Shadow of the Lunar Curse

Elara Voss got out of her car and the door made a loud noise as she closed it. The air in Silverbrook smelled like pine trees and wet dirt, which was very different from the air in the city she came from. It had been ten years since Elara Voss was last in Silverbrook but everything looked the same. The old sign was still there. It said "Silverbrook: Where the Forest Meets the Soul" in letters that were not as bright as they used to be.

Elara Voss remembered this sign; it was the same when she left Silverbrook ten years ago. Silverbrook was a town and Elara Voss was back but she did not know what to expect. The smell of pine trees and the quiet of Silverbrook were a change from the city life Elara Voss was used to. She let out a laugh to herself. The idea of a soul is funny. To me it is like the place where dreams go to die. The soul just seems like a thing where dreams go to die.

She put her backpack on one shoulder. I walked to the Silverbrook Gazette office on Main Street. The Silverbrook Gazette is really old. The building is two stories high. The paint is coming off. The windows are probably really dirty because they have not been cleaned in a while. She needed a job. The Silverbrook Gazette was hiring. She used to work in a city but she lost her job because they did not have enough money. Now the Silverbrook Gazette is her chance to have a job again.

She kept telling herself that the Silverbrook Gazette was an opportunity for her. She felt it inside that the thing that was really bringing her to this place was the fact that her parents died and nobody knew what happened to them. It was like something was pulling on her heart and that something was the mystery of her parents death. The mystery of her parents' death was what was really pulling her to this place.

Inside the office the editor, Mr. Harlan said hello to her with a nod. Mr. Harlan was a man who was probably around sixty years old. He had a mustache that was really thick. "You are Voss right? I looked at your resume. It says you are good at figuring out mysteries. We need someone like that now. There have been some things happening with animals. They have been attacking people. It is really scaring everyone. These animal attacks are very weird. The people in this town are really spooked because of these animal attacks.

Elara was really curious. "What kind of attacks are we talking about?"

Harlan leaned back in his chair. The wood made a loud noise under his weight. He said "There have been some maulings. These maulings started a month ago. The Sheriff is saying that bears are doing it. Some people say it is something else. The old timers are talking about wolves. We have not had wolves in this area for decades. The maulings are what people are worried about."

She nodded to herself. Made some notes in her head. This could be the story she was looking for something that really interested her. After she sat down at her desk, which was stacked high with old yellow papers she got a cup of coffee from the break room and started looking through some old files. The attacks were really bad: they had cuts, bodies were ripped apart and they always happened near the edge of the forest. There were no people who saw anything with a lot of blood and people were really scared. The attacks were always near the forest edge and that is what made them so scary. The forest edge was where the bad things happened. The attacks were the thing that she was trying to learn more about.

By the afternoon Elara decided she was going to talk to the people who live in the town. She went to the diner that's across the street called Mayas Place. Maya Ruiz was standing behind the counter. She has been Elara's friend from when they were kids. Maya Ruiz had her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing an apron that had flour all over it. When Maya Ruiz saw Elara her face got really happy. It was like when the sun came up in the morning.

Elara! Oh my god you are back! Maya rushed around the counter. Gave Elara a big hug that smelled like cinnamon and fresh bread. It was so nice to see Elara. I thought Elara would never leave that city.

Elara. Hugged back. She said "I could not stay away from you forever. How is life treating you?"

Things are the same as they always are. I am selling coffee and pies to people.. You know what is interesting. There is a lot of excitement now because of those attacks that have been happening. People are locking their doors at night. It is like they think the world is coming to an end. People are really scared. They are locking their doors. The attacks are making people lock their doors at night. That is making things exciting.

Maya and her friend talked for a bit. Maya told her all about what was going on in town. She said who got married, who got divorced and who was being unfaithful.. Then Elara started talking about the maulings and Maya's face became really serious. "You need to be careful Elara. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the woods. She said there are creatures that walk on two legs during the day and on four legs, at night the woods are not safe."

Elara rolled her eyes in a way. "Come on Maya. I do not think superstitions are an idea. I am here for the facts, about things, not superstitions. I want to know what is really going on with Maya and superstitions."

