Moonlight

:Prologue:

20+ years ago.

The stench of brimstone and burning flesh haunted me. As did the memory of how the putrid combination burned when I inhaled, making my lungs feel as though they were full of ash. It suffocated me. The scent had engraved itself into every fiber of my being, and the scars on my back throbbed with the memory. It was a part of me, and I wished I could have let that part die in that damned prison cell.

After all this time, death and decay clung to me like a reaper's cloak, following me wherever I went. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't wash the smell away. I'd rubbed my skin raw time and time again, only to be met with blood that still reeked of rot. It was as if I were decaying from the inside out. Perhaps I was. Maybe he did ruin me the way he said he did.

But now, it wasn't me who death was embracing. That smell, the one that plagued my every conscious thought since I escaped, was lingering outside my home. The acrid odor filled the air with sickness, and I knew that it only meant one thing. 

They'd finally come for me. 

Phantom fingers found my throat, stealing my breath as if it was ever my own to have. My chest tightened and breathing became a struggle. I should have known better. I should have known he'd find me no matter where I tried to hide. There was no escaping fate. 

"What's the matter, Ma?" my son's sweet little voice asked.

I glanced down at him and squeezed his hand tightly, memorizing the way it fit in mine. I never wanted to forget the way his small fingers felt. Or the way he looked at me. The boy had a way of sensing changes in the air without me ever having to say so. 

I smiled, blinking tears away, "Nothing, dulce meum. Some unexpected visitors have come to see me and your father."

"Are they nice?" He wondered, his curiosity lighting up in his eyes. 

His innocence was something I wished I could protect. Though I knew the notion was foolish, I never wanted my son to know what terrors awaited him in this life. 

I lowered myself so that I could look him in the eye. I stared at him for a moment, studying the patterns that his freckles made on his face. They reminded me of the stars, and I could decipher every constellation within them. I'd spent nights looking upon his sleeping face, connecting Ursa Major to the Little Dipper, and the thought that I may never get that chance again was too much for me to bear. 

A small thumb swept across my cheeks softly. "Why are you crying?" 

"I'm crying because I love you so much that my heart can barely contain it all." 

His tender hand cupped my cheek. "These visitors are unwelcome, aren't they?"  

My chin quivered, cursing his hyper-intuitive nature. "Yes, baby. And I'm going to need you to listen to me, okay?"

He nodded vigorously, and his attention snapped to my mouth so that he could watch the words as they came. His gaze was focused and intense as he straightened his back. Looking as if he were a little soldier preparing to go off to war.

I fought back a grin, wondering where my baby had gone. "Do you remember the place we went down by the river?" 

"The place with all the caves?"

"Yes." I breathed in relief. "I need you to go there and wait for me. Don't move until I come and get you. Do you understand?"

He shook his head. "I understand."

"Good," I said before I embraced him. "Be brave for me, okay?"

"I will, Ma." He replied, burying his face into my hair as he always did.