The Blood Moon

The quiet of the night was disturbed by the loud siren of a patrol car chasing young a man running incredibly fast through the highway. This is an all too familiar scenario for the two policemen, Patrolman Tamayo and Patrolman Silva. They were both transferred from diffeent towns to the town of Thorn, in the city of Carillio four years ago and their very first job as partners was to brought in a town local named Elias Grunt. The sheriff's godson. And for the past four years they became all too familiar to the town's public enemy number one.

"Do we really have to chase him?" Patrolman Sila asked his partner irritably. "We both know that we can chase him all night and all we will accomplish is to run out of fuel." Patrolman Silva said while opening the window on his side before taking out a stick of cigarette from his cigarette case. His getting sick of his job here in Thorn.

"Well, we can stop and go back to the precinct, if you want." Patrolman Tamayo said teasingly. "But then you have to talk to the sheriff and explain why we're not on his godson's tail." Patrolman Tamayo dared his partner. They both know that can't go back or they will face the wrath of their sheriff.

Since day one, they've been arresting Elias for the same reasons. Assault. He's always involved on violent altercations that always leads to damage to property or physical injury. Elias don't do drugs, he doesn't even drink. He just simply explodes when he gets mad. And he gets mad for any reason. He was diagnosed with IED or Intermitent Explosive Disorder by the town psychiarist who evaluated him as a requirement from the judge on one of his assault trial.

"Chasing him even on this car is stupid." Patrolman Tamayo heard his partner murmur while puffing his cigarette.

It's true. Capturing a running Elias is like caputing the wind. He's impossibly fast and viciously cunning. Elias was a part of Thorn Memorial School track team and was former captain. He was also Carillio's track champion for the State Championship. He had a bright future ahead of him but everything fell apart when his mother died. His father blamed him for everything and it turned him to a bad drunk who beats his just because he gets bored.

"Shit!" Patrolman Tamayo hit the car's break too hard out of nowhere. He was frozen on his seat when he saw the group of men waiting for Elias.

"That's Alex Pantallen's group. That's the group hunting Elias?" Patrolman Silva curse under his breath. 'Man, he's so screwed." Patrolman Silva uttered. Almost everyone in Thorn knows about Alex Pantalleon and his band of psycho friends. All the citizen of the town of Higgins are terrified of Alex's group because they can do terrifying things and the mayor can't do anything about it.

-----

On the other side of the side of the street, a woman is walking her way home when all of a sudden she felt the urge to keep walking. Towards the following street. She was talking through a dark. It may sound dangerou for her, for once, she actually didn't care. She just kept walking because she felt like what she's about to see is something that she has lost a very long time ago. Her feet brought the end of the alley behind an old payphone booth.

She the group of men blocking the street and the young man across. He's standing in the middle, like he own the place without even a hint of fear in his eyes. He's cocky, that's obvious but he doesn't look stupid. In fact he looked so dangerous standing there in the middle, smirking. The woman was also confused when she noticed the police car behind the young man. She also saw the policeman on the other side of the street trying to get close enough of to the group on the other side. "Brave" the woman thought then looked back at the policeman inside the patrol car. "Unlike that one." she said to herself.

"Why is he just sitting there? Won't he even call for a back up?" the woman thought to her self.

Bang!

Unfortunately, the brave policeman was seen by one of the bad guys. He fell face first on the side of the street, dead. She shook her head. Innocent people always end up as a casualty of war. She looked at the man on the other side of the street. He's like a lone wolf facing a group of dangerous wild animals. He's cautious but not afraid. He slowly looked behind him, at the policeman still cowardly sitting inside the patrol car.

He was slamming the wheel, hitting his head, crying and shouting like he's already loosing his mind. It as obvious even from afar that she was devaste by the death of his co-policeman. But she got confused when policeman suddenly stopped crying and stared at the young man like he just saw a ghost. The young man was panting like he was trying so hard not to explode with so much anger.

Something's started happening on the woman's body. Her body temperature is rising rapidly. It's like she can feel his anger and she doesn't have control over herself. When the young man face the armed men, she it clearly. His eyes, a bright golden amber.

-----

Alex's group seemed so prepared to fire at Elias at any moment but the young man seemed like he could care less. He's standing there, confidently, staring at them like he's waiting for them to actually shoot. He's challenging them. He even put his hands on his pockets and slumped as if he's getting bored with waiting. Then

"Oh, he's screwed alright." Those words came out almost like a whisper because Patrolman Tamayo was too familiar with how Alex instill fear to people.