Maya shrugged. "I am just saying this. You should stay out of the forest when it is dark outside. The forest is not a place after dark so stay out of the forest."

After the diner Elara drove to the edge of town, where the latest attack had happened. The site was blocked off with tape that was waving back and forth in the wind. Sheriff Daniels was there. She was a woman with sharp features and she was in charge of cleaning up the place. Elara saw that Sheriff Daniels was making sure everything was done correctly.

"Miss Voss, Gazette " Elara said as she introduced herself, showing her press badge. "Do you have any ideas about what could have done this? I mean what really did this to the place Gazette is really interested in finding out what did this."

Daniels looked at her with suspicion. He said "It is a bear. A big bear. That is all there is to it. The bear is big."

As Elara looked at the ground she saw something. The claw marks were really exact like hands with nails. The smell was faint. It was like metal and it stayed in the air. This made Elara's nose move around in a way. The smell of metal was still in the air near the claw marks that looked like they were made by hands, with nails and Elara found it really strange.

She was shaking it off so she headed home to her aunt's house, which is now her house. The house is a cozy little cabin on the outskirts of town and it is surrounded by trees that make this soft whispering sound when the wind blows. While she was unpacking she found this trunk in the attic and it was covered in dust and locked up tight. Her curiosity got the best of her so she got a crowbar from the garage. She used it to pry the old trunk open.

Inside this box were lots of journals that had turned yellow over time. The writing in these journals was done by her mother. As Elara flipped through the pages she saw that her mother had written about the dreams she had and some strange feelings she got sometimes. Her mother also wrote about being careful when the moon was full. One page in particular caught Elara's eye. It said "The blood calls" and then it said "We must resist the blood calls". Elara saw that her mother had written "The blood calls" in one of the journals and it seemed important to her mother.

That was strange, Elara thought and she put it away. The moon was really high in the sky that night. It was full. Elara was in bed. She was not sleeping. She was moving around a lot. She was sweating. There were drops of sweat on her forehead. Her skin felt funny, it was itching her. Her bones hurt, like when she was a kid. She was growing. Elara thought maybe she was just really tired, from traveling or maybe she was just stressed out.

Then the pain got really bad. It was sharp. It would not stop. She walked to the mirror. She was breathing really hard. When she looked at herself she saw that her eyes were glowing this amber color. What was going on with her eyes? The pain and the weird eyes were really scary, for her. She did not know what to do about the pain and her amber glowing eyes.

In the dark a loud howl cut through the night it was really close, way too close. Elara grabbed her sides. Bent over because something inside of Elara was moving around. It was very hungry and really wild.

And then, from the shadows of the trees, a pair of yellow eyes watched her, unblinking, waiting

The morning light came into Elara's bedroom through the curtains. It made shadows on the floor. Elara woke up suddenly. Her body hurt a lot. It felt like she had been running all night.

She remembered what happened that night. It was all very painful. She saw eyes that glowed in the mirror. She heard a howl. It sounded like it came from inside her body.

Elara sat up in bed. She rubbed her head. She tried to tell herself it was a bad dream. Maybe it was because she drank too much coffee. Maybe it was because she read journals before she went to sleep. She wanted to believe it was a dream.

The scratches on her arms told a story. These were scratches, they were red and looked like she had scratched herself. She was. She got dressed quickly. Then she went downstairs. She wanted to forget the things that happened by keeping herself busy with work. The kitchen was the same as she had left it.. The back door was not closed all the way. There was mud on the tiles. It looked like someone had walked in from outside. Had she gone outside. Then come back in? She did not usually forget things. Have blackouts. This was not like her.

At the Gazette Harlan put a pile of reports on her desk. He said "We have information about the attacks. This time the person who was hurt was a hiker. They found this hiker near the place where you live."

Elara's stomach did a twist. "Is it near my house?"

The Sheriff wants to keep this quiet. I need to get the information. The Sheriff is trying to keep it under wraps. I have to get the details from somewhere. I really want to know what the Sheriff is hiding so I will try to find out what is going on with the Sheriff.

