Black Moon Rising

Chapter One: Lunar Knight

Black Moon Rising

By Alexandria Francetic

Chapter One: Lunar Knight

Something was coiled around my neck, squeezing. Choking. Strangling. Asphyxiation. My frantic breaths became shallower as my throat narrowed. My lungs burned while I struggled to breathe, sucking in small swallows of oxygen. I kicked at empty air, twisting and thrashing. A creature's long, feathery black tail was wrapped around the length of my body, suspending me in the air and tightening its grip around my neck. The black feathers at the tail's tip tickled my lips and nose.

The creature gazed at me, its slit pupils expanding as it grinned, revealing a mouth full of needle-like teeth. He had the yellow eyes of a reptile, but the body of a human. Well...mostly.

He was dressed in all black, with matching feathers sprouting up from his exposed shoulders and chest. Curved horns poked up from his wispy brown hair, where above hovered a radiant halo.

He possessed the black-feathered wings of a raven, spreading out and closing in around me. His tail wrapped me from head to toe like the deadly coils of a constricting serpent. Despite his horrific appearance, he emanated a distinct scent like fresh flowers.

As the creature embraced me, he leaned in close, brushing his cold black lips against my cheeks, which were turning blue from oxygen deprivation. His foul tongue left a thin glaze of sour-smelling saliva upon my skin. "Mmmm...delicious. You might be the most scrumptious sacrifice I've had yet...Tsukihime Kaya." His voice was like a sweet poison. Tempting and alluring, but a single taste would spell death.

As I sputtered, choking on my saliva and struggling to get any breaths of air I could, the dark Angel extended his pale hands, running his long black nails through my lavender hair. Each claw was several inches long, and each finger was a knife to gut his prey. One of the nails pressed against my face. I winced as the needle-like pain seeped into my flesh, breaking the skin and drawing out dribbles of blood. The Angel bent in and licked them up. "So sweet...your blood is like honey. Your flesh and bones, your very soul...I will absorb every drop of your being and make it completely mine."

I jerked back, flailing like a wild animal to wrench myself free. "S-Sariel...I refuse to be another sacrifice for you...I'll kill you, and free my people from your evil once and for all..." My words were choked out by Sariel's tail, which squeezed tighter around my throat. I let out a constricted scream, begging for breath. Drool pooled up in my mouth and poured over my lips, soaking my chin as I practically drowned in my own saliva.

"You will do no such thing," Sariel taunted. "You'll be an obedient little meal until I decide to dine upon you. Trust me...I look forward to it."

FEBRUARY 14TH, 1999

When I came to, I was in a bamboo grove. The bamboo trees towered above me, so tightly packed together that it was almost impossible to see the sky. All I could see were the dim flickers of starlight poking through gaps between the leaves. Those trees almost resembled prison bars. The air was different here. It was slightly thicker and heavier, rich with oxygen. I took in deep breaths, lightly feeling around my neck. The constricting pressure was gone.

This place...it wasn't Lunopolis. It wasn't even the Moon at all. It was the planet Earth. I staggered upright, leaning against one of the bamboo trees for balance. A chilly wind ruffled my purple and black kimono, revealing the butterfly pattern sewn across the waist. I was in a stupor, so I didn't know where I was, aside from instinctively knowing what planet I was currently on. After regaining my composure, I started to walk through the bamboo grove. I weaved between the trees, my steps moving in a zigzag pattern. Dead leaves crunched beneath my wooden sandals.