Blood on the Moon - serialised EXCLUSIVE for Steemit! - 6

Blood On The Moon Cover

Amazon link

My third novel was finished and published in time for Halloween and I had a launch at Waterstone's at Sheffield.

The full book cover, done by the wonderful, talented, brilliant Paul Mudie

Other Images from Pixabay or Google (Free Usage)

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Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

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“I’m not entirely sure. I suppose that I didn’t want anyone else to know. It’s like you are my secret. I suppose it was partly because I wanted to protect your existence and partly for fear of being laughed at I think.”

“I don’t think it is that that stopped you from telling about us, Jessica.”

“No, I don’t suppose it is. The truth is that I want to be like you.”

“Ah now we get to the crux of the matter,” he smiled at her, but it wasn’t a reassuring smile. It was full of sharp, pointed teeth and she thought of blood and torn flesh as she looked at them gleaming.

“And what type of weapons do you bring with you on the nights that you watch us?” he asked, the smile was still fixed upon her and his eyes were locked on hers.

“Do you mean silver?” she asked.

He nodded.

“No weapons. I watch you, I’m fascinated by you. I neither talk nor write about my nightly watching. I bring neither weaponry nor cameras. I wouldn’t try to harm you. I…” she hesitated.

“Yes? You… what?” he encouraged her at last.

“As I already said, I want to be one of you. I want to join in with you,” she said.

Laughter erupted once more all around her, but she remained staring at her interrogator and she held his gaze without wavering. She may have been the only one in the room that took her statement seriously, but it was enough for her, she didn’t need anyone else’s approval.

“Yes, I thought so. The little rabbit wants to be a big, bad Wolf.” He stood and studied her for a long time. His audience was silent as they waited. Then he turned to Paul. “Is there anyone who would miss this little Rabbit?”

“No, no family that I have found. She was orphaned at the age of seven and her grandmother brought her up. She died two or three years ago, when Jessica was nineteen. She inherited her grandmother’s house and she has a job in a local factory, but she would not be missed from there either, no one takes much notice of her.”

The interrogator nodded at the information and took a moment in thought before he spoke again. “So Jessica, you would not be missed by family or work colleagues, but what about friends, would they miss you?”

“I should say that yes, I have lots of friends, all of whom would miss me and that I also told them where I would be tonight. Unfortunately for me, as I’ve already told you that I never discussed this matter with anyone, you’d know that I was either lying about not telling anyone or lying about someone knowing where I am this evening. You’d know that I was only trying to save my skin and therefore you’d know that I was scared. Well, I am scared, but I am also determined.”

She paused for a split-second and continued, almost in the same breath.

“If I die tonight, then I die. If I had not tried, I may as well be dead anyway. I do have friends but I very much doubt that they would think much of my disappearance. I see most of them only rarely and a lot are otherwise occupied with boyfriends and husbands now. I don’t have a boyfriend. Now, I realise that this information makes it even easier for you to just kill me and have done, but I can’t help wondering why I was brought here and shown all of this and why Paul has done so much research on me if I’m going to be just killed off. He could have done that outside, an hour ago.”

“Yes he could have, or anyone of us could have. But we would be no wiser as to how you can watch us specifically. I think that you see us for what we are when no other Hume can and that makes me curious.”

“I can’t,” she said.

“Yes you can. That’s how you found your way here. You didn’t just follow Paul here. You have noticed others too.”

“Well yes, I suppose so. I think that I can see something beneath the surface, but I’ve never seen anyone as a werewolf - or at least not unless they are physically changed into the shape of a wolf.”

At the mention of ‘werewolf’, various noises of derision could be heard. Paul spoke up on Jessica’s behalf.

“She doesn’t know any better than to call us that. It’s blatantly obvious from just that one phrase that she’s never heard anything of us and all of her research is just that, her own findings.”

A voice interrupted Paul, ignoring his statement.

“You have seen one of us as Wolf, hunting and feeding?”

“Well yes, but only on rare occasions, only twice,” she said.

“And yet you still watched us?” the other was incredulous. “That smacks of exceptional bravery or sheer madness. Is she a Throwback?”