She spent the day talking to people who saw things trying to figure out what happened. The hiker was found all torn up with some parts missing like something had eaten them. People in town were talking about luck and curses but nobody really knew what to believe. By the time it got dark she was really tired. She wanted to know more so she went to see Elder Miriam at her cabin. Maya had told her that Elder Miriam knows all the stories about the town.

The way to Miriam's place was all grown up with vines and stuff they were over the path.

Miriam's cabin was made of logs. It had a lot of dreamcatchers and carved things on it.

When I got to the door Miriam answered it she had a face with a lot of wrinkles and her hair was silver her eyes were really sharp, like a hawks eyes Miriam's eyes were very sharp.

The woman said "You are the Voss girl." She did not ask this. She said "Come in. I have been expecting the Voss girl."

Inside the house the air was really thick, with the smell of herbs and incense. Miriam was making tea. She was doing it very slowly and carefully. She said "Your parents came to me one time. They wanted to talk about the family problem."

Elara leaned forward. "What is this affliction thing? I was reading these journals. They talked about blood calls. What does that even mean?"

Miriam sighed. "The lunar curse is a problem. It gets passed down from family to family from a time ago. When the moon is full the beast inside of you wakes up. You get strong and fast. The lunar curse takes something away from you: control over what you do. The lunar curse is not easy to deal with."

Elara laughed in a way. She said "Werewolves are things you read about in stories, for kids. That is not real."

Miriam looked at me with a face. She said that fairy tales are based on things that happened. Miriam told me that my parents tried to fight against something. The forest took them away.

The words really hit Elara hard. She remembered what happened with the "accident". Their car was totally smashed up and the bodies were nowhere to be found. Elara thought about it. Then she asked "You think the people in the accident... Actually changed into something else?"

This is what it is about. A pack leader really wanted to have their territory. Darius Kane is the one who's in charge. Darius Kane is the alpha now. Darius Kane rules the shadows.

Elara's mind was totally spinning. This was completely crazy. She could not forget the pain she felt last night and those eyes. She really needed to know so she asked "How do I stop the pain and the eyes?"

You do not stop trying to deal with this feeling. You learn to live with it. Herbs can make the feeling less strong and rituals can be helpful.. If you try to ignore the feeling, for too long the feeling will take over your life. Herbs and rituals can only do much to help you and you have to be careful not to let the feeling consume the herbs and the rituals and you and your life and everything that herbs and rituals are supposed to help with which is you.

Elara was leaving with a pouch of dried leaves that she was going to use to make tea. She was feeling really unsure. I'm a little scared. When she was driving home her phone started ringing. It was Maya. Maya wanted Elara to go out and have some drinks with her. The message on the phone said "I need to unwind" and Elara thought about the dried leaves, for tea that she had with her.

Elara was at The Howling Wolf, a cool bar that was not very bright. She thought it was funny that it was called The Howling Wolf. Elara and her friend Maya were hanging out drinking beer and talking. Maya is a good friend. She is always happy and honest. As the night went on Elara saw a man she did not know. The man was really tall. I had big shoulders. He had hair and really blue eyes. The man was sitting by himself drinking whiskey. He seemed like someone important like people should notice him. Elara noticed The Howling Wolf was getting louder. She kept looking at the man. The man at The Howling Wolf was interesting, Elara thought.

"Who is that?" Elara asked.

Maya looked over. She said the new guy is named . He is renting the Miller cabin. Maya thinks that Thorne says he is a photographer. Maya believes that Thorne seems like a really quiet and mysterious person.

Thorne's eyes met Elara's eyes. It was like a shock to her body. It did not feel like fear, it felt like something was buzzing inside her. She turned her head away. Tried to focus on Maya but now her senses were really sharp. She could hear Thorne's heartbeat all the way from across the room. She could smell the smell of Thornes cologne mixed with the smell of earth.

Later as they were leaving Thorne came up to the reporter. "You are the reporter who is asking about the attacks."

