Blood Moon Rising

01 | one

Socializing and befriending somebody meant opening up to them and letting one's guard down. And whenever somebody had let their guards down, they had allowed themselves to be vulnerable to the deadly evils and demons in the world. And, I couldn't do that to myself.

I couldn't break free of the concrete walls that I had surrounded myself with ever since my dad left. I couldn't even bear to think of the immeasurable pain I would have had to go through if I did that again. And for this reason, I was often seen as repulsive and arrogant.

However, the only exception was her. She accepted me with all my flaws and never blocked me out as an outcast. I still remembered the day I forgot to bring my lunch and Maria shared hers with me. The memory brought a small smile to my lips every time I reminisced about it.

Smiling to myself, I walked inside her bedroom. I leaned against the cold surface of her pastel pink door, the scratched off sticker itching against my revealed skin. My gaze lazily roamed around her immaculate room until they settled on her horror-stricken expression.

We lived in a very small dorm, so we had to keep the TV in her bedroom since I wasn't that fond of television, and also because our dining area was too small for any extra equipment.

I dragged my eyes to the direction of her trembling fingers.

It was a news channel, broadcasting live from the church in our town.

'Two dead bodies found near the Victoria Falls Church. Animal attack.′ Read the headlines.

As usual.

Victoria Falls had been a victim of animal attacks for the past four years now. The people were killed in such a gruesome way that sometimes it became practically impossible to even distinguish whether the victim was a male or female.

And today's latest victims were a married couple who were only able to be identified due to their wedding attires as their faces were smashed up, bodies mangled.

I scrunched up my nose at the images. I know I shouldn't feel disgusted, but the bodies were mangled so badly, that I immediately felt nausea crawl up the back of my throat. So, I walked out of the room over to the kitchen counter, only to be followed by Maria.

"Kris..." she began, her voice dropping a decibel lower than usual.

"Look, Mare. Stop being so paranoid and stupid. This is not new," I groaned while opening the upper cupboard. I rummaged through the shelf for a while until my fingers grasped the rough edge of the packet of cereal.

"Seriously? Look, Kris, I'm not as fierce or as much of a badass fighter like you. I don't even know how to throw a punch. And these animal attacks. I don't think you would be great against them too. So yes, I'm worried and today we are going to the Mayor-" she started rambling but I interrupted her.

"Yeah? Enlighten me what can a Mayor do?" I drawled lazily while pouring the milk into my black bowl.

It wasn't like I hated the Mayor or anything. It's just that he was a really arrogant, cocky, and weird old man who had no intention of helping the Victoria Falls native. I clearly remember that once there was a theft in a jewelry shop and all the Mayor did was rub his running nose while nodding his head at the victim's words.

"Look. I get what you are saying, but this is a serious issue. Someone needs to come forward. Someone's got to stop these animals," Maria sighed exasperatedly, pulling at the thick and wavy strands of her honey blonde hair.

I poured the cereals into my bowl and swirled them with my spoon, taking my sweet time to sit on one of the dark red stools before the kitchen table.