Bad Moon Rising

Zev shuffled down the hall, making his way towards the living room. The only sound was the hum of the air conditioner and the scrunch of leather as he sank into the chair. He really didn’t want to go anywhere tonight, especially not this early. But he had no choice. At least he’d go out with Luke and Conner for a bit first. He’d be able to get his mind off of what was going to come after – if only temporarily.

He glanced at the clock and let out a sigh. Twenty minutes. He had twenty minutes left until he’d be forced to leave the house and face what was waiting for him.

Tonight was the last full moon before the start of the school year – the Sturgeon Moon. It was the one that always made his chest tighten and his stomach churn. Even thinking about it was enough to make him grip the armrests hard enough to leave imprints in the leather. Any harder, and he risked ripping into the upholstery. He looked down at his hand. The fingers were locked onto the leather, white and stiff. Slowly, he pried them up one by one. Damaging his dad’s chair would only add to his troubles.

Of course, the actual moon wasn’t going to be any different; the people in all the surrounding houses would go out to the woods, just like they did every single month. They’d gather out there, away from prying eyes, treating it as some sort of block party – like it could actually be fun. They’d been doing it for years, right under the noses of every single human in this city. Zev had known about it ever since he’d moved back here with his dad. He almost laughed thinking about that; at the time, he’d been naïve enough to think it was normal.

In a way, he supposed it was. For them. Even the humans in the area wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary tonight. No, the part that would be different would be reserved for him, and him alone. And it would happen before the moon even rose.

It was good that his dad wasn’t home yet – he was going to be working right up until the last possible minute. It meant Zev wouldn’t have to talk to him beforehand; he wouldn’t have the opportunity to know anything was amiss with his son. He wouldn’t see Zev’s eyes were a little too wild, that his breathing was a little too fast. Zev would have these precious few minutes to himself, to sit here without having to pretend for everyone else’s sake that it was going to be all right.

The clock in the living room chimed, echoing through the room. Really? Had his time run out already? A quick glance at the black painted numbers let him know that yes, it had. He set his jaw and stood up. He could do this. It was going to be fine. He just had to hold on a few months more, and then all of this would be over – one way or the other.

He left the house, fingers shaking slightly as he tried to lock the door. He turned and strolled as casually as he could towards Luke’s car. It was a normal day. A perfectly normal day, and he was just going out with his friends. Nothing was wrong. He straightened, trying not to look as hunted as he felt.

Luke and Conner stopped talking as soon as he got within earshot. Conner had a guilty expression that he tried to hide. They’d been talking about him. Zev wasn’t surprised; everybody talked about him on the Sturgeon Moon.

“What’s up?” Zev asked, sliding into the passenger seat. Conner had already moved himself to the back seat as Zev was strolling down the driveway.

“Not much,” Luke said, a little too casually. “Where to?”

“I don’t care – you can pick,” Zev shrugged. He was trying to act like everything was fine, but Luke was kind of looking at him a little too hard.

“You choose,” Luke insisted.

It was a tradition the three of them had started when Luke and Conner first found out what they did to Zev on these nights – they let Zev pick where they ate, what they did. It was supposed to make him feel better. It was nice, and it did sort of help – it reminded him that he had at least a few friends around here. It was too bad none of his friends were on the council, though.

Zev remembered the night Luke and Conner had finally figured out what those members of the council did to him. They’d been horrified. But that was part of why Zev hadn’t ever mentioned it to them. There was nothing they could do, and them acting all weird about it did absolutely nothing to ease his own fears. It just made him dwell on it for longer when all he really wanted to do was get it over with; he didn’t want them to make it into a big deal. He wanted to ignore it until it happened and then immediately put it all behind him until next year.

“Waffles, I guess,” Zev said. Luke nodded and pulled out onto the road.

The ride to the restaurant was tense. Luke and Conner made small talk that Zev only barely paid attention to. There were more important things to worry about than neighborhood gossip. Once they’d ordered, Conner spoke up. He looked at Zev and asked a question that was impossible to ignore.

“Are you ready for tonight?”

He tried to say it like it was no big deal, but Zev knew better. Zev wanted to pretend that Conner was just asking about the moon, about some plan that they’d already made for what they’d do. But of course he was really asking if Zev would be ok with what happened before.

“I guess,” Zev replied, trying to match Conner’s overly nonchalant tone. But why did Conner have to bring it up at all?

“Do you think they’ll try anything?” Conner asked.

Zev didn’t even bother to respond. What was he supposed to say anyway? What answer would possibly be enough?

“I really hope not,” Luke said. He had kind of a weird tone, and when Zev looked up from the table, he saw that Luke’s left hand was wrapped in a death-grip around his fork. Zev wasn’t entirely sure what he was thinking, and he didn’t bother to ask.

“You guys ready for school?” he asked instead.

“Yeah, I think so,” Conner nodded, slowly. Then, he grumbled under his breath, “Still wish I knew who my roommate was.”

Zev grinned. This was a conversation he liked. He already knew he was going to be rooming with Luke – he’d known that officially for just over a month now. But somehow, Conner’s roommate was still a mystery. Conner’s older brother worked at the university, and he’d said there was a last-minute change. And no matter what Conner did, he couldn’t get his brother to tell him who his roommate was; he just kept saying that they were working on it and to be patient. But it was obvious that he was stalling; he just grinned and changed the subject every time Conner brought it up. It drove Conner up the wall, but it was hilarious to watch.

After lunch, Luke asked if he and Conner wanted to go back to his house. But of course, Zev didn’t have time for casual things like that. Luke had really only been asking Conner and pretending that Zev had the choice. But he was so convincing, Zev almost considered it. But he couldn’t put this off. If he didn’t show up, they’d be sending someone out to find him.

There was still about an hour until it got dark when Luke finally dropped Zev off at Derek’s house. The two story wooden structure seemed to loom ominously in front of them. The lights shining through the curtains in the front room looked too bright, casting long, sharp shadows across the porch. Zev walked slowly up to the front door. He had his shoulders back and head high, fully aware that Luke and Conner were watching him go. More importantly, he was almost definitely being observed from inside the house. And he was not going to let any of them see how he really felt about this.

He stood on the porch a minute, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He glanced to the side, and for a brief second his feet were ready to flee. He could make it into the woods and hide there until the sun came up. If he went far enough, they’d never find him until it was too late. He’d be safe. But he couldn’t. He’d said he was going to be here, and he wasn’t going to back out now. Running was for cowards.

His throat felt tight, and he tried to swallow the knot down. He put on his best I-don’t-care expression and knocked. The door swung open and a man about his dad’s age answered. He saw Zev standing there and broke into a grin. Jerod – the second-highest member of the council – was standing there, only inches from him. Zev shoved his hands into his pockets to hide their shaking.

He didn’t say anything at first. He just stood there, letting the silence stretch. He was looking for the tremor. He was looking for a reason to use that word Zev hated.

“Right on time,” Jerod smirked.