Elara nodded slowly and cautiously. ". Who are you?"

Thorne Blackwood. I think I have some information that you need to know. We should meet up tomorrow at the edge of the forest.

Before she could say anything he just disappeared into the night. Maya gave her a push. "This guy is really mysterious is he not? You need to be careful, around him Maya said to her, referring to the man.

Elara made Miriam's tea. The tea was bitter. It helped calm Elara's nerves. As midnight got close the moon looked really big again. Elara started to feel pain. It began in her joints like an ache.. The pain got worse and worse until it was really bad. Elara tried to fight it and she held onto the counter. Everything got fuzzy. Her hands even looked weird like they were getting longer. Elara was still holding onto the counter. The pain from her joints was getting to her and her vision of the tea and everything else was blurry. The pain was bad, the moon was big. Elara was struggling, drinking Miriam's tea was not helping her that much now.

No she thought, this cannot be real.

The change happened fast. Her fur started to grow. Her muscles got bigger. A loud growl came out of her mouth. When she was in wolf form everything seemed real. The colors were super bright. The smells were really strong. She ran out of the door and into the woods feeling really free. The freedom of being a wolf was a feeling that was flowing through her veins. She was a wolf. She loved the feeling of freedom that came with it.

Time just went by fast and everything felt great: I was running after rabbits. Yelling at the stars.. Then I smelled something: a person, someone I knew. Thorne was standing in the trees with a crossbow, in his hands.

Her eyes locked with his and her wolf knew that this person was a threat. The man fired his gun and the bullet just barely touched her side.

Pain snapped her back. Then the rage took over the pain. The woman felt her body get ready to fight. She lunged at them with her teeth bared, ready to strike at the people who hurt her. The rage made her want to hurt them.

And in that moment, a deeper howl answered from the depths, drawing closer.

The bolt hurt Elara like fire. Elara did not feel it that much because Elara was running towards Thorne really fast in her wolf form. Thorne's face was very serious, his eyes were wide open because he knew what was happening. At the last second Thorne moved out of the way and Elara's claws scratched the tree instead of Thorne. The loud howl of the wolf was heard again; it was closer now. It felt like the ground was shaking with a warning. Elara and Thorne were in a bad situation because of the wolf.

Elara stopped fast, her ears standing up. She felt like something was wrong. Thorne jumped up. Put more bullets in his gun. He said "Wait I know what you are. Please do not make me do this to you."

His voice cut through the fog the sound of words hitting her animal instincts. She felt really confused. Part of her wanted to attack him. Another part wanted to run away. The tea she drank still had an effect on her. It made her anger not so sharp so she could think a bit. The tea's effects made it possible for her to have some control over the beast that was her.

A big gray wolf came out of the dark. This wolf had eyes and its fur was standing up. I was angry. It growled at Thorne. It did not even look at Elara. Thorne pointed his weapon. Fired. This time he did not miss. The bolt hit the wolf's shoulder. It made a hissing sound when it touched the wolf's fur. The wolf let out a cry and ran back, into the bushes. The wolf was. It went away. Thorne had shot the wolf with a bolt.

Thorne turned to Elara. He said to her "You need to run now. That person is a scout for Darius. We have to get out of here because that scout works for Darius."

The name brought back something Miriam said.. The pain in her body was still really bad and the rush of energy was going away. The hurt made her go back to being human and when she did her body shook over. She fell down naked and cold.

Thorne looked away, throwing his jacket over her. "Let us go now before it comes back with its friends."

He helped her to his truck that was hidden nearby. Then he drove to his cabin. The cabin was really simple inside. There were maps on the walls, weapons in cases and books about folklore. Thorne put a bandage on her cut. His touch was gentle even though you could feel the tension between them. Thorne was being very careful with her. That was nice of him.

"Who are you really?" Elara asked, she wrapped herself in a blanket. She wanted to know the truth about the person in front of her. Elara was very curious about this person so she asked again "What is it that you do and who is this person that I am talking to? I mean who are you really?"

