Blood Moon Rising

Chapter 2

"Hunters? Recruits?" Zara's mind spun as she tried to process Dairus' cryptic words. "I don't know what kind of insane cult you people are part of, but you've got the wrong person. I want no part of whatever this is."

She renewed her struggles against the coarse ropes binding her wrists, panic lending fresh adrenaline-fueled strength to her efforts. But the knots were expertly tied and refused to budge.

Darius watched her impassively for a moment before sighing and raking a hand through his thick mane of hair. "You don't have a choice, girl. Not anymore."

Crouching down in front of her, he grasped her chin firmly and forced her to meet his intense gaze. His dark eyes bored into hers with an almost feral intensity.

"You were attacked. Mauled by one of the Lycan bloodlines. Their venom now courses through your veins, rewriting your very DNA from the inside out." His voice was low, grating, as if speaking the words carried immense effort.

Zara tried to pull away from his vice-like grip, but he held her firmly in place. "What...what are you saying? That I'm going to turn into one of those...things?"

She barked out a harsh, mirthless laugh that bordered on the edge of hysteria. "This is insane. You're insane! Let me go right now or I'll have you arrested for k********g!"

The big man's marred features twisted into a humorless smirk. "You are the one who is delusional if you think the human laws and authorities have any sway here."

Releasing his grip, he rose smoothly to his feet once more. "With the next cycle of the full moon, you will experience your first transformation. You will become like them - a Lycan, a twisted spawn of the night itself."

Zara stared up at him, speechless. Transformation? Like one of those monsters that attacked her? It was too horrific to comprehend. Her gaze drifted downward once more to the deep gouges on her arm and she felt bile rising in her throat.

"You're...you're lying," she managed to choke out, tears of panic and rage stinging her eyes. "This is just some sick game you people are playing. There's no such thing as werewolves!"

"I can assure you, there is nothing whatsoever 'game-like' about the situation," a new voice, feminine and cultured, cut in from the shadows.

Another figure stepped into the firelight - a regal, imperious woman with long white blonde hair and chiseled, aristocratic features. Despite her refined beauty, there was something unmistakably predatory in her cool gaze as she regarded Zara like one might observe a specimen under a microscope.

"The Lycan blood curse is indeed real," the woman continued, her voice clipped and precise. "As are the unholy scourges that inflict it. And as of this night, you are one of the tainted."

Zara felt like she was trapped in some sort of waking nightmare, the words of these strangers washing over her in incomprehensible waves. Bloodcurse? Tainted? She opened her mouth to protest again, but the blonde woman silenced her with a single imperious look.

"I am Avina, High Priestess of the Venators," she stated, her tone brooking no argument. "This order has safeguarded humanity from the Lycan plague for thousands of years across all cultures and civilizations. It is our sacred duty to identify those cursed with their unholy bloodline...and eradicate the threat they pose to mankind."

Zara's heart hammered in her chest as the weight of those chilling words dropped like a stone in her gut. Her eyes flicked almost involuntarily to Dairus' scarred visage. These people - this cult or whatever they were - didn't just hunt werewolves. They killed them.

Oh god...they were going to kill her, too. She was next on their eradication list.

The full moon...the massive wolf-like creature exploding from the foliage...the feeling of hot rancid breath on her face as those fangs aimed for her throat...it all came crashing back in a tidal wave of graphic realization. It was real. All of it.

"No...no, please..." The words spilled out in a terrified whimper before she could stop them. "I...I don't know what happened, but you're wrong. I'm not...I can't be..."

"one of them?" The vampire white of Avina's teeth flashed in a mirthless smile. "I'm afraid the choice is no longer yours."

Her pale eyes slid to the vicious slashes scoring Zara's forearm, the tattered flesh angrily swollen and irritated despite the wounds being nearly healed.

"The Lycan's taint has already taken root," Avina intoned with an air of grim finality. "On the next rise of the full moon's cycle, you will be utterly overwhelmed as your humanity is subsumed by your newfound curse. Your mortal flesh will be reborn in the snarling, unholy image of the great defiler."

