The Crimson Moon Luna

(Joelle’s POV) Cold air brushes against my face and I open my eyes, it’s nighttime already can’t be a quarter past 11 pm. The sounds of crickets chirping brush against my ear drums. I sit up in the grass. “Damn, how long have I been asleep for?” I ask myself as I twist my back to stretch out the kinks. I pull my backpack onto my lap and unzip it. I pull out a bottle of water and half a sub sandwich. “ I’m going to have to find more food this isn’t going to be enough.” I blow out air and then take a bite of the soggy sandwich. I scrunch up my face at the taste of warm mayonnaise. “Gross!” I think to myself as I force the rest of the sandwich down my throat. I can’t believe I’ve been on the run for three years now. This life sucks but I had to run if I wanted to survive. I thought to myself. (Flashback 3 years ago) “Mom, why are we moving again?” I complained as we drove through the deserted countryside. Corn fields graced the opposite sides of the roadway and in the distance, you could see cattle and horses roaming in their pastures. Mom always talked about moving to the south but I never thought we would do it. Every time we moved it was to a different city, never anywhere like this. “Listen Bethy, I know you're tired of moving around. But I promise you this is the last time.” Mom said in a reassuring tone. We moved a lot and often. Every few months or even weeks mom would come home and we would pack up a few bags in a hurry and just leave without notice. She would never tell me why just that we have to go. “But mom what about our last house?” “I’m going to sell it once we get settled here.” Those words were all too familiar. “Sure you are.” I snarked as I rolled my eyes. “Why do we have to keep moving so much anyway? Why are you always keeping secrets from me, Mom? I’m 17 I need some answers!” I sink into my seat and tug at the seatbelt. “I’ll tell you when you're older Bethy.” Ugh, I hated that nickname it was short for Elizabeth which was my middle name. I twist up my face and Mom puts her hand on my shoulder, never taking her eyes off the road. “Joelle,” my mom said softly. She never used my first name unless it was serious. I look at her but she shushes me before I can speak. “There are some very bad people out there, they are the people who your father was involved with and they are the reason he isn’t with us anymore. They want to hurt us to get back at your dad and I won’t let that happen.” Mom says with a look of pain on her face. I just stared at her with a blank face. “But why didn’t you tell me?” “Because I wanted to protect you Bethy, there’s a lot about your father that you don’t know, a lot about your heritage that you aren’t ready to learn about baby girl. You are almost a young woman, you will be going through some changes in a few years that you won’t understand at first but I promise you when the time is here I will be there to help you through it all.” I smirk a little. “I love you maw!” “I love you too Bethy.” “I got something for u.” Mom said in a cool tone. “What is it ?” I question. She points to the glove box and I nod my head and pull it open. Three small black boxes sit inside. “All three?” “Yeah hun open them, go on open.” I pull the top off of the first box to reveal a golden pocket watch with a bunch of letters and numbers as well as symbols carved on it. “Mom this is so cool but what are these markings?” “They are just carvings of fictional creatures.” She says in a suspicious tone. “Open the others.” I shove the watch into my pocket and pull open the next box. “A broken moon?” I asked. “It’s a chain put it on and never take it off, honey!” “But why Mom?” “There’s one more Bethy.” She says solemnly. I put my hands on the top of the box but immediately I am interrupted by the sounds of tires screeching. Two big black SUVs pull up next to us and mom slams on the gas. “Get your bags out the back seat!” She yells at me. “But mom what..” “NOW!” She screams. I do as she says and snatch my book bag and small duffel bag off of the back seat I shove the third box into the bottle holder of my bag. “Take my purse there’s 2000 dollars and my debit cards in there, take it!” She screams at me as she’s swerving the car left and right trying to get those other two cars off our tail. Tears build up in my eyes. “But mom.. what are we doing? Who are those men?” “Those are the people I was telling you about they have found us, now I’m going to slow the car down for a quick second and when I count to three