Hidden Moon

by K. R. Thompson

  “Everyone quiet now, please.” A very determined-looking Ms. Perkins strode out onto the hardwood floor. Her face was grim and serious. “I’m sure you have all seen the school paper today. Per the suggestions made from the principal, we have come to a decision. This year, for the first time, we will be putting the position of captain up for a vote.”

  Excitement rippled through the line of green-and-white pom-pommed girls. Nervous giggles and small exclamations of surprise echoed up and down the line.

  “Quiet, please.” Ms. Perkins smiled at the eager faces in front of her. “I am going to give you each one slip of paper. Write the name of the person you think should be captain on it, only one name, and then fold it and give it back to me. Whoever has the most votes, will be the new captain if they choose to accept the position.”

  The pom-poms fell into a heap on the floor as everyone began searching in earnest for an ink pen to jot down their choice. Tiffany stood over to one side, ashen-faced, her mouth open in shock. Whatever she had expected it hadn’t been this. That much was obvious. Her mouth worked closed and open a couple times like a fish that was out of water as she stared at the back of the teacher. Then she saw me watching her and her face changed color to that of a boiled tomato, which at least looked more natural for her.

  I snuck a look over at Ronnie and was pleased when I realized that others were looking at her as well. It was looking better all the time. Somehow, a pen found its way into my hand and I wrote down Ronnie’s name, folded the slip of paper, and handed it back to the teacher. I handed the pen to the next girl I passed and stood waiting, while the last few finished up and came back into the line.

  Her hands full of folded bits of paper, Miss Perkins sat down on the nearest bleacher and started sorting out the names. She ended up with four different piles. The pile farthest from her started stacking up higher than the other three. It was pretty obvious, whoever’s name was in that pile, was going to end up being our fearless leader. I sucked in a breath as she finished, looked once more at the name in the biggest pile and stood back up in front of us.

  “Your new captain is,” she paused for dramatic flair, “Ronnie Stevenson.”

  Ronnie threw hands over her mouth in surprise and started jumping up and down, while I blew out the breath that I had been holding and went limp with relief. I looked over at Adam, who was grinning from ear to ear across the gym. The entire group seemed elated with their new captain. Well, nearly the entire group. Tiffany, hearing the wondrous news, had gone from her tomato color to a pretty fuchsia and magenta color. It was a color I had only ever seen in tie-dyed clothes, never on the human face. It was quite lovely, and the expression on her face was priceless.

  “Being as I believe our new captain will accept her position, we should be getting started now.” Miss Perkins clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

  Everyone calmed down and we got back to work. Although she stayed in the group, Tiffany may as well have been on a different planet, though she still managed to shoot me murderous glances whenever the opportunity presented itself. I joined the rest of the group and pretended to ignore her. Thankfully, we didn’t work on pyramids again and everyone kept their feet on the floor.

  TEN

  ERIK SOUNDED ALMOST gleeful as I slid into the chair between him and Adam. “Turkey nipple soup!”

  “Huh?” I asked, perplexed, as I plopped down my tray on the table.

  “You didn’t notice that the line over there is like nonexistent where you went through?”

  “Yeah, so? I thought it would be quicker.”

  “Quicker, yes. Better? No way, you’ll see.” Erik pointed at my tray, then over at his in comparison.

  “Here, Nikki, take mine,” Adam tried handing his plate over to me, which held a cheeseburger.

  “No, it’s okay,” I looked down at my tray to see what the big fuss was about.

  In the bowl, a round slice of what looked like turkey sandwich meat lay floating on top of a congealed, yellow substance that was as thick as concrete. I guess it was supposed to be gravy. Small white noodles resembling maggots popped up here and there, surrounded by what I supposed were tiny chicken bits. In the exact center of the meat, a small peak poked upwards, giving the term turkey breast a whole new meaning.

  I crinkled up my nose at the weird lunch tray and before I could object, Adam had switched trays with me, placing his in front of me.

