Hidden Moon (2 page)

I pulled my own phone out of my pocket. Nothing. Not a single bar of service.

“Well, that’s lovely,” I muttered, then looked back up at Mom. “I’m going to see if I get anything on it outside.”

I walked in circles in the yard. I held my phone over my head and I twirled it around my knees, but I couldn’t find the slightest hint that it was ever going to work again.

You’d think this place would have a cell phone tower, I thought irritably, as I headed toward the back yard to try my luck there.

But as I walked along the edge of our yard that bordered the forest, the fine hairs on the back of my neck started to stand on end. It felt like something was watching me.

THE FOREST CALLED to him. He felt the whisper of the wind against his skin, the caress of the tall grass that brushed his legs. The forest was green before, but now it seemed vibrant. He reveled in his body. His sight was so much clearer when the animal took over. He could see every leaf in detail, every bit of moss that grew on each tree as he ran.

Am I running
? He wondered. It didn’t feel like it as it didn’t take much effort at all.

It seemed the forest wanted him. It belonged to him, welcoming him like a long lost friend.

He knew she was here, too. But this hiker didn’t belong—not like he did.

He heard her. Her running steps seemed to echo through the trees, but he wasn’t worried. She couldn’t escape him. He was faster, and he was in no hurry. He would savor every second. Adrenaline coursed through his body, making him want to give chase. He smiled. No, he would do this slowly—it would be special. She was special, after all. She was his, only his. No one would take her away from him.

He could taste her fear in the air and it excited him, coursing through his veins like a drug. He longed to take her essence, to make her part of him forever. He wished this feeling would last an eternity.

She had stopped. She wasn’t running anymore. He didn’t see her, but it didn’t matter. The animal in him sensed her. There wouldn’t be any hiding, at least not on her part.

Finding her would be child’s play, he thought, as he crept through the trees as silent as a ghost. Every instinct told him she was close, and his muscles grew taut in anticipation. With effort, he made himself slow down and come to a stop. His cold, dark eyes scanned for his prey. He could hear her, her labored breaths coming fast and hard. He was close now. So close.

A slight movement to the right caught his eye. He spotted her then, cowering behind a tree like the pitiful, helpless prey she was. He noticed she hadn’t seen him and so he stood still, watching her with eyes that weren’t human.

She was shaking, small tremors ran the length of her body, her eyes darting back and forth, searching until she saw him. He stepped toward her, forming an evil smile that became a snarl. Her eyes widened in terror as she watched the fur grow over his arms and legs, as his eyes slanted into those of an animal, and the last traces of humanity vanished. She backed up, never taking her eyes off his.

“Please. Please don’t…” She tripped over a vine, falling down hard on the forest floor. Her eyes squeezed shut. This final, pitiful act drew him toward her. The temptation was just too great now. He could resist it no longer. He could no longer play the game. It had to be now. This was their moment. It belonged to him and this woman in front of him. And he knew in that instant, she was his, and would stay his forever.

Her final cry echoed through the trees.

Disposing of the body wasn’t quite as much fun, he decided. They always seemed to run the opposite direction of where he wanted them to go. He always had to backtrack anytime he made a kill.

He sighed, heaving what was left of her on his shoulder as he walked through the forest. He had to be careful as the tree branches were swatting at him now. Nature never did like it when he hunted the hikers. He knew in a day or two it would forgive him and welcome him again as if nothing happened. That was one of the perks of being a creature of nature. It always forgave him.

His journey led him along the edge of the forest. Usually, he didn’t mind this part of his walk since it brought him close enough to see the two houses that sat near the dirt road. He didn’t notice anything unusual as he passed the first one, but when the second one came into view, his blood ran cold.

The house that should have been vacant held a small car in its driveway. He dodged farther into the underbrush and felt the briars dig into his clothes. He cursed under his breath as a single thorn scored the flesh of his upper arm. It was a small, quick pain that scabbed and healed before the thorn ever left his body.

He shifted his burden around on his shoulder as he ducked down behind a bush. There, in the back yard, he saw the girl. Then the fury came. His body covered in mist as the animal awoke, ready to hunt. She was close enough to the woods that he could get her without anyone knowing. She was staring into the woods as if she knew he was there.

He was almost ready to grab her, when a woman came out on the porch.

“NIKKI, GRAB SOME of the cleaning stuff out of the car when you come back in.”

“Okay,” I answered, running back to the front yard in record time since the back yard had just freaked me out.

