{"id":2524,"date":"2023-07-01T13:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T20:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2023-07-01T13:51:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T20:51:00","slug":"waiting-for-moonrise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/01\/waiting-for-moonrise\/","title":{"rendered":"Waiting for Moonrise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Start your story during a full moon night. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reba traveled often for work. I knew that going into the relationship. But this trip was different, it wasn\u2019t right. She was going to be away from home on her thirtieth birthday \u2014 on a weekend no less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I called her boss to find out where she was so I could fly out and surprise her. For months I\u2019d saved up to buy her the diamond bracelet she always eyed as we walked past the jewelers, and I wanted to give it to her on<\/em> her birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her boss was confused. \u201cIsn\u2019t she home with you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe takes these two-day trips all the time. You mean it isn\u2019t for work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her boss stammered a bit and said, \u201cShe takes those two days for\u2026medical reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know\u2026bad cramps and such?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s not when\u2026,\u201d I muttered to myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll pretend this conversation didn\u2019t happen, since she\u2019s the best salesperson we have, and I don\u2019t want to have to let her go. Hope you find out what\u2019s going on.\u201d With that, her boss hung up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked at the calendar on my screen. Her two-day work trips for the past eighteen months were regular\u2026every twenty-eight or twenty-nine days. I added the date of her last menstruation and let the online calendar work out her expected cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when I saw it: she was always at peak fertility during her travel. Was she hiding from me to avoid pregnancy? She was on the pill, and I\u2019d assured her that even though I want children someday, I would defer to her wishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was time to do something I\u2019d never felt the need to: I would look up her phone\u2019s location. She \u2014 or at least her phone \u2014 was near the airport amidst the cheap hotels and long-term parking lots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her gift secure in my pocket, I left determined to find her. In the large circle that marked her phone\u2019s location were three motels, two storage places and a long-term parking garage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I eliminated the long-term parking first. As soon as I walked into the structure, I had no bars. That meant it wasn\u2019t likely she was here. I drove through the motel parking lots slowly after that. No sign of her car. Just to be certain, I asked at the desks of all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went to the first of the two storage facilities. The gate required a code or keycard to open. I stopped beside it to walk around and look for her car, when the stereo in my car dinged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It recognized the Bluetooth from her phone and asked if I wanted to connect. She was here\u2026close. I tried calling her. I thought I heard her phone ring, but it could\u2019ve been my imagination. When it went to voicemail, I hung up and tried texting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I decided I had to do something. The fence was tall, but climbable. There was a section where the razor-wire top was missing. I hoped anyone seeing the car would see the \u201cMoore\u2019s Locksmith\u201d signs on the doors and decide I was meant to be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoping for the luck of not being seen, I climbed over the fence into the storage yard. I stood silent for a moment, half-expecting a guard dog or security officer with a gun. When nothing happened except the sky darkening a bit during sunset, I walked to the drive between the storage buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her car was there, in front of a small unit. The unit door was locked by a deadbolt, easily picked. I opened the door to a scene that I was not prepared for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her clothes, shoes, phone, and overnight bag were stacked neatly near the door. At the rear of the unit, she sat naked, a chain bolted to the floor connected to a metal collar around her neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReba! What\u2019s going on?\u201d I asked. \u201cI\u2019ll get you out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only other thing in the unit was a key hanging from the wall. It was easily within her reach, but I grabbed it anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo! You have to leave, Alex. You shouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d Her eyes shone in fear, and something else. \u201cIt\u2019s starting, you have to go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started to move to unlock the collar when she bared her teeth \u2014 fangs \u2014 and growled with an inhuman voice. \u201cGo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I startled and stepped backward into the security guard I\u2019d been worried about. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on here? Is this your little perv hideout? Don\u2019t move. I called the cops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I turned to see that he had a pistol aimed at me. \u201cNo! I\u2019m trying to free her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive me the key and kneel over there, facing the wall.\u201d He snatched the key from me and pointed to a spot near the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not wanting to get shot, I did as he said. When he moved toward Reba, I heard a snarl that didn\u2019t make sense. I turned to see the open collar hanging from her neck as her face lengthened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her fine features turned rough, then canine. Her entire form changed with a sickening sound of bones changing shape, long fur growing from her entire body. The security guard stood in shocked silence for a moment before firing a shot at her, hitting her in the shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo! That\u2019s Reba!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She responded with a yip followed by a deep growl. The security guard ran, dropping his pistol as he fled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was a large wolf, wild gold eyes fixing on me, blood dripping from the wound. She let out a low growl and stalked toward me, her eyes darting back and forth between me and the pistol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReba, I know you\u2019re in there. It\u2019s me. I brought a birthday present.\u201d I pulled out the box with the bracelet and opened it and set it on the ground facing her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sniffed at the box, then moved until her teeth were inches from my face. My body shook in fear as she sniffed at me and whined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something caught her attention, and she stepped over me, growling at the open door. I could hear the voices of someone talking on a radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two police officers stepped in front of the door, their weapons drawn. \u201cSir! Call your dog off, or we\u2019ll shoot!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was interrupted by her lunge at the officers, knocking them out of my sight. The sound of gunfire, yelps, growls, screams and finally silence kept me frozen where I knelt in the unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unmistakable howl called out. I walked to the door and looked out to where the full moon rose over the city. I saw no hint of the police other than fired shells and some blood that shone black by the moonlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wondered if it was safe to try to get out of the facility. She may still be Reba, but she was dangerous. I had just about decided to leave when she jumped down from the roof of the facility and stepped to me in the unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReba, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d She limped, bleeding from multiple wounds. \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t come, you\u2019d be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She nudged my hand with her nose and whined. I fell to sitting against the wall, and she curled up next to me, her breathing labored. I pulled out my phone and searched for an emergency vet in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, is there any chance you could come to the Right-Price Self-Storage? There\u2019s a\u2026wolf here that\u2019s been shot multiple times\u2026. That\u2019s right, a wolf. No, right now she\u2019s half-sleeping with her head on my lap but her breathing sounds wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finished up the call and set down my phone. