Man on the Moon by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Blackwych Books Ltd
Published: 2024-04-11T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Twenty years earlier...

“No!”

On the ground with her eyes squeezed tight shut, Lisa waited for the end, for the wolf's huge teeth to rip through her body. She could hear a cacophony of howls and snarls and screams ringing in her ears, filling her senses, and a moment later she felt hot blood starting to splatter down onto the side of her face; some of the blood ran down into her mouth as she tried to turn and crawl away, but finally the sounds faded away and she was left in silence. The only thing she could hear now was her own heart pounding in her chest, and another heart pounding somewhere nearby.

And then, slowly, she realized that the heavier heartbeat nearby was starting to falter, almost as if it might be about to stop altogether.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Michael on his knees nearby. He was holding a knife, and she saw the shock in his eyes as thick blood dripped from the edge of the blade.

Hearing a loud snort, Lisa looked up and saw the large wolf leaning down toward her. Whereas a moment ago the beast had been filled with an almost unbearable fury, now she saw something else entirely; she looked up into one of its eyes and saw a kind of pain that she recognized from her years working as a veterinarian, and she realized in a heartbeat that she was looking at a dying animal. A moment later she realized that blood was running freely from a huge gash that had been cut across the creature's throat, and seconds after that the wolf let out a heavy sigh as it slumped down a little more.

Realizing that she was about to get crushed, Lisa crawled out of the way just in time and watched as the wolf crashed against the ground. Its eye remained focused on her for a few seconds, until she saw the very moment when the life faded away to nothing.

“He's dead,” she whispered, before looking back at Michael and once again seeing the bloodied knife in his hand. “Michael, did you...”

Her voice trailed off as she realized that at the very last second Michael must have intervened and killed his own father. That thought was so impossible to grasp, and she found herself trying to come up with any other explanation, yet deep down she knew exactly what she'd just witnessed.

“Michael,” she continued, “what -”

“Move!” he gasped.

“Michael -”

“Move!” he shouted, stumbling to his feet and racing over to her, grabbing her by the hand and hauling her up. “We don't have much time!”

“Michael, what did you do?” she asked.

“Shut up and move!” he hissed, pulling her toward the cabin as the other wolves began to howl into the night air. “Get inside!”

“Michael, stop!” she snapped, almost tripping as he dragged her up the steps that led to the cabin's front door. “Michael, you're hurting me!”

***

As soon as he'd slammed the door shut with his back, Michael dropped the bloodied knife onto the floor.

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