Moonstruck
xxxShe was lucky she still had her life. But for how long? She had to run, run like her very existence depended on it. Because it did. Salem fought her tears as she bolted down the busy street. She hugged her tiny body in a vain attempt to stay her shivers. The rain had soaked her through. She wanted desperately to rest, curl up by the fire in a nice warm blanket with a cup of coco, but she knew she wouldn’t survive the night if she did. Otherwise and he would find her, end her.
xxxWith the complexion of a porcelain doll and long raven hair that fell to her breast, she was surely a beautiful girl. No one could deny that. Neat bangs framed her face and gave her the rare look of innocence. Her features were dainty and every aspect about her made her seem fragile, as if she might shatter into a thousand pieces if you simply reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. Yet she had a look in her eye that gave away the unimaginable hardship she had experienced within these past few days.
xxxThe cute black dress she wore was tattered and frayed. Oh, how she wished she could go back to the day she had first put it on. Back then she hadn’t questioned her sanity. Back then she hadn’t been scared out of her mind. Back then she had been free.
xxxIt had been raining that day, too. She loved the rain. It was so peaceful. She could stay inside all day and not be bothered by anyone at all. Most people hated rain for that very reason, but not Salem. She craved the time alone and away from the rest of the world. Away from her troubles…
xxxBut God knows she didn’t always get what she wanted. She had been going to an engagement party in honour of her friends, Adelaide and Greyson. She was happy enough for them, sure, though personally she found what people called “love” these days to be a bit superficial.
xxxShe had climbed into her vehicle to begin her journey to the predetermined location of the festivity, but luck would have it that her rusted old can-of-a-car would not start. Perhaps she should have taken this as a warning, but she eventually got it running and was on her way.
xxxThe roads had been slicker than she’d ever seen them, and Salem’s muscles were strained just trying to keep the beat-up sedan from crossing over the centre line. It didn’t take long before a pair of high-beam headlights came barreling down the road, obscuring her vision. She lost control for only a moment before swerving into a large oak.
xxxThe shaken young woman rolled out of the car, bruised, but not too badly injured. She shielded her eyes from the rain, blinking the little droplets of water off her eyelashes. The world around her swirled and then suddenly fell dark.
xxxSalem gasped for air as she surfaced in the middle of what appeared to be a large lake. She panicked, ignorant to how she had come to be in her current situation. Screaming for help and flailing wildly in the water, the cold liquid filled her lungs. She coughed hoarsely, struggling for air.
xxxOff in the distance – Salem did not notice this – a young man slipped his shirt and shoes off before diving into the lake.
xxxThe dark-haired woman felt a strong arm around her waist and began to relax as the man swam her to shore. They collapsed on the beach, panting heavily.
xxx“Thank you,” the bewildered and already exhausted girl murmured, breathless.
xxx“Yeah, no problem,” her saviour puffed. He cleared his throat and pushed his soaked blonde hair back out of his face. Salem couldn’t help but stare at his eyes. They were the bluest blue she’d ever seen. She felt like she could drown in them. He stood up and offered her his hand.
xxx“Cae,” he said. Salem blinked up at him as he helped her off the hot sand.
xxx“Say… what?” she asked, puzzled. The man smiled. His eyes sparkled in the sunlight and her heart turned to slop. Gorgeous…
xxx“No, not S-A-Y. C-A-E. Cae. That’s my name. And you are…?”
xxxThe lost and flustered woman cleared her throat and stumbled over her words. “Oh, um… I’m… I’m Salem.”
xxxCae pulled his white t-shirt over his toned body and slipped his sneakers back onto his feet. “Like the witch city?”
xxx“Yeah,” she murmured, her heart sinking into her stomach.
Is that… bad? That’s bad, isn’t it… she thought nervously. His response reassured her. Until it didn’t.
xxx“Cool. I like it. Well, Salem, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not out of the woods just yet,” he told her, glancing at the forest that surrounded the lake.
xxxSalem shuddered and felt panic begin to wash over her once more. She kept her outsides calm and collected, but that didn’t change the fact that her insides screamed
Oh God please help me! Not the woods, anything but the woods! Why did it have to be the woods?
xxxAll at once she was a little girl again, lost, alone, afraid. Surrounded by huge, looming trees. And the sounds… The horrible sounds. Bats, bugs, wolves, and every other nocturnal, bright-eyed creature.
xxxShe cleared her throat again, blinking repeatedly and biting her lower lip.
“What… What do you mean?” she asked hesitantly, not sure she really wanted to know. Cae sighed and twisted his jaw, leaning against an old crooked tree he’d wandered over to.
xxx“Well… This is going to sound a tad crazy… But in a few hours, everything disappears. Trees, caves, any form shelter. This place has a sick moon. It’s always full. And it always makes the people here go… well, raving mad.”
xxxSalem swallowed hard.