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Reba, but I need to go open the gate and wait for the vet. Wait for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stood and walked to the door. She whimpered and tried to get up but failed. A large bloodstain marked my leg where her head had been. \u201cJust wait here, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I walked to the gate and found it open, the police car stopped just inside it, the red and blue lights still flashing. The officers were nowhere to be found, nor was the security guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I returned to my former spot, Reba pushed herself against me as hard as she could and licked my hand. The vet called out from the gate, and I yelled to tell her where we were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reba growled when the vet moved close. I spoke in soft tones. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Reba, she\u2019s here to help. I\u2019m right here, you\u2019re going to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She seemed to understand, and the vet began looking over her injuries and treating them in turn. It was while she was stitching up a gash caused by a shallow hit that Reba snapped and whined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her body began to shift again. Once more, the sounds of bones changing shape, the whimpers of pain, and I watched as the partially stitched wound lost the hair around it and stretched as her shoulders moved back to a normal configuration. The vet sat staring with the suture still in her hand, stunned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Reba was herself again, she began to cry. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Alan, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot right now, Reba. I think the doc has a few more stitches to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2014I\u2019m a vet, not a\u2026she\u2019s\u2026but\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease finish up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vet nodded and finished what she\u2019d been doing. \u201cI was going to call fish and game to have them come pick up the wolf, especially when I saw that,\u201d she said, pointing at the chain and collar. \u201cBut I think I know what that\u2019s for now. I won\u2019t say anything; no one would ever believe it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I nodded. \u201cI didn\u2019t know until it was too late. The cops and the security guard\u2026I don\u2019t know what she\u2026I mean, she wouldn\u2019t, she\u2019s not like\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not like that,\u201d Reba sobbed, \u201cbut the wolf is. How bad did I hurt you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cY\u2014you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sniffled and sat up, looking pale and tired, then grabbed my leg where blood had soaked my trousers. \u201cYour leg.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s your blood,\u201d I said. \u201cYou came back and laid on my lap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel dizzy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve lost a lot of blood,\u201d the vet said. She started to say something else, but her voice was drowned out in approaching sirens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I helped Reba into her clothes, and we sat waiting for whatever was coming for us. Animal control, more police, and an ambulance all pulled into the storage facility, most of them heading for the office. One of the officers came into the unit, looked at the blood, the fresh bandages on Reba and the med kit sitting next to the vet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happened here? Did the dog get you too?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a wolf,\u201d the vet said. \u201cBased on size, an adult female grey wolf.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got one officer says he was mauled pretty bad and the other had his hand chomped. They said they shot it several times, and the security guard said he had as well. Any idea where it went?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I scared it off,\u201d I said. \u201cIt was already injured and limped off that way.\u201d I pointed to the far end of the row of storage units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was after it attacked the other officers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The officer looked around the storage unit and gestured to the chain and collar. \u201cWhat\u2019s this all about?\u201d His hand rested on his pistol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mine,\u201d Reba said. \u201cThe unit, the chain, the collar\u2026it\u2019s all mine. Do you have a problem with the games I play with my husband?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The officer swallowed hard and tried to look anywhere but at us. \u201cNo, no\u2026you\u2019re condults\u2014I mean adults consent\u2014consenting adults\u2026you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that, the officer relayed where the wolf had gone \u2014 as best he knew \u2014 on his radio. \u201cDo you need an ambulance?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Reba answered. \u201cMy husband can take me. I\u2019ll just leave my car here tonight. If you could, though, get the key for my collar back from the manager? I don\u2019t think he approves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I manage to, I\u2019ll get him to leave it in your unit, if that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerfect,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We waited until the officer left, paid the vet and said our goodbyes, and I helped Reba to my car. \u201cHospital?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTomorrow,\u201d she said. \u201cMoonrise is in another fifteen or so hours. Two moons, every time. What are you going to do now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to get you home, feed you, give you some rest, and be there for you when you change and when you change back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut what if I hurt you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t. You didn\u2019t. There\u2019s still enough of you in there to realize who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was as I was pulling into the garage that the thought hit me. \u201cWhat about the people you bit? Will they turn into\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWerewolves? No. It\u2019s a recessive gene. My great-grandmother had it, and one of my aunts does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why you don\u2019t want to have children?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat, and I don\u2019t want to accidentally eat one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could<\/em> adopt. And we can work out a better place for you to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan we talk about this another day? I hurt all over and I\u2019m not looking forward to all these bullet holes moving around when I change tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I helped her into the bed, ordered takeout, and watched silly movies next to her while she slept, waiting for moonrise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Start your story during a full moon night.  available at Reedsy Reba traveled often for work. I knew that going into the relationship. But this trip was different, it wasn\u2019t right. She was going …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[210,209,220],"class_list":["post-2524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-fiction","tag-short-story","tag-urban-fantasy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-EI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2524"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2526,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions\/2526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}