Blood Moon Rising

Blood Moon Rising

A young woman is haunted by her past and her ghosts as she is traversing a portal world looking for someone she once loved. She is simultaneously haunting those outside of the portal world as she herself, has become a ghost. 

***

I woke up screaming. I sat up from my slumber with cold sweat dripping down my ice-cold body. The table underneath me felt cold, even to my own cold skin.

What was that smell?

Why was it so dark in here?

As I had risen from the table, the sheet had fallen quickly to the floor.

The floor.

I saw it now.

The tag on my toes…

***

They say if you listen closely, you can hear them. Those that have gone before us. The ancient ones. The ones that carry the wisdom. The one’s that, know. If you sit, and pause, they will speak. You just need to listen.

I woke up startled. Sat up immediately as I tried to recall where I was. I looked around me. The sun was setting low in the sky. There was this faint line of orange on the horizon. Everything around me lost in shadows.

I stood up, as a bird cawed in the distance.

I was in the cemetery again.

Right.

Of course, I was. This was the only place where I could go to find peace.

When I was younger.

Now?

I guess I really shouldn’t be here.

Not here, here, not here in the cemetery. I meant, here in this town. I knew returning here would be… well let’s just say that returning here was an unfortunate choice I had to make. It was though, the ‘right’ choice. It had been the only available ‘choice’.

So here we are. Locked in the cemetery after dark again.

Just like old times.

My ‘morbid hobby’, journaling among the roses in the graveyard.

Feeling safe.

Protected by the other realms.

It is here where I was, instead of meeting her that day. It was as if time had stopped, and I was here for many days. Really it was just a few hours. I’d missed her though; she left town before I could make it to the bus stop.

The howl of the wind brought me back to the cemetery. The sun had faded completely from the sky for the night. Opposite the horizon, the moon was beginning to rise. Soon, we would have a full blood moon.

This was the only time. She had to know.

I walked down the small hill. Pulled my black hoodie tighter around my face and did a running jump to hop onto the part of the wall I climb over when I get locked in here.

***

It had started to rain on my way back to the place I was staying. It was a secret place. Sort of.

I stumbled upon it once, solely on accident.

It was the best and possibly the worst discovery I ever made. When I left town, I didn’t want to leave it behind. But I couldn’t really take it with me. And for reasons that I am not allowed to discuss, I had to go, and I had to leave it behind.

Now. I was back to retrieve it.

This place holds ancient pain that haunts me. Ghosts, they lurk the corners of this town. They follow me sometimes. Within their bounds, of course. From what I have observed anyways.

Then there are the towns villains. And there are monsters. Most of them wear masks. Some do not. Some wear multiple masks. These are the ones that ran her out of town. The worst creatures in the village. But no one knows they exist.

They town would like to keep it that way.

I was not here for any of that ‘noise’. I was only here to collect what was mine and be on my way.

***

The portal.

It had changed everything.

I was on my way to meet her. The day it happened. The day that I had discovered the portal. The day that changed everything. It was meant to be a secret. There were rules.

There was also a certain protocol that was to be activated when certain rules were not adhered to.

Now not to worry, I haven’t broken any rules.

I was sent to ‘fix the imbalance’ within the rules. Why is this important? I’ll tell you. That part is not exactly a secret. The world as we know it, and all the other realms that are invisible to the average eye… well they are in imminent danger.

Never thought I would find myself in the eye of the storm.

It was only I who held the key to the portal, it was only I who could stop the madness.

That was my first mission.

But first I had to find her.

***

It was as if everything was stacked against me that day. I had made all the right choices, what I had perceived to be the right choices anyways, and yet, somehow, I still ended up teleported to that cemetery that day.

I’m not sure what combination of magic, or tears, or maybe my cries out loud for them to hear me…

I’m not sure what it was prior to that day. But I do know that day they heard me, and they rose, and they have walked with me ever since.

And that’s when the portal appeared.

***

I tried to tell her, several times.

This was a dangerous mission to carry out. She was not exactly easy to talk to these days. She had moved out of town and recently moved back. You can say the timing was interesting. I’ll say it, the things that everyone will be thinking.

“What are the odds that they would return under the same moon?”

“What are the odds that either would return at all?”

This town had not been kind.

The time on the clock kept ticking down.

***

Tik tik tik

The second hand making it’s rounds. The old clock on the wall telling me that time is moving forward.

I don’t know what time it is.

I just hear it’s ticking.

It’s getting darker now.

