Blood Moon by Gwendolyn Harper (books for students to read .TXT) 📕

Blood Moon

The Sequel to Bloody Sunrise

by

Gwendolyn Harper

For Brigid

This is only the beginning

Chapter One

Booker always said she didn’t have it in her to kill.

She wasn’t cold enough, wasn’t self-serving enough.

But her hands were caked in evidence to the contrary.

And she’d promised to make it home to him.

* * * * * * *

Nicole paced the distance between the foot of the bed and the window, chewing her thumbnail until it bled.

Caitlin should have been back by now.

Dusk was falling, sky painted in hues of gold, pink, and orange.

It would’ve been a beautiful sight if it didn’t mean her best friend was hours late and God knew where.

“C-Cae… Cae, ya gotta…”

Turning, Nicole frowned at Booker.

Barely conscious, he’d been muttering in a fevered haze for over an hour. She’d done her best to comfort him, but she wasn’t even certain he knew she was there.

“Please… Please darlin’,” he mumbled, arm stretching towards something only he could see.

“Shh, Booker, it’s okay,” Nicole said, stepping closer. “Just rest.”

“Ya gotta go,” he said, blinking up at her with cloudy eyes. “Cae, ya gotta go. I ain’t gonna make it, okay? You just… You gotta leave.”

“Booker, you’re going to be fine, I promise.” Sitting on the edge of the mattress, she took the bowl of cool water and washrag off the nightstand. “You need to sleep,” she told him as she pressed the wet cloth to his forehead and neck.

“Can’t… Don’t stay, just… Please, songbird, you gotta leave.”

Wetting his hair, she shushed him. “No one’s leaving you, Booker.”

“Have to,” he said, weakly. “Please… Go.”

Trading the washcloth for the bottle of Tylenol, Nicole poured two pills out and tipped Booker’s head back. “Here, take these,” she said, feeding them passed his lips. “They’ll help.”

Swallowing them dry, he closed his eyes, and Nicole thought for a moment he’d finally drifted off to sleep.

A vice-like grip on her arm startled her, pill bottle dropping to the floor.

“Book—”

“I love you, songbird,” he whispered. “’M sorry I didn’t last. ‘M sorry we didn’t get more time…”

Leaning down, Nicole said, “You’re not dead yet, Booker. So stop saying goodbye.”

His hold on her loosened, but he didn’t seem convinced. Sweat beads dripped down his forehead and temples, adding to the already soaked pillow case.

“No hope for me, Cae…” His voice was barely audible. “All those people I let die… Shoulda figured I’d be punished…”

Dread settled deep in Nicole’s chest, pinching her airway.

Glancing out the window at the greying sky, she scowled.

Where was Caitlin?

* * * * * * *

With blurry vision, Caitlin squinted into the distance.

She refused to believe she’d gotten lost. Not after everything…

Another wave of nausea hit her, and she gagged, bending at the waist.

Caitlin blinked and horror flickered against the back of her eyelids like an old film projector.

“No, don’t—!”

Opening her eyes, she was back, surrounded by tall, dry grass and fading sunlight.

Spitting out the foul mix of saliva and bile, she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, ignoring the crusted red all over her fingers.

C’mon, don’t stop. You’re too close to home.

Adjusting her heavy bag, she trudged onwards, certain she was walking in the right direction. Certain because it was her only option.

Doubt was a dangerous ledge to lean over now.

Exhaustion weighed her down, making her knees spongy and head swim. The back of her head throbbed, hair sticky and clinging to the back of her neck with blood and sweat.

None of it mattered. Nothing the day had brought mattered as long as she made it back Booker.

The last of the light faded just as Caitlin spotted the familiar pitch of a roof about half a mile down the road.

Thick brush on the left of the two-lane rustled, and she froze.

Too big to be a rodent or barn cat.

Too noisy to be a predator.

A rotting, mangled arm broke through first, swiping at air. Trampling out of the bushes, the Geek snarled, blackened mouth opening inhumanly wide.

She should have been terrified.

Alone at night with a Geek coming straight for her, Caitlin should have been high-tailing it away from the thing or panicking as she reached for a weapon.

Sighing, she reached back and unhooked her hatchet from the front of her bag.

Three… Two…

One swing lodged the blade right between the Geek’s eyes, dropping it to the ground.

It took a couple kicks to dislodge the hatchet from the thing’s skull, but she managed.

Grip tight around the handle, she carried on, head on a swivel as she Bee-lined for the house.

* * * * * * *

Pounding on the door brought Nicole straight onto her feet, grabbing the first heavy thing she could—a metal bookend shaped like a dolphin.

There was no accounting for taste.

Sneaking down the stairs, she craned her neck, trying to see out the small window they’d left uncovered.

“Nicole! Nicole, open the damn door!”

She nearly dropped the bookend. “Caitlin?”

Running the rest of the way down the stairs, Nicole rushed to push the barricade out of the way and unlock the deadbolt.

Nicole gasped, hand flying to her mouth as soon as she saw her. “Oh my God.”

“How is he?” Caitlin asked, pushing past.

Nicole fumbled with the handle as she closed the door. “He’s, uh, he’s in rough shape but…” Aghast, she stared with wide eyes. “Jesus Christ, Caitlin, what—”

She was already on the stairs. “Is he awake?”

“He’s sleeping.” Nicole locked the door and followed her. “Did you get any antibiotics?”

Caitlin jogged down the hall towards the room she and Booker had claimed.

“Told you I would.”

Throwing open the door, she knelt next to the bed as she