Secrets of the Moon

by Kristy Centeno

  For a few short seconds I remained motionless and stared up at his handsome face. His eyes were still closed and he didn’t move so much as a muscle. It was hard for me to stand there and wait for him to either keep kissing me or back away. I had the feeling he was fighting for self-control and I couldn’t blame him. I was too. Both of his hands remained on the wall, one on each side of my face, as he struggled to regain some composure.

  “Why are you sorry?”

  “Did I hurt you?”

  Hurt me? What was he talking about? “No, I’m fine.”

  His eyes popped open immediately and he glanced down my body.

  “You lie. I did hurt you.” He was making very little sense.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” How was he expecting me to understand what he was talking about when I was still high on Lust Mountain and was having trouble coming back down? That kiss had completely taken over all my senses and I couldn’t understand what he was trying to point out to me. Before my mind could clear of its haze, Kyran gently pulled my shirt up so I could see where his fingers had dug deep into my skin, leaving half-moon-shaped marks on the surface.

  “I’m truly sorry, Marjorie. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I…” He shook his head as if to clear it and took several steps back. His eyes took on a darker color. His silver-colored eyes were now a deep shade of gray.

  I reached out for him, but he cringed from my touch.

  “Kyran! I’m fine. Really. I can barely feel it.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. But I was pretty sure I would feel them later on.

  He kept shaking his head and turned his back to me.

  “I have to leave.” His words were a soft murmur but I heard them.

  He started to walk out the kitchen door but my plea stopped him.

  “Kyran, I really am fine.” He didn’t turn to look at me but at least he wasn’t running out the door like he’d intended to do. “I’m not sorry we kissed. Not one bit. I enjoyed it just as much as you did.”

  He didn’t turn to look at me. Come on, Kyran, look at me!

  To my relief he finally turned. His eyes were back to their natural silver color.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you. I got carried away. I should have never kissed you.”

  “What’s wrong with kissing? We’re two young adults that happen to like each other.” I couldn’t begin to understand why he was reacting the way he was. “Haven’t you kissed girls before?”

  “Of course I have!” he ran one hand over his long hair.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “None of them have ever had this effect on me before.”

  That made two of us. In high school, I’d kissed a few boys, but none of them had ever touched a chord inside me like Kyran did.

  “I just can’t lose control like that ever again.” He sounded more hurt than angry.

  I didn’t know how to respond to that. “I think we should finish cleaning up in here.”

  He nodded in agreement and helped me with the rest of the kitchen cleaning. By the time we finished it was a little over one o’clock. Time sure flies when one is having fun. Observing that Kyran barely even spoke after the kiss incident, I decided the best course of action was to leave so that he could recover from whatever was bothering him. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with what happened and I didn’t want to burden him further.

  “I’m going upstairs to get my bag.”

  I didn’t wait for an answer as I ran up the stairs to his room. Once inside the room I located my bag and picked it up. As I turned to exit the bedroom, I noticed a book on top of the chest near the door, a book that I hadn’t noticed before.

  What caught my attention wasn’t the book itself but the name on its front cover: The Rousseau Family Bloodline. Interesting! I didn’t dare to open it but I did study the outside. The extremely thick book looked like it was as old as time. The cover was made of brown leather and had considerable wear and tear, probably from years and years of use. I ran my index finger over the cover, allowing it to glide down from the top to the bottom. Kyran was obviously interested in his family bloodline; why else would he have such a book as this?

  Not wanting to be caught snooping, I replaced the book, exited the room, and headed down the hallway. Kyran was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, looking a little perplexed.

  “You’re leaving?”

  “You seem to be trying to work something out, so I want to give you some space.”

  “You don’t have to leave, Marjorie, not yet anyway.” His eyes were pleading for me to stay and I was having a hard time maintaining my original plan of leaving. “I’m feeling much better.”

  “I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

  “That would never happen.” He rewarded me with a half-smile. “I don’t want you to leave just yet.”

  He seemed to be doing a lot better, so I decided that perhaps I should stay. “All right.”

  “Come, let’s go watch a movie.”

  He led me back upstairs to his room. Once inside he opened a drawer to look for a DVD to pop in for us to watch. After we agreed on the same one, we settled back against the headboard. Before long, my head was comfortably resting on his chest and he had one warm arm wrapped around me.

  At some point, we must have dozed off because the next thing I remember was hearing the sounds of murmuring voices. The soft whispering voices combined with Kyran’s constant stirring slowly lured me completely awake. Thinking that the TV was still on, I remained with my eyes closed and ignored the unceasing sound of people talking. However, the second I heard the unmistakable sound of Josephine’s voice, my eyes snapped opened and I became aware that the speeches I kept hearing weren’t coming from the TV but from Kyran’s siblings. I spotted Gage, Alexis, and Josephine standing just outside the bedroom doorway.

  I sat up at once, my cheeks burning from the blush I was sure was showing on my face. Alexis, as always, was grinning from ear to ear, Josephine had a worried look on her face, and Gage seemed a little puzzled and amused too.

  “Sorry to barge in, but Kyran disappeared on us today and we were worried something bad happened to him.” Josephine smiled slightly at me.

