Blue Moon

Blue Moon

“We’ve got a cloudless evenin’ ahead of us, folks. Temperature’s gonna be droppin’ below zero, so be sure to bundle up,” the radio declared from behind the counter.
Molly wasn’t listening to the broadcast. She was browsing through the shelves, looking for hand warmers. She had come up here woefully unequipped for the harsh climate, not having much time to prepare. Death was never convenient.
When Molly found what she was looking for, she hurried to the cashier, an elderly man with faint wisps of hair dangling over his ears. She put her supplies on the counter and when the man scanned her items, she could’ve sworn she heard his skinny arms creak, like an unoiled hinge.
“Tourist?” Molly started at the voice, yanked out of her train of thought.
“Oh, is it that easy to tell?” she flustered. “Uhm, yes, I’m visiting a relative.”
“Helluva time to visit.” It was late January.
“Yes, well, it couldn’t wait,” Molly explained. “Actually, maybe you can help me. I’ve been having the hardest time finding her address. Her name is Cassandra Rinski..?”
The old man thought for a moment, then smiled. “Well sure, you must mean Sandy! Lives out in the pines, trappin’ furs and huntin’ elk. Saw ‘er just the other day with a moose in ‘er pickup. Let me write you the directions.”
“I think you must be confused, sir. Cassandra didn’t hunt.”
“Well, she’s the only ‘Cassandra’ I know in this town, and Greybright innit big. You want these directions?”
Molly sighed. “Yes, I suppose.”
Once the instructions were written and the groceries paid for, Molly trudged outside to her rental, a ‘97 SUV rigged with snow tires. This far north, there was always a layer of white on the ground.
She got in, yanked her gloves off with her teeth, and stuck a hand warmer in each. She turned the key three times before the engine decided to turn over. Once it was running, Molly swerved out of the empty parking lot and headed east.
As she drove away from the modest town, trees joined the electric poles in their vertical domain, groves of sturdy pines thickening into forest. She drove half an hour before turning onto a gravel road, coated in fresh salt.
The gravel did not agree with the old car’s suspension, and seemed intent on tossing her out of her seat. Even so, she bravely stayed the course. This was important.
After a good two miles, she came to a clearing in the firs. About an acre of open space, at the center of which stood an unimpressive cabin with a rusting Ford pickup sitting out front. A large, lumpy black bag laid on the bed. Molly tried not to look at it.
There were no lights on in the house, and there was no sign of Cassandra on the immediate property. Molly scanned the area for some clue, and was quickly rewarded with the tracks of what could only be a snowmobile, heading south on an unmarked path.
She sighed and flicked on the radio, playing with the tuner until she found a station, an island nestled in a sea of static. It was an oldies station. Sinatra.
“Blue moon… you saw me standing alone… without a dream in my heart… without a love of my own...”

Molly awoke to harsh rapping on her window. She blinked into consciousness and found a heavily bundled Cassandra glaring at her from the other side of the glass, her blue eyes flashing.
“What are you doing here?”
	“I could ask the same of you, Cassandra,” replied Molly.
	Cassandra breathed out, a cloud of fog momentarily obscuring her face. “Alright, alright, come in I guess.”
	“Thank you.” Molly slipped out of her rental and followed Cassandra to the house. When they reached the door, Cassandra opened it without a key.
“You didn’t lock it?!” exclaimed Molly.
	Cassie shrugged. “No reason to. Hardly anyone comes up here.”
They walked into the house. Cassie shed her coat, gloves, and snow pants, revealing pairs of heavily muscled arms and legs, along with callused hands. She let the layers off easily, routinely.
	Molly took longer, fidgeting with her gloves and getting her arms stuck in the jacket’s reversed sleeves.
	Cassie guided her guest to a worn out sofa, plopping down with a muffled thump. “You’re gonna have to be out of here by four at the latest,” she warned, gesturing to a nearby clock. It was 3:15. “Got stuff going on tonight.”
	“Hello to you too,” huffed Molly, opting to stand. “What great hospitality!”
	“I never asked you come up here. In fact, it must’ve been a real hassle finding me. What the hell are you doing here?”
	“We see each other for the first time in two years, and this is how you greet me? Honestly, you seemed flustered when you left, but I didn’t expect… I didn’t expect this! Hunting? What are you doing hunting? It would’ve broken my Cassie’s heart!”
	“Why are you here?” Cassie repeated, her face hard.
	Molly clamped her mouth shut, on the verge of tears. “Mom… she passed on last week.”
	Cassie froze. “What?”
