Under the Blood Moon by Jenny Garcia (latest books to read TXT) 📖

stretching my arms up to the ceiling and my back pops. I walk into the bathroom at flick on the light. I stand in front of the sink and staring at my reflection in the mirror. My blue eyes staring straight back me, looking over every flaw. What am I going to do with this hair? My long black hair that flows to the middle of my back has been struck with a disease most commonly referred to as bed head. I pull my straighter out of the drawer and plug it in. As I wait for it to heat, I grab my make up bag putting on foundation and mascara. No reason to add eye shadow or blush it’s not like there is anyone to impress. The straighter is finally heated and I run it through my thick wavy hair.

 

After adding the finishing hair spray, I brush my teeth and I’m done. I go to my closet throw on my brown shorts and a white t-shirt. After I slip on my socks and tennis shoes I grab my bag. Before I turn to walk out my door, I hear my Dad talking to my mom in the other room. Normally I can't hear them in their room but the house is dead silent and there are no cars driving past our house that at this hour.

I hear my dad say with concern,

“Do you really think that this is a good idea Michelle?" my father asks very concerned.

 "What was I supposed to do James? We need help. There is no one that can help us more than her." I can hear the worry and stress in her voice. I hear my father take a deep breath “Honey, I know you mean well, but she didn’t take it very well when you left, are you sure that she isn't still harboring anger towards you? Do you think that she is really going to help us? Plus do you think it's safe to have her 18 year old son around Niki. We don’t know anything about him."

" Jeez James, it has been 18 years I highly doubt that she is still holding a grudge. It will be fine honey I promise. I have faith in her, she will help her."

"But what about all those things she said? She had the whole town turned against you two. Can you really trust her?" I hear a long pause and a deep sigh from my mother.

“James, she used to say that she had vision of events before they would happen. She really thought what she was seeing was real. Sometimes she was right. This is something that she told me would happen when I got pregnant. That is why I ran away. I thought she was crazy but I never forgot what she said. She was right. We need to find out how to stop it."

 

            Silence falls and the house is quiet. Mom ran away from home? How could she have never told me this? What was so wrong that she felt like she had to run away? What do they need help with? Denise is crazy? She has visions? So many questions were running through my mind. Though I could get answers for none of them without getting in trouble for eavesdropping. I opened my door and walked down the soft carpeted stairs and made my way to the kitchen. I grab a bagel from the cabinet and pop it in the toaster. I pull the cold steel of the fridge handle to get the cream cheese. As I close the door I see a shape of a person out of the corner of my eye. I jump back and see my Mother staring at me.

"Kind of jumpy this morning aren’t you?" she wraps her arms around my shoulder and gives he a hug. I can feel her energy as she takes me in her arms and she is worried about something. She always squeezes he a little too hard when she is scared our nervous. She almost broke my hand on my 13th birthday when we rode our first roller coaster together.

 

 "What’s up Mom, are we leaving?" I respond, trying to slow my heart rate after the scare she gave me.

 "Yes we are, get your bagel and come out to the car." She turns on her heels and begins to walk away as I call out to her "Mom!" she turns with a confused look on her face. "What is it Niki?" I dropped my head down looking at my black and white shoes and then back up at her, "I’m sorry I yelled at you yesterday." A small smile lightens her face "It’s ok Niki, now come on hurry up. We have a 4 hour drive and I want to get it over with." She gives me a playful wink and walks to the front door. I grab my bagel and head for the door.

 

            As I walk down the stone path to the car I can feel the dread in my stomach begin to rise. I really don’t want to go on this "Family Adventure" especially since there has been two surprise guests added that apparently my mother had a falling out with. Hearing my Mom take about this mystery woman is really starting to make me wonder. Why do you need her help? Is there something going on that I am not being told about? I climb in the car and put my ears buds in. Letting the music drown out the world and put me at ease. After about an hour of driving I dose off.