you open your car door and jump out and you get up and run like hell Bethy!” “Mom I can’t!” “ Dammit Joelle you get out of the car and run! Run for your f*****g life and don’t stop I will find you I promise!” “But mom..” I cry tears falling down my face. She looks at me and I can tell she’s serious. “ I love u Bethy.” She says quietly. “3!..2..1 GO BETHY NOW!” I take one last look at her and open my car door, I grab the two bags and her purse and jump into the cornfields. I crash to the floor and bang my head. “f**k!” I pull myself to my feet and look up the road. All I can hear is tires screeching and my mom's car swerving out of control causing the other two cars to swerve into hers. I hear a loud crash and my mom’s car explodes into flames. “Mom... MOM!!!” I scream and drop to my knees. The tears roll down my face and that’s when I see them, the men crawling out of their cars. I don’t waste any time, I pull myself to my feet and wipe my tears away. I throw the bag on my back and my mom's purse into the duffle. I turn around and make a run for it through the cornfield. (Flashback ends) I shake my head and open my eyes. That was three years ago. I haven’t seen Mom since. I wonder if she’s dead or if I’ll ever see her again. I stand up and brush the grass and dirt off of my blue jeans. “I need to find a way to make some money without people knowing my identity,” I say out loud and in my head. “I know how you could make some quick cash.” A squeaky voice says from behind me. I snap my head around and see a tall tanned skin woman with blonde hair and blue eyes staring at me with a smirk. She couldn’t be much older than me. She had on a short red bodycon dress with a deep V neckline and tall stiletto heels. She furrows her brows at me and I twist my face. “How?” “By dancing at the club I work for.” She says pulling a cigarette out of her purse and lighting it. “So how much does it pay?” I ask. She blows smoke out of her mouth and steps closer. “Sometimes I make a few thousand a night. You can make even more doing private dances.” She whispers. “What kind of dancing would I have to do?” She takes in another puff of smoke and smirks at me. “How old are you?” “20,” I say and she steps further. “Do you know how to be sexy?” I furrow my brows at her in confusion. “Honey, it’s a strip club you have to take your clothes off and be sexy to make money. Are you up for it or nah? My boss Phill is looking for new girls.” She throws her cigarette on the ground and steps on it with her foot. “Um.. yeah I am,” I say meekly. “Well let’s go, my shift starts in fifteen minutes.” She says and I follow her onto the sidewalk. We walk two blocks and turn the corner on a street called Willoughby. We walk a little further and stop in front of this building with blue, purple, and yellow lights. The sign reads “Galaxy Girls”. “So you just going to stand around all night or are you coming in?” She says smirking at me devilishly. I hurry inside behind her and she signals for me to follow her to the back. I look around me as I follow her there’s a bunch of older guys in here watching the women dance and strip. I cringe at the thought of stripping for these geezers. “What’s your name anyways?” I say as we walk through a room full of lockers and benches. “Becky.” She mumbles. We stop in front of this room with a blue door. She knocks and turns the knob without waiting for a response. “Hey, Phill I got a new one for ya. She’s 20 and needs some quick cash.” She says arrogantly. “Oh is that so.” A fat man in his late 40s snarks as he turns around in his computer chair.” He smirks when he sees me. “Well well what what do we have here?” Phill licks his lips and leans back. “Get to work Becky, I’ll handle this!” He says shooing Becky out the door. As soon as she leaves he gets up and locks the door. He walks up behind me and brushes my hair off my neck exposing my left shoulder. I shudder at his touch. Feeling uncomfortable I step forward but he grabs my arm. “Let me go!” I say sternly. He’s smiling harder now. He inhales deeply with his nose against my neck. “You smell like trees.” He says creepily. “You want to make some quick money?” “How?” I question raising my eyebrow. “Take off your clothes hot t**s and I’ll show you.” He says as he rips open my shirt. He pushes me up against his desk and presses my head down on the top of it. “Don’t!” I cry as he slides his hand up the back of my torn-open shirt. “I’ll show you how you can make some easy money, being my little whore.”