	Molly sat down on the sofa, hugging herself tight. “It was a heart attack. She was doing laundry. When Dad got home, she was facedown on the floor. He called the ambulance. She was already gone. Her funeral was Tuesday.”
	Cassie jawed, lost for words. She got up and walked to the window. She stared outside for a long time, leaving her sister to stifle her tears on the couch. After a few minutes, she found her voice. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
	Molly spun towards her, glaring daggers. “Yes, you should have been there. We needed you. Dad needed you. Carl needed you. I needed you, Cassandra! Maybe if you left us an address, you could’ve attended!”
	“I said I was sorry.”
	“Well, I guess that’s it then. “ Molly sighed, wiping her face. “Now, I have tickets for a return trip tomorrow. We’ve got to be in Nome by seven, or we’ll miss–”
	“I can’t go.”
	“What?”
	“I said I can’t go. I’m sorry, but I have responsibilities.”
	Molly rubbed her temples, as if she had a headache. “Let me get this straight. You leave with no explanation. Our mom dies, you miss her funeral. And now, you won’t come to the reading of her will.”
	Cassie was silent.
	“You have nothing to say? Nothing!?”
	“Listen, it would be better for everyone if I just staye–”
	“FUCK THAT! Dad’s a wreck, and you were always his favorite! For his sake, you are coming, even if I have to drag you down there!”
	“It’s not that I don’t want to come, it’s just that–”
	“You have ‘responsibilities,’” Molly sneered. “To hell with your responsibilities here, you have responsibilities to your family! Remember, the people you left without leaving a note, a phone call, a fucking address!”
	“I didn’t have a choice,” Cassie muttered remorsefully.
	“You didn’t have a choice about turning from my sister into some stuck-up, redneck bitch?”
	Cassie’s entire demeanor changed in an instant. “DON’T CALL ME THAT!” she roared, advancing on her sister. “DON’T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT WORD!”
	Molly shrank against the couch, prey cornered by an angry predator. Cassie’s nostrils flared. Her fingers dug into her palm, drawing blood. Frothy spit flew from her lips.
	Suddenly, Cassie glanced at her watch. Her composure was back in an instant. A low moan escaped her lips. “I gotta go.” She raced from the room and flew out the front door, snatching her jacket as she went.
	With the strange threat of danger dissipated, Molly ran after her sister. “Where are you going, you fucking schizo?” she screamed from the doorway.
	Instead of answering the question, Cassie relayed a set of instructions, desperation clinging to every word. “Grab my hunting rifle from the closet and bar the doors. Don’t leave until morning!” With that, she flung her leg over her snowmobile. It sprang to life and darted forward, bathing the darkening trails in eerie white light.
	The note of distress in Cassie's voice convinced Molly that getting the rifle might not be a bad idea. She found it easily enough, but it took a few minutes more to find the ammunition and figure out how to load the thing.
	When she was done, she glanced at the clock. It was 4:15. Cassie had wanted her out by 4:00. What the hell was going on?
	Molly took the time to find a flashlight and a heavier coat before venturing outside to her rental. For a minute, she thought the car’s battery had died, but on the sixth attempt, the engine kept. She steered towards the forest path, following the twin tracks left by the snowmobile.
	The browns and greens of the trees around Molly faded into ominous silhouettes, her only source of light the headlamps from the SUV. A pale, round moon began its ascent into the speckled ocean of black. Molly didn’t see this. The pines obscured the glowing orb.
	The path led up a steady incline. What patches of sky Molly could see seemed to grow closer, close enough to touch. Still she did not see the bright traveller in the ink-blotted sky.
	She would see it soon.
	The road finally ended on a plateau. It was similar to the deforested patch her sister lived on. Immense pines bordered the space, hiding the rising danger.
In the center of the space was the snowmobile, and next to that her sister. She was naked and shivering, facing away from Molly. She was entranced, deaf to her sister’s approach.
Molly jerked the car to a stop, gaping. She shook her head and blinked. Then her face drew into a snarl, and she charged out of the car toward Cassie.
“What the FUCK is this?”
Cassie spun in surprise. “What are you doing here? Get out!”
“I really don’t know what to think right now!” exclaimed Molly, laughing with delirium. “Are you sick? Are you in a cult? Why are you streaking in the middle of the fucking forest?”
“Please, you need to get out of here!” Cassie pleaded.
“Don’t you pull that shit again! You’re going to tell me what’s going on, then I’m taking you to a hospital! You could freeze to death out here!”
“You don’t get it! If you don’t leave soo–”
“Tell me what’s going on. Maybe then I’ll leave.”
