Story 39/1001

• pull
• brush
• wolf

My mom guided us through the woods. It is a path we take every month. And every month I see less reasons as to why I should be a part of it.

“Mateo.” I whispered. “Mateo.”

“What? What is it?” He turned around.

“What if we bail this time?” Mateo stopped and hit the back of my head.

“Keep walking.” He gritted through his teeth.

“What’s this commotion, boys?” Mom said, looking back at us from the front of the line.

“Nothing, mom. ” Mateo answered and glared at me. Like that would keep me quiet.

“Mom, what would happen if we don’t go through this tonight?” As soon as I said that, four pairs of eyes looked at me in shock.

“Antonio, what are you saying?” Maria spoke softly.

“What if we don’t chain ourselves, and just run free tonight?”

Mom walked towards me, her gaze fixated on my eyes. I could feel the brush of her hand on my cheek even before she hit me. Her eyes filled with tears, and even though her face showed anger, her eyes showed sadness.

I was startled. Not because she slapped me, but because I felt as if the sadness in her eyes planted itself inside my heart.

“Mom.” Luis said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “We should get going. The moon is almost here.” Mom nodded and walked back to the front of the line.

I caught up with Maria.

“You deserved that.” She said.

“Maybe.” I answered, but I didn’t feel remorse. I could feel my mom’s sadness, the weight on her shoulders, but I didn’t agree with it.

I never knew life on the full moon, not outside of those chains.

“What do you mean, maybe?” Maria frowned. “Those things inside us are beasts. We are cursed. The least we could do is keep everyone else safe once the curse starts.”

“Do you really think that?” I looked at her hazel eyes. “Have you never felt anything when you changed? Like a connection?”

“To what? My wolf? Are you mad?” She held my hand and stopped me. “Listen, Antonio. You know I’m all for an investigation into your inner self, but this is not something you should do.” I jerked my hand away, annoyed.

“I get it, I really do. This is all I’ve ever known too, Antonio. And I am here longer than you’ve been. It is scary and exhausting going through this every month, but if we don’t, people will start showing up dead, and we’ll be waking up covered in blood.”

I nodded, reluctantly. I heard her loud and clear, but I just didn’t feel the same way she did.

The wolf inside never scared me. When we arrived at the cabin, everyone prepared their chains. I followed them into the basement, keeping quiet and getting out of their way.

I have attracted way too much attention already, and I could feel my mom’s gaze burrowing at the back of my neck.

We set up the basement while my mom locked the heavy doors and put the key around her neck. She always checked if we were chained correctly before she locked our cages and put herself into hers.

I made her think that I’m ready to go and waited until all of them were chained and locked.

Then I threw my chains away and opened the cage doors.

“Antonio?” My mom said. “How?”

“I made a copy a few months ago, but I never had the courage to do this before.” I said, playing with the key in my hands. I walked towards mom’s cage, unlocked it, and took the key from her neck.

“Antonio! Get back here!” Luis yelled. Mom started crying, pleading for me to go back to the cage. But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t do this anymore.

“Antonio!” Mateo and Maria shouted.

“I’m really not sorry about this.” I said, walking up the stairs to the doors. “I’ll lock the doors from the outside and I’ll be back for you in the morning.”

I closed the doors, muffling their screams.

Then, for the first time, I felt the pull of the moon.