Ebon Moon

by McDonald, Dennis

  “Stay away!” she yelled.

  The impact of her kicks caused Jessica to slide out the open passenger door where she landed on her back in the hard dirt. The beast made a grab for her daughter crouched in the floorboard.

  Jessica fired the .38 pistol. Blood and fur erupted where the bullet hit the monster’s arm, reaching for Megan. Howling in pain, the werewolf pulled itself out of the car and disappeared once again into the smoke.

  Jessica struggled back to her feet, feeling a badly bruised hip.

  The fire had now spread everywhere inside the barn. Unbearable heat and black smoke made it impossible to breathe. Overhead, the barn roof had turned into a broiling furnace consuming the old rafters. One wooden beam cracked and tumbled from the inferno above, its flaming end shattering through the back windshield of the Camaro.

  “Mommy,” Megan choked. “I can’t breathe.”

  “Get out of the car, baby.”

  “The Bad Wolf will get me,” Megan protested.

  “No, it won’t,” Jessica replied, wiping away smoke-caused tears. She shifted the pistol and reached a hand toward Megan. “I won’t let it. We can’t stay in here. There’s a hole in the wall where Mommy crawled inside the barn. You have to help me find it so we can get out.”

  “Okay.” Megan nodded and exited the Camaro.

  “Crawl on your hands and knees, baby.” Jessica pointed with the pistol toward the wall. “I think the hole is over there.”

  More burning wood fell from the roof and crashed in a spray of embers, blocking the way to the hole.

  “No!” Jessica cried out in desperation.

  “Mommy.” Megan wrapped her arms around her waist. “Hold me.”

  Jessica picked her up and hugged her close while keeping the pistol in her other hand. “I’ll carry you out.”

  “Okay.”

  The ceiling creaked overhead from the relentless onslaught of the fire. Jessica tried to determine which direction to go in the suffocating smoke and heat.

  Oh God, show me the way out.

  A deep growl sounded close.

  She spun around with pistol ready. Under the burning hayloft, she spotted the werewolf form of Collin through the thick pall. Blood poured from the bullet hole in its arm. Jessica brought up the pistol and pulled the trigger.

  Click.

  No more silver bullets.

  The werewolf’s red eyes showed satisfaction as a cruel smile parted to reveal its fangs. Unleashing a primal growl, the beast charged.

  “Mommy loves you,” Jessica whispered, burying her daughter’s face in her chest so not to see the horror about to befall them.

  The next instant, a flaming wall exploded inward, revealing an old red Ford F-150 crashing its way into the barn. The front grill rammed the werewolf in mid-charge and sent the beast hurling back under the hayloft. Before coming to a stop, the truck knocked out one of the loft’s support pillars, causing a mountain of burning hay to fall upon the monster. The horrendous screams of the beast rose above the roar of the fire.

  “Get in,” Terry shouted, swinging open the passenger door. “Now!”

  She rushed to the truck and hefted her daughter into the front seat before throwing herself inside. A thunderous crack sounded overhead, signaling the roof’s collapse. Terry slapped the truck in reverse, sending the F-150 shooting backward out of the burning building as the roof crashed down in a massive avalanche of wood and fire. Buried beneath the blazing ruins, the beast that was Collin released a final dying howl of agony and went silent.

  In stunned silence, the three sat in the front seat watching the flaming mass of the collapsed barn send embers spiraling up into the night sky.

  “Are you okay, baby?” she finally asked Megan.

  She coughed. “I got all dirty, Mommy.”

  Jessica smiled. “It’s all right, sugar.” Realizing she still held the pistol, Jessica dropped it to the floorboard and hugged her daughter close. “You’re safe and that’s all that matters.”

  “Is the Bad Wolf gone?”

  “Yes.”

  She turned her attention to Terry looking out the windshield.

  “Sid?” she asked.

  “Dead,” he replied.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “So am I. He was a good friend,” Terry stated and started to laugh.

  “What?” Jessica asked, surprised.

  “I just remembered something, and if Sid were here, he would be laughing right alongside me.” Terry reached into his front pocket and pulled out a bullet. “This is the silver bullet Mr. Higgins gave to me. I’ve carried it as a good luck charm all this time. I guess it did work.”

  Jessica chuckled. “I could’ve used it a couple of minutes ago.”

  “You can have it.” He dropped the bullet in Jessica’s palm. “I don’t need it anymore.”

  The driver door of the pickup flew open. A shadowy shape grabbed the teenager and yanked him out of the cab. Next the dark figure snatched Megan. Jessica gasped in shock and tried too late to hold onto her daughter.

  “Come to Daddy,” Blake said.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  Jessica jumped out. On the other side of the truck, Blake held Megan before him with the hooked nails of one hand hovering above her throat. His cruel eyes showed pure evil.

  “Surprised to see me, Jess?” he asked in a low inhuman voice. “Since you shot and left me for dead the last time we met.”