Hunter. My family was killed by werewolves. That is a thing that the werewolves did to my family. I have been tracking the werewolves ever since they killed my family.. You are different from the other werewolves. You seem new to all of this.

She told him about when she woke up and the journals and Miriam. Thorne listened to what she had to say. His face became softer. He said "Darius is getting more powerful. The fact that you come from this bloodline is a threat to Darius. So Darius is getting rid of anyone who's not completely loyal to him the loose ends and that includes people, like you from your bloodline."

"Why help me?"

I do not kill people. That is not what I do.. You remind me of someone I know.

The conversation between Thorne and Elara went on and on until the sun started coming up. Thorne told Elara about his past. He talked about something bad that happened to him when he was a kid. He said he wanted to get at the people who hurt him.

Elara felt drawn to Thorne. She liked the way he smelled now. It made her feel safe.. Trusting someone is not easy. Trust is a fragile thing. Trust in Thorne was fragile.

In the morning she went home and her mind was all over the place. When she got to work her boss Harlan told her that he really liked the report she did but she did not tell him about the supernatural things that happened. Then Maya called her. She was really worried about what happened the night before. Maya said to her "You left early, is everything okay?"

"Fine, " Elara said, which was not true. "I am just really tired, " Elara said to that person. Elara was not being honest, about how she was feeling she was just saying that she was tired.

She went back to the places where the attacks happened. She found some fur. Then she took the fur to her garage. She looked at it really closely with a microscope she had from when she was in college. The fur was pretty rough like the fur, from a wolf. It was bigger.

That afternoon Miriam called her over. She said to her "The scout reported back to us. Darius knows about Miriam's friend now that Darius knows about her."

"How?"

The pack can tell when there is someone around. You really need to learn how to do things. The pack is talking about the time when you change into a wolf so you have to learn how to control that change.

They spent hours in the glade doing breathing exercises and visualizing chains on the beast. Elara was able to manage a shift of the beast, her claws extending without a full change into the beast. This was progress with the beast. It was really exhausting, for Elara and the beast.

The evening. Thorne was at her door. She said "I found something that I think is important. It is a map that shows the territories of the packs."

They looked at it together, their fingers touching. They got a lot of ideas. He moved in close to her. "We could. Check it out. We could find out what the other person is bad at."

Elara was tempted so she agreed to go with it. They went for a hike when the sun was setting trying to be quiet and sneaky. The forest was full of noises like owls making loud hooting sounds and leaves making rustling noises. When they got close to a clearing they. Watched as wolves came together and these wolves were talking to each other in human form about their hunting plans.

Darius stood in the center. He was really tall and he looked very strong and his voice was extremely loud. "The Voss heir is still alive. We need to catch her. The power of the Voss heir will belong to me."

Elara's blood ran cold. Thorne grabbed her arm tightly. He said to her "We have to go, now."

Something happened when she took a step. A twig snapped under her foot. People turned around their heads moving towards them. Everyone's eyes locked on the girl and her companion staring at them.

Darius yelled out loud "Intruders are here!"

The wolves. They were charging at them. Thorne fired his bolts. He was able to take down one of the wolves. Elara felt this pull and she shifted partially so she could fight them. Her claws were slashing at the wolves as she tried to defend herself. The wolves were still coming at them. Elara was ready to keep fighting.

They ran fast through the trees. Their hearts were beating fast. Thorne got it. Stumbled. Elara pulled Thorne. She felt a lot of strength. She kept pulling Thorne through the trees. Thorne and Elara just had to keep running.

They got to his truck. Speeded away but the howls followed them. The sound of the howls was still loud. His truck was going fast. The howls from whatever was, behind them kept coming.

At the cabin Thorne made a face. Said he was really hurt. "This silver poison is very bad."

Elara was really scared. She said "What am I supposed to do with the situation that Elara is in?"

"Antidote in my bag. But hurry."

As she gave it to him Darius's voice was in her mind saying "You can not hide forever heir." She thought about what Darius said. Darius's words were still, in her mind she remembered Darius saying "You can not hide forever heir."

And outside, shadows moved, circling the cabin.