Under the Blood Moon by Jenny Garcia (golden son ebook txt) 📕

            “Niki…Niki…come with me” the whispering voice is luring me. I open my eyes and I find myself in a dark forest. Everything is a grey and the trees are towering over me so tall I cannot see the where they end. “Niki come with me” the whisper continues to call for me. For some reason I am not afraid. I take a step forward and the dead leaves crack and crunch. The cool breeze is kissing my cheeks blowing around the fresh smell of flowers and dirt. I call out “Hello? Is there someone there?” I get no response. I walk deeper into the forest trying to find the woman who calls for me. The forest is getting darker the further I walk. Fear starts to well up in my throat and I begin to feel danger all around me. The warm feeling and comfort I felt is long gone and panic is controlling my actions. I begin to run as fast as I can and I get the feeling that someone is following me. I turn my head and see two sets of glowing green eyes and they are gaining on me. I push my legs as fast as they will carry me and I feel them begin to burn. If I stop now whatever is chasing me will have me. My knees begin to buckle and down I fall. I hit the hard cold soil, leaves sticking to the sweat on my face. I roll over to my back and look for the green eyes. They are nowhere to be found. There is something in this forest and it’s toying with me. I frantically get to my knees trying to force my eyes to acclimate to the dark. I rub them fiercely and open them again only to find the bright green eyes inches from my face. I scream and fall back onto my butt scooting fiercely trying to put space between us. The eyes match my moves and continue to stay inches from my face. “What do you want from me? Who are you?” I scream towards the eyes but I get no answer. The eyes begin move back and fade into the darkness. I am alone in the dark depths of this unfamiliar forest. I rise to me feet slowly. I am so confused. Why am I being taunted? I catch a glittering white light from the corner of my eye. It looks to be far in the distance. “Niki come to me” The whisper returns right as I see the light. I finally regain the strength to walk towards the light. It’s sparkling and alluring. There is something that is reassuring me that this light has the answers. The cool breeze has stopped and I can no longer smell the freshness of nature. The sparkling light is getting closer and closer with every step I take. My foot steps are loud in the silent forest. The crunch of dead leaves seem to echo. The terrain suddenly changes. I look to my feet and I don’t see the forest floor. I bend down and touch the new surface I have walked on and realize it’s…sand. I look out into the distant and the sparkling light is still gleaming under a full moon. The moon begins to shine like never before and all around me becomes bathed in light. I’m at a lake. I know this place. I am at the Lake we visit every summer. I look to my left and there is the Lake house. It’s standing silently in the dark. The moss on the roof is over grown and covers it completely. Its log cabin siding is covered in over grown grass and bushes as it looks every year before we arrive in the summer. I look out for the gleaming white light and it’s gone. “Niki” a screaming voice shocks me out of my skin and I jolt awake.

            It was a dream? But it felt so real. The voice in my dream is the same voice I heard under the willow. Something is going on but I don’t know what it is. I sit up from the couch and the room is dark. Night has fallen. How long was I sleeping for? The dream felt like minutes and yet I have been out for hours. I am left with only wonder and confusion. What was the white light and why do I feel the need to get to it? It wasn’t like a normal dream. It felt so real.

            I still feel so drained even after sleeping for so long on the couch. I stand up and walk into the Foyer and down the hall to the kitchen. The hardwood is squeaking with every step. This house is impossible to sneak around in. I try to step as lightly as I can as not to make too much noise. A light flicks on in the kitchen illuminating the room in a soft yellow light. I hear voices whispering and I stop moving and slow my breathing. I try to listen as closely as I can. It’s my mother and father. I try to shift my weight from my left to right foot and the floor lets out a loud creek. “Niki, are you in the hall” Dam it “Yes I just woke up.” I walk into the kitchen with guilt written all over my face. My mother crosses her arms “Were you eavesdropping young lady?” I hate when she calls me that. I put my hands on my hips and shake my head at her”No mother I was not. I was coming to get something to eat. Is that ok with you?” My father snaps “Niki, don’t talk to your mother like that and another thing what is this I hear about you yelling at your mother this afternoon. I don’t understand why you feel it’s ok to make your mother feel that way. You really hurt her feelings when you yell at her.!” Anger fills my face and my hands ball up into fists. “I make HER feel bad? Really dad!? All she does is yell at me we never have normal conversations anymore. I can’t help but yell she frustrates me and she never listens. Don’t you think that it hurts me also? Does anyone care how I feel anymore?!” He throws his hands in the air “Jeez Niki you’re being so dramatic.” My mother folds her arms and turns away from me. “Ok well I am going to bed now.” I turn on my heels and I can hear my father yelling for me as I walk down the hall and head for the stairs. I tune him out as I walk up the stairs.

