Under A Blue Moon | #ONC2022

Chapter 13

I clutched the shotgun to my chest, aiming the nozzle to the ground. Without my wolf sight and the trees blocking most of the light from the moon, it was difficult to see more than five feet in front of me. The extra gun and ammunition attached to my side were my only comfort.

Each shift in the shadows and rustle of the bushes urged my feet to move faster. I was close to the lake. Even blindfolded I knew the way to the lake. I spent my entire life in these woods and knew it like the back of my hand.

Behind me, a branch snapped. My heart beat wildly. I crouched behind a tree and whipped my head around. It was hard to see anything. I took a deep and steadying breath hoping to centre myself. Listening past the wind, I picked up on faint footsteps getting closer. The crunch of leaves underfoot signalling their location. When they were a few steps away I cocked the gun and jumped out.

"It's me! It's me! Don't shoot!" Penny screamed, hands flailing in the air. Her pale skin bright against the backdrop of the dark forest.

I cursed under my breath and lowered the gun. "What the hell are you doing?" I whisper-yelled. "I could have shot you!"

"Yeah, I can see that," she said in a shaky voice. She pushed the stray hairs away from her face and straightened.

"Well?" I asked impatiently.

"Oh, I realised the spell might go better if we did it at the lake with an unobstructed line to the moon." Was she serious? I wanted to tell her she was being stupid and risking our lives for something that could have been easily and safely done at the house. But the stench of death started getting stronger. Instead, I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the lake.

After practically dragging Penny stumbling through the trees, we made it to the lake. From what I could see there was no danger. But human eyes could be easily fooled. Along the edges of the lake were drag marks and kicked up dirt. But I couldn't tell if they were from a few minutes ago or from last night.

I closed my eyes and listened to our surroundings, sifting through what was nature and what was danger. Satisfied that there wasn't any immediate danger, we made our way to the dock. My grip, tight on the handle of my shotgun.

At the edge of the dock, Penny kneeled and laid out a map of the town. She then placed four candles representing the four elements in the four directions.

"Can you fill this jar with water?" She handed me a clear jar and I hesitantly filled it keeping an eye on any changes in the lake's surface.

"How long will this take?"

"It shouldn't take long, but I've never had to locate someone as powerful as this. I've also never had to do it under the pressure of the dead potentially killing me."

She sprinkled a dark powder into the water turning it into an opaque red colour. With a flick of her wrist, she lit the candles. Pouring a circle of the liquid around the map she sat on her heels and closed her eyes. Her necklace began to glow as she muttered the spell.

I hated this. We were wide open. Open for an attack on all sides.

The wind began to pick up creating a symphony with the rustling of leaves. A few howls sounded but they seemed a bit distant. My hand twitched as I focused on every shadow and every ripple that the lake water made. The moving trees made my paranoia even worse.

Penny's auburn hair flowed around her and for a moment I was struck by how ethereal she seemed to be. The moonlight cast a white glow while her necklace and the flames from the candles coloured her in reds and oranges. She almost looked like the embodiment of fire.

Her chanting grew louder, and the flames grew bigger. On the map, the liquid spread out like veins and slowly connected making thicker lines. A circle.

A high-pitched screech emanated piercing my eardrum. To my horror, a bony hand punched through the dirt and dragged its body from under the ground. I pointed the gun and fired straight through its skull. Behind me, there was a splash. At the end of the dock, a corpse was dragging itself up and over the wood. I fired again but there was only a click.

"Shit." I palmed the barrel and swung on it, hitting its head off like T-Ball. I reloaded the gun just as another broke the surface. "Penny, hurry up!"

I was firing and reloading, but they kept rising through the water and out the ground. We were going to be overrun very soon.

How many bodies were in this bloody lake?

I was running out of shotgun ammo and soon would be relying on my pistols. Then, my fear became reality. Two creatures came bursting from the trees straight for us.

"Penny!" I kicked out at the corpse that tried to grab my leg and shot at the two barrelling towards us. The first was shot down, but I missed the second. It was too fast for me to reload.

It leapt and landed on top of me. The only thing stopping it from biting me was the shotgun which it was trying to gnaw through. I lifted my knee and used my hip to flip the creature over. Taking position above it I brought the butt of the gun down on its skull. Over and over. Bashing it in until the skull turned into little shards.

I stalked towards Penny, readying to rip her up, location or not. But when I got closer, I noticed her necklace. The stone swirled with a violent red. The liquid on the map writhing and crawling towards her open palms. I reached out to her but when my fingers grazed her jacket she snapped back, and she looked at me with milky white eyes.

"Run," she whispered and then the flames of the candle burst high, blasting me backwards.