by Scott Savino
Moonshine
MERCURY
FLASHLIGHTS PASSED OVER THE ENDLESS maze of trees. Despite the light, Natasha could only see five feet ahead as dense shadows shrouded whatever might have been lurking in the woods. With every step she took, leaves crunched underneath her boots. Her best friend led the way, stepping past twigs and ducking under branches without hesitation while Natasha stumbled along behind her, breath fogging the air.
“Do you really know where you’re going, Kay,” Natasha asked.
“Nat, I do this monthly,” she said. “So, yeah. Trust me.”
“I trust you. It’s just … dark as hell out here.”
A twig snapped in the distance. Natasha stopped and flashed her light into the trees.
“What was that?”
“Probably a deer,” Kay said. “Don’t get all scared now and turn tail on me. It’s taken forever to get the girls to approve a new member.”
Kay kept walking. Natasha saw her friend’s light slowly moving on without her so she jogged to catch up.
“I’m not chickening out. I think my worries are valid,” Natasha said, eyes darting from tree to tree. “We’re going pretty deep. I bet no one would hear us scream if something happened out here.”
Kay stopped and turned back, training her flashlight on Natasha’s face. The sudden brightness stung her eyes, so Natasha threw a hand up, squinting through her fingers.
“That’s kind of the point, Nat.”
“What? Why?”
Kay was silent.
The visible world vanished as Kay turned around and continued through the trees. Natasha followed along cautiously, her vision slowly adjusting to the sudden change as the bright spots Kay’s flashlight had burned into her eyes faded away. Until they were gone, she used her ears to scope out the forest, but all she could hear was the crunch of leaves and twigs under her own feet.
No crickets or owls. Just the two of them, the forest, and the night.
“So, what kind of club was this again,” Natasha asked.
“I wouldn’t call it a club. It’s more like a gathering. We call it the Sister Pack.”
Natasha increased her pace to catch up.
“And Saanvi will really be there?”
Kay nodded. “You’ll fit right in. And you’ll get your chance to speak with her.” Kay glanced back, smiling. “And I know for a fact she’s single.”
An embarrassed heat crept up her neck, but Natasha kept quiet as she noticed and orange glow coming from a cluster of trees up ahead.
“Look, we’re here,” Kay said.
Natasha could make out the sounds of small talk and laughter drifting through the woods, now, and the glow ahead grew brighter the closer they got until Natasha realized she was looking at a campfire. When they broke through the trees, Natasha could see the fire was set up in the middle of a small clearing, perfect for camping, but there were no tents, only wooden logs to sit on and a group of eight women. The clearing smelled of wood smoke and something sharp Natasha couldn’t place.
Kay stopped at the edge of the trees surrounding the clearing. A tall woman wearing a dark robe and a circlet made of twine and leaves approached them. She had long brown hair, a triangular face, and vibrant green eyes that matched her circlet.
“Welcome back, Vulta,” she said, clearly addressing Kay. The two women hugged lightly, kissing each other’s cheeks before the woman stepped aside and Kay passed by her. Natasha moved to follow, but the woman blocked the path once more.
“You must be the newcomer we’ve heard so much about,” she said. “Vulta vouched for you.”
“Vulta?” Natasha asked, confused.
“Your friend,” she explained. “And I am Lupa, leader of the Sister Pack. Once you enter this place—our circle—you leave your worldly name behind.”The woman looked down and Natasha followed her gaze to see rocks had been lined up at the edge of the clearing.
“I’m Natasha,” she said, looking back up.
Lupa nodded. “Natasha, tonight you will earn your name among us.”
Natasha pursed her lips but nodded. “Why do you have to have different names? We aren’t going to do anything illegal right?”
Lupa chuckled and stepped aside. “It is part of what makes the change possible.”
Natasha opened her mouth to speak again but Lupa brought up a finger. “All questions can wait. It’s almost time.” She stepped aside then, inviting Natasha into the clearing.
Natasha blinked in surprise, took a steadying breath and stepped over the stones into the clearing.
The other women all turned to her as one, as if they could feel her unfamiliar presence in their sacred space. All of them, including Kay now, wore identical black robes with long, droopy sleeves. The only woman not dressed in the robes was standing close to the trees at the back of the clearing with her back turned to the rest. From what Natasha could see, she wore only a black bra mostly hidden beneath the fall of long, obsidian hair, and a floor-length skirt with huge slits up the sides, which revealed the luscious lines of her tawny legs. She was crouching over something Natasha couldn’t quite make out.
