Apocalyptic Moon
- Prelude -

Night had drawn its blanket of darkness over the sky and with it came the silence. Only the faint glow of the moon seemed to make a sound whenever its silver traces touched the ground. The world was at peace, an illusion which would be destroyed as soon as the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon. But humanity was more than willing to fall for that deception as it erased all thoughts of pain and agony. It made the real world disappear, a world ruled by war and hate. Ever since the beginning of the new millennium, the situation had become worse. The progress was slow at first, not clearly visible but with the time the pace sped up and before someone could actually do anything against it, the world faced a new reality. An appalling reality. Among criminals the readiness for violent actions had reached its peak, making murders as normal as the daily weather forecast. The police, the so-called defenders of justice, was no longer able to prevent crimes of any kind. They couldn't even expect any help from the governments dued to the tension between the world's nations which resulted into senseless wars ever so often. Somehow violence had become the only way to get one's will. Blood was shed, innocent souls were killed. Every being in the world knew the feeling of losing someone dear through a violent death. And despite all the pain they tried to create a perfect world for themselves, desperately holding onto something surreal. To forget even if it was for just a few minutes. And that responsibility laid in the hands of those who had chosen to lead a life in the colorful world of the circus. They did their best to isolate all depression and to make people smile. If only it was just for one evening, it was better to have felt truely happy once during a lifetime than never. And with that thought in mind, all members of the existing circus families gave their very best ever single day. On that precious evening, the traditional circus Rêve Aile had just ended its first performance in Paris, a very good to be exact. It had been years since they had last performed in France even if that nation was the chosen home of the circus family around their head Claude Lucroix. But all other nations deserved just as much attention, no matter in which part of the world they were located. As different as the surroundings might be, the feelings of the people were the same everywhere just like the task the circus family had to fulfil. To make the world smile. For every performance they all put their heart and soul into each projects and their success proved them that they were following the right path. But now exhaustion had replaced the signs of happiness. Embraced by the night's warmth, all members of Rêve Aile were lying in their beds inside the trailers and slept peacefully, dreaming of a bright future. All expect for a young man who was twisting under his thin bedsheets which were soaked with sweat. His head with the unruly black hair fell from one side to the next, the hands clenched the sheets as if he wanted to tear them to pieces. It was more than obvious that a nightmare was bothering his sleep. A nightmare which awoke the dark memories of a past which he thought had never existed. Every day he prayed that they wouldn't come back to torture him further but it was all in vain. They came and grew more intense in process. They were so incredible real, making the want to scream out loud inside of him grow. But he had kept quite until now. He didn't want to make his beloved ones upset by such actions. But even so, his self-control was slipping with every second the nightmare continued. So incredible real, so incredible horrific.

Pain. That was all he could feel. The intense feeling dripped through every fibre of his being, leading to weakness and immobility. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't move. No part of his body reacted to the furious demands of his mind. And so he remained still, waiting for his body to regain part of its power. Instead he tried to recall how he had ended up like that. Just minutes ago, he had been on his way home from the supermarket along with his parents. He had been carrying a large packet of icecream, careful not to drop it, and his father had joked about the packet being nearly bigger than himself when they passed a dark sidewalk. An incredible icy wind brushed over his body and then .... nothing. Whatever had happened, he couldn't remember, no matter how hard he tried. The pain had lost its intensity, leaving only a great headache. And the taste of something metallic inside his mouth. His mind focused and he realized that it was blood. Slowly he raised his right hand to his lips, only to feel something wet and sticky. Drying blood. He let his hand drop again and let his confused mind wander. Where did this blood come from? Just then another thought shot through him. His parents. He had been with him so they had to be around somewhere. But then, why didn't he hear someone breathing or moving? His instinct told him that they were no longer able to give any sign of their prescence but he didn't want to believe that. Recollecting all of his power, he opened his eyes which revealed a scenery to him which was too hard to take. Blood and pieces of flesh everywhere. And in the middle of that the mutilated dead body of his beloved mother. Despite all pain, he got up into a sitting position, staring to his side in disbelief.
"Mum ...."
A nightmare, it just had to be a nightmare. But if it was, why did he feel so alive, so real? Looking down he noticed his own torn and bloody clothes. And a necklace way too big for him, moving silently from one side to the other, graced with a small red stone. The necklace his mother always wore. His eyes trailed back to the lifeless body beside him and he could feel tears blurring his view.
"Mum ...."
The salty substance ran down his face in neverending lines. He didn't know what had happened but whatever it was, it had been a horrific incident which had taken both of his parents away from him. His voice increased in its intensity, developing a sound of sadness which could tear a heart apart.
"Mum!"
And the world was black once again.

With a scream, the young man shot up in his bed. His red eyes were wide open, clearly showing the horror he had experienced throughout the nightmare. Drops of sweat curled down his bare chest, glittering in the moonlight which shone through the windows. The beat of his heart didn't want to slow down, it remained at its pace as if it wanted to be ready to switch into fighting mode. He raised a hand to his chest and slowly increased the intervals between each breath he took in order to calm it down. These nightmares were taking more of his energy as any performance could. At first they had come at random and he had accepted them as normal. Everyone had a nightmare from time to time but they disappeared into nothing once the sun raised again. But his nightmares returned every single night. Whenever he closed his eyes he saw the same horrible scenery, felt the same pain and heard the same voices. They screamed at him, demanded him to finally realize who he truely was. A groan escaped his throat as he shook his head. He had realized his true heritage long ago when he was still a young teenager. And even if he couldn't accept it in any way, he had learned to live with it. By keeping it a secret from the entire world, even all of his beloved ones among the circus family. Though, he kept on asking himself how long he could keep up that act. Certain desires within himself were growing stronger with every single day and it became more difficult to ignore them. To act as if they didn't exist. But one can never ignore things when you're confronted with them every day from anew. Yet, he had to try. His hand touched the necklace he wore, running over its form down to the small garnet pendant. It was the same one as in the nightmare, the only thing reminding him from his mother whose face he had forgotten long ago. With a sigh he dropped back onto the bed and threw his wet bedsheets onto the ground. Moon knew how badly he needed the sleep and he wasn't willing to give up on that just because of some nightmare. His eyes closed and soon he was floating in the emptiness of a dreamless sleep. Outside the moon's glow increased for a short moment, adding a red touch to the silver traces. And as soon as it had come, it disappeared under the blanket of darkness.