  “We had no reason to worry, he’s been just fine. Haven’t you, little brother?”

  I couldn’t see Kyran’s reaction to Alexis’s comment, but by the look on Alexis’s face I was sure he got the reaction out of Kyran that he was hoping for.

  “I…uh…Kyran invited me over for lunch.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “That’s wonderful. Kyran is an excellent cook.” Josephine’s expression didn’t match the supposed enthusiasm I heard in her voice.

  “Yes, I noticed.”

  “And I invited her over for dinner on Wednesday night.”

  Josephine’s eyes lit up as Kyran mentioned this. “Are you coming?”

  “Yes, I’ll be here.” I replied.

  “Great!”

  “I think we should leave these two to their privacy,” Gage said. “We will be more than happy to have you over for dinner on Wednesday.”

  “Thank you, I’m looking forward to it.”

  That said, they left and closed the door behind them.

  “I think it would have been a good idea to close the door,” Kyran murmured.

  “I think so too.” I caught sight of the digital clock above his nightstand. “Oh my God! It’s late.” It was half past four. I hopped out of bed and grabbed my bag. “I have to go home.”

  “I’ll take you.”

  We headed downstairs and found Kyran’s siblings in the kitchen making dinner. They invited me to stay a bit longer but I gently refused. I’d already spent most of the day there and I needed to get back home and help Vicki with the chores. But I promised to be back on Wednesday night.

  Kyran chose the red Lexus to drive me home that time. Once we were close to my house, he slowed down then stopped just before we came upon the driveway. I shifted in my seat so that I could look at him without strai
ning my neck and he did the same.

  “Thank you for everything, Kyran. I had a great time today.”

  “You don’t need to thank me. I enjoyed your company. I should be the one thanking you for spending the day with me.”

  “How about you do just that.”

  His eyes widened and before he could read my intentions, I pulled myself up on the seat and leaned forward to plant a kiss on his waiting lips. I thought he would reject me or pull away, but he did neither. His lips parted to allow access to my eager tongue. We kissed for several minutes before I forced myself to tear my lips away from his.

  Everything was silent inside the car; the only sound came from our ragged breathing. “I like the way you thank me.”

  A slow, sensual smile broke his serious expression. “I’m more than happy to oblige.”

  I didn’t want to leave but I had too. I had responsibilities.

  “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Bonne nuit, ma belle.”

  “Good night.”

  That night, as I was showering, I noticed the now visible bruises Kyran’s firm grip left on my waist. They weren’t too bad, but they were prominently there. I had to admit, I was both stunned and surprised to see them. I didn’t think Kyran had squeezed me that hard, but apparently he had.

  Exhausted from the day’s events, I curled up in bed after finishing with all my chores around the house. Another afternoon of long farm duties passed by without a visit from my creepy stalker, and I was relieved. Perhaps he had forgotten about me and found someone else to terrorize.

  Thinking that dreaming about Kyran was more to my liking than remaining awake and wondering about the overgrown pest, I wrapped my tired body around a pillow and closed my eyes. Not five minutes after I started to doze off, a sound startled me fully awake. It wasn’t until I focused on it that I realized it was just the sound of Vicki’s radio. Sometimes when my father left on one of his trips and she couldn’t sleep, Vicki would turn on the radio and set it to a station that played all kinds of music twenty-four-seven. The music usually lured her and everyone else in the house to sleep.

  A few minutes later I finally dozed off.

  ***

  The wonderful dream I was having about Kyran soon turned into something absolutely horrible. That same nightmare where beasts attacked and killed innocent people intruded into the wonderful fantasy of Kyran and me. This time, however, Kyran was there trying to fend off the beasts as they tried to get to me. Shocked, I could only watch as the beasts kept clawing and biting him until he couldn’t get up. No matter how many times he tried to rise, they attacked him until he could no longer move. He put up a very valiant fight but he was no match for them.

  I screamed and began to run, desperately trying to make my way toward Kyran before they killed him. As I dashed forward, grateful to finally have the path before me free of overgrown mutts, I began to feel confident that I would reach him. Just as I was inches away from touching his gorgeous face, a massive beast came out of nowhere and dragged me away into the pitch-dark woods.

  Something wet and sticky kept nudging my face, and as I opened my eyes and saw a huge black figure hovering over me, I nearly choked on my saliva in my panic to push it away. Fear and instinct gave me the impulse to shove the furry figure as hard as I could. It landed on the floor with a loud thud. It was only after I sat up straight and focused my eyes on the unknown creature standing at the foot of my bed that I realized it was just Buggy.

  My hands shook as I ran them over my sweat-covered brow. The dream and Buggy’s sudden appearance nearly caused me to suffer a heart attack.

  It was just a dream, Marjorie, no need to panic.

  Once fully awake and aware, I realized that it had all been nothing but a nightmare and that my unexpected visitor was just one of our dogs, so I began to relax a little. The door to my room was wide open, and after analyzing my actions of the previous night, I realized I’d forgotten to both close and lock the door as I usually did. The digital clock on my nightstand indicated the hour to be four in the morning, which explained why it was still dark.

