by Lee Jones
Before Neil makes it to Carson a shot rings out. Neil was shot in the leg by a highway patrol officer who spotted him. Neil stops and grabs his leg. “Put your hands up where I can see them!” yells the officer. Neil drags himself by the edge of the bridge. “Stop right there!” the officer yells. Neil leans himself over the side and plunges into the water.
The officer runs over and looks over the edge into the water but cannot spot a body.
BODY
The next day police boats and divers are on the scene trying to located a body. They did not.
The End.
BLOOD MOON
A WEREWOLF STORY
By LEE JONES
FOOTBALL FRIDAY
Silverton, Oregon is a small sleepy town on the coast of Oregon. It’s a Friday night and there is a home football game at Silverton high. Silverton is winning and college football scouts are in attendance and for a reason. Kye is a winning high school football star in his senior year. Last year Silverton was undefeated.
“Wow they are crushing it this year. I wish I could be with Kye instead of that bitch, ” says Amy. “ I guess so,” says Grace. Grace is a senior in her second week of school at Silverton. She just moved with her father from Chicago. A girl from the big city now in Silverton. She was more of the rebellious type, shy, reserved dressing in mostly black, maybe even a bit of an outcast.
The score was 24 - 0. The last quarter of the game. Fans of Silverton were screaming and cheering but fans of the opposing teen at this point have begun leaving the stadium. Kye was the quarterback. He calls hut, fakes a pass and runs. He runs so fast that the opposing team cannot keep up with him and gives up trying to tackle him. Kye makes a 40 yard run and TOUCHDOWN!
The crowd is cheering and screaming and Kye does a touch down dance. They punt a field goal for the last seconds of the game. The ball goes over bringing the score up and the game is over. The opposing team shakes hands and walks off the field.
Kye was the big man on campus. Defiantly outgoing and every girl in school dreamed of dating him. He dated the most popular girl in school, Megan. She was very pretty, but was defiantly a bitch. Kye is walking off field and his team his surrounding him cheering him on. The team heads to the lockers. There is an after party going on and the whole football team is going to be there.
“Come on lets go to the party tonight!” says Amy. “Really? I’m not really the party type,” says Grace. Amy drags Grace by the arm into the car. “Okay okay let’s go,” says Grace in despair. They drive and make it to a large house. The scene was chaotic. The lawn was trashed with beer cans, and cars parked all over the lawn.
They pull up in the car by the edge of the street and get out. “Relax, I know somebody here,” says Amy. They walk inside and the whole house is packed with kids from school. The backyard has a pool and kids are belly flopping or cannon balling in the pool.
Someone hands Amy and Grace beers but Grace declines. “Wait here, I’m looking for my friend,” Say Amy. Grace waits behind. She looks over and can see in the kitchen the whole football team celebrating. One team mate is challenged to drink as much beer in a minute as he can and he chugs beer after beer. He downs five beers and crushes then throws down the cans on the ground. The team shouts and bangs on the counter tops.
Grace walks over to the entrance to the kitchen watching them in curiosity. “I would like to honor, Kye for being the best quarterback on our team. Without him we not be undefeated!” Yells a team mate. “I couldn’t have done it without you guys, my teammates,” says Kye. The whole team shouts and bangs on the counter tops again cheering in excitement.
Kye notices Grace is watching. He turns to look at her. “Well who do we have here? You must be new to school?” he says.
Grace looks shocked that the most popular guy school would even talk to her. She looks down and has a hard time speaking. “Go ahead, whats your name?” he says. “Leave her alone she’s weird,” says a team mate. “My name is, my name is Grace,” she looks up at him into his eyes.
The look at each other for a moment. “I’m Kye, nice to meet you. Guess I’ll see you around school,” he says. Amy walks up ad taps Grace on the shoulder. “Whats going on here?” she says. “I just was talking,” says Grace. “To Kye? Ohh my god really?” says Amy.
“We’ll yeah he welcomed me,” Grace has her heart beating.
“Let’s go, I need to study for tomorrow’s quiz,” says Grace. “Huh, you realize tomorrow is Saturday? There is no school,” replies Amy. “Here have a beer have a little fun,” Amy hands Grace a beer. Grace takes a sip. She takes another sip then suddenly chugs the whole can. “It’s good isn’t it? says Amy. Grace is about to fall over, she sways a little. She lets down her hair yells, “whoo!”
Grace jumps on top of a table and starts dancing. A crowd forms around her and start cheering. She starts stripping taking off her jacket and throwing it to the crowd below. She then takes off her top leaving just her bra and throws it to the crowd.
Amy turns around and realizes whats going on. She runs up and pulls Grace by the hand to the ground below. “What are you doing!?” says Amy as she shakes Grace and looks her in the eyes.
“I’m just having fun like you said,” says Grace in slurred speech.