-Flashback-

"You're daughters are pretty and boy! I can think of a million ways of how they can make me happy." Alex kneeled to level his face with Henry's.

Patrolman Henry Tamayo is a rookie model cop because he wanted to be a good example to his daughters and his youngest son. But him walking the straight and narrow put him in the path of a seriel rapist who's unfortunately under the protection of a very influential business tycoon.

"No! Please, just kill me. Kill me now, please. Just leave my family of this. I'm begging you." He was whimpering. Just the thought of her daughters on the hands of this monster makes him want to die already.

"Now, why would i do that?" Alex smiled at him but his eyes were devoid of emotions. "If i can make your daughters my personal whores and satisfy myself ." Alex was like a creepy kid who's too happy share the story of how he will murder his own parents. "Then i can skin them alive once i'm done while you and your wife watch." Alex happily watched as Henry cried harder. "Then i'll let my boys here tear through your wife while you watch and then burn her alive." His eyes widened like a man possessed. Then he forcefully place his forehead on Henry's while grabbing his ace. "I can make you listen to her screams while you watch everything happening before your very eyes. Your family will suffer and die in front you and i will keep you alive to know that it was all your fault!"

"No, no, no. Please!" Patrolman Tamayo was crying like a child. Trying to beg for his family.

"Or," Alex fixed Henry's shirt like nothig happened "i will let you live and you will get out of Higgins and will stop, meddling with our business."

"Yes! Yes! Please! Thank you! Thank you!" Tamayo's cry grew louder when he realized he would have a chance to save his family.

"But once you even try to meddle with our business," He dusted Henry's shirt "any business, again, i will hunt you down and i will do much, much worse." He waived his to Henry as if saying goodbye

-End of Flashback-

That's why he moved to Thorn. He's not suppose to be involved in anything that has something to do with Alex or his family will be in danger. And he won't allow that. Patrolman Silva cursed when he saw what was happening in front of them. Alex's men were standing across the street holding high powered guns and devilish grin on their faces.

"Damn it! Call for back up!" It was too late when Patrolman Tamayo relized his partner was already out of the car. Patrolman Tamayo saw his partner, Patrolman Silva quietly and carefully walked towards Alex and his group while hiding on the dark part of the street.

"No." Tamayo was about to call for back up when for some reason he felt like someone's looking at him. And when he tried to find the person, he saw Alex, waiving and smiling like the devil he is. Tamayo's hands froze mid-air, just a few centimeters away from his police radio. He can't. His family's life is at stake. So Tamayo just stood there. Watching, waiting for what will come next.

Bang!

His heart almost jumped out of his chest. Gunshot. The person Tamayo looked at was Elias but he was fine. Then he heard the sound plastic and metal containers falling down. His yes darted to the the direction where the sound came from. Tears immediately started falling down from his eyes when he saw his partner laying face down on the street with pool of blood spreading around his upper body.

Tamayo felt like his mind is about to give up. It's like he's hearing voices in his head saying "coward" "worthless" "piece of shit" "you let him die!" "you just sat there while he bleeds" "you did nothing" His body started shaking uncontrollably together with growing pain oin his chest. He let his friend die because he's too afraid to do something.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Tamayo started shouting while his hands repeatedly hit the wheel with so much force. He was shouting and hitting his head like it would save him with the drowning self-shame and regret. When he somehow calm down he saw Elias looking at him like his the most disgusting person he'd ever seen. He actually don't mind he's disgusted with his self. But he noticed something that made him stop. Right before Elias started running, jumping like a professional exhibitionist, he saw his eyes. it was a bright golden amber compared to Elias' natural brown eyes.

"What the hell!"

People are lookig at Elias like he will explode any time while he was walking his to the factory where he was working. The fourteen year old him would have run back home because of shame. But not him, not anymore. He learned not to care about what people say about him. Because he knows that no matter what he do, he'll always be the bad kid that nobody ever liked. So Elias just continued walking and kicked a garbage container on the side of the street just for the fun of it.

"Jerk" a young woman said while looking so mad at him.

"So indecent!" another young woman stated to her friends.

"His father should be ashamed of him." An old man said while looking at him with disgust.

Those words that used to hit him so hard no longer have the same effect anymore. They can't hurt his feelings if he doesn't care about what they say about him. He's used to the insults, the hurtful words and the disgrace. it used to hurt to the point that he wouldn't want to go out of the house to avoid everybody. But it all changed because an accident eveyrbody blaming a fourteen year old for. Elias was a happy kid but running is when he was the happiest. The kiss of the wind on his face whenever he runs made him one with nature. Specially in the woods. He's also good with animals, well specifically wolves. But all that changed when his mother died.

