Under the Moonshine

Twenty | Under the Moonshine

The night sky was covered by thick clouds, hiding the full moon and stars. Everything seemed so quiet that it made Taren uncomfortable even in his own skin. He stayed still, silently sitting on the branch of the big tree, trying to calm himself. Looking at his long fingers, he frowned as he tried to understand his own self.

His claws were gone now. And so were the fangs.

He was an experiment, that he was sure of.

But to transformed himself like that? That he didn't get.

Frustrated, Taren ran his hands down his face, exhaustion crawling up his skin faster than it should. He couldn't believe he would feel that kind of rage, triggering the beast residing inside him.

"Emily..." he whispered, eyes gleaming with despair. He conjured a picture of her in his mind, momentarily staring at the girl who offered him home and friendship.

But before anxiety took over the rage he felt, another emotion rushed through, reminding him of Peter.

Peter.

Yes, he remembered the name. He remembered his foul scent, his poisonous voice, and the subtle fear he smelled in him whenever he entered Sebastian's lab.

Yes, he remembered their arguments. He remembered hearing Sebastian cried, as if mourning something he had lost, and Peter was shushing him with his words like a snake tempting his prey.

Yes, he remembered that Peter was the last person who was with Sebastian before the scientist collapsed. He remembered hearing his master gasped for air. He remembered staying in the cellar, restraining himself from getting out, following the order made by the one who invented him.

Go hide.

That was Sebastian's order.

And until now, he was following the man's order, hiding from the eyes of people, hiding from the ones he valued, even though he wanted nothing but to be seen by many.

Taren looked up above, the moon finally showing itself as it sliced the gray clouds that covered it, the moonshine streaming beneath the leaves. The glow of the moon reached Taren's face, a brief moment of light touching his eyes, and he cherished it as if he was hungry for it. He was tired of hiding. He was tired of always being invisible.

He wanted to be seen as the guy he was.

He raised his head and gazed sharply at the moon, then jumped down to the ground with force.

- - - - -

Olivia didn't look like a forty-seven-year-old woman with two children. No, she looked like younger, composed and fierce.

"What will happen to him now?" Emily asked her mother. She was lying on her lap, eyes staring at nowhere.

Olivia stroked her hair, forehead on a frown. "We'll figure it out."

"He's not familiar to our world," she continued. "What if someone hurt him?"

"Do you honestly think someone could hurt him? He is more capable of hurting somebody."

"He won't."

Olivia looked at her own daughter. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because he was created to protect, not to destroy."

The woman stifled a laugh, not buying her words. "You don't know how it goes, sweetie."

Emily sat up, her brown eyes now focused on her mom. "And you do?"

Olivia looked at her for a moment before answering. "Yes, I do. I was there when the deal has been made. They wanted to build an army, an army of hybrids, something so strong but can easily be controlled. They have tested it for more than eighty soldiers and they failed, because the virus was too strong that it kills the host."

"So you knew all about Taren?" she asked, baffled.

"Not really," she replied, shaking her head. "Your father and I parted ways when that soldier came in the picture. I wanted him to stop. But he didn't. He was willing to kill so many just to reach his goal, making the company fall into debts, that it almost got bankrupt."

"And Taren was the only one who survived that experiment?"

"We don't know that," Olivia said. "They've been making hybrids since Taren. Up until now."

"But why are they making hybrids?"

"So they'll be ready for war."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "War?"

"Don't think about it too much, Emily."

She shook her head, puzzled. "I just wanted to know that Taren will be okay. Safe."

Olivia gazed at her daughter, as if trying to read her mind. "He will be," she said after a while. "If not, we will make him safe."

With that, Emily feltsome warmth in her stomach, holding on to her mother's reassurance.