Between the Moon and Stars - 1

The guilt was already taking over.

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe deeply, steadily, but I still shook. His blood was everywhere – on my hands, clothes, face. There was no escaping the smell or metallic taste either.

One bite.

That was all it took to kill this innocent man. One very lethal, powerful bite. I shook my head. I lost control. Again. I closed my eyes and tried to grasp my sanity. It was a struggle, but I finally gained control and when I opened my eyes, the

shaking had stopped and I felt calm and collected.

First things first, I thought. The body.

I lowered my gaze down to the dead man at my feet and winced. Ouch. This man did not die a quick, painless death and the thought only deepened my guilt and expanded my anger for the people who made me this way.

I fished my cell out of my pocket, my hands already shaking again. My phone slipped out of my fingers and landed on the man’s chest. I stared at it, horrified. It was as if it taunted me, daring me to come closer. It was making sure that I saw what I had done, what I had caused, what a horrible being I was.

Oh hush, I told myself harshly. It’s just a phone. How could it know?

Hastily, I bent down to retrieve the phone. I wasn’t sure what I was afraid of, but I watched the man’s face the entire time, to see if there were any signs of life. There was nothing, of course. Thanks to me.

As quick as my fingers would let me, I dialed Trev’s number.

“Hello?” he mumbled.

“Hey, Trev? Can you do me a favor? I – I have a body…” I said, on the verge of tears.

There was silence. I knew Trev was shocked, more shocked than I was. “Jen…” he said. “Are you alright?”

I laughed harshly. “I guess. Could you please just take care of him for me?”

He sighed. “Alright, Jen. Where are you?”

“The old warehouse on the corner of Second and May Street,” I said nervously, playing with the string on my hoodie, trying to avoid look at the man, but failing. I’m such a hopeless cause.

“Ok… You might want to leave. I’m bringing in the Hounds.”

“Trev, you can’t-”

“We have to,” he said sympathetically. “We can’t take any chances of somebody finding his body. I’ll come up with a believable story. Nobody will suspect a thing. Okay? We’ll be there in ten.”

He hung up before I could reply, leaving me feeling utterly helpless. The Hounds were horrible. I can’t believe I did this to somebody. I looked down at the man again. I wanted to say something like I’m sorry to him, but it would only make me feel awkward and wouldn’t fix anything.

Instead, I got out of there as fast I could. I slipped out through the back door and when I reached the woods, I started running, trying unsuccessfully to dodge branches and weeds. When I hit a tree face-on I decided to jog instead, but as soon as I heard barking in the distance, I decided to risk hitting another tree.