by Amy McClung
Cascades of Moonlight
The Parker Harris Series
Book One
Written by: Amy McClung
Copyright 2012 Amy McClung
Written by: Amy McClung
Published by: Create Space
Cover Design by: Daniel McClung
Contact pages:
www.facebook.com/AmyKMcclung
www.facebook.com/CascadesOfMoonlight
©This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my amazing husband, Daniel, who taught me what true love really is, a mixture of fairy tales and reality. He inspires me every day with encouragement and praise, and I would be lost without him.
About the Author
Amy McClung grew up in Nashville TN. She currently resides just outside Nashville with her husband Daniel. She graduated from Father Ryan High School in 1996. In 2002 obtained her general certification in medical coding and billing and 2009 she obtained a specialty certification in Hospital medical coding and billing.
Amy and her husband are both fans of fantasy novels as well as avid movie collectors. Her love of writing is new and came about as a result of reuniting with her love of reading. Cascades of Moonlight is the first book in The Parker Harris Series. It was written during a difficult time in Amy's life and used as a means of therapeutic release.
Chapter One
Vampires and Werewolves have been myths turned into movies, books, and screenplays for many years. Practically everyone has heard of them. Everyone has their interpretation of what they are and the ways you can kill them. Some people say that Vampires are creatures of the night that can’t walk in the sun, are killed by wooden stakes, burned by holy water, or torn apart by other vampires. Some say vampires can’t go out into the sun, because their skin sparkles like diamonds. There are stories of vampire slayers and werewolf hunters that spend their lives chasing these creatures to rid the world of them.
There are so many stories that one would think more people would believe these creatures are real. How else would there be so much information about something that never existed? How could there be so many ideas that are closely related? Perhaps some people don’t want to believe because they are scared of the possibilities it could bring, scared to face the reality that monsters are real. Of all the myths, the part of how to kill a vampire is quite limited. There's no easy way to kill a vampire unless you are a master vampire or a werewolf. Luckily, I'm a werewolf.
Ok, lucky may not be the best way to describe it, after all it's a curse. In fact, I guess you could say, I am one of those monsters that people are scared to admit into reality. When I was fifteen, I was bitten in the woods behind my house. My parents and I live at the end of our street, and that allows for a fair amount of privacy. The house is a light blue Victorian-style home, two stories, with a wraparound porch. Even though we have neighbors, their houses are hidden naturally by the surrounding trees. There are woods that go on for miles in our backyard and it's common knowledge that wolves live in them. Regular wolves, as far as the people in town knew, and as far as I knew prior to being bitten. Never would I have imagined werewolves existed any more than anyone else.
As a fan of fantasy novels, my secret hope had been that fairies were real; that is what I would like to be. The fairies that I have read about are beautiful beings with wings that spread love and kindness and feel no physical pain. To a lot of people that may sound mushy and disgusting. To me, it sounds amazing especially compared to my life these past couple of years. If someone had told me two years ago that I would be a werewolf, I'd have had them committed.
The physical pain that comes with shifting into a wolf is almost inexpressible. No one can comprehend how truly agonizing it is unless they experience it. I have no one to blame but myself for my predicament. I was repeatedly warned, by my parents, to stay close to the house and away from the woods. This warning was not simply because of the wolves themselves, but the hunters as well. However, I am not always the best listener. Some have called me stubborn, and I resemble that comment, but I have never been someone that is scared easily.
One day, I strolled into the woods to read and enjoy some quiet time to myself after my parents had been driving me batty with their sometimes overbearing and smothering ways. There are times I feel as though my other curse is being an only child. My dad travels for work a lot. My mom gets bored at home is always trying to bond with me and butt into my life. That has eased off a bit over the years though. Now she travels with him, and I get time at home alone, which is nice.