"Elias! You're famous once again!" Jared laughed at Elias who's just entering their employees' lounge. He just arrived at the factory and it looks like someone's already looking for trouble.

"When did Elias ever stopped being famous?" Niko added while laughing. Jared and Niko did a high five like it's fun provoking someone.

"Why don't you teach us how to be as famous as you, huh?" Bill, also laughing, said while pushing Elias repeatedly.

Everybody was shocked when Elias threw Bill across the room. He instantly lost consciousness when his head hit the wall. Jared and Niko was quick to approached their friend and Niko even acted as if he will go after Elias. But he saw Elias looking at him, he suddenly changed his mind. The whispers about how troublesome Elias began. His workmates are murmuring to one another about how bad he is. That he should have been in jail a long time ago if not because his godfather, the father.

"Are you guys serious?" Everyone fell quiet when Zel entere the room and looked at each and eveyone of them. "These morons bullied Elias as if they don't know what he's capable of and all you keep quiet like nothing's happening." Zel continued with both her hands on her waist. "Then Elias fight back and now all of you wants to burn him at the stake?" Everyone bowe their heads in shame. No one dared to talk back. "Come on, boy. I've got some food." Zel put his arms on Elias' shoulder and lead him away from their workmates. "I'm sure you didn't eat breakfast again." Zel messed Elias' hair on their way to her work station.

"I don't want to give my father a chance to hate more so i have to be out of his sight always.." Said Elias smiling, bitterly. It's been six years since his father changed but the memories of the loving and caring he used to is still burnt on his memories.

"You're father doesn't hate you. No father with want to feel that for his own kid." Zel tried to explain to Elias.

"Yeah, you're right. My father doesn't hate me. He just wants me dead.'" Elias responded with a painful smile on his face. She knows how Elias loves his father despite the fact that his father beat him to death.

"Come on, pouting doesn't look good on you." Zel playfully shoved Elias' face before he went to his own work station.

Lunch time. Zel already remove the gloves she uses for work when she started walking towards Elias' work station. She brought some food since she knows that Elias won't be bringing his packed lunch and he would't buy anything for the caferia. Exactly the same time Elias stood up and face her, an explosion happened behind his work station. Because of the impact the huge and heavy steel cabinet was pushed away from the wall causing to fall over.

"Tony!"

Everybody yelled when they saw one of their workmates, Tony, was oblivious to what's about to happen while he picks up his tools that from fell his work table. If that cabinet fell on him, he could die. But instead...

"How are they doing that?" The eyes of employees of the factory was full of question as they watched an incredible show of force from to orinary people.

"Look at her eyes!/Look at his eyes!" But the question "are they really ordinary" started bubbling up.

"What are they?" Imagine a woman and and young man who is not even well-built preventing a heavy, giganting and pure metal cabinet from falling over a workmate, therefore saving his life.

"That is not normal." Of course, that is not normal. What's normal is letting someone get hurt of worst die even when you know you could do something to prevent it.

Zel was quick to come on the other side of the cabinet, in fact too quick that people started looking at her like some freak. She and Elias was able to catch the heavy steel cabinet before it completely fell over. You could say that they were supposed to be thankful, right? Zel and Elias just saved someone from imminent danger. But, no. Instead of hearing thank you. Tony, the man they saved, crawled away from them like they have a contagious deaseas. Pissed by the reaction they received, Zel and Elias let go of the cabinet and and let it fall on the floor creating a deafening sound that echoed across the factory.

"Zel! Wait!" Elias shouted, trying to get Zel's attention. He's got a lot of questions and it looks like Zel's the only person won couold him an answer. Zel walked away from the commotion as fast as she can because the stare of their co-workers are making her so uncomfortable. "Zel! Talk to me!" Elias called her out, still trying to catch up to her.

"Leave me alone Elias." She said coldly but Elias finally caught her arm.

"You have to talk to me!" Elias' anger is starting to bubble up.

"There's nothing to talk about boy! Leave me alone!" But Zel is not in the mood because of what happened.

"How did you do it?" Elias asked directly.

"How did you do it?" Zel threw the question back at him. Only this much harder.

"I-i-"

"You don't know. I don't know. Now, leave me alone." Zel left Elias with so many questions on in his mind.

----

The factory closed for the rest of the day so Elias decided to go home to change clothes then go to the movie house where he spends his free time as a projector operator. As soon as he stepped inside the house the strong smell of alcohol immediately caught his attention. He's father's already drunk. Great. He wanted to move out of the house for a very long time but the memory of her mother always reminded him that he's all his father have. He's getting old and he can't just leave him alone.