She reached down in one sinuous motion and firmly gripped Zara's lacerated forearm, her fingers digging into the inflamed flesh with no hint of gentleness. Zara cried out at the searing agony but was unable to pull away.

"This is the price of your indoctrination into our order," Avina declared, her vice-like grip tightening until Zara felt the newly-formed scabs split and fresh blood began trickling down her arm. "You will learn to control the raging beast within your soul...or we will be forced to destroy you for the good of mankind."

Their eyes locked, the priestess' gaze cold and unflinching. "That choice is what awaits you at the end of your path. Atonement...or damnation."

A spike of raw terror and revulsion pierced Zara's core at the severe woman's words. Clearly, these people were utterly convinced of their delusions - but what if there was some sick grain of truth to their ramblings?

As Avina finally released her vvice grip Zara cradled her bloodied arm with a quiet whimper. They had her utterly at their mercy out here, alone and defenseless in the black heart of the sprawling forests. And if she really was infected with some sort of...lycan curse...then she was well and truly trapped between a nightmare and oblivion.

The crackle of the campfire was the only sound in the tense silence that stretched between them. Zara fought to regulate her ragged breathing, her mind whirling.

She had to get out of this situation, had to escape these clearly deranged people before things spiraled any further out of control. If she could just loosen the ropes binding her wrists even a little...

Subtly testing the coarse fibers, Zara forced her features into a mask of resigned acquiescence. "Okay, okay you've made your point. I...I'll do whatever you need me to do. Just please, don't hurt me anymore."

Avina's pale eyes glittered in the firelight, her perfect features utterly inscrutable. The priestess said nothing, merely giving an almost imperceptible nod.

Darius grunted, seeming unconvinced. "That easily, you accept your fate? After all your protests and denials?"

Despite the thunderous pounding of her heart, Zara managed a tremulous nod, mustering her most contrite expression. "What choice do I have? You people are...are serious about all this werewolf stuff. I don't want to be...killed or damned or whatever."

She let her eyes fall submissively to the ground, subtly twisting and pulling at the knots behind her back with every ounce of strength she could muster. She could feel the fibers slowly beginning to loosen, just a little. Just a bit more...

"A wise decision, child," Avina's silken voice cut through the crackling quiet. "The curse of lycanthropy is a disease that has plagued humanity since the beginning. By rights, we should purge you from this world like the abomination you are becoming."

Her cruel words sent a spike of icy dread through Zara's core, but she refused to meet the priestess's gaze, focusing every iota of willpower on working the ropes free.

"However," Avina continued after a calculated pause. "In recent days, our Venatori have made...discoveries that have forced us to reconsider our methodologies. Perhaps your unholy affliction could prove useful if properly subjugated."

Zara froze at that, scarcely daring to breathe as the knots finally started to loosen perceptibly. Useful? What did that even mean? Her eyes flicked up instinctively to gauge the other woman's expression, but Avina's perfect porcelain features revealed nothing.

"You will be given a chance to attune your mind to resist the Lycan's beastly influence," the priestess declared, rigid certainty in every syllable. "To bend your transformed capabilities to our will instead of your inhuman impulses."

A low, rumbling chuckle escaped Dairus' ruined lips. "The real question is whether a weakling like her possesses the strength to overcome her own monstrous nature."

The cruel rasp of his voice sent prickles of apprehension down Zara's spine. These people were utterly, terrifyingly convinced in their bizarre beliefs. Just what sort of unholy trials did they have in store for her?

The ropes shifted further, and Zara held her breath, muscles tense and ready to bolt at the first opportunity. She was quickly running out of time before her mobility was stripped forever.

"Take heart, child," Avina's tone could have frozen a volcano. "Soon enough, the tests will reveal if you are destined to be a savior in our crusade against the Lycan filth...or merely another target for eradication."

With a defiant surge of adrenaline, the ropes finally loosened enough for Zara to yank her wrists apart. In a single explosive motion, she was on her feet, tearing through the trees in desperate flight before either captor could react...