Blue Moon

A few days had passed since Talen had shut her in the room. he had been trying to leave her food outside the cage door, but he rarely heard it open. He had tried talking to her through a closed door. Absolutely nothing. No sound came from the room and Talen started to get nervous.

After writing in his journal, Talen had begun to believe his last words. At this rate, he doubted himself. Doubted that he would be able to make it to the blue moon around his birthday.

As he stared at the closed door, a few minutes before he left for his curse, he felt more dread. He knew that she had been eating and such. So she could probably hear him through the door. Just wouldn't answer him.

"I wish it hadn't come down to this." He bit his lip and reached forward.

What are you doing? The beast growled in his head.

She doesn't deserve this. Now shut it. The beast continued to grumble as Talen started to undo the keys on his belt and stuck it into the barred door. He stuck the key into the keyhole and turned it.

Clunk! There went the lock.

Talen went back to his room and grabbed a bit of paper and som tape, writing down a note to warn her. He didn't need to be worrying about her coming out during the daytime. Not with his beast not caring too much about her. He wrote a little bit more and chewed on his lip.

That should do it. He went past her door and tacked up the note to the front door. Hopefully, or so he hoped, that she would heed his warning. He sighed soflty and stepped out of the house.

Do not be seen. His father's words echoed in his mind. He knew he would have to change closer to the house. Again.

He let the painful shift come, putting himself to the beast as the sun started to come up. He tried to hold back a howl and ran toward the woods to let it out. The beast snarled at him.

You know better, human. Talen hadn't wanted to scare Valeriana more.

I don't care. Just do what you should be doing. The creature grumbled something about how humans were too emotional and ran deeper into the wood. This had given him enough time to think. At least, for a little while.

His other half ran off to survey its territory. He just hoped that the other half didn't go by the house. If she did try to leave, he couldn't assure her safety. He didn't want to hurt her further. Like he probably hadn't already done enough damage. He tried to get some rest while the other half ran around. He had kept the beast reined in a lot, and had been foolish to do so.

The beast ran rampant around the woods for a while. Talen didn't smell her, so he kept his hopes up that she was heeding his warning for now.

Hours had passed while Talen slept, though neither he or his other half would be prepared for what happened next.

A large sound had rung in his ears and a pain exploded in his shoulder, causing Talen himself to wake up to the pain. He howled, hearing voices.

"I got it!" A young voice called out.

"Well don't let it get away! After it!"

Hunters, here? They have never come into this forest. The burning pain in his shoulder made it a bit hard to think and move well enough. But Talen knew he couldn't lead them back to the house. Run.

He ushered his other half. It was painful, but he ran as best he could, going deeper into the forest. He would have circled back to the house once he lost them.

Bang! Another shot hit the tree off to his left.

"I got him! I got him!"

Fighting through the pain, Talen knew he had to get away. He couldn't let them know what he was or see him change. There was too much as stake for that. He headed toward the cliffs, hoping to lose them in the overgrowth. He probably didn't have that long before he would change back anyway. He was about to disappear into the foilage and overgrowth, another shot rang in his ears and another explosion of pain in his side.

Damn... He tried to disappear into the bushed, pushing some of the rocks over the side of the cliff and him laying flat. Don't move. He told the other half, trying to keep all the pain under a facade.

The other half whimpered and whined, Talen tried to quiet it down. Footsteps approached the edge and cursing came.

"What is wrong with you, Joe? You had him."

"Didn't think he would fall off the cliff. Let's go find him down there. That would have been a nice trophy."

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Talen didn't get up or let out a breath until he was sure they left.

His beast side was still whining, but they needed to get back to the house. Before he shifted and not be able to get help. He stumbled out of the bush, hearing the snapping of twigs when he stepped out and almost jumping. But that would have probably been just as bad. He'd probably be in a lot of pain to himself.

He started to hobble towards the house. The other half of him was just as pained as he tried to keep a clear mind as he made it to the door of his home. The door was still closed, but he didn't know if she ran off or not. Though, he couldn't worry about that now.

He had to find some safe place to hide before his transformation hit him. The sun must have been coming up because he had barely noticed as the sky turned red. His form started to shift back and he knew he had to move. So he moved quickly as he could toward the door, collapsing against it and grunting as he tried to open the door.

When he finally got it unlatched, he stumbled into the house, nearly collapsing in the atrium. The other half was growling and whining about the pain.

Enough! Talen was already done with the beast that even he was snapping.

He headed into the parlor, sitting in his father's chair, one that many Valorins had sat in to contemplate how they would deal with the curse. And here he was, the youngest Valorin, with bullet wounds, a whining other half and a girl somewhere who was related to the witch that cursed his family,

Bet most of my brothers didn't have to deal with this.

He tried hard not to fall into unconsciousness, biting his lip as he slipped off his shirt to check the damage. It was hard to tell in the dark light, but it wasn't looking good. Least I'm not dead.

He tried to work in the dark, trying to work the bullets out slowly. Though, he wasn't prepared for the girl to come down the stairs.

"Talen..." The voice was so unfamiliar and so unnatural in the house that all of Talen's senses went into overload. He was frustrated with the bullets and the tension was running higher as the beast growled.

"Stay away..." He said through gritted teeth. He didn't hear footsteps, but the light flickered on, and an audible gasp came from her. He must have looked like a bloody mess. He turned away, growling softly and wincing in pain. "Stay away from me."

Why did she call for me? And why did she have to come out now? She didn't move closer, and he didn't think of it as a command until moments later. That damned collar.

"I'm sorry. But please just stay away..."

Valeriana must have thought him a monster. But this hurt beast didn't want to hurt her more. Then, he felt a hand on his arm.

"Let me help."