Moon TIde: Chapter 1
#1 of Moon Tide
The town's single church bell began to chime. The sound reached all over the town, as the air was clear, and the streets quiet. The bell rang out eleven times, before coming to a stop. The town was decently lit, and not because of street lights. The clear air gave the light reflected on the full moon direct access to the town's streets.
Several blocks from the church, in one of the three town parks, someone sat down beneath the two hundred year old willow tree. Someone was 19 years old, with short cobalt blue hair, just dyed this morning. She looked up through the branches of the tree, up into the sky, and at the moon. "I can't believe I managed to sneak out tonight.... Daddy's never let me out after dark when the moon is full.What, does he believe in werewolves, or something...?" She chuckled to herself at the thought.
She looked down at her feet, and noticed she had gotten a lot of mud on her hiking boots when she dropped from the trellace beneath her window. "Better wipe them off before I get in.... Last thing I need is for Daddy to match the mud on my boots to the prints in the yard..." She moved her gaze up to the baggy jeans she had picked out for her adventure tonight. She noted that the new snag in them would go unnoticed, as it matched all the others. She brushed a few leaves off the sleeves of the hoodie she had on, which was her father's, and was easily large enough to hide her feminine features. If seen from outside, no one would be able to recognize her, and that was what she wanted.
She confirmed the church bell's time against her watches, pressing the button to light it's face and saw that it was indeed eleven p.m. She decided to head back in half an hour. Plenty of time. Besides, her father never came home before 2 a.m. during the full moon. She decided to close her eyes, and listen to the sounds of the sleeping world around her. The soft chirping of crickets, occasional vehicle going down a nearby street, and far off barking was her favorite melody to fall asleep to. And with the warm air from a hot day still lingering, it wasn't long before closing her eyes became a nap.
Three hours later, she awoke suddenly as she heard heavy growling and smelled rancid meat breath, both coming from directly in front of her. Her first instinct was to freeze, which included halting her breathing, and she immediately regretted that. As soon as her breathing stopped, whatever the creature in front of her was realized she was awake.
It growled at her once, before standing and rearing its head back to roar right above her. She couldn't stop herself from peeling open her eyes, and what she saw was more terrifying than what her ears or nose could have possibly told her. The beast in front of her stood well over seven feet tall, and if measured, would have been found to be eight feet and four inches. It's fur was black as the night above, and she noticed it was wet in some places. It's feet were those of a canine, when standing on it's rear paws, though it's hands were more human in shape, and could have passed as such, if not for the inch long claws protruding from each finger. The tail idly swinging behind it was tangled with leaves and twigs, pebbles and mud, and a piece of cloth.
Her terror grew as she gazed up it's head, and she saw the rest of it's body. A brick wall would have looked puny compared to this thing. The beast was three feet wide from shoulder to shoulder, easily. Her gaze rested on it's face, still upturned, and the last she saw was the canine featured face turning to her own, and the murderous hazel eyes before the fuzzy fist sent her into the darkness.