Back to the day I was bitten; I was strolling along looking for a nice place to sit when I came upon an injured wolf. At first I froze petrified where I stood. The beauty of the animal mesmerized me; the light grey wolf with pale blue eyes looked harmless. My body grew rigid as I stood there staring. Then, like a dummy; I walked towards it. The wolf's eyes seemed to display kindness, warmth that was humanlike. I had no control of my body as though I couldn’t resist moving closer. The wolf seemed more like a sick puppy than a dangerous wolf to me. Well, being the queen of dumb ideas, I knelt down to try and help.
Everything was fine at first. It was as though I had knelt to stroke the fur of a household pet. It nudged me, and whimpered, even licked my hand, and then it bit me. My hand jerked back in pain, and I stood up, stumbling backwards afraid it would continue to attack. Instead, it laid there licking its wounds. Once able to get to my feet, I ran towards my house without looking back. Adrenaline poured through my body as the fear kept me moving. Although the wolf was so injured I knew it couldn’t follow me, yet I didn’t stop running until I was safe inside my house.
At first, I had no clue that there would be lasting effects, so I cared for the wound myself. It was not a terrible bite; just a nip. Of course, I was oblivious to the fact that it was a werewolf; my only thought had been it bit me because it was scared. If it had bitten me based on animalistic nature, then it would have done worse damage. It was the type of bite you would get when you tried to take something away from the dog, and it snapped its teeth at you. I couldn’t let my parents find out and have them, or anyone in town, get even crazier over the wolves. Just the fact that one bit a human would make them gung ho to hunt them.
Hours after being bitten, I developed a dangerously high fever that incapacitated me. The wound healed after little more than a day; that was the first odd thing to me. During the full moon of the next month, I changed for the first time while walking home from my best friend’s house. Looking back now, I'm thankful that I didn’t feel good that night and ended up leaving her home before dark. The first change was painful and scary. As I was walking, I felt a stabbing pain in my stomach, and I lurched forward and screamed out. The pain was unbearable as my bones cracked and broke and began to shift in opposite directions. My face contorted, I could feel my teeth elongate in my mouth, and eventually I even blacked out from the pain.
The memories were foggy, I could remember being frightened thinking I was going to die in the woods, and no one would find my body. My mind ran wild with images of my face on missing posters around town and my parents crying with worry over me on the evening news. I'm not sure how long I was unconscious. I vaguely remember waking up, then standing on all fours and staring at my paws unsure of what was happening to me.
This shifting went on for two days, human during the day and wolf at night. On the third day, I woke up naked in the woods. Between the fever and not getting medical help, I felt I may be losing my mind. With my knees pulled up to my chest, covering myself as best as possible, I stayed cowering under a tree until nightfall. There was no way I could go home until I made sure I wouldn’t change again. When nothing happened, I made my way back to my family.
There were flashes here and there, and certain things will cause memories to surface, but for the most part my shifting time is a blur. Even during the time I was human, I was so fatigued that I slept through most of the day and usually woke up in time to experience the pain again. The way my parents reacted when they saw me made it obvious a good amount of time had passed. It may also have had something to do with the fact that I was stumbling, naked, and covered in dirt and grime.
At the side of the house, there was a trellis that led straight up to my bedroom window. I attempted to make it there to avoid seeing my parents until I cleaned up and dressed. That plan failed when my knees gave out from exhaustion propelling me forward onto the sidewalk. When my bare skin hit the hard concrete, I cried out in pain. My father ran out the door. The moment he saw me, he yelled for my mother just before he lifted me up and carried me into the house. My mother was an emotional basket case, and my dad demanded details of where I’d been.
He laid me down on the couch, and my mom threw a blanket over me. They fussed over me, checking for scrapes and bruises, both crying and telling me they loved me over and again. They thought I had been kidnapped and raped, and it was difficult to convince them I hadn’t been, based on my appearance.
My parents were frantic because they didn’t know where I had been for three days. I tried to say that I was at my best friend Jackie’s house, but they had called her, and she didn’t know what happened to me either. Once I saw her again, she gave me a pretty good once over as well after she laid into me for making her worry. The best I could come up with was to tell them I ran away because some kids were picking on me at school, and I needed time to think. They didn’t believe me and wanted to know why I was so dirty and where my clothes were.
