The Red Moon: Moon Rising

  The Red Moon: Moon Rising

  J .M. LYONS

  Copyright © 2012 J. M. Lyons All rights reserved. ISBN-10: 1497595746 ISBN-13: 9781497595743

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my family and friends who believed I could do it. I love you all for believing in me. CONTENTS

  1 Graduation

  2 The Party

  3 The Meeting 4 The Tribes

  5 Train Me 6 The Scroll's

  7 Evil Is Near

  8 Great Sadness 9 You Will Not Win

  10 The Quest

  1 GRADUATION

  I just stood there frozen; unable to move my feet; unable to find the courage to move forward. I slowly began to move my feet,

  which did not want to let go of the ground. Thoughts were running

  like freight trains in my head, so many memories of being here

  at this old school. Thinking of all the people that I've met, the bleak

  memories of my mom on my very first day of grade school on the

  other side of the small baseball field, and my dad coming to

  school because my grades were starting to fall. No matter what

  the memory; here I am, about to leave this place forever. I held my

  slow but now steady stride toward the front of the line. I slowly

  peeked over my shoulder to see my family but I couldn't see

  anyone. My nerves felt like it was about to come out of my mouth;

  then it was my turn. "Miss Mia Dawson." Principle Meyers called out over the

  microphone, as I stood there staring across the room, full of families and friends. My stomach turned with the ring of my

  name in the loud speakers; butterflies fluttered making it harder

  for my feet to move, as I took my final steps towards Principal

  Meyers extended hand. "Yes!" I said, softly as I grabbed my rolled

  up piece of paper with one hand, while shaking his with the other.

  "Good job; Miss Dawson, it's been a fun four years". Principal

  Meyers said with a huge smile. "Yes, it was." I replied with a smile

  of my own, as I slowly walked across the stage. I continued forward keeping in line as the next name was

  called; I slightly turned to the left and did a two thumbs up. "Woo

  hoo, yeah; that's my sister." I heard Tuckers loud voice above all

  the cheering. "Oh god; Tucker, really." I murmured, while still

  trying to hold my smile. As I continued down the old termite eaten

  steps of the stage I couldn't help but adore all the cheering; the

  cheering that was for my classmates and I. When the last person

  finally got his certificate the entire class erupted into the loudest

  ball of screaming teenagers that I have ever heard. Then without

  even a cue they threw their caps into the air filling it with black and

  gold tassels. Screams and cheers filled the little gymnasium echoing out

  it's small double doors into the hall; right out the front doors which

  opened into a small parking lot that was normally reserved for

  school staff; but on this day, it was filled with old beat up trucks and rusty small cars belonging to the families of those who graduated. "Aah, sounds like it's all over brothers; so are we ready to go; I've got a party to look good for." Jim said, as he threw his hands in the air trying to get their attention. "Hum. Not sure I think Jon might want to hang out a little longer. I think he's waiting for something; or maybe someone." Steve teased with his brows raised, chuckling as he bumped his broad shoulders into Jon's. "Um; yeah I guess." Jon smiled, letting his brown eyes fall to

  the ground before it met Steve teasing glare.

  "Hey look; I know you wanted to wait for Mia and all, you

  know, to give her those." Steve began, as he motioned to a bunch

  of red roses sitting on the bench seat of his old busted pick up.

  "But don't you think you should be in there; instead of out here."

  Steve pointed to the closed doors of Hillside High. "Yeah; I guess,

  but I don't know if I should." Jon said shrugging his shoulders.

  "Well, we're sure not going to be here, at this place for nothing."

  Steve said, and in one sweeping motion he grabbed the roses up

  out of the truck, and headed up the steps and through the doors

  before Jon could say a single word.

  As we all gave each other hugs and kisses it felt so good to

  know that all of our hard work as high school students finally paid

  off. We were finally going to enter the world of adult hood. The thought sort of scared me, knowing that in a few short months I'd

  be going to college, finding a job. I even entertained the thought

  of having my own family; and one day standing here

  congratulating own daughter as she graduated. I shivered at the

  thought that I would be worried about things like this on such a

  day.

  "Oh my god, Mia. We're finally done with all this. No more

  school, no more homework, no more cheer practices, nothing."

  Nadia screamed in complete utter happiness. "Yeah, isn't that the

  truth." I said, trying my best to sound as happy as she was. This

  might be among the happiest moment in her life; and it could be

  very well the same for many others here; but for me I wasn't all

  that sure. The pressures of being an adult, college, finding a job,

  leaving home. It was all just sinking in. My heart dropped at the

  thought of leaving my dad, and my brother. I swallowed hard as I

  followed my classmates out of the gym.

  As the screaming crowd reached the main doors of the

  school; I noticed someone standing at the corner of the last locker.

