Her Beast

Chapter one: Full moon beast

Everyone in the town of Aria knew about the Beast in the woods. This... beast had been spotted in the forest surrounding the town for countless years.

Sometimes the townspeople would see it every full moon, but then it would disappear for many years. In the past few years, the beast was back. No one ever saw it face to face, but when it was seen, you could only see the silhouette of a beast. A shadow, that stalked you as you walked, watching your every move.

Most people of the town thought it was a lie, a made-up story. But those who knew were terrified. They didn't know what the beast wanted, and they waited for the day it would attack.

Is this shadow a figure of imagination, or is there something more to this mysterious Beast?

~~~~~~

Zoey pulled her phone off the charger, turning it on. The glowing blue light burned into her eyes, causing her to squint them until they adjusted. She stared at the date. Zoey had been dreading this week for a while. Every week that led up to this event filled her with overwhelming anxiety. The full moon was coming.

However, this coming full moon was unique as the town of Aria held a festival every Harvest Moon.

Zoey's heart began thumping uncontrollably, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She repeated the mantra as the moon became full, but it would seem with recent events, she repeated it more.

I'm okay. It isn't real. It's okay...

Once she felt relaxed, She pulled herself up from the bed and headed into the bathroom for her daily routine. When Zoey was finished, she pulled her hair back and headed downstairs. She called out for her mom, but there was no response as usual.

Her parents were rarely home. They spent most of their time vacationing out in some new part of the world. Zoey longed to see them more but their response was, "You are twenty. You should be moved out by now and not wondering when we will be home."

Zoey's parents didn't like how she wanted to live at home and work before going to college. She reassured them that she would leave when she knew what she wanted to go to school for.

She shook her head to erase her thoughts and quickly grabbed some toast as she noticed the time. Zoey worked in a small café smack dab in the middle of the town. It was very old and looked as if it had walked straight out of the 60s. She and her friends were regularly there getting a milkshake or some pancakes. It's why she wanted to work there, well also the fact that it was one of the only places where she could work.

Zoey pulled into the cafe's parking lot, parking in front of the large sign that read Cupid's café. She rolled her eyes, looking at the cheesy name, but a small smile came to her lips. She jumped out of the old beat-up car, which had been through three of her siblings, and was hers now.

She walked into the entrance, and a wave of coffee and pastries hit her nose. She used to love the smell growing up, but now it just almost made her sick to her stomach from the number of times she had smelled it.

She waved and said hello to Sam and Joe as they worked away cooking and baking. She grabbed her apron, hung up on a hook, and put it on. Zoey placed her keys in her locker, washed her hands, and went out into the front, groaning at the massive line.

"Zoey! Can you start taking orders?" Her boss Gracie shouted as she swiftly made a cup of coffee. "Yes!" She called back, looking upon Gracie's stressed state.

Gracie was honestly too old to always be this stressed. Zoey wasn't sure how old she was, but the gray hair and wrinkled skin told her she wasn't young. But that could have been caused by the bitterness that women held inside her.