The Moon Goddess

Chapter Four

I didn’t go out of my room for the rest of the morning. Cole had walked me home in silence and offered to be there for me, but I quickly waved him off, it wasn’t like I could tell him what I had seen. He wouldn’t believe me, and I would probably lose the only friend I had.

While I rushed to my bedroom, I heard him talk to my mother. Whatever he had told her must have made an impact on her because she brought me lunch to my room and didn’t ask me what had happened. She only smiled and gave me a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Somehow, that made me feel much worse. I wished I could say something, but I knew it was for the best to stay quiet and forget what happened. It must have been stress making my imagination go wild. There was no such thing as magical creatures nor wolves the size of bears.

Evangeline, you are losing it, I murmured in my mind as I ate my sandwich in silence, staring at the white wall in front of me.

…

As the days passed, I began to forget what had happened in the library. I still went to the library to work on any idea I could grasp but none seemed good enough and I ended up crushing the sheets of paper into a ball and throwing them into the trash.

It didn’t help that Mrs. Browne kept asking me about my short story after every class. She always raised an eyebrow at every comment I threw her way, she probably thought I wasn’t serious about college and scholarships, but she didn’t press the subject.

Cole was unusually quiet around me after he found me in the library, and even though I was glad he didn’t want to discuss the subject, it was uncomfortable being around him when he was so serious.

He walked me home just like every day and he didn’t invite himself to dinner either. My mother had asked me if everything was alright between us. I quickly agreed and hurried into my room. She called after me, worry in her voice, but I didn’t stop.

…

I spent most of my time locked in my room. I only went out to the library and I made sure to go when there were more people there so that the silence wouldn’t suffocate me. As the days passed, the memory of what had happened in the garden slowly started to fade until I felt more like myself.

I finally decided to write a novel about empowerment, about a young woman’s path to becoming a very important person in society. A person devoted to helping others and to evade chaos at all costs. I enjoyed writing about the character, she was everything I hoped I could once be.

The only problem was that I didn’t know how to continue the story. What would be the c****x that turned her into who she was at the end of the story? What did she have to go through to become that better version of herself?

I sighed; the middle part of the book was the hardest. The sheet of paper crackled loudly under my fingers as it crumbled into a ball and threw it to the trash.

Someone next to me whistled loudly, as if in surprise, and I turned to glare at Cole who had a smirk plastered on his face. “Wow, that makes five in a row. Are you sure you want to write this book?” he asked with amusement in his voice.

I rolled my eyes and hit his shoulder with my fist. He pretended to be hurt as he rubbed his arm and shook his head. “Evangeline, violence gets you nowhere. Now write,” he said with a stern look on his face. I only had one more week to turn this in and it wasn’t near finished. Much less perfect.

“I can’t. I need a break. I’m going home,” I said as I closed my notebook and placed it in my bag along with all of my belongings. Cole rolled his eyes and got up to follow my lead. I stopped in my tracks to turn and look at him once we were at the door. “Don’t worry, I can get home on my own.”

His eyes widened in surprise; he hadn’t expected me to hold him back. Stiffly, he nodded his head and stood his ground. I tried smiling at him, but he didn’t respond, and I walked out of the building. You hurt his feelings, Evangeline, I murmured to myself before rolling my eyes. He’ll get over it. Right now, I just need space to think about ideas.

I walked to my house in no hurry. The streets were practically empty, and I could feel shocked eyes land on me as they noticed me walking by myself. Cole had been walking me home since we were little, and our town was small enough so that people would notice his absence by my side.

Nonchalantly, I walked on, lost in thought. Every idea that popped into my mind was discarded. I didn’t think any of them were good enough to be written about. With all honesty, I never expected this assignment to be this hard.

I had written a couple of short stories; some were on the end of my notebooks, but they weren’t good enough. Maybe I’m not good enough for college, a lingering thought floated in my mind and my blood went cold.

Shaking my head, I tried to think straight and by the time I got home, I was exhausted. From outside, I could see my mother in the kitchen, moving her hands skillfully as she prepared something. She was probably humming, my mom loved to hum when she cooked, especially when she was calm.

I watched her for a moment, considering whether to go in or not and then I headed to the backyard. It had been a long time since I had gone into the forest. I needed something to clear my mind and the forest was the only place I felt right.

With my feet, I took off my shoes and tidily put them by a tree without taking my eyes off the forest in front of me. I felt it calling to me. Like a siren luring their prey in for the killing blow. My father really loved legends and mythology and even though my mother didn’t approve of him telling me those stories, I was glad he did, they kept me on my toes.