  “Nothing surprises me now,” she replied. “Let me guess. You’re a werewolf.”

  “Go figure.” He smiled, showing extended canines. “Funny thing happed outside your trailer the other night. I got bit. Believe me, no one was more surprised than I was. I do consider it an upgrade. The rush it gives is so much better than coke.” Blake nodded toward the burning building. “What happened to the others?”

  “They died in the fire.”

  “Too bad.” He shrugged. “I was supposed to join their little pack tonight. I guess that makes me a lone wolf now, if you’ll pardon the pun. After we finish our business, I’m hitting the road. I won’t have any qualms about who I feast upon, either. Women and children are just walking pieces of meat to me. I’ll paint this country blood red before I’m done. What do you think about that?”

  “You still have to deal with me.” Jessica reached down to the floorboard of the truck, grabbed the .38 pistol, and picked up the lone silver bullet Terry had handed her.

  “True.” Blake nodded. “Who’s your teenage friend? Are you fucking them that young now, Jess?”

  “He’s ten times the man you’ll ever be,” she replied. “Did you kill him?”

  “No.” Blake shook his head. “I just knocked him out. Sorry about the couple who lived with you on the farm, though.” He chomped his teeth together. “Your friends were quite tasty.”

  Jessica’s heart turned to ice. Blake murdered Sam and Nelda. She glanced at Megan, who stood motionless with his sharp nails pressed against her throat. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill their daughter, either.

  “This ends tonight, Blake.” Jessica brought up the pistol.

  He tilted Megan’s head back. “Put the gun down, Jess. I’ll tear her throat open before you can pull the trigger.”

  “It’s not Megan you want. It’s me.”

  “Oh, but it is so much fun watching you try to protect her.”

  She spotted movement over Blake’s shoulder. Terry stood to his feet and motioned for her to be quiet. Jessica returned her focus on her husband, knowing she needed a ploy to keep him occupied so he wouldn’t know Terry was behind him. She opened the pistol cylinder and shook out the spent cartridges. They rolled across the hood of the truck.

  “What are you doing, Jess?” Blake asked

  Jessica showed the silver bullet. “One bullet.” She dropped it into the chamber and snapped up the cylinder. “Isn’t that how you play the game?”

  He laughed a dry chuckle. “You won’t do it.”

  Jessica spun the chamber, put the .38 ag
ainst her temple, and pulled the trigger.

  Click.

  “Does that answer your question?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

  “Now that’s more like it, Jess.”

  “You used to love this game, or are you too big a pussy to play now, Mr. Werewolf?”

  His tongue licked across his lips. “Fuck no.”

  “Then let go of Megan so we can play.”

  Blake shook his head. “I’m not stupid. I let her go and you’ll shoot me.” He pushed his nails harder against Megan’s throat. “You already shot me once.”

  “I’m serious, Blake.”

  “Prove it to me, Jess. Pull the trigger twice and I’ll let her go.”

  “Okay,” Jessica replied with a tremor in her voice as she placed the barrel against her head. She had lost sight of Terry.

  Did he run away?

  Oh God, I hope not.

  She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.

  Click.

  Her finger tightened once more against the trigger. With her heart pounding in her ears she felt the chamber slowly turn as the hammer pulled back. On the other side of the truck hood, Blake watched with a psychotic glint in his dark eyes.

  Oh God, please.

  The hammer dropped.

  Click.

  Blake let out an excited growl. “I have to admit I like this new Jess better. The old one would just cry and whine. You really did grow a set of balls.”

  “So what do you say?” she asked as the rush of still being alive coursed through her body. She placed the .38 on the truck hood and slid it toward her husband. “Do you feel lucky?”

  Blake focused on the pistol. She knew he contemplated the offer. His grip on Megan’s throat loosened.

  Pick up the gun, Blake.

  “What the fuck?” He released Megan and grabbed up the .38.

  Jessica motioned for her daughter to step away. Blake’s gaze fixed hers as he spun the chamber and put the barrel against his temple. “You tried to kill me once, Jess. I came back, didn’t I? I’m immortal now. The Angel of Death.” He put the barrel against his head.

  Do it. Pull the trigger, she prayed. Please God.

  Instead, he laughed and pointed the pistol at her.

  “Did you think I was that stupid? You had a chance when you still had the gun.”

  “I knew you didn’t have the balls to pull the trigger. You’re a coward just like your father.”

  “You fucking backstabbing whore!” His eyes grew darker as spittle flew out of his mouth. “You’re going to pay for saying that about my father!” The bones on his face started to pop and shift. “I won’t shoot you.” His voice deepened into an animal’s low growl. “I’m going to rip you apart!”

  A sudden impact caused Blake’s head to snap forward. He dropped the gun and it skittered across the hood where Jessica snatched it . Terry now stood behind him preparing to swing the aluminum baseball once more against the back of Blake’s skull. Screaming in rage, Blake turned toward the teenager and caught the swing in a clawed hand. With the other, he gripped Terry by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

  “You punk!” he snarled in an inhuman voice.