“Hey.”
Natasha flinched and turned to see Kay.
“Now’s your chance,” she said, jerking her head towards another woman sitting on a log and Natasha’s stomach tightened.
Saanvi was beautiful, with smooth sepia skin and glittering sable eyes that caught the glow of the fire. Her ebony hair, usually pulled back in a ponytail, was now a curtain of black silk disappearing down her back. Natasha prepared herself with a deep, calming breath, but it caught when Saanvi turned her midnight gaze towards her, as if she could feel the awkward conversation about to come her way. But, Saanvi smiled and lifted a hand, waving Natasha over. Natasha sat beside her with relief.
“Hey. It’s really nice to see you here,” Saanvi said.
“Yeah, Kay—I mean, Vulta, invited me.”
Saanvi nodded. “You can call me Hati while we are here.”
Natasha looked around. Most of the women were sitting quietly now and didn’t hide the fact that they were staring right at her, listening to their conversation. A warm hand landed on her thigh, sending a thrill of pleasure through her body. She turned her attention again, looking at Saanvi, and smiled.
“This group has brought us all closer. We only get to do this once a month,” Saanvi said. “But it’s so … freeing.” She paused, taking Natasha’s left hand and holding it between her own as she closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment.
“You are one of us. I know it,” she said, opening her eyes again.
Natasha stared at her, heart still racing. She and Saanvi would talk to each other in the single class they shared and greet each other on campus. It was always friendly and casual, but slightly distant, like an acquaintance that wasn’t quite a friend yet. Tonight, though, Saanvi was completely different.
She freed a hand and laid it against Natasha’s face.
“This is something sacred. Just for us,” Saanvi said, her eyes dancing in the firelight.
“Wh—what is?”
A deeper voice came from just in front of them, startling Natasha as Saanvi’s hand fell away.
“The change,” Lupa said, standing a few feet away with a bundle of cloth in her hands. As she unfurled it, Natasha saw it was a robe. She handed it to Natasha and stepped back.
The campfire now had a pot set up over it and the woman dressed in the bra and skirt stood behind it, stirring the contents with a large wooden spoon. Her makeup was black, drawn heavy around the eyes and lips, and her eyes were such a light grey they seemed almost white. Inky elbow-length gloves shimmered in the firelight as she worked, completely enthralled by her task, and the scent Natasha couldn’t place grew stronger.
“What change? What’s going on?” Natasha said, anxiety twisting her stomach in knots.
Lupa looked up. “Can’t you feel it?” she said. “Tonight’s the full moon.”
The clearing was silent; d
ead silent. No crickets, no owls, no wind.
Natasha’s eyes widened slightly.
“What are you trying to say? That you’re all going to go werewolf or something?”
“No,” came Kay’s voice. She sat on a log to Natasha’s left. “We aren’t cursed like those filthy animals.”
“We are not monsters. We choose the change,” Lupa said. “We are Hexwolves. Our shift is possible through a witch’s magick. Morria’s magick.”
Lupa turned towards the woman at the cauldron whose silver eyes were now fixed on Natasha. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she stared into Morria’s eyes. They were intense, yet vacant, as though she were present but not in the same reality. Almost like she was possessed.
“Is this a joke?” Natasha asked.
They all stared at her.
“What’s in the pot?”
Lupa smiled. “Her potion. We like to call it Moonshine.”
Morria turned away, breaking eye contact. It was then that Natasha saw what she had been kneeling over before. There was a huge carcass at the foot of a tree, slit from neck to groin. It had grey and brown fur, a large snout, and huge paws like a dog.
But it wasn’t a dog. It was a wolf.
Morria moved to it, kneeling again before shoving her hands inside, and Natasha gasped as she realized the woman wasn’t wearing shiny black gloves at all.
And that scent in the air, sharp and unnamable. Natasha knew it now for what it was and bit back the urge to vomit.
“Tonight is special because the main ingredient is so fresh,” Lupa said. “The change will last longer.”
Natasha couldn’t speak, she couldn’t even move. She just stared as Morria dug inside the wolf, thick, wet sounds accompanying her movements as she took out its innards and put them in a pail by the wolf’s head. When the witch finally stood back up, her arms were drenched in a fresh coat of gore. In her hands she held a massive heart.