  Shaking my head to clear it of all unpleasant images, I walked over to my bathroom and splashed my face with cold water. Buggy followed me inside, bumping into me each time I walked by him, a signal he used whenever he wanted to be let out to go potty. Frustrated that I would have to be the one to let him out since I was the once he came to, I slipped into my slippers and made my way down the stairs, with Buggy following close behind.

  I was just about to open the front door when I realized I couldn’t go out without some kind of protection. Knowing that somewhere out there was a beast that enjoyed making sudden appearances, I decided to bring my father’s metal bat just in case. I didn’t think I would have need of it, but being cautious couldn’t hurt, so I brought it with me anyway.

  Potential weapon in hand, I opened the door and followed Buggy outside. As usual, he sniffed the ground next to the house and started walking in circles, looking for a good spot to do his business. Wishing he would just hurry up, and silently cursing the lack of a doggie door, I took several steps forward and continued to wait. I looked away when he finally settled down enough to start his “private affair.”

  After a few minutes Buggy ran back, wagging his tail contentedly. Glad to be done with that, I started for the house. A couple more hours of sleep and I would be ready for another long and boring day at school. As soon as I’d turned and took several steps in the direction of the house, a loud cracking sound interrupted the eerie silence of the early morning. It literally sounded as if lightning had struck a nearby tree, but I knew that to be impossible because there were no clouds in the sky. The noise was so loud that I jumped back, nearly toppling over Buggy who was standing behind me. Startled, I just stood there and listened to Buggy’s unceasing barking. Sassy and Kennel came running out of the house and joined in the baying, increasing the ruckus to a whole new level of chaos.

  So far, all I could see was pure darkness, so I continued to stand there in the hope of identifying where the noise had come from. I watched for any moving shadows and was rewarded when I saw movement inside the wooden corral. At first, I thought the movement came from the horses inside, but when a loud shriek of pain filled the air, I knew something was wrong. The remaining horses inside the barn started to neigh and whine loudly at the sound coming from within the corral, and I understood that one of the horses inside the enclosure was under attack.

  At the sound of the horse’s frantic cries of fear, the three dogs went berserk, barking as they ran forward, leaving me very much afraid and alone.

  Without even pausing to think what I was doing, I found myself running toward the corral where the three dogs were gathered. Just before I reached it, I saw a huge dark shadow disappear into the tree line and, as far as I could tell, it was dragging a heavy load. My heart thumped hard in my chest as I realized the beast had paid me another creepy visit and this time, it came back for more than just a quick scare.

  As I approached the now nearly frantic dogs, Buggy turned his head slightly, acknowledging my presence. I patted his head to try to calm him down but his focus remained on the tree line and what hid beyond. He snarled and growled in the direction of the woods. Sassy and Kennel took several steps forward and began to bark hysterically. Their gazes focused on the obscured tree line just a few feet away. I took two steps and Buggy darted in front of me to stop my progress. He brought his head up to look at me then turned his attention back to the woods.

  “It’s hiding back there, isn’t it?”

  Hopefully, Vicki and the girls were still sleeping safely inside the house and no one would come out and investigate. I turned to glance behind me; the house was still quiet and all the lights were off. It seemed as if Vicki and the girls hadn’t heard anything; either that or they were too scared to come out. Whichever it was, I was deeply relieved they remained indoors.

  Trying to make as little noise as possible, I walked over
to the corral where my two favorite horses had been left out for the night. My knees went weak when I reached it and took a peek inside. There was only one horse standing in a corner; the pinto was snuggled into the side of the corral completely motionless, his body shaking from fear. From a distance, I couldn’t see whether or not he was injured so I decided to check on him.

  Taking care to watch my step, I climbed up the wooden pegs until I was at the top then jumped inside the corral. As I was walking toward the pinto, my feet slipped over something wet, causing me to fall on my rump on the sticky ground.

  What the devil? Why is the ground wet?

  Collecting myself from the ground, I started to rub my now throbbing rump when I felt something damp and pasty sticking to the back of my pajama shorts and legs. I removed my hand and brought it up to my face. I couldn’t see a thing but I could smell it clear enough. It was the unmistakable odor of…blood! Oh my God!

  Scared out of my mind, I tried to run, only to end up tripping on the wet ground again and falling forward on my hands and knees. Sharp sparks of pain shot through my knees when I fell and I winced both from the discomfort and my stupidity. By trying to escape the gory scene before me, I only succeeded in hurting myself further. My eyes focused on the undeniable trail of blood inside the corral and followed it to where it reached the open gate. Open gate!

  Trying to calm myself down before I entered into a frenzied state, I stopped and took in several long breaths to help calm my racing heart. This attack on my favorite horse was almost too much. What had changed this time? Why the sudden attack? Was the beast angry because of what happened last time? Well, I should have known that something like this would happen sooner or later. Perhaps the beast was tired of being nice and was showing its true predatory self.

  Disgusted, frightened, and confused, I slowly rose and rubbed my knees to calm some of the aching. Once up, I began to look for the metal bat that had gone flying as I lost my footing. Thankfully, the bat was just a few steps away so I dashed for it and wrapped both hands around it to hold them steady because they wouldn’t stop shaking.