CURSE OF THE MOON

DUSK

“What a freak! What was he doing? Checking us out or what?” Kayla snarled, her newfound bravery replacing the fear that had gripped her a heartbeat ago.

Scarlet turned to look at her friend. They had to get out of there as fast as possible. “Let’s get a cab and get out of here! Now! Kayla!” She shrieked out the order. “Pick up your purse and let’s go before more weirdoes come out.”

“Where did he come from? One second there was nothing, and then whoosh!” Kayla used her hands to gesture to the wind. “There he was. He just appeared in front of us.”

“Yeah, I know.” What could she do but agree with her best friend? She hadn’t seen him approach them. Scarlet felt relaxed in the comfort and safety of her home.

“This city is full of crazy people. Crazies, they should just be picked up and thrown into some mental facility, right Scarlet?”

Her hysterics were met by silence. “Scarlet! Scarlet, are you paying attention to me? Now is not the time to be disappearing into your head.”

“I hear you, Kayla, crazy people. I heard you.” Scarlet didn’t understand it. “He took nothing. Did you notice how he stared at me? It was as if he…..cared.”

Kayla turned her whole body to look at her. “What! Are you serious? Do you think he wanted to have a conversation with you? Take you out to dinner so that you could talk about your future babies!” She touched the back of her hand to Scarlet’s forehead as if checking for her temperature. “Sweetie, are you feeling okay? Are. You. Crazy!”

“No, seriously K!” Scarlet pushed her hand away and got up to stand at the other side of the room away from her friend's glaring eyes. “He looked right into my eyes. It was like he wanted to touch me. Stroke my cheek even. Do you understand what I am saying?” She looked at the expression on her friend's face. She knew at that moment that if she could she would have her in a straitjacket on her way to the nuthouse.

“Sure I do honey. He was going to touch you.” Kayla’s smile turned into a scowl as her voice rose. “He was going to wrap his hands around your neck and kill you. He was going to choke the life out of you. And he was going to watch you die. That’s not affection. He’s crazy. Do you hear me? Crazy.”

Scarlet lost track of what her friend was saying. Kayla always blew things out of proportion. Such an active and inventive imaginative mind she had. But Scarlet knew what she saw. Or did she imagine it? She didn’t understand why she felt pity for the stranger. Maybe she was losing her mind.

“Scar, are you sure you are ok?” Scarlet saw the look of concern on Kayla’s face.

“Am cool K. It’s just been a long day. I just need some downtime, you know, unwind soak in a hot bath, paint my toenails, and watch a chick flick. That kind of thing. Don’t worry about me am fine.” she murmured, all the while trying to make sense of the swirly emotions in the pits of her belly.

She turned the tap on to fill the bathtub. Once she had put in all the bath salts that she needed she stepped into the bath. A feeling of relaxation enveloped her as the water rushed around her. It had been one of the strangest nights she had. She wouldn’t think about it now. But that was exactly what she ended up doing.

***

Stephan didn’t understand what had happened. Why did she affect him that way? She was a stranger just like every other victim. There was something about her, something about the way she looked at him. He walked into the cave that he called home. The darkness that enveloped him, comforting. If he didn’t need sustenance he would never leave.

He lived above the garage he worked at. His apartment was empty. It was a bed-sitter. The king-size bed and the clothes that hung in his wardrobe were all that he needed. Besides the bed that came with the room, all that he could call were the two pairs of black jeans and the five black and white muscle T-shirts.

He tried the lights and nothing.

Snap!

He hadn’t paid his electric bill. He had only focused on paying Sotera’s rent. It had already been seven years since her death. He could not find the strength to let the apartment go. The apartment was five minutes away from his home. That was as far as he would allow himself to be away from her. Five minutes. The apartment and the ashes were the only things he had left of her. He lived his life as a zombie, confined to three places, his place of employment, his crappy apartment, and his shrine, Sotera’s apartment.

Nothing appealed to him anymore, there was no doubt that he took pleasure in destroying what she loved to protect. Her love for preserving human life was absurd from the beginning he knew he would go back to his true nature. Now he was slowly getting there, he just needed to sink a little deeper into the darkness. He was not going to fight it, he would embrace it wholly.

He had no friends or family, everyone he knew and loved died back in the eighteen hundred’s. But he did have someone. The accurate term would be had. Solara, Sotera’s younger brother. They hadn’t spoken since her death. He blamed him for his sister’s death. Stephan knew that he would never forgive him, she was the only family he had. She died because of him. In that second the Conselho had taken everything from him.

He took his customary position at the window and stared out. At times he would do this till dawn. He looked out at the world thinking about how it had changed the last few centuries. Tomorrow he would be back at the chop shop, enduring his boss. He chuckled under his breath if only he knew that he could snap him in half with just one try.

The sun would rise in a while. It was time to go about like any other human. Wanting things they didn’t need, ignoring the fact that there was something out there greater than they were.

He thought of his life before he met Marquis, he was happy. Deception and greed had gotten him into this mess. He was promised all the riches that he wanted ultimate power and gifts that only existed amongst the supernatural. He peeked into a life he thought he could live without. It was too late now, he had gotten his wish and now what he deserved.jeans and the five black and white muscle T-shirts.

He tried the lights and nothing.

Snap!

He hadn’t paid his electric bill. He had only focused on paying Sotera’s rent. It had already been seven years since her death. He could not find the strength to let the apartment go. The apartment was five minutes away from his home. That was as far as he would allow himself to be away from her. Five minutes. The apartment and the ashes were the only things he had left of her. He lived his life as a zombie, confined to three places, his place of employment, his crappy apartment, and his shrine, Sotera’s apartment.

Nothing appealed to him anymore, there was no doubt that he took pleasure in destroying what she loved to protect. Her love for preserving human life was absurd from the beginning he knew he would go back to his true nature. Now he was slowly getting there, he just needed to sink a little deeper into the darkness. He was not going to fight it, he would embrace it wholly.

He had no friends or family, everyone he knew and loved died back in the eighteen hundred’s. But he did have someone. The accurate term would be had. Solara, Sotera’s younger brother. They hadn’t spoken since her death. He blamed him for his sister’s death. Stephan knew that he would never forgive him, she was the only family he had. She died because of him. In that second the Conselho had taken everything from him.

He took his customary position at the window and stared out. At times he would do this till dawn. He looked out at the world thinking about how it had changed the last few centuries. Tomorrow he would be back at the chop shop, enduring his boss. He chuckled under his breath if only he knew that he could snap him in half with just one try.

The sun would rise in a while. It was time to go about like any other human. Wanting things they didn’t need, ignoring the fact that there was something out there greater than they were.

He thought of his life before he met Marquis, he was happy. Deception and greed had gotten him in this mess. He was promised all the riches that he wanted ultimate power and gifts that only existed amongst the supernatural. He peeked into a life he thought he could live without. It was too late now, he had gotten his wish and now what he deserved.