Heart Of the Luna

Dahlia's POV:

I looked around cautiously, when it suddenly got too quiet. My friends had been here just a while ago and now, it felt like I was all alone in the middle of a big forest.

I decided to try again but just as I opened my mouth to call out for Jessica, I heard the sound of a twig breaking. I spun around immediately and...

...there was no one in sight!

Things were speedily turning creepy and goosebumps started to appear on my body as a bad feeling crawled into my stomach. I breathed heavily, my heart drumming thunderously against my chest.

"Hello?" I called out on impulse. I don't know what my brain was thinking, maybe I was hoping that Jeff or the girls were going to come out and say: "tada! We pranked you!" But the way I was seeing it, none of that was going to be happening anytime soon!

I turned around, getting ready to run in the opposite direction, when I heard it.

"Help me..."

It came as a soft whisper. No matter how I wanted to deny hearing it, my legs remained rooted to the ground. Slowly, very slowly, I spun around to see a young lady who looked scared and in pain. Her forehead dripped of blood and there was a cut on her lower lip. She was pale and staggered around helplessly.

I subconsciously took a few steps back to keep my distance from the woman, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Help me," She whispered again.

"Who are you? What are you doing out here alone in the forest?" I asked with caution, fear seizing my whole being.

The lady writhed in pain, and my fear vanished, giving way for concern. "Are you hurt?" I asked, inspecting her body for any sign of injury or bleeding. I couldn't help the gasp that escaped my lips, when I found blood dripping from her stomach. I took a closer look and that was when I noticed that her shirt had been torn and she had a deep cut on her lower abdomen.

"Oh my God!" I yelled in shock. "What happened to you? What could have caused so much blood?"

The lady opened her mouth and closed it again, her pants coming off faster as she battled to retain consciousness.

There was no time to waste, I needed to act fast! I went to help her up, but then paused, wondering if to have her permission before touching her. "Do you mind me taking you to the hospital? You already have lost a great quantity of blood!"

I went to help the strange lady up, but then she grabbed my arm. "No, there is no time. She is coming for me! She'll kill me too, just like how she killed my parents!"

I looked at her in disbelief, completely stunned by what she was saying. I went to get away from her, but she held me back.

"Look, I beg you, you have to help me. I don't trust Keva, she killed everyone, now she is coming for me. "

Okay, that's it!

“Slow down, will you? I don't understand any of what you just said. First of all, who are you? Who is Keva? And why does she wanna kill you, by the way?” I asked.

“My name is Alina, I am the princess of the blue moon clan. Keva is my foster sister, she's evil and she wants my heart! She wants my stone so she can take the throne from me and she can't do it without having my stone. I can't let that happen!”

It sounded surreal, don't you think? It sounded like something which came right out of a movie. I stared down at the lady, who was looking at me with hope filled eyes. And with much reluctance, I asked: “So where do I come in in all of these, how does any of these concern me?”

The lady released a sigh, her features morphing into that of great relief. “Keva will destroy everything and everyone in the twinkle of an eye and I can't let that happen!” She then kept a straight face, looking me dead in the eyes. “I need you to kill me, kill me before she gets to me. Please!”

Had the lady begged me to kill her? What actually happened to humans being scared of death? It could either go two ways: I probably had a wrong perception about how the world worked or... I was standing here and talking to a raving mad woman!

What to do now! Think Dahlia, think!”

The flight alarm kept ringing in my head and all I could think of was to bolt from here and run far away from the strange lady. But then, I looked down at her bleeding wound, the sight making me cringe. I couldn't leave her here to bleed and die, my conscience wouldn't give me a break, not for the rest of my life!

"Listen,” I started to say. “I don't understand what you are saying and I have no will in me to, but we have to get you to a hospital immediately! You might soon pass out from all the blee—”

“No! You listen to me,” Alina interjected. “I do not have much time, you are my only hope! I'd rather you become Luna instead of Keva, go ahead and kill me! Please, you have to do this for me,” she pleaded.

I had had enough by now. I took a few steps away from her. “You are out of your mind Alina, I think it was a waste of time standing here and talking to you. I guess you don't need my help after all, have a lovely afternoon!”

With that, I turned around, trying to get away from ‘crazy Alina’ as fast as I could, and go in search of my friends. I'd just taken a step and when I tried to take another, my legs wouldn't budge. It was like; they were glued to the forest ground.

Fear seized me and I began to panic, traitorous tears sneaking their way into my eyes. I tried one more time and yes; my legs didn't even try to lift.

My eyes widened in realization and I turned around immediately, there she sat with her hands in the air. She was muttering some incoherent words and her eyes... they were changing!

