Chapter 19 The Other Moonlight

"Don't get caught" said the man through growls as he entered the forest deeper. The sound of gunfire had long dissipated but was still too fresh to leave behind.

His face returning to normal as his snouted mouth became human. His head, no longer the shape of a wolf, dipped and dodged the low hanging limbs of the forest.

He looked up through the forest canopy at the sun. He sweated as his shoulders softened and lessened into the broad naked shoulders of human.

"Don't get caught" he mouth again as he ran on strong upright paws, his hands slowly becoming hands again with the claws of the beast he was, retracting into his fingers.

He winched. The pain was always unbearable no matter the day or night but he held his breath and continued running through Creek Dams Forest, trying to leave Darteret far behind as his chest puffed outward and then sank into itself reshaping his torso. His arms, the muscles got smaller, of a normal size. And he ran away from the too close for comfort sound that he'd just experienced.

"Don't get caught." He said again. "Do not get caught again."

His thighs followed his arms all the while, fur receded over his body. His back lost the hump that bent him slightly over, giving him an aggressive appearance. His hind legs soon turned into furless legs carrying a man running from gun shots.

He growled as he stepped on the pine strawed forest floor, still running without looking back to see if the gun shots were accompanied by anyone. He breathed lightly as he ran across the forest making sure he got away from being killed.

No one would see him now this deep inside the woods. No one was supposed to see him a few minutes ago but like so many times before, his other self was shot at instead of yelled at or having rocks tossed at or some other means of violent communication on a night when the moon was full or on a day like today when the anticipation for getting back to the past was too great.

"I know him." He said. Still getting deeper into the forest.

"A picture does no justice than the taste of flesh." He said in between slight breaths as he ran, continuing his escape.

Looking up at the sun was no different than the moon, he thought. But he knew that there was a difference. To change in the daylight meant very little time with a chance of being seen. The full moon phase guaranteed a vail of darkness.

The daylight was short and weak. A full transformation that requires closer than usual experiences, the lady that went missing during lunch hour, the kid that went home screaming because there was something hanging around the park, the man that lost control of his car and when help arrived there was no body inside the vehicle, just blood and claw marks. He knew there were ways to get what he wanted, humans to feed on. And he knew that he must stay out of their sight.

Whomever shot at him wasn't a factor, it was the fact that he smelled the past and it led him to that location. He knew the person would taste good if he bit his face off. He knew it was exactly what he missed twenty or so years ago.

He could smell the river from that night. He could see the stars in the sky, nevermind the moon. He could count how many delicacies he had the opportunity to feed on. Many, he noted to himself.

"I had one. A bite. I missed the others." He said, remembering that night from all of those years ago. And suddenly he stopped. Breathed a little and began running again.

"I can't let anyone see me like this." He said.

And so he ran under the canopy to were he left his clothes. The hollow tree made the perfect cover.

Quickly he dressed himself and put the 35 mm camera around his neck. And he walked out of the woods, an interested person of picture taking.

He looked back into the forest, there was no one there. He unlocked his car and got in. Cranked it and left the other side of Darteret behind without anyone knowing anything. He drove the speed limit to keep from drawing attention to himself but the thought of that night all those years ago excited him. He knew what was in Darteret that he wanted and a part of it he left behind.

He didn't care about the sun. He didn't care about when the next full moon would allow him complete privacy. He smiled at the feeling of getting away. He smiled at the thought of a night long ago and he knew that he would come back not as a daytime entity easily able to be handled but as a night time ferocity.

He looked at the camera resting on the passenger side and grabbed the pieces of phone line that lay next to it. He picked up the wire and smelled the remnants of earth that we're still attached to it. He smiled because be knew where he had gotten it. He rolled down the window and casually dropped it outside.

"I know you Lucky Rival." He said. "That was your baby brother I just missed. Next time I'm praying that what's left of your family will be together. I can't forget that night and I know you can't either." The man said as he picked up the camera and turned it towards himself and without regard for what was on the road, he began taking self portraits of himself, saying to himself, "Damien, you sure do look good in any light." He laughed, driving carelessly with only one thing on his mind now, how to get the Rival's together to finish what was started all of those years ago for a feast of feasts.

He smiled, saying, "Now, where is it for me to go? Oh what to do? What to do?"