Blue Moon

Valeriana had been sleeping when a loud clunk! woke her up. There wasn't a lot to do in the room. She had thought about escaping. But the bars on the window and door were too skinny of opening for her. Though, the clunking sound ahd caused her to stir, almost jumping out of bed.

She didn't move, thinking that the boy would come in and do something to her. She coudln't think that a locked door would stop him, right? But then again, why hadn't he made a move sooner?

Sure, she had been listening to him talk to a closed door, somethings that she didn't quite understand at first. Though, the way Talen talked, she was sure it was out of loneliness than anything else. She heard the thuds of his footsteps passing her "room" and down the stairs.

She bit her lip as she slowly slipped out of the bed and came over to the door, grabbing the handle.

This could be some sort of a trick. She thought as hse quietly tried to unlock the door. She slowly opened the door and looked down the staircase.

His back was to her as she watched, seeing him tack something to the door. He left, slipping out the door. She held her breath. One, two, three...

He didn't return. She let out the breath she had been holding since he left, descending the stairs. She had never really realized how big the house truly was. Though, she had also been running through it.

The intricate details on the columns and the handrail of the stiarcase was an eye opener as she headed down the stairs and could actually get a good look at all the details. Though, she did have an alternate goal. She wanted to know why he had unlocked her cage door. As she went closer to the door, she laid the note flat against the door.

What is it with guys and their crappy handwriting? She thought as she tried to decipher Talen's handwriting. Muttering to herself, she thought she had deciphered it enough.

"Please do not leave the house during the day. There is a dangerous creature that would love more than to kill and..." She paused for a second as she made sure that she was reading it right. "Eat you?" She furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Was he just trying to scare her? "I will be back by sundown."

Why would he be able to go out then? More questions started to plague her as she let go of the note and took a step back. A dangerous creature?

She thought about the howling and growling she had heard before, could that have been the creature he had been talking about? Maybe. Should she risk it if it is true?

She put her hand on the handle, but thought about it. Even if the creature wasn't true... She touched the collar on her neck.

This would stop me. She punched the door at her realization that she couldn't leave.

"Damn!"

She needed to get back to her family, her brother... How long had she been gone? A few days? Her brother needed that medicine. She just hoped that her family would look for her and take care of her brother. Her chest constricted at the thought. She couldn't think about that though.

Focus. She hated the fact that she needed to worry about herself when her brother's life was one the line. She rubbed her arms a bit to shake off the goosebumps. For now, she would just have to wait. Wait until the boy got back.

She sighed softly and found herself wandering into the atrium again. It seemed that no one lived there, but the boy. Must get really boring. Where is his family then?

She had seen some portraits here and there, with soulless eyes of his possible ancestors. Each one was different, but had a few details in common. The dark hair, the dark eyes, and one thing she didn't really think twice about. A moon tattoo. Different places of where the tattoos were, but the exact same. A crescent moon that was a clue coloration.

A blue moon... She hadn't seen one on Talen, but then again, she had been mostly running for her life.

Talen, that boy was a true mystery to her. It was a mystery that she was somewhat intrigued. He says he is cursed...

With all the tattoos on the people who looked like him, it looked more like a cult than a curse. Valeriana didn't really know why a family would be like that thought. She touched the collar around her neck. There was little discomfort to it, but it lead to more and more questions.

That's when she noticed that every portrait was of a man. There were no women. But each man had to be at least in their late teens, somewhere around her age. She couldn't read the plaques beneath them, but they all had the name Valorin that she could make out.

"Hmm..." She headed back up the stairs toward the rooms. Maybe he left some of the doors open.

She skipped hers and was about to open a handle when the front door creaked open. She jumped with a small yip sound. She looked over the banister, seeing the maids coming in.

One of the younger maids looked up at her with a slight shock. Though, the other maids barely regarded Valeriana. Valeriana bit her lip. She knew and recognized a couple of the maids' faces, mostly the couple that helped her while she was in the dungeon/cage downstairs. Though, she was realizing that each one had old scars and mars to their skin.

Why do all of them have scars? She thought. Maybe she could ask one of them, and maybe get some answers to some of her questions. Since each girl went to different parts of the house, she hoped that she might seclude one.

One of the younger ones was still in the atrium, trying to busy herself. But she kept looking back at Valeriana as she started to descend the stairs. Valeriana looked around and came to the maid.

"Excuse me?" The maid looked up briefly with a slight scowl, but returned her attention to her work. "Um... I'm sorry, I just want to ask some questions."

The girl gave Valeriana another hard scowl and Valeriana realized she had a mark that ran down the length of her face.

"I'm not suppose to be talking to you." Valeriana bit her lip, surprised at how the girl's voice sounded. Hurt.

"Why not?" the girl stayed silent for a moment and leaned against the mop she had been using.

"It's part of the contract when we signed on. I'll only tell you this. Valorin boys are stuck here, alone at night. Don't see them during the day. But then again, I'm just a maid." Valeriana felt that she might know more.

"So you know them personally?" The girl looked down and touched her face where the scar was.

"Something like that. But the Valorin boys, just be careful of them." And she went back to work. When Valeriana tried to ask more questions, she was shut out again.

