BLOOD MOON

BY: CAMERON JACKSON

A brown-skinned woman runs through the woods in a tatty oversized men’s jacket, holding a torch. Branches and leaves whip at her face. Overhead the glow of a blood moon seeps through the dense tree canopy. In the distance, something starts moving toward her. She looks back and sees a large pair of animal-like eyes approaching her. The creature grows closer, panting and crunching debris along the way. She turns and continues toward the clearing. The woman reaches the edge of the clearing. She dives headfirst as the beast is nearly on her. It too exits into the clearing revealing a large wolf-like exterior. It’s almost the size of a bear. The woman flips over as the creature leaps at her. She holds up two pistols, firing one at its head and the other at its heart. It lands on her, nearly crushing her before going motionless. She rolls the creature off and picks up her nearby extinguished torch. She lights again. Her gaze rests on the big house of a plantation ahead.

A window at the big house opens to see flames ripping through the nearby crops. Master Goodman runs out of the house moments later. He stops when he sees the woman standing with her back to the fire facing him. His eyes echo the blaze of the flames.

“Armenta?” he asks.

“My name Harriet now,” she says.

“That was my last beta. Most don’t survive the bite, let alone the first change. But I’m sure you know that. I’ve heard whispers of a shewolf.” he says.

“And I’ve heard stories of curses like mine,” she starts.

Master Goodwin interjects, “And how did these tales go?”

Harriet and Master Goodwin begin pacing around each other in a circle, as flames grow nearer around them, billowing in the crisp night air.

“If you find the beast that turned you, you have to consume its heart to break the curse,” she says, eyeing the blaze growing closer.

Her former master’s eyes emit an amber-toned glow.

“Tell me, do you recall being bitten or scratched?” he askes as he approaches to inspect her.

Harriet puts out her arms to keep him at a distance. Master Goodwin eyes her talons and musters a dry laugh from deep in his belly.

“They say it manifests differently in girls. Our kind is so rare, and there are even fewer females,” he starts. “I wanted to keep you close to the house to see if you had it, but you got so dark. The misses insisted that you go to the fields.”

“No!” She growls at him, the weight of his words sinking in. Master Goodwin steps toward Harriet so quickly that his limbs blur. He grabs both of her arms to hold them at her sides, “ You’re mine twice over,” he exclaims.

“The dizzy spells threw me off. But I see now. It was your body’s reaction to the change.” His face cracks into a twisted smile.

Harriet raises her head to meet her father’s gaze. Her eyes now mirror the same amber hue.

“You let me suffer alone,” she says.

“I gave you a gift. And now you’ll bear me a litter. We can restore our kind,” says Master Goodwin.

Harriet shakes her head. The clouds separate up above, revealing the moon again. Master Goodwin snarls and throws his head back as his body quivers. His bones crack and pop as his body contorts. He falls to the ground on all fours.

“I encountered another female like me. She taught me some of our ways. And you’re right. It does manifest differently in women. We don’t change like you do.” She says as she begins to circle him.

She howls up at the moon. A thick fur like layer of hair begins to sprout all over her body until it reaches her face. Master Goodwin’s body becomes encompassed by the same thick hair. His arms, legs, and torso start to grow three times their size.

“But we’re faster and stronger,” she starts. She grabs him swiftly by the neck. “The only gift you gave me was the power to end you!”

Harriet runs her talons across his neck and separates his head from his body. His beast-like form shivers before falling to the ground and shriveling back down to its pale form. A small slave child runs into the clearing. Harriet eyes them, Master Goodwin’s head still in her grasp. The child approaches Harriet and cautiously takes her hand. She howls up at the moon again before flinging Master Goodwin’s head into the fire.