There isn’t anything there but trees. You’re just being silly, I chided myself as I grabbed one of the boxes out of the truck. You just have an overactive imagination.

Once I was back inside the house, the weird feelings left and I trudged the box upstairs to my mother, who stood in my room.

“The moving guys are supposed to be here tomorrow, so we’ll worry about cleaning more when we get up in the morning. Besides, it’s going to be dark soon. We’ll all stay in your room tonight since it’s the smallest,” Mom said as she grabbed some cleaner. “I’ll take the bathroom. You take this one.”

When she left, I started cleaning some of the grime off the window. Then I saw him.

A boy that seemed to be my own age stood just inside the edge of the woods, staring up at the window. He wore a pair of jeans that fit snugly over his long legs, and a black tank top showed off the lean muscles in his arms. Those arms also happened to be folded across his chest as if he didn’t like what he saw. His long, straight hair hung to his waist and was so black that it gave off a blue hue in the places where the sunlight touched it.

No emotion showed on the boy’s face. He just stared at me. Thinking he might be waiting for me to make the first move, I pressed my hand to the glass in a wave.

But he didn’t move.

“Nikki, I need some more floor cleaner. That bathroom’s a mess. What are you doing?” Mom stopped as she came around the corner through the door.

“There’s a boy outside. Right there at the edge of the woods. He’s looking up at me,” I said, moving away from the window so she could take a look.

“Oh? Where? I don’t see anyone.” She peered through the dirty glass.

“He’s gone. He was right there a second ago.” I squinted at the trees. There was nothing that looked as if someone stood there seconds earlier.

“He was probably just curious, honey. After all, we are the new neighbors now. They just like to keep an eye on who is moving in around them. Now, how about helping me find some more stuff to clean with, eh? I’m starting to think that sleeping bag is going to feel comfortable tonight.”

THAT NIGHT, I dreamt of the Indian boy.

I could see him sitting with others in a circle around a fire. They were all talking. I couldn’t hear what they said, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was floating around the fire, trying to get closer to the one I had seen outside my window. He was the one I wanted to see. He was laughing and talking to the boy beside him. He didn’t look as intimidating as he had out the window. He seemed at ease here. I floated closer to get a better look. I saw the muscles in his shoulders tense as he turned and stared straight into me. He looked shocked for a split second the same guarded stare that I had seen on his face earlier, returned. I should have backed away, but I was frozen as I stared into the most unusual eyes I had ever seen.

They were the color of liquid amber, with small black flecks spotted here and there. It was as if someone had melted gold, and flicked small shiny bits of onyx around in them. They were beautiful. It was too bad this was a dream, I told myself. He wasn’t close enough for me to see his eyes earlier, but no one had eyes like that. I knew I was dreaming. I looked at him again. He was angry, the muscles in his jaw tightened, making his high cheekbones even more pronounced. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he stared back at me. I backed away, floating back away from the circle, away from the fire and into the darkness.

I awoke to the sound of a wolf’s mournful howl in the distance. Cold chills ran down my spine as I burrowed down deeper in my sleeping bag, and stared up into the faint moonlight that fell through the window.

I AWOKE WITH a start the next morning, bolting straight up in the sleeping bag. The sun was shining through the window. It seemed minutes ago that I had been lying there watching the sliver of moon through the trees, thinking of my dream and his eyes. I shook my head. I had too good of an imagination. Only I would dream something like that.

I looked over and found Mom’s sleeping bag empty. She must have risen earlier and went downstairs. Emily still slept, curled up in a little ball on her side. Fred was squashed up under her cheek as she hugged her pillow. I slipped out of my bag so I wouldn’t wake her, and went downstairs. I found Mom sitting on the front porch, her knees tucked under her chin as she stared out into the yard.

“Good morning.”

She turned and smiled up at me. “You’re up early, Nikki. I was going to leave you alone for another hour. Did you sleep okay?”

“I’m fine. How ‘bout you? Are you okay?” I sat down beside her and dangled my legs off the side of the porch.

“I was just remembering the last time we were here. This porch and I have a history, you know.” She gave me a rueful smile, “I went into labor with you here.”

“No, I didn’t know. I thought you had me in Florida.” This was news to me. It was startling. It felt like I had just found out I had been adopted, though there wasn’t any chance of that. I was nearly a replica of the woman sitting on that porch. Normally, I don’t think this news would have mattered, but as everything else had changed in such a short period of time, it left me shaken.