There is a bad moon rising,

“That was not a request.” He said and moved to reach for her injured foot to pull it closer to him.

Alarmed and anxious, Mara felt the urgency to defend herself and moved away from his outstretched hand.

Though she was wounded, which meant that whatever she planned would not make much impact, the beast-man was much stronger than she was and at a more extraordinary advantage form.

Compared to him, she was merely nothing.

But that did nothing to dampen her morale.

It gave it a push.

“Neither was mine.” She said spitefully and slapped away his hand.

He smirked before shooting her a warning glance to tell her that should she make the same move again, he would tear her into bits.

However, she was confident that it was an empty threat since they had destroyed an entire village to get their hands on her, which all but meant one thing: she was even more valuable to them alive than dead.

They wouldn’t go through all that, only to kill her at the end.

Whoever sent them needed her for an important reason, giving her a little hope that they would not kill her, at least not now.

The only thing to fear was the possibility of them having someone to replace her with, and eventually, if she weren’t careful, she would get herself killed.

He tried to reach again, but with the swiftness of a venomous snake, Mara spat on his face directly and drew away.

In doing so, she knew within her that she had awoken the beast within, for when he looked up at her, his face was a horrible mask of anger.

She had never seen so much anger embedded in just one person before.

Without prior notice, he grabbed her by the throat with so much impact that she could feel her bones underneath his suffocating hand.

He looked into her eyes and started speaking.

“You know, girl, when Grimshaw said he wanted you alive, he never decided how you should look.”

He said hatefully and raised his free hand into view.

Mara’s eyes widened in fear as she saw his fingernails start taking another form.

It was as though another pointy end kept hidden within his nails started gradually coming out to the surface.

Once it achieved its full claw length, Mara almost fainted that instant out of fear at the sight of it.

The light from the moonlight seemed to be illuminating the tip and telling Mara how done for she was.

She slowly turned to look at him and perhaps be nicer this time, but what she saw horrified her.

Blazing yellow eyes stared right back at her.

At the same time, Mara could see his claws approaching her steadily from the corner of her eyes.

Despite that, it was not as horrifying as the fact that she was staring at eyes that were so terrifying to the extent that if stared at for too long, it would be like they were devouring your soul from within you.

To think that this morning had started as usual as every other day. 

Her family spent the day as any other day without worries or fear and just lived as a happy, peaceful family despite her mother’s occasional episodes.

As the deadly claws drew closer to her face, all she could hear and see was that point where she was in the garden with her mother, tending to the plants in a peaceful mood.

Flashback

The winds were blowing colder, and the sun set faster, with day giving way to an evening that much easier. 

Winter was, indeed, approaching. 

Mara was helping her mother out in the gardens, surprised that her plants were still alive. Most of the leaves in their garden had turned brown and orange when autumn came, but their herbs, vegetables, and flowers always seemed to flourish under her mother’s touch.

Lucinda Hastings was humming to herself as she picked all the ingredients she wanted from the growing pile of snow. 

Mara was sure that the ground would be covered entirely in white by nightfall. 

Her father had also gone into the woods to collect lumber for their fire, leaving the two women to themselves.

It was eerily silent as their cottage was situated in the middle of a clearing deep within the mountains. Mara wasn’t sure where the nearest village was, but ever since she was young, they’d always lived far away from everyone else. They also moved around a lot. 

Mara had gotten used to the quiet and enjoyed the peace and tranquility it brought to her family. 

She also enjoyed the sound of her mother’s soft humming, but her song stopped when the cold breeze blew past them again. 

Mara looked up to see that her mother had dropped the basket of herbs she had been harvesting, and her gaze was directed toward the trees. Mara didn’t like the furrow that appeared between her mother’s eyebrows.

It was scarce of her to see Lucinda in such distress. “Mother, what is it?” she asked, lowering her basket. 

Suddenly, Mara was aware of just how alone they indeed were. Without her father present, there was no way for her or her mother to defend themselves. A shiver ran down her spine as her mother finally replied.

“There is a bad moon rising,” she murmured, her gaze then turning to the skies. “Bad moon rising,” her mother repeated, her brown eyes looking like they were a thousand miles away. 

Specks of snow settled against Lucinda’s olive skin as she gazed at the sky and repeated the words that didn’t make any sense to Mara. Growing more worried by the second, Mara approached her mother, hoping to snap her out of her trance. 

“Mother,” she repeated tentatively, reaching out a hand. When her fingers came into contact with her mother’s shoulder, Lucinda finally snapped her attention to Mara. 

Mara jumped in shock when she saw the intensity in her mother’s gaze. Her concern morphed into fear when her mother scrambled to her feet and gripped Mara by the shoulders, making the young woman cry. “We must leave,” Lucinda hissed, looking lost and somewhat crazed. “We must leave before they come for us.” 

“Mother, you’re not making any sense,” Mara whispered, grabbing hold of her mother’s hands that were gripping her shoulder tightly and breaking free from Lucinda’s hold. She looked deeply into her mother’s eyes, hoping to reach her. “Who is coming? Why do we have to leave?” 

And just like a switch being flipped, her mother suddenly relaxed in front of her.

The fog, which had been clouding her eyes, seemed to dissipate as she blinked a few times. The crazed look on her face was replaced by confusion as she looked around them. Then her eyes landed on Mara, who stood wide-eyed in front of her. 

“Mara, are you alright, sweetheart?” her mother asked her voice as soft and caring as always.