Moonlight

April 12th 2027, Waxing Gibbous

He blinked blearily as the last rays of the setting sun softly burned his eyelids. He sat up and gazed out the window, its glass greyed by the constant pollution in the air. The silhouette of towering skyscrapers was stark against the sky, lit momentarily by golden sunlight before finally fading away to black. He swung his legs out of bed and prepared himself for a long night.

Usually he wouldn’t wake up until the moon had fully risen, but tonight was the night before full moon and he was restless. He picked up a crisp white envelope from his bedside table and opened it, pulled out the piece of paper and scanned over the tiny print. He needn’t bother; he basically had it memorised.

“Three years ago the Department of Infectious Diseases discovered a mutated strain of rabies, those infected with it acquired animalistic qualities, a severe allergy to silver and gradually developed nocturnal sleeping patterns. Various attempts in curing the disease were unsuccessful; the test patients’ conditions rapidly degenerated until the subjects bore little to no human resemblance. The severity of their condition was linked to the waxing and waning of the moon, leading to the common name taken from old myths and legends; ‘lycanthropes’.’”

It went on to describe how lycanthropes were devoid of all emotion save for a thirst for human blood, how once someone was bitten and infected they were no longer the person they used to be but a monster, a beast that it was paramount to be controlled. It was all rubbish of course, but it was his word against theirs. Fear had a history of causing people to come to unjust conclusions.

“As a carrier of the highly dangerous disease lycanthropy, I accept all responsibility for any harm I cause during the night of April 11th 2027 and give the Department of Infectious Diseases leave to take necessary action if a situation in which harm is caused should arise.”

‘Necessary action’ was, of course, their way of saying ‘extermination.’ Nevertheless he scribbled his name on the dotted line beneath the paragraph and headed out of the squalor of his apartment towards the nearest department office.

Selene Wolfe grinned at her nervous friend. “You honestly believe me don’t you?” she said, suppressing a laugh, “You’re the most gullible person I know.”

“Hey! It’s not funny,” the girl replied, but even so she was smiling.

“Oh no, Emily! Of course not!” Selene said sarcastically, “This building really is haunted by the spirit of a serial killer!”

“Well it sounds silly when you say it like that.” Emily said, trying to defend herself, “But you sounded so serious and not to mention this place creeps me out.”

Selene waved her hand dismissively, “Creepy shmeepy, that’s just an illusion of the moonlight. Admit it Em, if someone told you pigs could fly you’d believe them.”

Just as Emily was about to reply a cry of pain ripped through the air, echoing throughout the cavernous room.

“What was that?” Emily whispered fearfully.

Selene shook her head, to frightened to say anything.

There was a low growl followed by the sound of wood splintering on a hard surface. Instinctively she grabbed Emily’s arm and ran as fast as she could in what she hoped was the direction of the exit. There was another crash, another growl, and this time much closer.

“Selene!” Emily screamed as she tripped and fell onto the concrete ground.

Selene was running so fast it took her a few moments to stop. The wall between them was reduced to rubble as a huge figure burst right through it. For a moment all was quiet, then the creature let out an inhuman howl that raised the hairs on the back of her neck and sent shivers down her spine. Her eyes widened in shock, ‘lycanthrope.’ It took a step toward Emily, who lay sprawled on the ground, frozen in her terror.

“RUN!” Selene cried out shrilly.

Emily didn’t need to be told twice, she sprung from the floor and bolted through the door, heavy footsteps echoing like gunshots in the night. The lycanthrope swivelled around at the sound of her voice, it growled low and bared its fangs. Selene backed away hurriedly coming into contact with a concrete wall, she gulped and stared petrified into its predatory gaze.

Selene stared at her feet as she sat in a small holding cell of the Department of Infectious Diseases. So much had happened since she woke up, surrounded by the whitewashed walls of her temporary home. After having the bite wound in her arm treated she had endured hours of being talked about as if she weren’t there and having people refer to her as ‘beast’ or ‘monster.’

The door to her cell suddenly opened, a girl her own age stepped through.

“Emily!” she cried and ran towards her friend, she’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life. But Emily stepped back fearfully and cried out for the guard. Selene stopped in her tracks, staring unbelievingly into the look of fear and sadness in her former friend’s eyes. The guard grabbed Emily, pulling her out of the room and giving Selene a look of revulsion before leaving himself.

She sank back down to the floor. She was alone. Emily, her best friend since she could remember, was now lost to her. Her own family would reject her out of fear. Nothing would ever be the same again. She would be treated as a monster for the rest of her life, however long that was. But she didn’t feel any different; apart from the pain in her arm she felt exactly the same as she had before her encounter with the lycanthrope. She didn’t feel like a monster. She felt like herself.

She caught herself wondering about the man who bit her. What was he like before he was bitten? Did he have friends? A family? Did he swear when the electricity cut out or cry when a loved one died? Did he like coffee or tea? Or did he only ever drink water? She suddenly wanted to know everything about him, from his shoe size to his favourite ice-cream flavour.

“Guard!” she called, hoping he would answer.

The guard who’d taken Emily away stuck his head back into the room and grunted.

“The man who bit me, what was his name?”

“Its name was Monster,” he spat.

She bit her lip, and voiced her other question, one she was dreading the answer of. “What happened to him?” she asked in a small voice.

The guard suddenly smiled, “No need to worry about that, necessary action was taken. Don’t upset yourself over it, I’m sure you’ll see the beast soon.”

Selene felt anger boil her blood, she growled and barred her teeth, hands balling into tight fists. The guard paled and was out of the room in a flash, door locked tightly.

It wasn’t fair. Such hate directed towards people like her, who were just as human as anyone else. A man murdered for his actions during a night in which he couldn’t control himself. They should be helping them not hunting them!

‘You’ll never be able to change things. You’re nobody. You can’t possibly make a difference,’ a snide voice in her head said.

She smiled.

“Watch me.”