  “Seriously, eat mine. I’ve had enough and you shouldn’t be subjected to that. If I’d known you were going through that line over there, I would have warned you.”

  “It seemed like the better choice at the time,” I explained, picking up the burger. “I went the long way around school trying to avoid Tiffany. I don’t like her, and she knows it. I figure that I’ll be telling her so.”

  “That shouldn’t be news to her, nobody likes her,” Erik mumbled through his burger.

  “So where are you headed after lunch?” Adam switched the subject, eyeing my excuse tucked in a textbook.

  “The library. I’ve got to do research on the history of Bland for an essay, and since I’m new, Mr. Blake gave me a pass to look up some books.”

  “I can help with that if you’d like after school,” Adam offered.

  “I bet,” Erik teased. “I should place bets on how much homework is going to be done tonight. History. Sure.”

  Adam grinned. “You’re lucky I can’t reach you right this second.”

  “I can,” I said, whacking my elbow between Erik’s ribs.

  The air whooshed out of him, and his tan cheeks took on a gray pallor. “Not cool, Nikki, definitely not cool.”

  “You’ll live,” Adam laughed. “Although if you don’t watch your mouth around Nikki, you may not live much longer.”

  Erik rubbed his side, and shook his head at me. “You hit hard for a girl. Don’t teach Penny any of that.”

  “Teach Penny what?” Penny asked, arriving at our table late.

  “Here, take my seat,” I offered, getting up. “I’m going to go ahead and head to the library.”

  “See you after school,” Adam smiled, making everything inside me go warm and fuzzy.

  “Okay,” I returned the smile, and started toward the library, never realizing the trouble I had avoided all day had anticipated my next move and lay in wait.

  “YOU’D BETTER BACK off.” My archenemy had been waiting to ambush me the second I stepped into the library.

  “I’m not backing anywhere.” Tiffany came the two steps closer it took her to shove me so that my back smacked into the library’s solid, wooden door.

  “Whatever your problem is, you’re going to have a bigger one if you do that again,” I seethed, trying to keep from punching her in the face.

  “I do what I want and I’ll have what I want, too. You’d better remember that,” she threatened in what I was guessing was her most menacing voice.

  At this exact inopportune moment, I decided to glance over Tiffany’s shoulder. I don’t know if I had sensed movement over there or what. But whatever it was, it got my attention and left me half-ignoring the threat in front of me.

  “Yeah, everybody knows you’re a psycho,” I murmured, still looking over her shoulder, but registered that the muscles in her shoulder were working.

  She punched me.

  It was hard enough that I snapped back into reality and landed in the floor at the same time. I brushed my mouth with the back of my hand and it came back sticky and red. The blonde Barbie had managed to split my lip.

  I jumped up out of the floor ready to inflict whatever pain that I could. Somehow I managed to grab two handfuls of long glossy hair and was in the process of yanking with every bit of strength that I had when a rather high, nasal voice interrupted me.

  “You will stop that this instant. There is no fighting in my library.”

  A sidelong glance proved that Mrs. Graham was on her way to break us apart. Tiffany managed to dig her well manicured claws down the length of my
arm before Mrs. Graham grabbed her and pushed her back. Since one of my hands was still tangled in her beautiful hair, I managed to net lots of long, pretty strands between my fingers.

  I smiled, bloody and triumphant, feeling as if I had just managed to scalp the enemy.

  “You,” Mrs. Graham barked at Tiffany, “go to the principal’s office. Now.”

  Tiffany went out the door, making sure to send me one final glare on the way out. Her hair looked less than perfect.

  I grinned.

  “Don’t get excited, you’re going there, too, but I’m getting you a tissue first. You’re bleeding all over my clean floor.” She turned and started walking towards her desk.

  As she turned and started walking, her image began to shift and almost disappear. It flickered back and forth, like a light bulb that was about to go out, but was trying to hold on for a little longer.

