to you that you said yes. I don't know where I would be right now if I wasn't able to get ahold of you." POV Eva " You never told me what happened. Why did you leave home?" Vivian "Uh, well, I....um... POV Eva "It's ok, we have plenty of time to catch up. Let's get you home and fed." Vivian "If only she knew how happy I was that she decided to let the subject go. Maybe she felt my uneasiness and figured she would find a much better time and place to ask where I would be more comfortable. Either way, I'm sure she had her suspicions that something bad must have happened for me to just up and leave." We pull up to the dorms and exit the car. Once we make it inside, I am more than happy to be here. I feel safe. I feel hidden from my past. I walk through her apartment, and it's beautiful! it's furnished with expensive furniture and beautiful artwork. Her apartment has a whole color scheme, and everything is placed perfectly in its place. I feel so at home like I can finally breathe. I eat dinner and after I head for a bath. I set the water to the right temperature, I added some bath salts, added it, and then ran my hand through the water to mix it in. Oh, how I have been looking forward to a nice hot bath to relax my body and tight muscles. I swear I must have been tense the whole train ride here because as soon as my naked body is submerged, I feel my muscles relax all at once. It is painful and relaxing all at the same time. I lay my head back and close my eyes, letting the hot bath sooth me and wash away all the anxiety and fear I've been holding on to for hours. I'm about to doze off in the bath when all of a sudden I get this terrible feeling and almost at the same time this horrible pain in the pit of my stomach like someone or something is coming for me.