Blood Moon Uprising

3

For a few moments, Kai was sure he must be dead. The feeling began to creep cruelly back into his body. It felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to his frozen skin. His legs cramped up as if his muscles had been slammed into a vice, and he cried out. He was living all right. Death could never hurt as much as this. A drop of blood ran down his face from a cut above his eye.

He reached for his legs, trying to rub the muscles into letting off. Where was he? How long had he been lying there? Many hours. It was getting dark. The moon was full and heavy in the greying sky, like a huge rock about to drop and crush him.

Thick mud slurped at his shoulders. He was lying in shallow seas. Further out, Kai could hear the roaring waves.

How far down the river had he drifted? Kai surveyed the moving water. A little way upstream, a line of stones sticking out of the water like a row of bald heads. They served as a kind of barrier. If he'd knocked into one and then been pushed behind the line … Yeah, that was it. The softer stream had then carried him here to the river's edge.

Kai took a deep, trembling breath. He'd made it. He'd had an amazing adventure, but he'd made it. Through the pain, through the shock – or maybe because of it – Kai found himself laughing.

Until something growled behind him.

His first thought was that the bear had somehow found him again. But the growl seemed somehow … different. Too tired to turn around, Kai let his head fall back. He had a crazy upturned view of the dark riverbed, and his tired brain fought to make sense of it.

A stretch of slimy mud. A tangle of plants. Weird, twisted tree roots reaching out deformed fingers. Two narrowed yellow eyes, glinting, low down in the darkness.

The eyes came closer and the shadows seemed to swallow him whole. 'How're you doing?'

Kai could barely hear the words. He was back in the freezing water, deep down and sinking.

'C'mon, wake up, huh? Hey, what's your name?'

Why should he wake up? He knew he would start hurting all over again if he woke up; if he let himself be dragged back to life. But the water was getting warmer already, and thickening, until it felt more like blood.

Kai shook his head and moaned softly. As his body started to thaw out, he felt the pain coming back into his muscles.

'You've been asleep for ages.'

The blackness was melting into blues and purples, a growing bruise over his vision. Kai 's body started to thud, like the sounds of a giant's footsteps were beating on him. He felt sick. He wanted to go back into the cold, numb darkness.

Except now he knew. In the darkness, something was waiting for him …

He jolted fully awake, feeling the urge to scream – and glimpsed nervous faces he didn't recognize, watching him.

Then the darkness reached out for him again.

Kai was barely aware of time passing. Of the moon and the sun switching places in his view outside. Of hands that spooned a bitter-tasting liquid into his dry mouth and rubbed a spicy lotion into his stinging skin.

Maybe he was in a hospital. That must be it, he decided. He had a fever and he was in the hospital.

Eventually, Kai grew bold enough to open his eyes and look around him. An almost-full moon glowed in the dark square of a window facing him. It seemed like an angry eye, looking in at him. Unable to meet its eyes, Kai turned away.

Through the gloom, Kai saw he was lying in a narrow bed in a narrow room. An open door led to a tiny private bathroom. The only other furniture was the dark bulk of a dressing table and mirror hiding in the shadows against the wall.

The sound of a key turning in a lock made Kai look up. He blinked as three figures entered the room: a man, a woman, and a boy around Kai 's age.

'You're awake!' observed the woman with pleasure. 'I mean, really awake!'

Kai took in her thin face, framed by straight, dark hair. He didn't think he recognized her – or the others.

She came closer, out of the darkness. Her eyes were a cool blue, but her broad smile seemed friendly. 'We've been worried about you, young man. Very worried.'

'Are you a nurse?' Kai croaked.

'Used to be,' the woman said quickly, looking at Kai 's bandages. 'Used to be a top nurse, at that.'

'So I'm not in a hospital?' Kai asked nervously.

'Better than that,' the woman promised him. 'You're with friends.' She fluffed up his pillow. 'Hospitals are such dangerous places, anyway. The bigger they are, the less they care. That's not the kind of care I like.' She smiled at him again. 'Marie Soli. How do you do.' She held out a hand.

'My name's Kai .' He tried to raise his hand but found it wrapped heavily in bandages. He stared at it in confusion.