My story became that I was staying in the woods and didn’t have a change of clothes when the ones I was wearing became torn. They didn’t believe that lame excuse. They took me to the hospital and made them use a rape kit on me and, of course, it came back clean. My parents begged the doctor to run a second test. They were positive that a violation of my body, my innocence, had occurred. The doctor finally explained to them it was entirely accurate, because I was a virgin. No doubt they were super thrilled to learn that. Two birds one stone in their minds I'm sure. They grounded me for a month for running away and for being dishonest with them, which I couldn’t blame them for either.
I could have come up with a better story if I'd known how long I'd been missing. If they knew the truth they couldn’t fault me, since I spent two nights in the woods experiencing the worst pain imaginable and hadn’t had a bite to eat in three days. Situations like mine made it hard to think clearly and come up with plausible stories. They forced me to see a psychiatrist for the next two months. They downright threatened that if I didn’t they would send me off to boarding school. They even tried to do family therapy a couple of times, but found that they didn’t get the results or answers they wanted.
That was two years ago. Now, I'm seventeen and have been dealing with this werewolf secret all on my own the entire time. When it came to the full moon cycle, when I shifted, I tell my parents I will be spending the next few nights with my friend and I have her cover for me. Then I spend two nights in the woods all alone.
The one good thing was I found an abandoned cabin I could stay in for those days. It's a little more home-like than sleeping in the woods. There's no furniture or anything inside it to break which helps. On the front side of the cabin, there was a wooden window box that I kept a sleeping bag and non-perishable food supplies in to keep my human self comfortable. After the first couple of months, I would get bored during the day, so I brought books to read. It’s a one bedroom cabin with a bathroom, living room, and kitchen. There's no running water, but it has the comforts of a home.
During the first few months, I even brought cleaning supplies to spruce up the place. When I was human during the day, I would pass the time by cleaning. It turned out to be pretty decent looking. The stone fireplace in the middle of the living room was useful in winter months. The cabin had a lot of potential and I felt really safe there, like a sanctuary.
Unfortunately, during one of my last shifts I went to the cabin to prepare and someone now occupied it. Smoke billowed from the chimney as I pulled up in my car. Sneaking up to the window, I peeked in and saw a man stoking the fire. It looked as though he had fixed the place up and made it home. He appeared to be my age, and I couldn’t help staring because he was stunning. He turned toward the window, and I ducked out of sight. Afraid of confrontation, I ran off and spent the moon cycle sleeping in my car during the day; parked in the woods where no one could drive by and see it. Staying in my car is not ideal; I suppose I will need to find a new place to spend my shifting nights. The thought that someone invaded my safe place saddened me.
Another conflict about my shifting time that I have to figure out is my friend Jackie. Who knows what sort of theories she has come up with about what I do each month. She has no idea what goes on and could not possibly guess the truth. She's been my very best friend since childhood, and she trusts me implicitly. Once I get up the courage to do so, I will explain everything to her. One day she will grow tired of lying for me, and I will have to tell her the truth or find someone else to help me. Of course, I can’t tell my parents either. Of all of the people in the world, hearing 'I told you so' from your parents was the worst. Besides that, I am afraid of how they will react, and I’m getting used to dealing with it on my own.
After my first shifting, I researched werewolves in hopes that I wouldn’t have too many more surprises. Mostly, I read the different myths and legends online and tested certain aspects for myself to determine the truth from myth. During that time, I came across information about vampires and was shocked to find out that it was my obligation now to kill them. This revelation would be the hardest to comprehend. It was difficult enough dealing with the fact that I was a freak and all alone with no one to talk to about what was going on with my body. Now I had to deal with the fact that there are vampires, and I was one of the few creatures who can kill them. No pressure.
