Blood Supermoon

1. Ingrich

It was the same late winter, and yet a new breath, a new light...

It was cruel to make Josandra sit out in front of the convenience store when it was early March. Temperatures were below 30s and she couldn't feel her fingers to flip the page of the book she was reading, Angel in Disguise.

Things were getting juicy in this chapter. Finally. After a new law in their small town declares everyone over the age of 25 must be married, Thomas and Laura—total opposites—are forced to get hitched.

Josandra put up with the slow burn because her friend Emely said it was worth the wait. Yeah whatever.

Suddenly, she was hit in the head with a wooden spoon. She bent over, rubbing her head in pain as her aunt marched up to her, yanking the book out of her hand.

"Would you stop reading these damn sex books in front of my shop?" her aunt demanded. "You're scaring away potential customers!"

Josandra looked left and right but didn't see anyone in sight.

Her aunt flung the book aside and shoved past Josandra, stuffing the oven box with more meat buns that she made upstairs in the kitchen. She eyed Josandra when she was finished and Josandra averted her gaze to the sky. There were several clouds in sight, so it looked like it was about to rain. A fog surrounded the store.

"Why don't you do something useful for a change? Sweep this place up!" her aunt said.

"Yes, Ma'am," Josandra sighed.

"Are you giving me attitude?" her aunt asked.

Josandra folded her lips together and shook her head no.

"Okay, because I thought you were. Don't forget who took you in after your mama passed. You're eighteen now, if you don't like the way I run things, you can just leave," her aunt said, shuffling back up the stairs.

For a minute, Josandra stared after her, letting the tension fall away from her shoulders.

She doesn't remember when her aunt started acting so hostile towards her. Sometime around when the taxes increased around here. Money became tight. It was harder to feed mouths. Her aunt had a son, Walter, so it was difficult to take care of her sister's child too.

But her aunt did it. Been doing it since Josandra was born. But lately it was "you're not pulling enough weight" and "if you don't like it, you can leave...".

The fog cleared up a little and it started to rain. Josandra picked her book off the floor and sat back down in her seat to watch. After a minute, she reached out a hand. Droplets started to fall over her brown skin. She rubbed her fingers together. She was entranced with the water falling over her hand that she almost didn't notice someone slowly walking towards her.

At the last second, her eyes flickered up.

Through the mist, a woman dressed in a black sweater and black pants neared the store. She was holding onto her rib and gazing at Josandra with deep, hard, brown eyes. The woman was about her height with almond-colored skin. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun.

Something told Josandra that she wasn't from around here and that made her sit up.

"Hello, what can I help you with?" Josandra asked.

"Do you have pain meds? Gauge tape?" the woman asked. Her voice was low and serious. It gave away nothing about her.

Josandra nodded, "Yes, we have everything."

She rose from her chair and went to find the items the girl requested. When she found them, she returned to the front and set them down in between them, bagging them up. The girl was looking at the meat buns with hungry eyes but didn't request one.