Unconsciously, I was already walking forward. I didn’t know what I was looking for nor did I think I had walked in here expecting something. There was just a feeling inside of me burning with the need to go deeper into the forest.

It didn’t come from my gut. Instead, I felt it in my heart, the yearning, the need, and the power of feeling tied and pulled to something. I knew I wasn’t thinking straight, never in my right mind would I ever walk so deep into the forest.

I loved being here, but I respected it and all the animals that inhabited here. My father had always carried a rifle with him every time he took me deeper into the woods. Just in case. He taught me how to use it but I never imagined myself being capable of hurting another living creature.

My father never pushed me. He wasn’t the kind of man who would shoot anything in sight, no. He was loving, empathetic. He is, I corrected myself in my mind. A cold shudder ran down my body as I realized I was already thinking he was dead.

I shook my head to clear the negative thoughts away and kept on walking. It was best not to think of the war when we still didn’t know anything. So, I trekked forward and kept my gaze in front of me.

I didn’t know how long I had been walking. All I knew was that for some reason, I needed to walk further in. I would know when to stop, but until then, I had to keep going.

My feet barely made a sound as they touched the grass and around me, the sounds of birds chirping and squirrels scattering filled me. To my relief, no mysterious or unknown creatures came to view. It was just me and the forest. I didn’t know what I’d do if I saw anything like what I had seen back in the library.

The sun was beginning to get lost behind the branches until only a dim light filled the thickness of the forest. My mother was probably worried sick by now, I had told her I was only going to stay at the library for a couple of hours. I was sure it had been more than a couple of hours.

I would talk to her later, although I doubted she’d understand. Worry about that later, Evangeline, I said with a shrug.

Suddenly, the pull that tugged at my heart stopped me in my tracks. I looked around at my surroundings, but I was alone. And yet, I still felt a jittery sensation inside of me that wouldn’t let me leave or move from where I was standing.

A stick snapping from my left caught my attention and I quickly turned to see what had caused it. My breath hitched and my eyes widened as I saw a big brown wolf coming out from the forest. It was rumbling loudly as it stared at me with big black eyes.

I could feel my chest rising rapidly with each breath I took as I stared in bewilderment at the beast before me. It wasn’t a normal wolf, no, this one was like the one back at the library. The one that was too big to exist. A monster.

Hesitantly, I began to take a couple of steps back and the wolf growled menacingly, causing me to stop in my tracks. He eyed me closely and took several steps forward, his hunches ready to strike. As he neared, all I could think about was the mistake I had made by coming in here. Stupid Evangeline, always wanting answers, I cursed myself as my eyes were glued to the forthcoming wolf.

I opened my mouth, willing all the strength I had inside of me to scream or to yell at the wolf to scare it off, but before any sound could come out of my mouth… there were thunderous footsteps echoing around us. And out of nowhere, my heart began tugging at me again.

Finally, the sound of rampage stopped, and I watched as the wolf in front of me stiffened visibly. He let out a sound that sounded like a growl combined with a whine. Hesitantly, I tried to find an exit but the wolf was still staring daggers at me.

From behind me, I heard someone huff and growl until the wolf in front of me winced and knelt to the ground. Even though the wolf brown wolf in front of me was no longer a threat, I couldn’t help a sarcastic comment to fly past in my mind. Now you are going to be eaten by another, probably bigger and fearsome creature behind you. Great job, Evangeline.

But for some reason, I didn’t feel afraid. On the contrary, I felt at peace and relieved. As if some part deep inside of me knew I was no longer in danger. And even if my mind couldn’t understand it, my heart was racing and tugging at my chest, willing me to turn around to meet the newcomer.

Slowly, I began to turn around, my hair shielded my eyes slightly, but I could see the huge gray wolf standing before me clearly. I gasped and my eyes widened. I had never seen a wolf more beautiful than the one standing in front of me. Its gray fur looked soft and thick at the same time, its paws were a darker shade of gray and its muzzle was almost completely white.

My heart was racing, and I couldn’t understand what was happening. I knew that something had led me here and apparently, the reason was standing here in front of me. My thoughts raced in my mind as it tried to process what was going on. This is too much. I don’t understand. What does this mean?

Tingles ran through my body like sparks and all I wanted was to throw myself at the wolf who was still looking at me with a neutral expression on its face. This has to be a dream, I said to myself.

The wolf let out a rumble and took a step towards me, I yelped in surprise as I felt the electricity cursing through me ignite me like fire.

Suddenly, my vision began to blur, and I started to feel faint. My breathing was ragged and the ground under me started to move. And then, I was falling.