Great. Just fantastic.
xxx“Alright, so how do we get out of here?” She was doing her best to pretend like this whole situation wasn’t completely eating her up inside.
xxx“We don’t,” Cae murmured gravely. She ran her fingers through her still-soaked hair. “Let me guess – car accident?”
xxxSalem nodded.
xxx“Me too,” he said. “Trust me, it’s not a bad dream. I wish to God it was.”
It didn’t take long for the sun to set and that awful moon to rise. Just as Cae had said, everything vanished. Salem found the lack of dense vegetation comforting, but that moon… huge, unnerving. And it wasn’t just “sick” as her mysterious friend had put it, but it
looked sick. It gave off an unhealthy pale green light that enveloped the entire world. Everything below it looked like a ghost.
xxx“Look out!”
xxxCae shoved Salem to the ground as a battered and filthy old man came crashing toward her. His eyes were wild, full of madness, and his salt and pepper hair was in tangles. He had a long, curly beard and the woman he’d been trying to attack almost felt sorry for him. There was nothing to him, just skin and bone… She couldn’t shake the feeling that she would be just like him someday if she didn’t get out of here soon.
xxx“Come on,” Cae ordered, grabbing his new companion’s arm and pulling her along as he ran through the loose sand. Salem lost count of how many times she nearly fell flat on her face.
xxxThere was nothing. Just a few poor souls wandering aimlessly under that diseased moon. Some rocked back and forth on the ground in fetal positions. Normally, the lost girl might chuckle and roll her eyes, but not now. Her heart was consumed by a horrible combination of pity and fear.
xxx“Wait, are those…
trees?” she inquired as they rushed along, now even more bewildered than before.
xxx“Yep. Only part of the forest left after sundown.”
xxx“But I thought you said-”
xxx“I did. But no one who’s been here very long goes near that section of trees – night or day. Anyone who’s ever gone in never came back out. But if we stay on the outskirts, we should be safe.”
xxx“We’re going in,” Salem commanded, hoping with all her heart that the terror pounding in her chest hadn’t seeped into her voice. Cae blinked at her. She could see in those dazzling blue eyes that he questioned whether or not the moonlight had already affected her.
xxx“I mean it,” she assured him. “If anyone who goes in never comes out, it can mean two things: A; they die, or B; that’s our ticket out of this Godforsaken place. Either way, it’s gotta beat ending up like them.” She watched the other stranded beings wander for a moment and hugged herself tight.
xxxA few minutes later, Salem stood frozen and wide-eyed on the edge of the wood.
xxx“I can’t,” she murmured over the knot in her throat. “I-”
xxx“Yes you can.” Cae yanked her along roughly, now driven by the hope of freedom. She could barely breathe. Her lungs felt like they were collapsing in on themselves. Tears finally burst from her eyes.
xxx“I can’t, I can’t, I
can’t! Please, just let me go back!” she cried. The stranger she’d decided to trust – she realized she didn’t have a good reason why – shot her a fiery glare.
xxx“No! Do you want to get out of here or not?!” he snapped. Her arm ached with the strength of his grip, and even if she’d said no, the terrified young woman didn’t know if she could get away.
xxx“Cae-”
xxx“Shut up!”
xxxSalem retreated. Those beautiful blue eyes weren’t so beautiful anymore… She swore it must have been her imagination, but there was definitely an odd luminescence to them that she hadn’t noticed before. The light was like… like an unhealthy pale green.
xxxShe couldn’t move. Her muscles would not respond. She crashed onto the ground helplessly as Cae tossed her like a rag doll before him. He grinned sadistically.
xxx“You know, I can’t remember the last time I had a good meal…” His voice was different. Rough. Twisted. Hungry. He moved toward her like an animal stalking its prey.
Salem’s vision flashed between present and past, between Cae and that gigantic, looming wolf from her childhood. She whimpered and shuffled backward as fast as she could, sobbing uncontrollably. It was her worst nightmare come true –
returned – from the deepest recesses of her mind.
xxx“Please…” she whispered raspingly. Her attacker laughed.
xxx“Don’t worry, little girl. I’ll make this every bit as slow and painful as you imagine it will be,” he cackled, running his fingers through a strand of her dark hair and licking her cheek. The helpless woman jerked her head away and shambled back even more.
Her back pressed against something cold and hard. There was a blinding flash of light, and then nothing. Complete and utter nothingness. Black. Dark. Silent.
xxxThe moment her senses came back to her, she jumped up and ran for her life, nearly colliding with an SUV in the process.
xxxShe was breathless, overcome with shock and relief.
xxxHome.
xxxBut she knew she wasn’t safe. If she had escaped, so would Cae. And those eyes were not ones to let their target just walk away. She knew nothing would be the same now. She would be hiding until she knew for certain he was dead or captured.
xxxShe was lucky she still had her life. But for how long? She had to run, run like her very existence depended on it. Because it did. Salem fought against her tears as she bolted down the busy street. She hugged her tiny body in a vain attempt to stay her shivers. The rain had soaked her through. She wanted desperately to rest, curl up by the fire in a nice warm blanket with a cup of coco, but she knew she wouldn’t survive the night if she did. Otherwise and he would find her, end her.