Radiant Moon

    Prologue       

 "Test subject 138-VR7," the man spoke into the recorder, "Subject seems to be reacting to the Crataegus monogyna essence as expected." The man pushed his lab coat to the side as he stood, holding the recorder in one gloved hand. He walked passed the metal tables filled with sharp tools and syringes to a large metal table with a sizeable motionless object covered in a tarp on it. He stood in front of the table and reached out with his free hand towards the still object, "Subject seems unconscious."

He brought his hand to the tarp and pulled it back quickly to reveal a body. It looked to be a man of age twenty or older with pale skin pulled taut against his face. His wrists and ankles were bound to the table with leather straps and his eyes were closed. "Subject has not shown any signs of life or movement after injections," the man reached to the body and pulled up the eyelids, "Pupils are un-dilated," he let the eyelids go. He moved to the man's mouth and pulled back his gums, "Canines are still elongated and pointed."

"Very interesting," the man said into the recorder, "Examiner will check back in thirty minutes for any changes." He pressed the red button with his gloved hand then slipped the recorder into his jacket pocket. With a sigh he grabbed the tarp off the floor before covering the body once again. The doctor walked back to his desk slowly then slumped down into his chair. He grabbed a pen from the table and scribbled some notes down into a file.

The room was completely silent except for the light breathing of the doctor until a loud ringing startled him. The doctor slowly pushed a button on the phone by the corner of his desk, "Yes," he responded quietly.

"Doctor Begland?" a squeaky female voice spoke through the phone, "Your wife is on the phone for you, she wants you to pick up your medication on the way home today."

The doctor sighed again, "Tell her I'm with a patient now, but I'll stop on my way home."

"Yes Mr. Begland," the woman responded.

"Oh and Kathy," the doctor added, "You can head home if you want, I'm almost done in here. And tell Ryan I say hello."

"Thank you," the woman said happily, "I will. Have a nice night."

"You too," he said before he hung up the phone and went back to his notes.

He barely noticed as a half an hour passed by and his watch beeped. He stood from his desk and removed the recorder from his pocket. As he walked towards the center of the room he pressed the red button and began to speak, "Test subject 138-VR7." The metal room echoed his voice, "Test time is," he looked down at his watch, "Nine twenty-seven pm. Subject seems to be un-" he paused as he heard a little noise echo in the room. The doctor looked around the harshly lit lab room before turning back to his recorder, "The subject seems to be as unresponsive as at the last exam-" a loud clashing sound of metal against metal echoed through the lab. "Hello," the doctor called out, "Kathy, is that you?"

There was no response. "Kathy," he yelled again as he reached across a metal table and gripped a small surgical knife, "This is not funny! Show yourself!" There was still no response, "Come out now!"

"If you say so," a voice rose through the darkness. Slowly the sound of footsteps resonated through the room and a figure came out from behind a cabinet. She was beautiful, around the age of sixteen but short for her age, with wavy black hair. But as she moved into the light of the lab, her beauty was spoiled. Her skin was deadly pale and pulled tight against her face, just like the body on the table. Her eyes were bloodshot and a deep, bloody, red color. The doctors drew backwards in horror, "See," the girl said, "That is exactly what I thought would happen. You are afraid of me." She took a step forward and the doctor took a corresponding step back, "And rightfully so."