Chapter 1 of Red Moon
Dark Chinpiras
The night was dim and dark. Those were the only words he could use to describe it. Not one star graced the bleak grey nor did any cloud. It was early, too, not even eight, yet. The cold wind battered his house's windows like a feirce animal wanting to get in. Emajuu shivered in fear and looked back to the bed where his wife, Elli, and their baby Alex slept. He worried and had no idea why. It was just wind right? It couldn't hurt him or his beloved family, right?
But still, he felt chills creep down me like spiders. He peeked out the window at the fall night and let his ash colored eyes shot open in desperate fear. A shadow crept by his feilds, holding what looked to be a sickle. He let out a sharp scream as their eyes met his and jolted Elli awake as he slipped of his chair nad collided with wooden floorboards.
"What happened, Emajuu? What's wrong?" She said hastily. Alex slept soundly, not noticing his mother's abrupt wake.
"Something was outside. That's all. Go back to bed. I'm going to go check it out." Emajuu reached for his hammer, just in case he'd need to defend himself.
"But--"
"I'll be fine. Go to bed, okay?" He smiled sweetly and walked out, clutching the hammer tightly as the bitter wind struck him with a frozen sweep. Elli gave a nervous glance to the door as she laid down, but calmed herself to sleep. The worst it could be was a wild dog or Red Hare wandering about.
Emajuu made his way to his fields, his crops still intact and animals sleeping soundly. Nothing seemed out of ordinary. He frowned and set down his hammer and sighed in relief, "It must've been my imagination." But he knew it couldn't have. It looked back at him, and the more physical evidence was roots of dark crimson soaking into the ground. He couldn't breathe from the combonation of fear and cold. He followed the trail to find where it began, breath in soft mistly cotton-balls that floated in the chilled air.
He followed the dark oozing trail. It made his stomach churn and made him feel light headed as the smell crept up into his face. He looked at it turn and slither about the road like a giant snake. What he didn't want to know was if it had venomous fangs of horror at the end.
That he soon found out. If this 'snake' had fangs, the venom hit him and drained him of his life. There lay the raggedly cut, frail, waxen body of the women who was Mary's mother. Anna was most certainly dead. Her body looked like shredded paper in red ink, it was almost impossible to recognize her as anything once living. Emajuu spun dizzily and ran through the mangled maze of trees, all of which had long 'X' marked carved into their bark. He stumbled shakily back into town. He had to find Harris.