***

The wind was howling outside as I made my way to her.

This was a side mission, so she could know the truth. Well, so she could find her way to it.

It’s cold and dark and the wind is picking up.

Looks like it’s about to storm.

***

To be honest, that was also the day that the worlds started to implode.

The day I found myself in that realm.

The day that I no longer could walk through town and see the monsters faces beneath those masks they wear.

I could no longer watch as they feasted on the innocent souls.

***

I finally make my way to her. She’s sitting there, lost in thought as she often is.

There is a book on the table next to her. The usual latte to her side. Her computer open, several tabs displayed. Yet, from this distance, it’s not apparent what she has on her screen.

I make my way closer to her table.

Suddenly, the wind picks up and blows a paper off her table.

She stands.

The wind blows wildly now.

I suddenly look around for the others.

Where is everyone else?

I look back to where she was sitting.

She’s gone.

Everything is gone.

***

I wake up trying to scream.

Gasping for air.

Gasping for breath, I reach for my phone, the clock, anything. I reach around frantically in the dark till I find something real.

Something real…

Everything starts to go dark again.

***

Tik tik tik

The sound of the clock again

Then silence.

***

The garden is beautiful. There are roses all around. Hundreds of them. It’s easy to feel lost in the maze of roses.

I never feel lost here.

This place somehow became my own. Though I didn’t make it as beautiful as it is, I like to call it my own.

I brought her here once.

We sat on the white stone bench. And we talked of the roses, the way they shimmer after the rain in the moonlight.

We are both dressed in black.

Long black dresses.

Black gloves.

Some fancy Victorian era jewelry.

The jewelry…

Something was different. Out of place…

The moment I noticed the jewelry, it disappeared.

I then became fixated on the details of the dress.

Beautiful intricate details.

Black lace.

Then it was gone.

***

I can hear her voice now.

She’s talking but I can barely make out the words.

The harder I strain to decipher what she is saying, the further she seems to be.

I can hear the howl of the wind in the distance.

It’s getting closer.

She’s getting farther.

The wind howls all around me.

The sad agonizing lonely howl of the wind.

***

We are standing in the garden again.

This time face to face in front of my favorite rose bush.

The one with the darkest roses. The reddest roses. The ones that run deep in hue and drenched in the colors of passion.

All the flowers in the garden were beautiful.

This by far was the darkest part of the garden. The deep cheery weeping willows sheltering us with the sway of the branches.

Hiding us in this spot.

This hidden spot. Hiding us from all of the world and all of the other realms.

This spot that we had to walk through the portal to find.

Only she is unaware that we are in a portal.

***

I could hear her voice again.

I could hear all their voices now.

Why were there so many voices now?

Who…

Who are all these people?

I look down and see my hands, with the black lace gloves.

I hear the piano playing and the chorus start to sing.

I want to scream.

I start to scream, and nothing comes out.

I can’t scream.

I am screaming but no one can hear me and at the same time I don’t feel like I’m screaming.

***

Tik tik tik

The sound of the clock, though I am unaware of the time, tells me that time is still moving forward.

It’s always windy here.

And I can hear someone screaming.

***

The sun is setting on the horizon.

The deep blood red hue around the sun beginning to fade. The orange line getting smaller.

I can hear the screaming. I can feel the wind on my face.

Then it all stops.

I awake on the ground, in a small pool of blood.

A pain screaming at me from my body, telling me the blood is mine.

I can feel a weakness start to set in.

At that moment, I knew what I had to do.

I start screaming. And I don’t stop till someone hears me.

***

I met her in the garden.

This time we stood in front of the prettiest flower.

She told me that it reminded her of me.

A combination of deep and dark and beautiful bright highlights.

The only spot in the garden where both the sun and moon illuminate their glow.

And tonight’s special moon, a blood moon eclipse.

This was the spot where they agreed to meet.

‘In all those days

And all those realms

This spot in history

It is here my love

Where you must know

The truth that I won’t speak

A dream a wish

A lovers kiss

The thing that can not die

The truth we keep

The lies we speak

One moment cannot lie

Dream my love

And dream the truth

An angels love, protecting you”

***

They say if you listen closely, you can hear them.

In that moment I woke up screaming. The sun setting on the horizon. My blood around me. I dressed my wound. Took the petals from my satchel and sealed the bandage in place.

The memory of the garden.

Something about a poem.

I rose to my feet. They all rose with me. I ran off into the darkness.

I had to find her.

The blood moon rising in the east.

The clock ticking forward.