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked his son angrily. He just got of the kitchen holding another batch of beers. "Did they finally threw you out of the factory? I always knew one day they will get tired of you!" He was walking but he doesn't look he even where he was going. "Everybody will alway gets tired of you!" Fred's already having a hard speaking. Elias just wanted to get out of the house so he walked past his father to go to his room. "Where do you think you're going, huh!" Fred pushed him back before he could even get past him. "Who gives you the right to turn your back on me, you stupid, ungreatul boy!" Not contented on what he did, Fred grabbed Elias by his shirt's collar and shoved him on the corner of the room. "Who taught you to walk away from me when i'm talking you, huh!" A jaw breaking punch landed on his right cheek. But Elias remained quiet. Just looking straight to the eyes of his tyrant father.

"Answer me! You answer me when i'm talking to you!" Fred grabbed Elias' neck when he insisted on staying quiet. "What? You wanna fight back?" Fred slap on him on his left cheek. "Come on! Fight back, boy!" Another slap on Elias' left cheek. "You wanna throw me solid, huh! Come on!" Fred shouted like a lunatic as he grabbed Elias' head and repeatedly slammed it on the wall with considerable force.

"Fred! Stop!" Elias' head is already bleeding nonstop when Zel arrived. He slumped on the cold floor because of dizziness. "Oh god!" Concern is written all over Zel's face. "What do you think you're doing, huh!" Zel shoved Fred acrossed the room, away from Elias. She looked at Elias first who's already about to fall asleep before giving Fred a knockout a punch.

"Come on, kid." Zel woke Elias up and helped him towards the door. She will bring him home for the night and let him stay with her until he recovers.

------

Zel's done patching Elias up when he came to consciousness. She watched him lift his head so he could sit up but he winced as jolting fired up from his head. Little movements make his head pulsate with pain. He groaned at the sudden burst of light when he tried to open his eyes. Still feeling dizzy, Elias looked at his surrounding. Initially confused with the unfamiliar room but little by little the memory of how his father almost bashed his head in came back.

"You good, kid?" Zel asked as she gave Elias a bottle of cold beer.

"I haven't eaten and you're giving me beer?" Elias winced when he felt another jolting pain on his head.

"Of course there's food, moron. Get up and don't be a baby." Zel said, smiling. She helped Elias to stand up and walk to the kitchen.

"What did you cook?" Elias asked. Trying not to fall over.

"Don't ask, just eat. I'm not your mother so don't expect me spoil you." Zel said sarcastically but as soon she put the food on the table, Elias smiled. It was his favorite.

On a private beach house on the town of Riverville, a group of people gathered to discuss a very important matter. To elect their new leader. These are no ordinary people. They are unbelievably strong, fast and cunning. They can hear your heartbeat. As soon as they got your scent, they can smell you from five hundred yards away. They can hear you from afar. And they are extremely dangerous. All these may sound impossible but it's true. Because these people are not just people. They are the Waxing Moon Pack. They are the Lycanthropes. Werewolves.

"What are we doing here, Sebastian?" One of the elder asked as soon as everyone arrived. Sebastian is one of the wealthiest among the werewolves and the most influential.

"We are here to elect our new Alpha. We can't go on without a leader." He looked at everyone, making sure he's got all their attention. "Our strength comes from our numbers and our alpha. This past twenty years are numbers have diminished and so our strength." He was pleased to see that everyone seems to agree with him. "We are greatly outnumbered by those bloodsuckers. No more!"

Lycanthropy was a curse place on an ancient tribe by the Moon Goddess Selene for slaughtering the wolves on the wooden area surrounding their tribal village. The Goddess Selene was angered for wolves are not food or producers of clothing. On a night of a blood moon, the night when the moon bleeds. Goddess Selene, the moon goddess who adores the wolves above all others came to the village and cursed every member of the tribe to be slaves of every full moon. She cursed them to turn to the very thing they hunted and killed. She also placed the future generation of the tribe under the curse. Every time a descendant of the tribe takes an innocent life, the curse will be activated.

For thousands of years, the tribe did everything to live in secret. They kept a low profile, ensuring the truth about their affliction to stay hidden. But as the tribe grows, the aggressive behaviour of its members became more uncontrollable. Some of them started to slaughter villages and draw attention to the tribe. So the tribe leader decided to banish those who he can't control. But it turned out to be a huge mistake. Those who were banished from the tribe became more dangerous. Instead of learning from their mistakes, they became rogue.

