The silver moon's curse

's

had re

led around the trees like fingers beckoning me in, whispering half-secrets that stirred the hair on my arms. It was

this early, especially toward the edge of the woods. But something tugged at me

e that first night the howl, the dream, the compulsive sketching I couldn't stop thinking about

zipped it halfway, and

ough low brambles and skeletal trees. Every footstep crunched lightly, muffled by the wetness in the air.

ngs that Grams said marked the Langley boundary the air felt different. Denser

answers. Maybe part of me wanted to see if something real

d in gauze. Their bare branches reached out above me like twisted arms. There

when I

swirling mist. A silhouette. At first I thought it was an anim

d around it. What I saw made my throat

a long, tattered cloak that blended with the bark around it. Atop its head was a deer sk

sockets stared

I didn't know if it was real or if

ted slightly, as i

y legs had become part of the earth. My breath came in small, shallow

at echoing through the soil. It vibrated up through my boo

d there. Minutes? Seconds? T

ure slowly r

cloak, bony and gnarled, more shadow than flesh

op myself. My voice cracked, lost i

idn't react.

hed like a taut w

hammering, lungs burning. I didn't look back. I ran. Branches clawed at my hoodie, fog licked

air changed again. Ligh

through my jeans. I clutched at the grass, g

hell did

al. Too real. The chill in my bones, the beat in the

long time, stari

ing rosemary and thyme into a clay teapot, the smell strong and grounding. Sh

k about the f

t, I coul

e plaster. The wind had picked up, whispering against the windowpanes. Somewhere

blanket tight

The way it looked at me not with malice, but wi

d went to m

moved on

nd time. Then the skull, hollow eyes and branching antlers. The figure

one, I stare

ke I had s

sual cryptic remarks couldn't distract me. I kept glancing out

at all?" he a

head. "No

like you s

d before I cou

head. "Worse

r heard of something in the woods

the flicker in his eyes. He knew something

ast the bou

y. Then he said, "You should

not an

Some things in Moonvale a

ng to figur

d ask more, t

than ever. I woke at 2:14 a.m. to the

stared at the pane across the room, the curtains bil

ot

room and pulled the curtai

densation on the outside of the glass.

ched out to touch m

o sunlight. The fog had go

g inside me

seen me. And I