  I slowed my walk a little, and oddly enough I felt stunned. I had

  this weird feeling that he was there for me. As I got closer he

  smiled. "Congratulations, Mia." Steve said, crouching a little to give me a hug and kiss on the cheek. I took notice right off that his

  one hand was firm behind his back. As he pulled back I reached

  over and tugged his massive arm, which he gladly let it to fall

  forward. I took a few steps back. "Um, these are for you." He said

  with a smile. Steve was a big guy; big in all the right places. He

  was one of those jock types, a type that I never took any interest

  in; but he surely was good looking. He stood tall, shoulders that

  were so broad, arms that you just couldn't ignore, brown shoulder

  length hair, with round light brown eyes; and sometimes when the

  sun shone bright, his eyes would change colors.

  "Oh, wow." I said, stunned at the site of such lovely roses. I

  slowly accepted the roses from Steve hands. "These are

  absolutely beautiful." I said, as I slowly looked back at Steve. I felt

  my face flush with warmth, as I cracked a small smile. "Ah ha.

  You would like them." Steve said with a big smile from ear to ear.

  "No wonder Jon picked them." He continued, still smiling. "Jon?" I

  said, nearly choking on the word. "Um yeah, he's out front." Steve

  said, motioning to the front doors that were now wide open with a

  sea of black and gold gowns flowing through them. "What." I said

  loudly. I quickly looked around to see who was near, and to my

  delight, no one noticed that I stopped and kept moving with the crowd out the door. "Wait, I'm just
the delivery boy, that's it." Steve

  said, as he began backing up in protest. "No, I'm sorry Steve. That

  came out wrong. I love the flowers." I said catching myself. "Yeah;

  yeah you can go tell him." He said, turning towards the door

  himself. We both reached the steps at the same time, as the rest

  of my classmates poured out into the parking lot.

  I continued forward down the steps slowly letting my eyes

  adjust to the unusual crowd of old cars and trucks closed in by a

  sea of cheering people. I looked around for Steve's old rusted

  truck that Jon and I had spent so many nights cruising in, around

  our small quiet town. It was parked under the huge pine tree that

  sat just beyond the crowded parking lot, where Jon and I first met

  so many years ago. Jon stood average height, long black hair that

  fell midway down his back. He always wore it braided. He said

  that his mom insisted that it stayed that was; although, I really

  didn't care it made him look even better. He had dark brown eyes,

  were at times you would think it was black. He had a lighter skin

  tone then the rest of his friends but it didn't make him any less of a

  native then the rest of us.

  It wasn't so hard to believe that Jon and I dated for a while;

  since I started middle school. Although it was a hard pill to swallow for some, especially for my brother Tucker who was

  friends with Jon. So I guess it was always in the cards for us to

  date, but it wasn't meant to be. We broke up about a year or two

  later. He was your average all around good guy. He always

  wanted to help people out, he always spoke very softly, he made

  friends everywhere he went. But when he got mad, boy watch

  out; he was a force to be reckoned with; well I guess you could

  say that about all of them. They always had their own little crew;

  and it seemed that no one else could be a part of it.

  Jon sat in the front seat of Steve's old truck staring at me.

  Our eyes met for the first time in a year; he sat there watching me

  with his beautiful brown eyes. "Mia, Mia, Mia...." Jasmine called

  out, stopping me in my tracks. "Can you sign my yearbook?" I

  stood still for a bit still staring back at Jon. I looked down at the

  roses that were so red it almost looked like the color of blood. I

  looked back up at Jon, and slowly moved my lips into a silent,

  "Thank you." He nodded his head as if to say you're welcome. I

  looked down and signed Jasmines yearbook; and when I looked

  back up again, Steve's old truck was pulling away from the parking

  lot on to the road way. I smiled at the roses, grateful that it was his

  gift to me. "Hey! There you are; I thought I lost you for a second in the

  endless sea of black and gold." Dad laughed, rather hard as he

  leaned in for a kiss. I think his laughing was his way of hiding his

  want to cry. He did the exact same thing when Tucker finished

  high school too. "Congratulation, Mia baby." He said, hugging me

  so hard it nearly left me breathless. "Ugh; squeezing, hard, too

  hard." I said, gasping for whatever air I could get. "Sorry baby, I

  can't help it. It was a moment that I couldn't pass up." He said,

  with a softer sad voice. "You don't need to be so gushy dad." I

  said with a smile. "Yeah, even though there's about a hundred

  other dad's doing the exact same thing." He said sarcastically,

  while casually looking around at the crowd.

  The feeling of happiness was overwhelming as it exuded from

  the crowd in a ray of smiles and laughter. Yet when things should

  feel so happy, you still felt the sadness too. The sadness of

  leaving it all behind and starting new. New friends for those who

  were going to leave town, new teachers for those who were going

  to college, new places for those who wanted to start a new life far

  away from the Weeping Mountains. You see everyone laughing

  and cheering but you also notice the long silent goodbyes with the

  promises that you'll keep in touch. Weird, sweet sorrow I guess. I mean it isn't every day that you graduate from high school.