Initially, I didn’t want to believe it was true. It's hard to negate the fact that Vampires exist based on the fact that I hadn’t seen one. I mean, hello…I’m a werewolf! I ran into my first vampire in the middle of winter about six months after my first full moon. It was the last day of my shift, and I have slight recollections of seeing him. He was pale as the snow and ran so fast I couldn't decipher what I had seen at first. There was an odd sweet smell to him, not a bad smell, just different from regular human smell of cologne or soap. The stench made my nose burn, and it made me feel angry inside. He was hungry; you could see the desperation on his face. I watched as he viciously attacked a deer. His teeth ripped at the skin as easily as biting through butter. Images flooded my head of what he would do to a human. I can remember being frightened and then I felt this urge to attack. In the blink of an eye, he was dust in the wind.
Since that day, I have only killed one other vampire, and it was only two months ago. My memories became clearer each time a shift happened. Now I only lose bits and pieces instead of only remembering that much. As my memory improved, it helped me learn more about my wolf side as well. That day I wish my memory would escape me completely. I came across two of them in the woods; it was a male and female hunting together. The man escaped my clutches because I wasn’t quick enough to take down both at the same time. I crept up on the female, c
atching her off guard and was able to kill her. When he saw what happened to his companion, he was gone in the blink of an eye.
Once I saw them; this feeling took over, and it was like being threatened. Adrenaline washed over me, and I attacked with barely a thought. Afterwards, I could remember bits and pieces such as the way they looked ravenous and desperate. They were holding hands, almost as a lifeline as they frantically searched for food. They only let go of each other for a second, and he stepped away from her just enough for me to pounce. After she had turned to dust, I looked back and the male stood there with a stunned look on his face that became a mixture of anger and grief.
If it was possible that Vampires could love, I was almost certain they were soul mates. I felt pangs of guilt, but I couldn’t let it overcome me. If I didn’t kill her, she could have hunted some of my friends or family in town. I was afraid he would come after me for a moment, but he disappeared in the other direction. The look on his face has haunted me though; I wouldn’t be surprised if we crossed paths again one day. If he killed someone I loved, I know I would be hunting him down. The thought sent shivers down my spine.
As a wolf, if you're fast enough, it’s rather easy to kill a vampire. The bite of a werewolf is deadly, to a vamp that is. It causes the vampire to perish immediately; it’s an infection that travels through their blood stream so rapidly that it reaches their heart in seconds, causing them to explode into dust. It's kind of cool to watch actually. They are demons after all, should I feel bad when they die? Surely there is no such thing as a good vampire. The mere thought of it seemed insane.
OK, I suppose I should explain a little about the human side of me. I’m Parker Harris, and I'm seventeen with red hair, blue eyes, and rocking body. Ok, so that’s not exactly correct. I do have naturally curly and sometimes naturally frizzy red hair and blue eyes, but my body is not that rocking. I have a full figured body, not overweight really, think Kate Winslet in Titanic. Oh yeah, and freckles, lots of them.
Despite the freckles, that I hate, I have pretty good self-esteem, and I'm a people person. Sounds great, right? Well, not so great when you're a werewolf. One thing you have to do is stay away from people as much as possible for a couple of reasons. For one, you can keep the secret easier, and people don’t get hurt if you shift in front of them by accident. I know, everyone thinks werewolves only turn once a month at the full moon, etc. and so forth. That is partly true; the full moon is the only time you cannot control the change. However, if someone made you mad enough, you could turn any time you want. Some of the snotty girls at school have gotten pretty close to seeing my wolf side.
So far, I have never bitten a regular human being, only vampires. In two years, I have killed…two…that I can remember clearly. Yep, that’s right, two. What did you expect, Buffy? I am dealing with this on my own. I can’t be expected to end the population of vampires all by myself.
Somehow, I needed to find out if there were other werewolves around. The vampires I met had a unique smell about them that made me recognize they were different, so surely I can smell another wolf. The only way to figure this out is to find another werewolf and learn from them. It would have been easier if I could meet the one that bit me, but I haven't seen that wolf again. I avoid the woods except for full moon cycles, and if I have run into one, while in my wolf form, then I have no memory of it. I'm going to find a way to figure this out though. Hmm, wonder if I can Bing it?
Chapter Two