            I walk into my room and don’t even bother turning on the lights. I jump on my white feather comforter and lay back on the pillow. I close my eyes and try to relax. For some reason I feel drained. I don’t know why because I just slept on the couch for a few hours. The whisper replays in my mind over and over. What could I possibly want with me? I am not special in anyway, at least I don’t think I am. My eyes begin to get heavy and I can tell that sleep isn’t far off. It takes no time at all for me to fall back into a deep sleep.

            Almost instantly I am on the edge of the Lake again. The water looks as black as the night sky and still as glass. I search around for the glimmering light. It’s not where to be found. I walk through the deep cold sand towards the clearing in front of the lake house. A flashing light catches my right eye over the water. I squint my eyes, trying to see where it is coming from. The moon begins to shine as brightly as it was before and I can see it’s on the island. The glimmering light is over a woman in a white long dress. She has long hair but at this distance I can’t tell what color or what her face looks like. There is something about her. Why do I feel like I know her or I have seen her before? She raises one hand and with her index finger she points to the sky. I look in the direction she is pointing and it seems that she is pointing to the moon. Green mist begins to come from her finger and floats up to the moon. It’s beautiful and I can’t take my eyes away as it floats higher and higher. As it meets it destination, the moon begins to turn red. I hear a whisper in my ear again and hot breath on my neck “The Blood Moon is your Time Niki, you are the chosen one.” I am frozen where I stand. Not wanting to move. “What is the Blood Moon?” there is a long silence. There are no birds or rustling of branches and leaves. “The Blood Moon is the birth of your true self.” I turn around to see who it is that I am talking to. I jump back in fear; it’s the woman in the white dress. She has long black hair and fair features. Her skin is perfectly tanned. Her dress is covered is clear jewels and there is a crown that rests upon her head made of sliver and covered is diamonds. This must have been the glimmering that I saw, the moon reflecting off her crown. I take a step forward and she steps back disappearing into the darkness. “Please come back!” I run forward, frantically trying to find her in the forest. “Please don’t leave! Who are you?” The brush scratches my legs as I speed through the forest frantically moving branches out of my path. I don’t know how far I ran before I gave up my search. My legs burn and I collapse to my knees. Sitting back on my heels, frustration begins to take me over. All I can do is let out a horrifying scream filled with anger and confusion. Why am I being taunted by this woman? What does she want from me? I don’t want to keep entering this dream with the disappointment of no resolution or answers to explain what is happening to me.

I wake up the loud buzzing of my alarm. Slapping the snooze, I stare up into the dark not wanting to leave the safety and warmth of my bed. Today is the day...the dreaded Lake trip. I roll to my side pulling my covers over my head wishing to disappear. Maybe if I am really quiet they will forget me. Wishful thinking I guess. The warmth of my quilt covers my body and slowly I begin to drift back to sleep. I hear my door slide across my carpet and the light flick on. I rip the covers down and my eyes meet with my father. With a serious look on his face he sits on the edge of my bed. I knew I wasn't going to get away with yelling at my mom. Here it comes.

"Niki, I know you don't want to go to the Lake House, but this is really important to your mother." I can feel a knot of regret building in my throat for being so rude to her. "I know dad, I'm sorry." His face softens and he gives me a playful slap on the leg. "Come on, get up we are leaving in 20 minutes."

            I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed and feel the coldness of the hard wood floor. I glance at the clock... 5 am. Why in the hell do we have to leave at 5am? The Lake house isn't going anywhere, why can’t we leave at 10am. I slowly stand,