  “You forgot about me, Blake,” Jessica called out, taking a firing stance.

  He threw Terry aside and turned, showing a face transformed into something half-canine, half-human. Blake’s dark eyes met hers a second before she pulled the trigger. In that instant, she realized the beast and her husband had become more terrifying than just a werewolf. Together they had formed an unholy union fueled by Blake’s savagery, an abomination ten times worse than Collin.

  The gun went off. The silver bullet hit him between the eyes, plowed through his brain, and blew out the back of his head in a spray of blood and bone. Blake fell over backward upon the ground.

  “Now you’re dead,” Jessica stated.

  “Mommy,” Megan cried out, rushing to her side.

  Jessica swept her beautiful daughter up and embraced her with more love then she had ever known. She looked up at the Ebon Moon to say a silent prayer of thanks. A rim of silver light had now emerged from the shadowed edge of the eclipse.

  “I love you, baby.” Jessica kissed her daughter’s face.

  A low moan came from where Terry lay in the grass.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” He sat up holding his side. “I got the wind knocked out of me.” Standing shakily to his feet, he tossed aside the aluminum bat. “I’m glad I kept this in the back of the truck.”

  “So am I,” Jessica replied.

  The wail of fire truck sirens sounded in the far distance.

  Jessica patted Megan on the back. “Get in the truck, sweetie.”

  “Okay.” Megan hopped in the truck cab.

  Crossing over to Blake’s body, Jessica knelt by his side. His dark eyes stared lifelessly up at the sky as brain matter leaked from the hole in his head. She dropped the empty pistol on his chest and noticed something sticking half-out of the pocket of his black duster. She pulled out two thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

  “Consider this child support,” she said to his corpse while stuffing the bills in her jean pockets.

  Terry limped over to her side. “Tell me he’s dead.”

  “He is.” She turned to face him. “Fire trucks are on the way. There’s going to be a lot of questions I don’t want to answer. I need to get out of here. Can I buy the truck?”

  “You can have it.” Terry handed her the keys. “It was a gift from Mr. Higgins, and I give it to you. He would want you to have it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ve always wanted to see Colorado.”

  “I’ll stick around here, but what am I going to tell the cops?” Terry asked, looking around at the scene of carnage. “Werewolves are going to be a hard story to sell.”

  Jessica thought for a moment. “Tell them Blake did it. He went crazy. He’s already wanted for multiple murders, and his fingerprints are on the gun that shot Sheriff Sutton. Tell them he set the barn on fire. Everything else they’ll just have to guess.”

  Terry nodded. “Okay.”

  The sirens grew louder.

  Jessica studied the teenager’s face in the glow of the fire. He met her eyes before looking down at his feet.

  “I know there is no way to repay you for saving me and my daughter.” She leaned his head up and kissed him full on the lips. “Thank you for being there.”

  “You’re the first girl I ever kissed,” he relayed as she stepped back toward the driver door of the truck.

  “I’m honored,” she replied. “But for the record, I kissed you.”

  “In that case,” he grabbed her by the hand and drew her to him, “this is for Sid.”

  His lips pressed expertly against hers. Jessica felt the warmth of his kiss, and the surprising passion made her forget for a second he was a teenage boy. She released herself from the embrace and stepped back to catch her breath.

  “Keep that up and you’ll have a lot more girls to kiss in your life.”

  Terry showed a broad smile. “I will.”

  Jessica slid behind the steering wheel and started the truck.

  “I guess this is good-bye,” she said.

  He leaned forward and shut the driver door. “Good-bye, Megan.”

  “Good-bye,” she replied.

  He stepped back as Jessica put the truck in gear. “Bye, Jess.”

  “Bye and thank you.”

  She drove away and headed for the exit onto the country road.

  Before pulling off the property, she caught one last glimpse in the rearview mirror of Terry silhouetted against the backdrop of the burning barn. She smiled inwardly with a sudden revelation. If a teenage boy could be so brave and passionate, there was hope for the male gender after all. She wasn’t going to give up hunting for a good man.

  “Mommy?” Megan asked in the dark silence of the cab.


  “Yes, baby?”

  “Monsters are real, aren’t they?”

  “Yes.” Jessica nodded. “I guess they are.”

  She turned onto the dirt road and pointed the truck west toward Colorado.

  THE END

  Complete the trilogy of terror

  with

  13 Nightmares

  and

  Undead Flesh.

  Both available on Amazon.

  A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

  I hope you enjoyed Ebon Moon. Please feel free to write a review and post it. Or you can email it to me. I’d love to hear from you. If you liked this novel, don’t hesitate to check out my other books. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them too. You can find me at the following online locations.

  Email: dragonmac007@yahoo.com

  Website: dennismcdonaldauthor.com

  Blog: hauntedfunhouse @ blogger

  Twitter: Nightmarewriter

  All the best,

  Dennis McDonald