“But there isn’t ti–”
“I’m waiting.”
“Okay, okay,” said Cassie, speaking rapidly. “The clinic. A man came with a dog. A puppy. It had rabies. Had to put it down, but it bit me first. Got a shot, thought I was okay. I went to get rid of the body, but the puppy wasn’t there. It was a boy, a little boy with my blood on his face and yellow eyes–”
Pale light shot down from the tops of the pines, showering the sisters in radiant white. For a moment, Cassie’s exposed skin shone like the moon itself. Then she screamed and crumpled to the ground.
Molly stood rooted to the spot, frozen in shock. She watched wide-eyed as her sister tried to stand back up. She got as far as her knees.
She heard it before seeing it. Tendons snapping out of place, and a sucking sound as they reattached. Marrow squealing as it twisted into new shapes. Vertebrae rattling like chains. Muscles bubbling to beastly proportions.
Then she saw it too. Cassie’s lower face extending forward. Her screaming mouth lining with teeth like broken glass. Ears pointing and ascending to the apex of her head. Her legs bending at new, grotesque angles. And all the while, a layer of coarse black fur sprouting everywhere at once.
A sound gurgled up from the thing’s throat, more a growl than a word. But Molly understood. “Guh-oh.” The spell broke, and she was sprinting for the car. Frigid tears clung to her cheeks, her vision blurry. She managed to get the key into the lock the first time. She threw open the door and scampered in.
She thrust the key into the ignition with her numbing hand and quickly turned it. Nothing. Not even a rumble from the engine.
“No. No no no fucking shit please no.” She attacked the key frantically, her hitched sobs growing in volume.
After a dozen attempts,  she glanced up at the writhing mass in the snow. The transformation was complete, but the thing was still in obvious pain. Its body twitched and spasmed, but the intervals between each tick were lengthening.
Molly looked to the hunting rifle in the passengers seat. Moonlight reflected off the barrel.
She snatched up the gun and returned her view to the monster. It was on its feet, stretching, yawning, showing off its impressive form. Muscles rippled beneath its ebony coat, teeth glinted with thick saliva. Its eyes were yellow and stupid, lacking any inkling of human intelligence.
Cassie was lost in that thing, helpless to whatever it might do. Molly was torn, but remembered what her sister had told her before leaving. To grab the rifle. Cassie had known what may need to be done. Molly clenched the weapon to her chest.
The wolf turned to face the car. Its eyes locked on Molly, the skin of its muzzle pulled back into a snarl. A low growl rumbled like thunder. The beast paced forward.
Running would be useless. The wolf would catch her. It came down to a simple question, really. Shoot or die. The wolf was closing in, starting to run. It pounced over the hood of car, arcing gracefully through the air.
Molly pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened. The trigger didn’t budge.
The wolf slammed onto the windshield, popping it out of its frame and into the car. The glass held, cracking without shattering. The windshield came down hard on Molly’s face.
There was a crackle, followed by an eruption of flaming pain. Her nose was broken, the force of the blow splattering blood in a cartoonish smear across her face. She barely noticed. Snapping jaws were less than an inch from her face, the only barrier a splintering sheet of glass.
Molly shrieked and scrambled for the rifle, which had fallen from her grasp. She examined it distractedly, trying to ignore the beast bearing down on her.
The safety was on. The fucking safety was on. Insane laughter escaped her bleeding mouth. The safety had almost killed her. She flicked it off, a wet grin plastering her face.
She angled the rifle at the attacking wolf, extending her arm fully to aim at its face, as she was still pinned beneath the glass. She fired.
Several things happened at once. The wolf’s shoulder disintegrated in a cascade of red, its body thrown from the car. The windshield exploded, raining shards of glass on Molly’s head. Her arm whipped back in a violent snap.
Molly screamed, her mangled limb limp at her side. She gritted her teeth and pulled it to her side using her good arm, holding it in place. She didn’t look at it. She was scared to.
She clambered out through the new opening above the dashboard, glass crunching against metal underfoot. She walked forward with care, anticipating another attack. None came.
	She crept to edge of the hood and peered down. A few feet beyond the car lay the wolf, dying the snow crimson with its wound. Its breathing was labored, each exhale forming a red cloud in front of its foamy muzzle.
	Wary blue eyes gazed up at her. They were no longer dangerous.
	Molly hopped down from the car and knelt next to her dying sister. She wrapped Cassie’s head close to her with her good arm, letting the lame one rest beside her. She pressed her face into the black fur, wetting it with tears.
	She lay with the her sister until the fur disappeared.