Black Moon Rising
Every three hundred years a black moon rises,
heralding the opening of the underworld for precisely three days. A time when
the creatures you only read about in horror stories wreak absolute havoc on
society.
“The black moon rises!” came the screams from every corner
of the city, as the dregs of the underworld made their triennial appearance.
Two teenagers ran through the city streets, pursuing their
prey. One an ebony-haired girl named Angelin, the other a golden-haired boy
named Taylor. This was their night…their chance to have some fun.
“There!” Angelin cried, grinning and showing her
glistening, white fangs. “Three for the price of one tonight.”
“You take the one on the left, I’ll take the one on the
right,” Taylor directed. “We’ll take on the middle one together.”
He leapt into the dark alleyway, grabbing hold of the girl
around the waist and sinking his fangs into her neck. Angelin did the same to
the boy on the other side of the narrow space.
The feeding frenzy continued for the next three days and
nights. As morning broke, and the black moon sank below the horizon, the city
became safe once again. The vampires were to sleep for three hundred years…
Angelin opened her eyes and smiled, running her tongue
over her fangs. It was time once more…
The black moon rose over the New York City skyline, blanketing
the city in growing darkness. A darkness that would remain for three days and
nights.
They came once more, descending on the city, embarking on
a fresh feeding frenzy. Scores of people died during those three days, the
result of the vampires’ voracious appetites. And scores more may have died at
the hands of the two fiercest vampires in history, had a certain teenage girl
not been held up by them.
Another dark alleyway. Another three people. The same
plan.
Phoenix watched as Angelin and Taylor fed on her friends,
then came for her. Scared and shaking, she spoke up seriously.
“Hey, blondie.”
Taylor glanced at Phoenix, barely suppressing
a growl.
“How about you sink those fangs of yours into your girlfriend?
It can’t hurt to try.”
“Go on, Taylor,” Angelin agreed. “You won’t hurt me. You
know that.”
Shrugging, Taylor slowly sank his fangs into Angelin’s
neck, and felt her tense up, then become completely limp. He dropped her onto
the cold ground and turned to Phoenix, baring his fangs in anger.
She held up a sharp, pointed stake and waved it teasingly
in his face. “Ever watched Buffy, vampire boy?” she asked. “This is what
Buffy does to guys like you.”
Without prior warning, Phoenix drove the point of the
stake into Taylor’s chest, piercing his heart. “I watch way too much
TV,” Phoenix muttered as he uttered a sharp cry and fell sprawling on the
concrete.
Almost instantly, the city was bathed in light, the black
moon replaced by burning sunlight. The vampires returned to the underworld, to
their eternal sleep, the black moon never to disturb the world again.
Phoenix glanced back over her shoulder as she left the
alleyway, pulling her coat tighter. She laughed harshly. “Vampires…ah, there’s
no such thing.”
“No such thing,” she repeated to herself on the long walk
home to Manhattan.