  She came back, holding out a tissue. My fingers accidentally touched hers for a split second and it felt as if I had been jarred with electricity. My first thought was that she must have been shuffling those sensible looking shoes really hard to have shocked me that bad.

  I glanced at her feet.

  There weren’t any shoes on them. Pale, iridescent skin glowed and sparkled on bare feet.

  I looked up.

  The creature in front of me was tall. Really tall. Even taller than Adam. Her face was oval shaped and her eyes were huge, fathomless blue voids surrounded by long black lashes. There weren’t any pupils, they were just blue. She had a lithe, feminine body, with subtle curves. Neon blue hair fell in a straight silky curtain to the back of her knees. Her skin looked like opals, translucent white with blues and reds brushed through. As if all this wasn’t strange enough, I found myself fascinated with her clothes. It was as if there were thousands of tiny books, no bigger than the tip of your little finger, sewn together, making a dress of sorts. Tiny pages and covers flitted and fluttered in a beautiful array of browns and whites. I stood there agape. I wondered if I was the only person seeing her, but was afraid that if I quit looking straight at her, this beautiful, magical creature would disappear.

  “What are you?” she demanded in a voice that sounded like rainfall.

  What are you? I thought. And what happened to Mrs. Graham?

  “I’m Nikki Harmon,” I stammered.

  “Not who. I asked you what you are.” Her blue eyes swirled as her voice took on a sound like thunder.

  “Um, human?” I pondered if perhaps I shouldn’t be welcoming her to Earth.

  “Human, yes, but something more,” she spoke as if to herself, her voice changing musically to that of single raindrops falling, soft and lilting, as if the storm had slowed.

  The form of Mrs. Graham tried to fit over her again, but failed and fizzed like a bulb that had finally burnt out.

  “What do you know of me?” she sounded angrier this time, as if it were all my fault.

  “I don’t know anything of you. I mean about you. Who are you?” I said in as calm a voice as I could muster.

  “It is doubtful, yet you have magic because it recognized my own. If it is meant for you to know of me, then you shall in due time,” she sounded resigned.

  “Mrs. Graham?” I asked.

  She gave me a sad sort of smile. And then I stared into the pinched face of the grouchy librarian.

  “Get on to class, and the next time you stir up trouble, it’s the principal’s office for you,” she sniffed, and went back to sit at her desk.

  I ran back through the library door, with just enough time to glance and see the opal-skinned woman watching me go. No one else in the room had seen anything but the body of Mrs. Graham where she sat dutifully at the front desk, watching them with a pinched, sour scowl.

  “Whoa. Easy, now,” Adam exclaimed as I ran smack into him. “I could hear your heart hammering all the way on the other side of the school. What’s happened?”

  I looked up at him. It took a minute to register that he was the one I had collided into.

  “Your lip’s bleeding,” he frowned, tilting my chin back with his fingertips. “Nikki, tell me what’s going on.”

  “What is Mrs. Graham?” I demanded, ignoring the tickle of blood that oozed down my face.

  “Mrs. Graham did that to you?” The frown deepened, causing a tiny line to pop up between his brows.

  What did you do to make the Spriteblood angry? The voice in my head sounded cautious.

  “Huh? Oh.” I wiped the blood off with the tissue in my hand. “No, that was Tiffany. But I got her worse.” I lifted my other hand that somehow still clutched my enemy’s pride and joy.

  Relieved, Adam grinned. “Well, that’s worth detention, I guess.”

  “Who’s in detention?”

  “Me, more than likely, for standing up and walking out of anatomy class without permission so I could come and check on you. Unless Ed has thought up some kind of excuse to get me out of it,” Adam said, peering over his shoulder at the boy who came into sight.

  “You’ve had a stomach ache since lunch, and had to run to the restroom. They’ve sent me to check on you,” Ed relayed the excuse as he walked to us. He eyed my blonde trophy. “Nikki, the next time you decide to scalp someone, ask me the correct way to do it. You keep the individual strands together better if it’s still attached to skin.”

