Chapter 1

TIMELESS: MOONBOUND CHAPTER 1

THE MOON

AILEEN’S POV

“In the last three days, odd creatures have been seen wandering around the edges of the Red Bloom forest and three people have also gone missing. The government has asked every citizen to avoid the forest and if possible, the forest will be barricaded….” The television went out just before the news anchor could finish her words and everyone, by everyone, I mean the two people, other than me who was in the same place as me glared at me.

“What the hell did you do that for, Aileen?” Lyon, a fellow coworker yelled at me as I switched off the television and literally broke the remote in my hands, I was shocked, but I didn’t show it. I glanced at Lyon who shrunk under my gaze and his behind Berry who was surprised at my insane strength.

“What the heck is wrong with you these days? You’ve been cranky, odd and you just fucking broke the remote control! That’s the fifth remote control you have broken in the past two days!” Lyon mumbled from behind Berry who was still gaping at me. She wasn’t supposed to be shocked because just like Lyon said, I have destroyed five remote controls.

“Are you okay? Are you scared cause of the news? The forest is the way to your house isn’t it? Would you like to stay with me for a while, I can…”

“No need, I’m leaving by myself.” Neither of them got an answer from me as I threw the pieces of the broken remote into the trash can, took my bags and walked out of the door. The moment I opened the door, the door knob broke and with a frustrated groan, I threw the knob on the door and walked out of the café. I could hear their voices speaking about me and how grumpy I had been this week, I knew I was grumpy, but as for the reason why? I have no idea.

I stopped walking and raised my head to stare at the sky, “It’s a full moon tonight.” The moon shone with so much brilliance and purity, it called me and I longed to stay right next to it. I stretched my hands forward and tried to grasp the brilliance but everything just seemed to slip past me. I had always had a certain and deep fascination with the moon since when I was a kid.

I sighed and put my hands down to continue walking.

“She looks lonely, mommy.” Someone said from behind me and I chuckled. Lonely, yeah right. I walked faster as the mother asked the child to keep quiet, I wasn’t interested in hearing someone else’s conversation, even though I never fully intended to hear it, my ears were just sensitive.

“Huh?” A whoosh sounded right next to me and I raised my head. I had actually walked all the way to the forest. I bit my lips and turned around to leave when I heard a loud thud, it sounded like someone had fallen. I frowned, took a step back, and another, until I was a few feet away from the entrance of the forest but, a guttural growl and shrill screams echoed in the forest, I heard it.

I froze; more like my feet wasn’t able to move because I was scared. The growls went on for about a few minutes before it completely stopped, the screams stopped as well. Everything became silent, and I deemed it okay to move and I quickly moved around to run but a hands suddenly sneaked around my waist and a low voice growled in my ears, “Oi, what do we have here? A woman who delivered herself to me, I think you’ll taste nice.”

I gasped, my eyes widened and my body began to tremble. His scent… It wasn’t like the smell of other humans; it was unlike something I have never smelled before. I could not quite describe it, but it was… not good.

“Why are you trembling so much?” The man asked, and he removed his cold hands from my waist and then his cold fingers touched my chin, I shivered. He chuckled and when I raised my head to look at him, green silted eyes stared back at me. In shock and maybe fear, I pushed him away from me. Due to the force at which I used to push him, he flew back a few feet away from me and crashed into a wall, a sickening crack filled the air.

I didn’t wait, I started running. However, I made a mistake. You see, I never had a good sense of direction, and since I was panicking it was even worse. Instead of running away from the forest, I ran into the forest and went deeper into the abyss. Huge mistake, right?

I could hear the man stand up and he coughed out blood, I knew that the hit could have shattered his organs but he didn’t even stop to rest and he started to pursue me! That guy isn’t human! Well, his green snake like eyes could have convinced me that he wasn’t human and his speed as well, he was right behind me!

I panted as I ran through the forest, from the corner of my eyes, I could see the shadowy creature that followed me or rather, pursued me so relentlessly.

“Fuck, fuck!” I cursed myself for being so stupid but what could I do now? I slipped, slipped down a slope and a soundless scream escaped from my mouth as I rolled down. I gasped when a sharp pain shot through my legs, my left foot was sprained.

“No shit.” I groaned and grasped the tree beside me. Why isn’t anything going my way? Why is everything fucking giving me an issue these days?  I stood up slowly, I didn’t make a sound and I dragged myself towards the east side of the forest but as I slowly moved, a rustle sounded to my left. Was it him? Has he gotten here so quickly?

No, it’s not him. The smell was different from the rotten smell that guy emitted, and apart from that, the area smelled like death. Death? Yeah, that’s the best description of the smell. The rustling continued, and I was curious, curious to know what the smell was so I looked back and on the ground, there were three highschoolers on the ground, dead.

Their bags were so far from their body and half of their body was torn and strewn about the field. Their intestines were missing and half of their limbs had been torn off from their body, and it was nowhere in sight. I gulped and looked a little bit away from the children and the first thing that greeted me was silver eyes, sliver eyes which reminded me of one thing… The moon.

I signed in relief and was about to ask the man for help but the more I looked into his silver eyes, I could feel fire coursing through my heart. My heart started thumping against my ribcage and a tingle went through my spine, my eyes began to hurt and everything I saw was bright. My icy blue eyes glowed and I placed my hands over my chest in pain.

“I… It hurts.” I whimpered and slowly fell to the ground. I could see the man walking towards me and I could also feel him take me in his cool arms. His strong arms cooled my burning skin and gradually, my eyes went dark. Even though my skin didn’t burn anymore, my heart felt painful and extremely hot. It was hot and painful, just like that day.

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“No… No, no, no!” I stood up abruptly from my bed and fell to the ground. I panted heavily and looked around, surprised to find myself in my room. I wanted to stand up but my legs felt very weak, and my vision was blurry. What happened? The last thing I remembered was seeing those children on the ground, silver eyes, pain and then… silver eyes? How could there be silver…

“Ugh!” My chest caught on fire again. The feeling had returned and this time, I felt worse. A sharp pain went through my head and I buried my head in my lap to lay in a fetal position. It was so painful.

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JOSHUA’S POV

“How did she disappear?” Xander queried, his eyes was fixed on the empty clearing in front of him. I shrugged; I still felt the feel of her hot skin in my own arms. She was so hot that even I was scared that something might happen to her. I knelt down to examine the field, the wolves behind me howled in response to my movements.

“Go back.” My wolves went back immediately. I scooped up a bit of the sand and sniffed it. It smelled of power, electrical power that could easily destroy a person. I glanced at Xander and the burnt patch of his skin, it wasn’t healing.

“She hit you?” Xander nodded and replied, “She got scared and threw me against the wall with her powers, it didn’t seem like she could control it but she wasn’t surprised, as if she expected her powers.”

“Hm… I see.” I hummed deeply and nodded, “Look for her.”

“Why?” Xander asked me and I shrugged, “Why? Cause she is my mate.”