 

            I am back walking through the dark forest; no one is around and panic in running through my veins. I look around for the woman in white and she is still nowhere to be found. I have no idea why I am hear but I know that I am in danger. The trees are tall and towering over me. The whipping wind throws my hair around my shoulders and face. I feel the dry leaves crunching under my feet as a walk through the night. The breeze is cool and blowing mist through my hair and across my face. Again, I get the scent of nature running through my nose. All of a sudden there is a loud CRACK. I stop in my tracks afraid to move. Again there is a loud CRACK. "Is there someone there!?"I yell my voice squeaks from fear. There is no response so I begin to walk deeper into the forest. Where am I? There is the same twinkle off to my left that catches my eye. I begin to walk towards it hoping that the woman in white is at the end of the light. There is something about the light that is drawing me towards it. I almost feel like it’s for me. I get the feeling that the soft light is guiding me to where I need to be. Trumping through the brush the twinkle starts to get brighter. I get to the edge of the forest and reach a shore to a large lake. Suddenly there are foot steps behind me. Fear makes me freeze right where I stand. I can’t move, I can’t speak I am paralyzed. I feel a hand on my shoulder and my voice comes to life and I scream. I snap out of my dream and I am in the car. It was a dream, the same dream I had earlier. God I feel like such an idiot. My Mom turns in her seat "Niki are you ok? What’s wrong?" she asks, staring at me with concern and worry. "I'm fine Mom it was just a bad dream."

 

"Do you want to tell me about it? You haven’t had nightmares in a long time." she looks at me concerned.

"No Mom it was nothing." I roll over to my side and try to relax. I can feel her eyes on me wanting more information. I am not in the mood to get into a deep conversation with her. She will want to know what it was about every detail I saw. She thinks that she can determine what my dreams mean.

 

            I look at my watch and realize that we have only been driving for 2 hours. Damn, I was hoping I would be able to sleep through it. I don’t want to try and sleep again. I don’t want to re-enter that dream. I have a tendency of starting where I left when it comes to nightmares. I used to get them all the time when I was in the Hospital. My Dad would shake and shake me as I screamed in my bed. Why are they coming back now? Who touched my shoulder in my dream? The thought was burning in my mind. I could still feel the warmth of the hand on my shoulder. How could that be possible? It was just a dream...right? There was something familiar about the person that touched me. I can’t put my finger on it. Although I was afraid when the hand came down on my shoulder I also felt some sense of safety. I try to wipe the thought out of my mind and turn my headphones out trying to forget the dream.

 

            Driving to the lake is a long boring drive. It’s a two way road all the way up to the lake. By car, there is only one way in and one way out. Normally during this time of year there a lot of people coming and going. We have been driving for three hours and I have only seen one other car. I look at my mom who is passed out in the front seat and then look to my father who has his eyes glued to the road.

"Dad are we almost there?" I asked with annoyance.

"Yes Princess Niki we are almost there, about 45 more minutes." He says with a chuckle.

"Why did we have to leave so early this year?" Rubbing my eyes I’m feeling so tired, but not wanting to sleep with fear of returning into the dark forest.

"Your mom wants to clean up the Cabin before Denise and Travis arrive."

"Travis? Is that her son's name? How old is he anyways I really don’t want to be a built in babysitter for 2 months." I don’t know why I even ask how old he is. I already know.

"Cool your jets brat; he is 18 so I’m sure he can wipe his own ass." I burst out laughing my dad always knew how to cheer me up when I was down.

 

            Finally we pull into the driveway for the Lake House. Brown leaves covered the ground. The car roles to a stop and I let out a deep breath. There is no point of being a brat the whole time; I would only ruin things for myself. I get out of the car and the wilderness air hits my nose. The fresh smell of dirt and flowers; I love that smell. I take a long stretch and walk around the front of the SUV. I stop in front of the grill and look towards the cabin. I do love the one story log cabin style. The moss has taken over the roof and the grass has grown to the bottom of the windows. The cabin is dark inside and looks like a haunted house from the outside. No one has been in for months and leaves cover the wooden porch. The porch swing is swaying and creaking in the warm breeze. I walk up the three steps and get to the front door. I place my hand on the knob and suddenly I feel woozy. Vision of people running out of the cabin in fear rips through my mind. I release the knob and step backing almost falling down the stairs. My Dad notices the fear on my face; "Niki are you ok?" concern is