BONFIRE
Kye woke up late about 3pm in the afternoon. He’s got a headache. He picks up his phone from his bedside and reads all the text he has.
John: Hey man, lets go to the movies tonight
Kye wipes his eyes. He walks into the bathroom and brushes his teeth and brushes his hair. He puts on some clothes. He gets another text.
John: Hey did you see that new girl last night so hot!!!
A picture accompanies the text. It’s a picture of Grace in just a bra and jeans on standing drunk onto of a table at the party. Kye gets in his car, it’s a mustang. He meets up with friends at the mall.
He’s with his boys and they catch the matinee. After the movie they walk out and Kye see’s the same girl from last night in the lobby of the theater. He walks up to Grace.
“Hey! It’s Grace isn’t it?”
“Yes, we run into each other once again,” says Grace.
“You know the whole school has a picture of you going around, it’s nothing bad, well it could be” says Kye.
Grace laughs when he shows her the picture. “Hey if your not doing nothing tonight, you wanna hang out with me?” say Kye.
Grace blushes and says, “sure, yes.”
“Cool meet me at the beach tonight we are having a bonfire,” says Kye.
Kye rejoins his friends and they walks off continuing to talk. “Do you realize what just happened? He just asked you out” says Amy.
“You gotta tell me what’s he’s like.”
Grace rolls her eyes.
The sun goes down. Grace made it to the beach. She can see a fire on the beach in the distance. A small group of kids from school are out dancing around the fire. Music is blasting from a jeep parked next to it.
She walks up and everyone turns to look at her. “Hey it’s that new girl,” a guy says. Everyone laughs. Kye walks over and grabs Grace’s hand. “Come on let’s go,” and he walks her down the beach.
“They can be assholes sometimes. So where are you from?” ask Kye. “I’m from Chicago, I live with my dad, I’m not used to living like,” says Grace. “You mean in a small town, it’s alright. Everyone knows each other here. I’ve been here my whole life you get used to it,” says Kye.
They are strolling down the beach. The stars are visible and a full moon is almost complete. Grace smiles back at Kye. The conversation is short and they head back to the bonfire. She gives him his number. “Call me,” says Grace and she leaves.
SECRET
Grace is at home studying on a Sunday night. She dazes off and remembers spending the night with Kye on the beach. She turns on the TV and the local news is on. “Reports speak of a large animal that attacks live stock and pets on a full moon. Just a few hours ago we we fou
nd the body of a Silverton citizen. Half of his body was ripped to shreds and the bite marks are consistent with the previous animal attacks. This is the first attack on a human, ” says the reporter.
Grace looks up at the TV and turns the volume higher. They show the scene and some of it is blurred out for TV censoring.
The next day is school. Class is as usual. Kye and his friends walk in class and sit in the back of the classroom. “Quiet down everyone. Okay open you books to chapter 10,” says the teacher.
Grace looks behind her and smiles at Kye. She text him with the phone under her desk.
Kye: Hey! :)
Grace: I didn’t know you were in my english lit class
Kye: surprise! meet me after school by the bleachers
It’s the last class for the day and the bell rings. Grace is so excited and she goes to head towards the bleachers. She gets there and Kye is not there.
Grace: I’m here
Kye: There is a letter under the bench.
Grace looks under the bench and finds a paper taped underneath the bench. It’s a hand drawn map. It reads
Secret meeting location
The maps leads into the woods.
She is unsure about this but maybe he is playing a game?
She walks and walks into the woods. She could almost be lost at this point. “Grace, your here,” Kye walks out from behind a tree trunk.
“What’s this about?” she asks in confusion. “Grace I need to tell you something. I’m a werewolf,” says Kye. “All of the news on TV about slaughtered animals, it was me.” Grace looks surprised and then laughs. “That’s a good one you made me laugh,” says Grace.
“Grace, I am for real. Every full moon I transform into a beast, I cannot control it. I felt like you were a pure soul, I could tell you, I could trust telling you this. Last night I killed a human, and it’s getting worst,” says Kye.
He holds up a piece of bloody shirt from the victim on the news last night. Grace’s eyes become huge and she is shocked. “Ohh my god we need to go to the police with this,” says Grace. “They won’t believe it, they won’t believe a beast is doing this,” says Kye.
“You see Grace, I need your help, I can’t live like this anymore,” says Kye. Grace turns and begins walking in the opposite direction. “I can’t help you, I” she stops and thinks. Saw turns around facing Kye. Kye walks up to her. He pulls back her hair. “ I’m cursed, I never asked for this. It gives me extra abilities in speed and strength, but when there is a full moon I cannot control turning into a beast and killing.”
Kye grabs her hand. “On a blood moon it is worse. You see this, it’s all fake. Kye the football star, the popular jock, that’s not me,” he says. “A blood moon is approaching soon which probably why I killed a human last night. I need to drink silver, it might almost kill me but will rid me of my affliction.”
