Full Moon

Chapter 12

The cave was roughly a mile away from the village. And it was a village. A ramshackle collection of small houses. We kept to abuela's house. No one else knew we were there and it was probably for the best. No telling how everyone else would take our being there.

Vines obscured the entrance, draping it so thickly it seemed to almost meld into the jungle around it, we nearly missed it. If it weren't for the small wooden cross, painstakingly carved, and stuck into the ground a few feet from the entrance. Something to ward off evil, or keep it contained. Seeing it sent a shiver down my spine. Whatever had been here these people clearly considered evil. One who was like me.

Inside the cave was dark, in hiding the entrance the vines had also made it nearly impossible for any light to reach inside. I did not need light. My eyes could see in the dark. Once I crossed the threshold I felt it. The pain of this place, the darkness that lurked inside. Suddenly I didn't want to know what had happened here. I didn't want to find out if this creature was a half vampire like me. Because if it was, I hated to think that this evil and I were alike in any way. But, if I didn't, everything up to this point, everything we had gone through; all the pain, sorrow, death, it would all mean nothing. It couldn't mean nothing. The death of my parents, my family, my friends. They died so I could have a chance at life. All of their hopes and dreams rested with me now. I could not fail them.

Gathering my courage I continued inside, Jacob a hulking shadow at my back.

"I don't like the smell of this place... it smells like.." he trailed off, placing one hand on my shoulder. Mutely I nodded. This place smelled of pain and death. Even these long years past the feeling lingered.

"Just find what you need and let's get out of this place." There was a terseness in his tone. He was on edge. I patted his hand, coloring the memory of his words with agreement. I liked this place no more than he did.

Deeper into the bowls of the cave we went. The entrance narrowed to the point that Jacob had to scoot sideways just to squeeze through. Never did his hand release my shoulder, it was as though he had to keep in contact with me. I didn't mind, I drew strength from having him near.

After about thirty feet the tunnel ended, opening up into a large room. The feeling that had been pressing down on us since we entered the cave was strongest here. Fear and apprehension gripped me. I wanted to turn back.

"Ness.." Jacob could feel my unease, could read it in the rigid lines of my body. He knew me better than anyone. My darling Jacob. "We don't have to do this. We'll find something else." I loved him for trying to give me an option when there was none other.

"No. I need to know" I did, as much as I wished to flee this place, another part of me a bigger part of me, needed to do this. The words spoken out loud sealed it. I could not go back anymore.

What I expected I didn't know, what I saw baffled me. A beautifully erected alter stood before me. With the level of craftsmanship it had taken time to create. Gliding across the floor I brushed my fingers over the wooden surface, much love had been put into it. I hadn't expected that. Candles, long since burned away to nothing left their burn marks on the alter. I knelt and examined the earth before it. It was a mound, a grave. The brittle petals of dead flowers littered the ground. Whatever was buried here had been loved. Pain, darkness, and love. It resonated with me deeply. My desire for knowledge was as strong as the story that wanted to tell itself here. Somehow I knew what to do.

"Please, show me the truth." I whispered as I knelt before the alter, upon the bones of someone dead long ago. Images started to flash behind my closed eyes, I gasped at the intensity of it and Jacob was at my side in an instant, steadying me. With him at my back I could focus on what I was seeing.

The cave, a small fire burning where I now knelt. In the soft glow of the flame was a beautiful woman with ink black hair. Her stomach was swelled in pregnancy. Naked from the waist up she smoothed her hands over her growing stomach, humming to the baby in her belly. Now the scene changed, a young woman, obviously a sister to the first was bring a dead animal to the pregnant woman. She was grotesquely pregnant now, her body thin except for her ballooning belly. She ripped into the meat, cramming as much as she could get into her mouth, sucking out the juices. When she had finished she smiled, patting her belly. Somehow I could understand her words "to make him strong".

Again the scene changed, the woman's back was arched and she was sobbing in pain. Nearby her sister stood horrified, the smell of blood was everywhere. When the next vision came the woman was broken, her stomach a gaping hole, insides spilling out. She was dying, but she still had the strength to smile at her beloved baby. She had time for very few words "you are loved" then the light of life dimmed in her eyes and she was no more.

When I came back to myself I was sobbing, the same would have happened to my mother if it weren't for my father. Jacob was holding me tight and I didn't even know when it happened. Choking back the tears I looked up at him.

"There are more out there."