The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 31: Florence

-Florence’s P.O.V-

The night air felt cold against my face, but my body was still toasty warm inside Kyle’s jacket and jeans. The man in question sat beside me about a metre or so away and silence shrouded us like a protective blanket. I had long since wiped the blood off of my face, but the mere fact that it had been there was enough to scare me.

I had always loved animals, and now I was a predator. I killed them without a second thought, I was a carnivore. But the thing that frightened me most was that I could remember all of it. Sure, my thoughts were slightly more primal and instinctive; but I could still decipher the euphoria I felt at running through the trees, the hunger I experienced when I smelled the scent of a rabbit. It was like there was another person inside of me, a more malicious and evil one. They surged forth when I shifted, and they took control over my actions without my permission. It was a scary experience, and not one that I would like to have again.

There was no doubt in my mind now that this wasn’t a dream. Kyle hadn’t drugged me and led me to hallucinate, nor had he knocked me unconscious and I had imagined the whole thing. It was real, and I had already pinched myself numerous times to prove that fact. The more quickly that I got over it, the more time that I had to reverse it.

“So it is triggered by fear?” I asked quietly.

“No, it is triggered by our emotions. If we feel intense anger, sadness or any other form of emotion it snaps inside us and we morph,” he answered. His voice was cold and emotionless, as if he had already been through this before. Of course he had, he was also a monster too.

“But on the full moon?”

“We feel a strong longing to shift; the moon forces us to do that. It is hard to fight, and the longer you resist the more painful it is.”

"So you're telling me that the rock orbiting around our planet is forcing you to change shape?" I asked incredulously. If that was the case, then I had underestimated the moon's power. It was strange to think of the rock as evil, but I found myself doing so. 

"Unfortunately, yes. I never would have guessed it, but it the moon has a darker side, literally. It actually has a dark side that you never see, due to the way that it orbits," Kyle whispered softly.

“The dark side of the moon," I mused. In a twisted sort of way, it made sense. The outside appearance of it was majestic and holy; a white splash in the dark sky, but really, it had a darker use. It made monsters come to life in the light of its glory, it was truly evil. How it toyed with our emotions, I may never know.

“But speaking of emotions, what if I was at school and I got a little too angry...” I trailed off, a vivid image of me becoming a wild animal and attacking the innocent students of my high school playing inside my head.

“You learn to control it a little better, and if worse comes to worse you have to run away,” Kyle told me. I looked over at him, his features and the way he was sitting. He was gazing at the moon, a betrayed look upon his face. He sat comfortably in barely any clothing at all, and I could still spot the well defined muscle on his arms as he stretched them behind him. His hair was twitching in the slight breeze and he looked lonely and sad, a side that I had never seen before.

We were silent for a while, left to our own crazy thoughts. I was imagining how my life would change now, what I would have to do to keep this from my family. I couldn’t tell them, that much was certain. But would I have to sneak out at night so that I didn’t accidentally hurt them? Would I have to avoid all confrontations and arguments in case that slim chance of changing occurred?

And then there was the embarrassing fact that when you changed back, you weren’t wearing any clothes. Even though it seemed hardly important amid all this life changing stuff, it was still a major factor. Kyle had been nice enough to lend me his clothes, but what if I couldn’t find any? I’d run around the town naked, and looking for a spare set of clothing!

“How did this happen?” I asked. My mind was full of questions, but this was the foremost one drifting around.

“That night a while ago when you were attacked, you were bitten by another werewolf. We carry venom in our saliva; it’s how we create others of our kind. That and genes being carried down in the family...”

“And it was you, the other werewolf? That’s why you’re still here?” my voice was rising in hysterics. It was his entire fault! I had known it since the moment I had changed in the back of my mind that it was his doing, but saying it out loud made it even more realistic.

“Yes.” He didn’t add anymore, just kept looking away and spoke in that monotonous tone of regret.

“You horrible man, you did this to me? You’re a disgrace to humanity!” I flung my profanities at him and threw my arms up in the air to emphasize my point. All the while he stayed still and didn’t react however.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, I know. It was a mistake, an accident,” he muttered.

“You’re right, sorry doesn’t cut it! You’ve ruined my life now! I can probably never get married or have kids, never have true friends because all the while I’ll be hiding the fact that I’m a mutant that’s half animal!” I was literally screaming now, but no one else would hear us out in the woods. No one ever ventured in here, which was fortunate.

 “Stop screaming, you’ll get too emotional and shift again.” He warned, turning to look at me finally.

“Shift; it’s that word that you just love to use, don’t you? As if we just change forms and everything’s all fine and dandy, well you know what? It’s not! I’m a monster now, you’re a monster! It’s never going to change!” I heaved out one last breath and broke into sobs, feeling the terror creep up inside me as a familiar burn flared in my abdomen.

“Shh,” Kyle hushed me, stepping close and wrapping his warm arms around me. I knotted my fingers into his shirt as I cried, dripping tears onto the cotton and drenching it in a few seconds.

“My life is ruined,” I burst out, crying even harder. Even amid the tears though, a part of my mind registered that Kyle’s chest was warm and hard, and that he smelled of an intoxicating deodorant mixed with coffee. This just made me cry even harder.

“Let’s get you home,” he muttered, and began to walk down the hill. I stayed where I was though, as if my legs refused to work. He hoisted me up and carried me bridal style, tromping through the undergrowth without a sound.

“I don’t want to go home” I told him, looking up at his face. I felt desperate to escape that haunting place, what if my brothers found out? What would they say? That I wasn’t their sister anymore? “Don’t take me home” I pleaded. “Anywhere but there...”

He nodded. “It’s alright. Just go to sleep now, you’re exhausted,” he murmured. His voice was mesmerising, lulling me to sleep and making me feel comfortable. Even though I was being held in the arms of the very man that I should despise, the very man that turned me into this, I still felt safe.

As he had pointed out, I was exhausted. My muscles felt achy and my skin felt sore. It was all a part of changing, but each and every factor was begging me to rest and regenerate.

“Goodnight.” I mumbled a little sleepily. My brain was already slipping out of reality and into my dream world, but I managed to catch something like “Goodnight Flossy” from Kyle before I fully dipped under.

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Aww I love writing these moments between Florence and Kyle so much! Way better than any other P.O.V's. So I've uploaded another image, it's a picture of Jonathon, yeah remember him? The mysterious guy in a suit? That's him over there >> and he looks hot! :)

Vote, like, comment away please!

-Moozelle