“I’m so sorry, I wish I could help,” says Grace. Grace suddenly pulls away and runs away. She runs and runs until she leaves the woods.
The next day during lunch break she is with Amy. “Yesterday something strange happened with Kye,” says Grace. “OMG what is it,” ask Amy. “He told he was, he was something he wasn’t. That the popular guy, the jock, the football star is not him. It’s all fake to him a facade,” says Grace. “Well you know we all wear our mask,” says Amy.
“It was so strange, I mean he has a crutch, something that no one knows about. He asked me to help him and I don’t know what to do,” says Grace.
AFFLICTION
It’s a Saturday afternoon and Grace is at home drawing. She loves to sketch. She gets a text.
Kye: hey, meet me at the beach
Grace heads to the beach and Kye is waiting there alone.
“I’d thought you wouldn’t come. Being that I told you my secret the other day,” says bye.
“Well you know we all wear a mask,” says Grace.
“I’m a different and I know that, I try to fit in but it doesn’t work.”
They begin strolling down the beach.
A girl is taking a picture with her cell phone in the distance.
“Ohh geez, looks like someone from school found us together. This is really going to blow up in school on Monday,” says Kye.
Grace laughs and shakes her head.
“The most popular guy from school is with the least popular girl,” says Grace. Kye laughs with Grace. Kye stops and grabs Grace by the shoulders. “Look, I need you to get your hands on silver. The next full moon is coming soon and I really need your help,” says Kye. He looks her dead in the eyes and she looks back.
“Okay I’ll do it,” and Grace nods her head.
The next day Grace looks on the internet researching for solutions. She can see that a full moon is happening in a couple days. She needs to get her hands on silver. Her father is not home. She doesn’t have much jewelry but she remembers her mother’s jewelry. Her mother died in an auto accident a few years ago. She left behind some jewelry but it’s kept in her father’s bedroom.
She sneaks in and starts looking in the drawers. She then looks in the closet and can see basically a shrine to her mother. Photos, pieces of clothing, the jewelry. She had no idea her father made this inside his closet. She can see necklaces, rings, earrings and more a rather large collection. She grabs and starts putting this in a book bag.
FULL MOON
It’s the day of the full moon and Grace has her book bag filled with jewelry. She had to remove some school things to make room for it. Kye was supposed to play a game tonight but he skips school altogether saying he was sick.
After school Grace meets Kye in the same secret location in the woods. She walks up to him and he is awaiting. He walks up to her and kisses her on the lips. His lips are hot and burning and she pushes him away. She goes back to kiss him again till it gets to hot then lets go. “Your so hot?”
“I want you to see this. But please be careful, use the silver” he says. “This is my mothers jewelry, she died in a car accident years ago,” says Grace. “I’m so sorry to hear that, you should of brought something else,” says Kye. She lifts up the jewelry and he immediately steps back and starts breathing heavily.
“Its all I could find for silver. Are you ok?” says Grace.
“I’m ok its when I see silver I get very stressed out,” says Kye. She puts it back in her back and under a tree distance from them.
They sit under a tree. “When I transform into the beast, use the silver and run. I don’t want to hurt you,” he says.
The time passes as they converse and Grace falls asleep at some point on his shoulder. Now the sun is setting. The sun comes down and it is very dark in the wooded area.
The moon is large and bright. It begins rises in the sky from the horizon.
Kye is beginning to transform. His eyes are growing large and his veins are popping out of his skin. “Grace, it’s happening!”
Grace wakes up and lifts her head. She can see what is happening and is shocked. “OMG!” Grace gets up and steps back. She looks around for her book bag but its so dark she can’t find it.
“Kye!” she yells standing watching helplessly. “Grace! you need to run! run now! yells Kye.
Grace turns around and runs into the woods. She has no clue where she is going it is so dark. She can hear the growls of a dog in the background. The ruffling of leaves and branches breaking and snapping.
Grace is so out of breath. She makes it back to the car and gets in. HOWL! she can hear a loud wolf howl. She looks into the woods and can see the tree branches being ruffled. The werewolf has emerged. Big and beastly. Standing 8 feet tall, muscular, and a mouth full of teeth.
Grace suddenly struggles to find her and get them in the key hole to start the car. She drops them on the floor of the car. She picks it back up and inserts the key and starts the car. The werewolf turns it’s head and looks her right in the eye. She slams on the gas pedal and pulls away.
LIFE OR DEATH
Grace drives unto a
country roadway with no cars. She turns on the headlights. She drives down the road. She looks into her rearview mirror and can see the monster has stopped chasing her and is howling at the moon.
Grace drives home and quickly runs into her house, into her room and slams the door locking it. She is terrified and shaking. She can’t believe what she just saw. She slaps her face thinking she might be in a dream.