The clearing spun around her while everyone else stood up. Saanvi, Kay, and the rest of the women—everyone except Natasha—gathered around the cauldron. They all went to their knees as Morria held the heart over the pot.
Saanvi turned and held her hand out to Natasha.
“Come. It’s okay,” she said.
Sweat beaded on Natasha’s forehead. She was hesitant, but eventually she joined the line of women on their knees, grasping Saanvi’s hand as though it were the only thing anchoring her to reality.
“The final piece of the potion,” Lupa said as Morria raised her hands high over the cauldron. “Blood from the heart of a wolf.”
Morria squeezed the heart. Blood gushed from it into the bubbling pot. Natasha wanted to gag at the stench—the metallic taste of fresh blood invading her mouth from proximity—but she froze, instead. The expressions on the other women were a mixture of emotions, but none of them were disgust. Instead they looked hungry, excited, and full of anticipation. She was afraid to look at Saanvi, to see the same longing etched in her beautiful features, so she kept her eyes forward, on the heart itself.
Lupa picked up the pail Morria had left on the ground and, as if on cue, everyone stood to take off their robes, each one revealing bare flesh to moon and fire. Natasha didn’t know if she was more uncomfortable or terrified, and looked to Kay for reassurance, but Kay had disrobed as well.
Saanvi released her hand. A moment later her robe dropped to the forest floor. Natasha looked up at her, mouth hanging open.
“Wh—what are you doing? You guys are really starting to freak me out.”
Saanvi smiled gently. “Shh. It’s okay,” she said, brushing hair away from her supple neck before letting her hand fall away, trailing elegant fingers slowly down the full profile of her body. Natasha’s gaze followed the movement, momentarily lost in the contours of Saanvi’s perfect sepia skin, the perky slopes of her breasts, her erect nipples, and the taunt muscles of her abdomen.
Natasha’s breath quickened, but not in terror this time.
Saanvi pulled her to her feet before leaning in, captivating her with eyes like huge black mirrors. Then her body was pressing against Natasha’s, separated only by Natasha’s own clothes.
“You want to be my mate,” she said, her warm breath making Natasha shiver. “I can taste your desire on my tongue. Your longing … your lust,” she grinned hungrily. “And your fear,” she said, lunging forward, snapping her teeth at Natasha’s throat before laughing.
Natasha jerked away and the other women giggled.
On the other side of the pot, there was movement. Morria reached over with the wolf’s heart still in her hands.
“A gift,” Lupa said in Morria’s stead. “Eat it.”
“Excuse me?”
She looked at Kay and the other women. They watched in hungry silence. Their eyes suddenly seemed so alien and cold as they waited.
Kay nodded to her. “Take it.”
Natasha hesitated again. She wanted to protest, but held her tongue.
“Do not refuse Morria’s gift,” Kay prompted, frowning.
Natasha glanced back at Morria, at her cold, distant eyes, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Morria was dangerous.
Trembling, and against her better judgment, Natasha reached out. Tears sprang to her eyes when Morria dropped the heart in her hands. It was heavier than she’d expected, and still so hot.
Then, without a word, Morria reached into the band of her skirt and slipped out a knife, its silver blade glinting in the firelight. Natasha watched her slice open the palm of her own hand before squeezing the blood into the pot.
And then, for the first time, the witch spoke.
“By the blood of the night, by the light of the moon. Be compelled. Lupus dei.”
“Lupus dei,” the pack echoed.
Morria kept the knife in her hand and bent down to pick up another object. A bowl. She dipped it into the cauldron, scooping up whatever foul liquid was inside, then passed it to Lupa.
“Tonight,” Lupa said. “We become the wolf. We become one with the wind, the moist soil on the ground, the moon in the sky and the leaves on the trees.”
Then she took a drink. And after she drank, she wiped her mouth and gave the bowl to the member on the far end of their circle: a pale woman with natural blonde curls. She took it and drank without hesitation, staining her lips and chin in the process, and the moan of satisfaction she gave before passing the bowl on to the next was nothing short of orgasmic.
Natasha watched in horror as it made its way down the line. Even Kay drank from it. When it was Saanvi’s turn, she took the bowl, faced Natasha and drank, maintaining eye contact the whole while. Natasha cringed. This close to her, it smelled strongly of blood, alcohol, cinnamon, and something close to rotten eggs.
“Take a bite of the heart,” Saanvi said as the blood dripped slowly down her chin. “It will make you strong and you will understand. Prove yourself and drink from the bowl so that we may call you one of us.”