'Kai ,' echoed Marcie, as if she was trying the name on for size. Then she clicked her tongue sympathetically and dropped her hand. 'I'm sorry, Kai . I was only playing with you. No handshakes for you for a while. Not for a long while.'

Kai noticed that his legs and face were also swathed in bandages and dressings. He groaned, trying to worry. They had to have a very good reason for binding him.

The man stepped forward now, a faint smile on his lips. He was about forty, with close-cropped greying hair and a well-groomed beard. 'How're you feeling, son?'

'OK,' Kai said, swallowing thickly.

'Good,' said the boy. He sat on the end of the bed and grinned, running a hand through his curly red hair. 'You've been out of it for ages.'

'Oh … was it you who was calling to me?' Kai asked.

The boy nodded. 'I'm Wes,' he told Kai .

'And I'm Henry, Wesley's father,' the man added. 'You can call me Max.'

'So,' asked Wes, still smiling. 'Kai what?' 'Rivers. Kai Wilders,' Kai answered and the Wes laughed.

'Now isn't that just hilarious,' he said and tapped his lap in surprise.

Marie Soli opened some fresh bandages. 'Well, Kai Wilders, you must be some swimmer to get through those waves.

Kai winced as Marcie eased the dirty bandages away from his sore fingers. 'What happened to me? How did I get here?' He frowned. 'Where is here?'

Max was still watching him closely. 'You're on our island.'

Kai stared back, eyes wide. 'You have your island?'

'Uh-huh,' said Wes. 'Great place to live – but it can be a drag when the bridge is flooded and you're stuck here.' He grinned, then shot a glance at his mother, as if wondering what to say next.

Marcie nodded encouragingly. 'It was lucky I found you,' Wes went on. 'You were asleep and bleeding on the bank.'

Everyone looked at Kai gravely, as if this had somehow been his fault.

'I think I remember … ' Kai croaked. 'There was a bear, or … ' The thing had rushed for him, jaws snapping— Kai shook, unable to continue. He shook his head to try to clear it.

Wes's pale grey eyes were wide. 'We went out looking for whatever it was,' he said. 'But there was no sign. Must have headed back to the mainland before the floods.'

'Floods?' Kai looked at him blankly.

'It's been raining hard these past three days,' Marcie told him as she put clean bandages around his arms.

Kai shut his eyes and felt his head throb as he tried to process all this information. 'I've been here three days?' he asked blankly. 'What about my mom and dad? They must be freaking out.'

'Sorry, honey.' Marcie gave him a small, sympathetic smile. 'As Wes said, the island's cut off when the bridge is flooded. And we have no phone line here. We haven't been able to get in touch with anyone.' 'But … ' Kai clambered up in bed. 'Don't you have a cellphone?'

Max Dane shook his head. 'Sorry, Kai . We picked this place as an escape from the outside world. A total retreat.'

Marcie patted Kai 's arm reassuringly. 'Don't worry, honey. As soon as those floods clear, we'll get you right back to your family. Promise.' She smiled again. 'And in the meantime, I'm here to make sure you get well again.'

Kai looked at his wrapped hands and wrists. 'Did an animal do this to me?'

'No,' Marcie answered. 'That was just bad luck. You got wrapped up in some Belladonna.'

Kai frowned. 'I did what?' 'Deadly Nightshade,' Max answered. 'You must've hauled yourself out of the water, pulling on the roots. Pretty poisonous stuff; got in through the cuts on your hands.'

Kai let his head sink back on the pillow. 'I just don't remember,' he sighed.

Marcie put a cool hand on his hot face. 'Just relax, dear. My natural cures have been fixing you up. Better than any fancy drugs a hospital can give you.' She nodded firmly. 'And I should know, right?'

'Right,' Kai answered wearily. 'Thanks,' he added. 'Really. Thank you for looking after me.'

'The pleasure's all ours,' Marcie promised him. She looked at the others. 'Right, boys?'

Max and Wes both smiled at him.

Kai tried to smile back, but he felt his eyelids drooping. As he gave up and let the blackness come for him again, he could feel Marie Soli still close by, almost like a moving ghost.