Alone? Was that why Valeriana was here? Company? She touched the collar again and chewed on her lip as she left them to their work. The girl's last warning about being careful was enough that she had a lot more on her nerves.

Seeing the scars on the maids' faces. Each one getting older and with deeper scars. Why did each one have scars in the first place? How do you find people with similar scars? and choose to clean a whole house during the day? What about the "monster" and the boy? More questions kept building up.

Valeriana was about the head up when one of the maids grabbed her hand. She looked back and saw an older lady. She regarded Valeriana, shaking her head and then point to her necklace. Valeriana touched it, right under the collar and chewed on her lip.

"Witch..." The old woman said. The scars seeming to grow darker on her face. Valeriana bit her lip. That was the second time her necklace got attention.

"What about the witch? Please." Valeriana gently grabber her hand over the old woman's.

The woman looked around and then guided her back downstairs, toward the kitchen and passed to the green house room. Valeriana looked around at all the plants. They were all really well taken care of. It was vibrant in colorations and of different orchids and flowers.

"Every Valorin has taken care of these plants, the flowers." She started to lead her over to a section that seemed to be blocked off from the rest. Looking at all the plants around it, it would have been unnoticeable. "And every Valorin cherishes it greatly."

The old woman drew back some branches to revealed a fountain that had a rose on top of it. It was beautiful, a vibrant color of violet. Valeriana was about to step foward to get a better look at it when the branches were released to block her from moving.

"I wouldn't. there is not much we can tell you. But every Valorin has perished for reasons unknown. That is, they are always destined to die." Valeriana must have let out a gasp because the old woman looked back. "Sometimes, it is something they must face alone." Valeriana must have looked distressed because the woman lead her out. "Others are bitter, but you must understand their history. Especially of Valorin."

Valeriana nodded and looked back.

Alone...

Valeriana was starting to understand that as she headed back up to her room. She might have learned a bit more, but there was still a lot of questions. Was Talen Valorin really cursed? And how? She was still having problems undersanding the collars and how they worked too.

Hours had passed as she sat there, contemplating and trying to think of what to ask Talen when he got back. As sunset came, there was thumping at the door. She thought it was the maids leaving, but they must have left already. She didn't move, staying tense until the door shut. She waited and then slipped out of her room. Hopefully, he would be willing to talk. As she headed down the stairs, she noticed that none of the lights were on.

"Talen..?" She hoped it was him. She listened, hoping for an answer.

"Stay away..." Valeriana could barely hear it. The collar didn't react either as she stepped toward the voice.

It was pitch black in the room, so dark that even she couldn't see her nose. She reached on the wall and flicked on a switch. She kinda wished she hadn't as she gasped and covered her mouth.

It was a gory mess, his hands stained in crimson. He turned away before she could get a good look at what happened. His shoulders were hunched in pain as he growled softly.

"Stay away from me!" He growled and as Valeriana tried to step closer, she realized she couldn't, the collar tightening slightly.

You're hurt... Please let me help. She might not have known what happened, but after the collar incident a few days ago, she wanted to help. He must have realized that she couldn't move because he let out a sigh.

"Please, just stay away." The collar untightened slightly and Valeriana rubbed her neck.

Must face alone. The old maid's words echoed. Not always.

Valeriana took a hesitating step and came closer. She gently grabbed his arm and whispered, "Let me help."

She had been doing first aid at home for a while that it was surprising she wasn't a doctor yet. She got a lot of protest as Talen tried to turn away from her.

"Talen, you are not going to be able to do it by yourself. Let me help." Talen sighed and finally turned towards her.

She wasn't expecting the gore or the holes in his built chest. she redefined her focus, grabbing the first-aid kit. She did what she could do until she had to go for the bullets. Why couldn't they be a through and through?

"Talen, I need you to lean back." He moved so he could lean back.

She examined them and pulled out some tweezers. He laid and closed his eyes. Valeriana wished that she could. She stated to poke around, hearing grunts as he tried to hold back all the pain that he was experiencing. His knuckled started to turn white as he turned his face away. Valeriana tried not to actually take that personally.

She worked as best she could, pulled one of them out. Her hand was shaking as she put it on the table and went to the one in his torso.

"Hmm..." She stretched out her hand over some of the edging, feeling some of the pent up tension in his muscles around the wound. He jerked and Valeriana looked at him.

"Sorry." He whispered through gritted teeth.

She tried not to think about what he was apologizing about. She started to prod through with the tweezers, trying to hit the bullet to pull it out. She could see how white and sweaty he was getting.

"Just hang on..." She was finding out how bad it was to be doing this without a whole lot of medical experience.

She finally hit it and grabbed it with the tweezers. She hadn't been ready for the scream to come from him. She flinched, but pulled it out as quickly as she could before the arm swung and hit her. She fell backwards onto her back slightly.

"No!" His voice sounded more guttural and more like a beast bellowing than his own voice.

Valeriana backed up slightly, seeing the bullet in the tweezers, but her attention went back to Talen, who was curled up in the seat, facing away from her again. She put the bullet with the other one and came over to him, seeing and feeling how much he was shaking.

"Talen..."

"Stay away," A small voice replied.

"But Talen..."

"Go!"

The beast-like voice came back and Valeriana's body tried to fight back, but the collar constricted as she was forced to leave the room and close the door. Why couldn't he just let her help?