This forced a servant of nature to tap into the dark magic and create another species who can match the power of the tribe. The werewolves are only dangerous during a full moon. In any other nights they are just extra strong and fast. So the witch created a species that can hunt the werewolves in any nights. A species faster and stronger than the werewolves but is also beholden by the sun. That's when the first vampires were born. Another creature of the night with heightened senses and incredible speed and strength.

"I agree with Sebastian, we can't wait anymore." Gary, Sebastian's best friend stood up. This made Sebastian more pleased. He knew Gary would stand beside him even asking. And he needs Gary on his side. His best friend came from a family of trusted and respected beta.

Every Lycanthrope in the room whispered to one another. 20 years since their alpha Selena was allegedly killed by the vampires. They were never able to find her body and that's the reason why many of them didn't believe it to be true. Besides, who would replace Selena? She's the true alpha.

"We haven't confirmed the death of Alpha Selena." One of Selena's loyal followers disagreed. "We can't just choose a new alpha unless her death has been confirmed." Sebastian knew there are still many of who hopes that Selena will come back.

"That's why we will invoke the Trial of the Moon Goddess." Sebastian was too quick to respond. "It will determine the worthy replacement to be our new alpha."

"Invoking the trial without the consent of the current alpha or if the alpha's confirmed to be dead is forbidden. Our pack will face great disaster. We can't do that." Another one of Selena's followers responded.

The Trial of the Moon Goddess is can only be taken by the heir of the current alpha. If the alpha doesn't have an heir he or she needs to name the candidate. No one else.

The whispers turned to shouting as the Lycanthropes argued about the future of their pack. It is true that unless the alpha blessed by the moon goddess is confirmed to be dead or the current alpha gave the consent to invoke the Trial of the Moon Goddess a new alpha can't rise. Disobeying the law of the goddess will result to a grave punishment. It's the very reason they lasted twenty years without an alpha.

"What do you want us to do? Continue hoping that Selena will suddenly came back from the dead?" Sebastian made a mistake. His eagerness to have Selena replaced draw too much attention.

"Why do i have this feeling that you are so sure the alpha is dead?" Another thing that didn't expect was Vlad to be in the meeting. "No one saw her dead body. We knew Charles was dead because we saw his mangled body but no Selena. So how are you so sure that she's dead?" He looked at Sebastian as if he something the man was hiding.

Everyone fell silent after the Emissary of the pack entered the room. He is a powerful seer who was trusted by Selena to be the Emissary of the pack after the previous Emissary was killed by the vampires. He was Selena's childhood best friend. They grew up together and knew each other very well.

"Since Selena disappeared, you've been so adamant to elect a new alpha." Vlad leaned on table facing Sebastian directly. "You've always been so sure that she's actually dead. Why?" What Vlad said made everybody looked to Sebastian for answers.

"Selena is very close to me and i knew her well." Sebastian immediately responded. "If she's alive i know for sure that she won't let us go twenty years without an alpha. If she's still alive she won't leave us to fend for ourselves. She will come back to us." He tried to be as emotional as possible. They can't know that he's just after the position of being an alpha.

"What makes you say she didn't?" All eyes turned to him because of what he said. Confusion is written on everybody's faces.

"Are you saying that you have proof that Selena's alive?" Sebastian's voice rose again.

"I"m saying a new alpha will not rise. Not now." Leaned closer to put emphasis on what he's saying. "This meeting is done. Go back to your families. You don't want to anger the moon goddess with these ridiculous ideas." With that, Vlad left the room.

Everybody listened to the Emissary. Seers have always been a trusted counsel of the werewolves because they have the power to peek into the past and the future. The werewolves believed it is bad luck to disregard a seer's advise or warning. But there's one that doesn't look to happy with how the meeting turned out. His eyes was full of hatred towards the Emissary. This is not what he planned things to be.

On the other hand, while walking down the hall, the Emissary had a vision. It was bloody and chaotic. Dead bodies of werewolves, burning bodies of vampires and witches tied on a stake. "ch'erek'a ina t͟s'eḥāyi ānidi yihonalu ፡፡ birihanina ch'elema yigach'alu ፡፡" In his vision, the moon and the sun will become one. Collapsing the very boundary of the supernatural. In the middle of all the blood and chaos, he saw two people. A servant of the moon and a slave of the sun.

A/N

Translation:

Amharic

ch'erek'a ina t͟s'eḥāyi ānidi yihonalu ፡፡ birihanina ch'elema yigach'alu ፡፡

English

The moon and the sun become one. The light and darkness will collide.