  “Ew.” I crinkled my nose at him, noticing though he appeared serious, his dark eyes twinkled.

  “What were you trying to ask me about Mrs. Graham?” Adam prodded, taking the tissue from me to wipe off a bloody smear on my chin.

  “What is she?” I asked, watching as both he and Ed went very still at my question.

  “Not here,” Ed mumbled behind Adam’s shoulder.

  Adam nodded, then took my hand and ducked into a small room off to the right that stored extra equipment. He turned on a small fan as Ed closed the door behind us. The whir of the fan was low and steady.

  “She shouldn’t be able to hear over that.” Ed nodded his approval.

  “Okay, tell me what you saw.” Adam pulled out a plastic seat from a desk and sat down across from me.

  “Well, Mrs. Graham came over to break Tiffany and me apart. Then she went to give me a tissue for my lip and I accidentally touched her. Then she ended up being something else, tall with blue hair.”

  “She’s a Spriteblood,” Adam said quietly. “And not one that you should ever make angry—not that you should make any of them angry.”

  Ed rolled his eyes and cut in, “Spriteblood aren’t your typical fairies that you have in myths and legends is what he is trying to say, Nikki. Unlike what you might be thinking, they aren’t like cartoon Sprites, all cute and cuddly. Spriteblood are the nighttime stories that are told to children to scare them into making them behave. You know, do what you are supposed to do or the scary, mythical creatures will come and eat you.”

  “I’ve not eaten a child in many a-years,” a sad voice said, “and I’ve tried hard not to for such a very long time.”

  All three of us (the non-fairy people) jumped at the sound of her musical voice.

  “Although, sometimes I do miss the taste of them so.” The fairy’s red lips stretched back to show sharp, pointed teeth. Her liquid, blue eyes flashed.

  In a blink, sour Mrs. Graham stood in her place in front of the door. She snapped off the fan and looked at us with a dour expression. “I do believe you are all expected to be in class. Unless there are any questions you wish to ask of me?”

  “No ma’am,” both Ed and Adam murmured in unison under their ducked heads as they headed toward the open door, herding me between them. I stopped, trying not to pay attention to their pulling and tugging, as I looked back at her.

  “Why do you pretend to be someone you aren’t?” I asked, nonplussed at her show of viciousness. I figured that if she wanted to eat us, she would have already done it.

  As if surprised at my courage, her lips twisted in a slight smile. “Because I’m not who I want to be.” />
  She held out a book to me. “I think you may need this.”

  I took it, careful not to touch her, and read the title, A History of the County of Bland. Wow. How had she known that was what I had come into the library to find? Apparently, Spriteblood must be psychic, too. I smiled at her.

  “Tha--” I got cut off by Adam who gave me a hard shove through the door.

  Do not say anything else! His voice warned, bouncing and echoing through my head.

  Somehow we managed to get all the way down the hall and around the corner in record speed before he spoke.

  “Never say ‘thank you’ to a fae of any kind,” he warned me, squeezing my hand in his. “They think that you will be implying that you are grateful to them, and that you will owe them a favor in turn one day. Their favors never tend to be small, either, so never owe them anything. Understand?”

  “Sure,” I said, finding myself at the door of my next class.

  “We’ve got to go,” Ed warned, heading down the hall towards a bald, frowning teacher who stood with his hands on his hips.

  Adam ducked his head down and gave me a quick kiss before following Ed. I took a breath and opened the door, hoping that my next class was taught by someone as ordinary as me.

  “As far as I know, her real name is Wynter,” Adam said, safe in the confines of my Jeep after school. “She’s old. Really old. Hundreds of years at least, although no one knows how many. Like we said before, her race is Spriteblood, and normally you would never run into one anywhere during your entire lifetime. Generally, they hate humankind, unless of course, they get a taste of human flesh and want more. My people have stories of entire tribes that have been wiped out by a single Spriteblood. Wynter’s different, though, and likes humans. She even envies us, I think. That’s why she takes on the form she does, to try to fit into our world.”