  I've met some interesting characters here at Hillside High and

  many great teachers. I've made lots of friends, and managed to

  become the VP of Hillside High's cheer leading squad. I won't say

  that it was a bad thing, but I did enjoy my long solo walks in the

  forest; my quite time dad called it. But, I knew that for most of my

  classmates they couldn't wait to get out of town; and who knows

  for some, maybe to never look back.

  "You did it baby, you did it." Said a beautiful well dressed,

  thin, almond skinned women, with full long, thick red hair. It

  happened so fast, that at first I didn't even know who I was looking

  at. My eyes fixed on hers for a second; suddenly a flood of

  memories overcame my already boggled mind. "Mom." I said,

  jerking backward with surprise, nearly dropping my bunch of

  roses. "What are you doing here?" I demanded, stunned at her

  sudden appearance since her midnight departure so long ago. I

  felt so many overwhelming emotions run through me, like

  electricity was building up in my veins, the noise in the parking lot

  slowly began to quiet down where all I could here was the sound

  of my heart beating; with every thump a new memory would pass

  through, rushing over me like a waterfall, seemingly endless. Hurtful memories, joyful memories, memories of when I cussed

  her out; without her even being there to hear any of it. Memories

  that I thought I let go of; letting it wash down the shower drain

  every single night that I took a bath.

  Then out of the crowd a tall thin white man dressed properly

  with a black suite and a brown and black striped tie appeared

  behind her. He looked hot on this sunny summer day. I looked at

  him with a confused look as he reached my mothers side. "Hey

  Lu, you left me behind back there on purpose didn't you?" He said

  with a smile. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry but I didn't want her to get all

  busy with all her friends without me getting a chance to see her

  first." Mom said, with a big smile on her face, stepping closer to

  this tall man with her pale colored arms extended.

  "I'm sorry James. James this is Mia, my daughter." She said,

  sounding so proud. "My Mia, I'm so happy for you and I'm also so

  proud of you my love." She said smiling, reaching out for my

  shoulders. I just stood there, I didn't know what to say or how to

  react. My Mia, really; only my grandmother called me that. I

  thought to myself with a cringe on my face. I let her hand fall off

  my shoulder without even attempting to catch it. "Um; mom who is

  this?" I asked motioning to this tall man standing next to her, still stunned and caught off guard by her just being there. "Oh, Mia we

  have so much to catch up on." She said now scanning the crowd.

  She said it with such a pitiful sound to her voice and with such a

  pitiful look on her face. It wouldn't be fair for me to say that she

  was my least favorite person in the world.

  It would be fair for me to say that she took my dad for a ride

  and then kicked him to the curb with two kids in tow. But, my dad

  never c
omplained about her or anything that she did. He raised

  my brother and I to be compassionate toward her, to understand

  that sometimes things were just not meant to be. My dad did the

  best he could to take care of my brother and I, on a mere

  paycheck as an adviser to the National Forestry. While my

  brother and I tried our best not to make things hard; so we never

  asked for more than we could actually afford, but we understood.

  I often wondered if she thought about things like that when

  she left; about how hard it would be for my dad to even begin to

  care for a young girl, let alone a teenage girl. Did she think about

  the problems that we would face as a family? While whether she

  did or not, it really didn't matter anymore because, I just finished

  high school, I wasn't pregnant and I was well liked by the people in

  town anyway. Not to mention she did still leave us flat many years ago.

  "Aah, David. It's so good to see you. How have you been?"

  She asked, turning her attention to dad; as if she was no longer

  interested in my stunned look. "Well, you know me Lu; I adapt."

  He responded with a small laugh. I think he was just trying to be

  nice, even if I thought otherwise. "How about you?" He said,

  looking at this tall man standing next to her. She just nodded as if

  saying fine and smiled. "It's so good..." She started. "I didn't think

  that you would show, but I'm glad that you did. So, is this the new

  husband?" Dad cut her off in mid sentence. I glared at my dad

  confused. He actually kept in touch with her and didn't tell me or

  Tucker. I guess after so many years the feelings do change; but

  really, we were her children and my dad was her husband.

  "Husband?" I said, jerking my head back, with a surprised look on

  my face. "Yeah. Sorry honey, but I've been so busy that I forgot to

  tell you that your mom called and said that she would be in town

  and wanted to come to the graduation." Dad said, with one hand

  on my shoulder, slightly squeezing it as if tell me to relax.

  "Yes, Mia this is my husband James." She said pulling him

  closer to her side. "It was very spur of the moment. See we met at

  work and he asked and well to make a long story short, I said yes." She said, with a twinkle in her eyes. I looked over at dad with