Ben Marble [Marble - Under a Broken Moon

Under A Broken Moon

By Ben Marble

As Always, to my lovely wife and my family who put up with all my insanity.

Copyright 2019 Ben Marble

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed are either products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic or machine-driven, 3D Photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author.

The First Body

S ix months had passed since the cold certainty the demon had awoken gripped Elias heart. The first thing he had done was travel halfway across the country to find out if he was just having the same nightmares which had plagued him since the demons imprisonment. Sure enough, the giant black oak which had held the monster captive for over one hundred years had been destroyed.

Blackened chunks of wood decorated what had once been an immaculate yard. The house of whomever had been living out here, away from civilization, had been smashed to pieces. What was left of the tree was burnt an even darker black than it had been while it was alive. Of the owner there was no sign, but when he had asked around town speculation had grown wild. The mans gardener had simply shown up to find everything destroyed. The running theory was the owner had been making bombs and one had gone off.

Looking at the wreckage, Elias knew better. Something had happened to free the demon who had cursed him with his abilities. He had stepped carefully over the remains of what had once been a window, more to try and keep the area undisturbed than risk cutting himself, and surveyed the damage more closely.

This was his fault. He had grown complacent over the last few years, and now someone had paid the price. When he first trapped the demon, he had checked on the tree every few months. Over time those months had grown to years, and a couple of decades had passed since the last time he had been this way.

Now here he was, out in the mountains of the sestern states in some town called Cider Falls in Utah. The demon was weak enough Elias could sense the beasts general location, if not his exact direction, and that had led him here. This ability would fade as the demon gained power so he had a limited window in which he could figure out how to either destroy it or trap it again.

Now he sat watching the street at six in the morning pondering his next move. Edgar, his assistant was upstairs reading some obscure text. He was never sure what his traveling companion was up to half of the time, the rest of the time his nose was in a book. Like Elias, Edgar did not sleep. They both had twenty-four hours worth of time to fill in the day.

He watched as a young girl jogged past and raised an eyebrow. Most teenagers avoided being out this early, when it was still dark and school had at least two hours to the attendance bell. With the demon being close by, he decided to follow her. It was the least he could do.

Pacing her steps, Jill ran with her eyes half shut. She let the memory of the path guide her as much as any of her senses. She felt the wind tease through her hair, catching a couple of golden strands loosened from her ponytail by her movement. The rhythm of her tennis shoes slapping sent pleasant vibrations through her system; she just enjoyed the feeling of motion.

Jill was always running. Even when she had turned sixteen and gotten her drivers license last year her favorite method of getting around her small town was on foot. Every morning at this time without fail she was on this path, waking up and stretching her muscles. Even in the winter when it snowed heavy and deep, as it often did this close to the Idaho border, she was outside in the early morning air.

She was enjoying the cool November air and the smell of frost rising in the air. She wore a simple t-shirt and shorts letting the exercise keep her warm. She moved to cut across the field behind the high school. Jill hoped they had finally tended to the grass, she hated making the final lap home with socks which were soaked through and partially frozen. Jill winced as the long threads whipped against her legs.

Half way across, something tickled her nose which caused her to stop and look around. It smelled like something was burning nearby. She sniffed again and got a definite whiff of char. It seemed to be coming from the football field, so Jill decided to alter her path and run across it today. It would not add more than a couple of minutes to her morning run.

In the dark, she was almost halfway across the field when she saw a dark figure stand up, look at her, and sprint away. On instinct she almost gave chase, but stopped when she saw the figure had been standing over a still form. She went to investigate.

It took Jill a few seconds to realize what she was looking at. Not because she didnt recognize the body lying on the ground before her. It was Mrs. Hamblin, who was often first to the school to open up. A woman she had often stopped to chat with on her runs, as the older woman walked to school as often as she drove.

The fact Mrs. Hamblins body had smoke curling out of her mouth and her eyes had been removed made her brain fight against accepting reality.

Gasping, Jill fell to her knees and tried to find her cell phone. She went through her pockets panicking as she could not find the device at first. Then she remembered that it was on an arm strap she had bought the strap to keep it from bouncing in her pocket so she could listen to music without the jack coming unplugged. She would have left the phone at home completely except her parents insisted she keep it on her in case she tripped and sprained an ankle or had another type of emergency. This was absolutely an emergency.

She had not even started to dial nine-one-one when Jill realized a stranger was standing across from her looking down at the body. Yelping she jumped back and dropped her phone. The person looked up at her, and every cell in her body stiffened with a sense of danger. He motioned to her phone.

You had better make that call, the police will want to be here while the body is as fresh as possible. He kneeled down and his grey eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark. His hair hung loose down past his shoulders, and a neatly trimmed beard framed angular features. He was tall and lean, almost as if he was underfed. Something about him felt wrong, and she did not dare run.

Please, call the police. And then your pack, I would like to speak with them. The man was examining the body closely without touching it.

My pack. Jill picked up her phone and started dialing. What are you talking about? There was a click and someone picked up.

Jill proceeded to describe finding the body to an operator who seemed calm and cold as she typed in the information Jill gave to her. Every now and then, the operator asked a question, and she would answer. The whole time, she was aware of the stranger watching her closely, as if taking a measuring her reactions.

When she was informed the police were on their way, the operator terminated the call. It was after she hung up, She realized that in all the description she had given, she had not mentioned this stranger who had shown up out of the blue.

Miss what may I call you? The stranger went back to kneeling by the body. His clothing seemed strange to her, he wore a long navy jacket with silver buttons . Almost like something she had seen a navy captain wearing once in an old black and white photo.

Im Jill, As soon as she answered she debated on whether or not she should have given this man her name.

Elias Crydubh, he bowed his head a bit respectfully. I must ask, have you shifted yet Jill?