Born Under the Blue Moon

Chapter 3: Thank you, Shane

 I was coming close to dawn and my adrenalin rush had finally crashed and I was feeling tired and in pain. My wrist was swollen and throbbing and my head hurt something awful. The birds chirping let me know it was somewhere around five ‘o clock and sleep was tugging at the back of my eyes. I propped my head on my head my elbow resting on a white silk table.

Thunk!

 I jolted awake to realize that I had just thunked my head against the table’s surface. I heard a chuckle behind me.

 “Tired?” Said a familiar warm voice.

 Shane sat in front of me smiling.

I nodded; smiling tiredly back.

 “Yeah, I can’t stay up all night like you can.” I said jokingly.

 “Your dad had to go find Zeke,” Shane said my brother’s name with disgust, “So he asked me to take you home.”

 I looked at Shane. I thought he was best friends with my brother. I stood swaying.

 “Careful there.” Shane chuckled, steading me.

 I smiled gratefully at him as he led me to his flashy car.

 The ride to my house was silent, but it wasn’t awkward; it felt nice. He pulled up to my house and parked in my driveway behind Zeke’s broke down car; my father’s car was parked beside it.

 “Thank you, Shane.” I said.

 “No problem.” He smiled.

 I bit my lip, “No, I mean for treating me with kindness and saving me from doing something stupid.”

 His eyes, such a striking shade of blue, held something intense that I couldn’t read in them.

 “I couldn’t treat you like that if I wanted to. And I know you don’t have a very good life, but there are people that love you and your mom would want you to live.”

 My eyes teared up and the next thing I knew I was wrapped in Shane’s arms.

 When I pulled away I wiped my eyes and stepped out of the car and walked up to my front door. I turned and watched Shane drive away and disappear into the distance. I opened the front door and went to my father’s study. He was a doctor and he could fix my sprained wrist.

 He wrapped it up and I went to my room for some much needed sleep. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was assaulted by dreams so vivid that it scared me.

 I stood in the middle of the woods; my mom beside me. She smiled at me and suddenly disappeared into the fog that surrounded us.

 “Mama?!” I called out.

“Run…” whispered a voice, their cold breath sending shivers down my spine.

 I took off like a light; my breathing sounded too loud to my ears.

A blood curdling scream filled the silence of the woods. Finally I broke out into a clearing; the grass was dry and crunched under my bare feet. Laughter came from every direction. I whipped around looking for the source. In the shadow of the trees glowing red eyes appeared. They held nothing but evil in them and they seemed to be coming closer.

Something large flew across the clearing and landed in a heap at my feet. I stifled a scream when I realized what it was. My mom. Her empty eyes stared sky wards and she was covered in her own blood.

I looked up with anger filled eyes; glaring at the soulless creatures that surrounded me.

I sat bolt upright in my bed, the duvet tangled in my legs. I untangled myself and swung my legs off the bed; standing up. My alarm clock told me it was well past noon and I had to say I was starving. As I walked down to the kitchen something was tugging at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. I shrugged it off and poured me some cereal and milk into a bowl. I sat down; scarfing down my food.

 Zeke came in with an angry looking gash running along his cheek.

 “What happened?” I asked him.

 He narrowed his eyes at me, but otherwise ignored me. He grabbed an apple before leaving the kitchen and heading back up stairs. I looked up at the clock on the wall. I had to be at work in twenty minutes. I got up and rinsed my bowl out in the sink before heading to my room to get dressed.

 I parked my bike in front of the small boutique that was owned by one of the nicest people I knew here. I walked through the door causing the bell to tinkle. I took in a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the small shop. It smelled of roses and pine. It reminded me of my mom.

 “Winter,” Noelle said greeting me, a smile wide on her lips.

 “Hey Elle, “ I greeted back turning my attention to the two boxes on the counter, “Need me to put these on the racks?”

 “Yeah,” she replied, “if you find anything in them you like you can keep it.”

 I felt my eyes light up, “Really?”

 Elle laughed and nodded handing me a small box of hangers.

 I carried the boxes one at a time to the women’s section. I opened the first box and was greeted by a flourish of black. The first thing I pulled out was a shirt with a raven on it and written in cursive was the name Lenore in an elegant cursive script. I instantly loved it. I loved Edgar Allen Poe and this shirt was perfect for me. At the end of the first box I ended up with five shirts and an elegant gothic style cocktail dress with a thin silver chain around the waist. Of course the chain wasn’t real silver because that would be harmful to everyone in the pack.

 The second box contained bottoms and at the end of it I came up with three pairs of skinny jeans. I was happy, even if it was a superficial happiness. I took my things up to the counter and placed them in the shelf under it and sat on the stool behind the register. I had a feeling it would be a slow day today.