Just as they'd started to turn darker, they immediately cleared and stared at me with pity swirling in her them. “Apologies...,” she whispered.

"W....what have you done to me?" I stuttered in horror, not even realizing that my voice was trembling and my whole body became as stiff as a board. Alina began coming closer and I began screaming. “No... don't come any closer! Please, don't hurt me!”

The tears kept falling and soon, I was full on sobbing. Alina finally made it to me and I just stood there helplessly, shaking like a dry leaf.

"I am sorry,” she said. “I have got no choice but to do this.” With that, she grabbed me firmly by the arm, her brown eyes beginning to glow a bright green, her canines shooting out.

I let out a frightened shriek, but before I could help myself, she sank her teeth into my flesh, eliciting a loud scream from me. My arm was on fire, it shook violently from the excruciating pain and my legs gave out under me. I fell on her back, staring up at Alina's face which was gradually becoming blurry.

The tears hadn't stopped, they kept coming as I struggled to pull myself away from her reach. I was too scared, shocked even, to ask any questions.

Alina ignored me. She dipped her hand into her chest and amazingly, it went through. When she brought it out, she had a shiny stone in her palm. It illuminated, the blinding light leaving me in awe. It got better however; I looked at her hand and she had not a single drop of blood on it!

I watched silently, as Alina immersed the stone into my heart and I would be lying if I said I did feel even a prick of pain. I felt normal, like some strange person hadn't just deposit a stone in my body.

I was still in deep shocked by what Alina had done. What was happening now could only be regarded as a nightmare, if only where she'd bitten me, still wasn't stinging so bad!

Alina gave me a warm smile. “I’m sorry, but I had no choice. Keva has left me with no choice...” She grunted, placing her palm over her stomach injury(that was still bleeding seriously).

“Did you just put a stone in me?” I asked disbelievingly, hoping she'd rebuke my assumption—but she nodded. “Oh fuck my life, I'm dead now!”

She ignored me.

“This stone will lend you strength, it will serve as a guide for you.” She paused, a sullen look clouding her face. “However, I truly am sorry for the endless disaster it will bring to you in the future, for now, I have no choice.”

I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.

“I mean it!” She grabbed my arm, pulling me off the ground. “Please forgive me. You have to go now, we can't afford Keva seeing you, it'd ruin everything...”

“But why me?!” I whined, my tears flowing down to mixed with the fluids that had left my nose. I sniffed, wiping my nose with the back of my hand. “I don't want to be part of all these, I just want to find my friends and go home!”

“This is your destiny, Dahlia, it isn't a coincidence that we met. It was foretold but I never understood the prophecy...now I do.”

“What prophecy?” I asked curiously.

“The moon goddess revealed that I was to be ruler of the three clans, but then she also warned: ‘beware of the evil that hovers around you, or it may devour you’. I never understood what she meant until today, If only I knew...” She sobbed, as she rested her back against a tree.

“Uh... Who is the moon goddess?”

“You’d soon find out,” she replied coolly.

Suddenly, it felt like I had become one with her. I could all of a sudden hear Alina's heart beating and when I focused, I noticed it was beating right beside my own heart. I opened my mouth to ask, but my tongue chose to betray me.

I couldn't utter a word!

“Your body is changing,” Alina stated, frantically looking around. “You can't transform here, leave...” I just stood there, my legs not wanting to cooperate with Alina's words. “Now!”

I remained standing. “Transform?” I asked, expressing my confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked again, but Alina ignored me.

“Get out of here, now!”

I took a few frightened steps backwards, but did I run? I doubt so, don't you?

“You have to leave,” Alina growled. When she realized I had no intentions on leaving, she nodded challenging at me. “I see you're a stubborn one, aren't you? Let's see if this will change your mind.”

Alina's body began changing and my eyes widened, when the sound of bones cracking reach my ears. Alina's dress gradually fell off her body. I watched with wide eyes and a trembling body, as the horrifying sight unfolded before me.

Slowly, strange animal hair began to protrude from Alina's body. She no longer had the face of a human but that of a beast, her hands and feet had claws and was covered in animal fur.

I couldn't fathom the sight! I wanted to run from here and never look back, but my feet had different plans for me. By now, Alina had completely turned into a..a... I don't know what that thing was! And I on the other hand, was a few seconds from peeing my pants.

I peered directly into those monstrous, green eyes that emanated nothing but fury, as Alina's beast form approached me. She roared, and who knew I could run so fast?

With all my might and agility, I borrowed Kenyan legs and was sprinting away, faster than anyone could say the word: ‘run’!