The Moon Curse: 001

THE MOON CURSE

Death……

She had no idea if it was just her, but Shirley could feel she could hear death's voice. Feel it hovering in the atmosphere, with its sharp claws and fangs looking for the next person to take along with her.

She had felt it that night, a few weeks ago, minutes before her best friend died.

Anita……

She had not yet gotten over that. Shirley still heard her voices, distantly as if she was right there with her. In her dreams, she could still see her, beautiful as day, meek and gentle. Blazing blue eyes, her red hair flying and dancing erotically to the breeze, her smile as always illuminating the surrounding.

She still remembered very vividly every single moment with Anita. Her childhood best friend.

Her dances, her laughter, her jokes, even her tears.

Shirley’s heart squeezed painfully and she didn’t try to brush off or ignore the pain. She embraced it. She needed it. She needed to remember what it felt like. The pain of losing a loved one. She needed to hold the pains tightly to her chest, even though it was killing her.

“Shirley?” 

Shirley turned on the bed, turning her back to the door when she heard her mother’s voice.

The door creaked loudly as it opened, and she shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to talk to anyone. Not even her mother.

After a few moments, she heard a loud sigh, then the bed dipped behind her and her mums’ warm hand was on her hair, pushing a strand behind her ear.

Shirley fought to urge to sob at the caress.

“I know you are awake Shirley,” Her mum whispered, still stroking her hair. Shirley said nothing but slowly opened her eyes to stare at the yellow wall before her.

She and Anita had painted this room themselves. The paintings were rough, but she loved the imperfection.

Anita had insisted they do it a week before she died.

She had chosen the color even though Shirley had wanted to go with white.

“Baby, you need to come out of your room. You can’t stay locked up in your room forever”

Oh, but she could. And that was just what she was planning to do.

Because what was the point? 

Everything else felt numb and empty. At least in here, she could feel Anita, hear the whisper of her voice, hear her laughter. She could even see her now, in the chair beside her bed with a romance book in hand, face red eyes dancing mischievously and a beautiful smile on her lips as she got lost in her own fantasy world.

Shirley would tease her endlessly, for her love for…Romance and love.

Never did she imagine that it would be the same thing which would bring the end of her friend. Her obsession, Her heart.

Yes, Anita had fallen deeply in love, but with the wrong person. And that was her own undoing.

Shirley’s heart twinged painfully again and the yellow wall she was staring at intently became blurred by the tears in her eyes.

Her mum sighed again, “Shirley look at me.”

Well she wasn’t going to disobey mother dearest.

She sat up slowly, resting her back on the headboard.

Then she turned her head, and pinned her mother with a hard glare that should say a lot.

But her mother smiled, not slightly bothered about her threatening glare.

Perhaps she needed to work on that. 

“Come on Shirl, you can’t go on like this,” Her mum said, and Shirley could see her worry in the blue eyes she had always envied.

“I know that mum. But for now, I am not ready to let go…. yet”

She would let go when she feels she is ready. For now, there was no better thing to do than to relish the pain, mourn and hate the bastards who had caused her death.

She would get her revenge. They were all going to pay one way or the other. They definitely would. No way was Shirley gonna let this slide.

She owed it to her friend.

“I am not trying to stop you from mourning. But you have been doing that for three weeks now, you haven’t stepped out of your room, you don’t eat…much. Look at how swollen your eyes are. Come on Shirley”

Everything her mother was saying was sliding in through one ear, and directly leaving through the other.

Oh, she was listening, but she wasn’t digesting.

Her mother doesn’t understand what it means to lose the only sibling you have ever known.

Twenty-two years of memories keep replaying in her head, making the pain worse and when she felt it couldn’t get worse than that, the memories of their whispered promises would come swirling back, crushing Shirley’s heart. They still had so much planned to do.

“Are you going to keep staring at me or will you say something?” Her mum snapped, her eyes blazing already.

“Mum,” Shirley called, forcing a smile, “I promise I'll be fine. I will be out later tonight. But honestly I need to be left alone”

She carefully avoided her mother’s glare and laid back down on the bed, covering herself to the head with her blanket.

The bed shifted again, followed by the creaking sound of the door.

Then her mum whispered, “I understand your pain perfectly Shirley. But trust me on this, you wouldn’t do Anita any good like this.”

Then the door closed again.

Shirley frowned. Do Anita any good……

She hated to admit it, but Her mum was fucking right. 

Locking herself up in this room wouldn’t solve a thing.

The only thing that could make her feel better was if Anita’s killer was suffering like her. Or better, dead.

With a freshly resolved ambition, Shirley got down the bed.

Luckily, Anita had always spoken about her lover.

Drake….

But not for once did she mention that he was a werewolf.

Why would she?

She knew that it was not accepted. She knew that, yet she didn’t listen. She didn’t listen to the words of her grandma. The stories they have been told since she was a child.

Werewolves were bad news.

Where on earth did Anita come across one?

Heart burning with a new type of fire, Shirley changed into a red gown and left the room.

And as she descended the wooden stairs, she contemplated different ways she could make Drake suffer. How she would find him too.

Did he know what happened to Anita?

Did he know that his betrayal had driven the most beautiful soul on earth to take her own life with the unborn child she was carrying?

She bet he must be enjoying his life right now with his girlfriend while they had to suffer and bear the pain inflicted by the loss.

Well not for long. He would suffer. He definitely would.

Shirley would personally make sure of that.

She went into the kitchen, ignoring her mother and uncle who were in some sort of heated argument. 

Those two were always arguing about something.

They stopped talking and stared at her with wide eyes, as she went straight to the cupboard and pulled out her pearl globe. A gift she had gotten from her grandma on her fifteenth birthday.

“Where are you going?” Her mother asked, following her out of the kitchen.

“I have a fucking werewolf to find” She responded, and snapped around when her mum held her arm to stop her.

“Don’t even try to stop me momma.” 

“I’m not trying to stop you Shirley. Whatever you have in mind, they have to pay for what happened to Anita,” 

Shirley raised her brow, shocked and her mum smiled. “But I think there’s something you need to know first” She sighed and dropped Shirley’s arm

“Shirley cursed them before she died. With her last breath she performed a spell and bound it with the life of her unborn child. She sacrificed him…”

Shirley’s vision became blurry again. She didn’t know about that.

“She…” Her mother’s breath hitched, “she tied him to the moon. Just him though. He won’t be able to roam the earth as a human for two weeks straight. He would be trapped in his wolf form, with no hold on his humanity, for every first two weeks of the month”

A breath of relief left Shirley in a rush. Relief that at least he was not without his suffering.

Werewolves took pride in their strength as wolves. Not being able to access and control that form when they wanted had to be a nightmare, innit?

Good, good.

That brought Shirley a little peace. 

Without another word to her mum, whose cheeks were now wet with tears, she left the house.

She still needs to find the bastard.