December's Moon

13| DECEMBER

| DECEMBER |

The lights leaking out of the school glowed yellow in the dark, dense fog. December watched from the window of his room as Samantha and Nyx, two junior girls, made their way from the main building to the girls' dorm. They laughed with each other, practically skipping across the cobblestone path. Nyx stopped for a second, the wind rushing through her dark hair as she glanced off into the woods. She called to Samantha, and the other girl stopped as well.

December swished his tail back and forth impatiently. It was getting late, already almost ten pm. He'd been watching the window for the past fifteen minutes waiting for an opening. Usually, he loved the fact that the students didn't have a curfew where they had to be out of the main building and in their dorms. He'd often stayed in the classroom until the early hours of the morning doing homework and goofing around with his classmates.

Today, however, he wished everyone would just go the fuck go sleep.

He needed to make the couple hundred yard run to the woods without getting spotted, but students just kept going back and forth between the building and the dorms. Finally, Nyx and Samantha continued on their way and disappeared inside their dorm building.

It's now or never.

After a few crunches of bones and popping of joints, December settled into his human form. He pulled on the clothing he'd left out on his bed and made his way to the door.

Iris whimpered, and she pawed at his leg.

"I'm sorry, girl," he whispered. "You have to stay here." He ruffled the fur between her ears and opened the door. She nosed at his hand as he stepped out. "I'm sorry." He pet her one more time before closing the door with her inside.

The sound of Iris lightly scratching at the wood and whimpering as December walked away made his heart hurt. She always picked up on his emotions, comforting him when he was upset or standing by his side when he needed confidence. She could certainly tell how nervous and on edge he'd been all day. She wanted to be there to protect him. He felt terrible that he had to leave her behind like this.

It was for her own good, he reminded himself. December had no idea what was going to happen when he met that woman in the woods tonight. The last thing he wanted was his dog getting hurt somehow.

When he stepped out of the dorm building, a cool gasp of wind rushed past him. He ducked his head to shield himself against the cold and took off at a jog. He didn't want to trip, but he had to be quick. He knew he would be able to talk himself out of any serious trouble if someone spotted him sneaking into the woods, but he wanted to avoid it if at all possible.

After crossing the soccer field, he climbed around the rock blocking the entrance to the woods. Pine needles and twigs crunched under his feet as he leapt to the ground on the other side.

The breeze rustled the pine trees back and forth. They almost sounded like voices whispering in the night. December shuddered, for a second considering turning around and going back to his dorm where it was safe.

The memory of the woman who threatened him came back to him. He couldn't stop thinking about the cool feeling of the knife against his neck and the whimpering of Iris as she threatened her. No, he wasn't safe in his dorm. He wasn't safe anywhere. If he didn't meet her, who knew what she would do? She was behind Malcom's disappearance somehow. He knew it. What if she took other students and did to them whatever it was she'd done to Malcom?