False Moon Rising

Tía Lorena picks up on the third ring. “Nora, what’s the matter? Did you have another fight with Nathan?” 

Nora climbs down the withered deck to the beach. She steers clear of the burnt offerings, a small pile of charred fish bones and melted candle wax. 

“It’s not going to work, Tía,” Nora says miserably. “He still doesn’t want to talk about it. Coming to the beach house was a mistake. I’m sorry for putting you and Tía Kata out.” 

In a warm tone, Tía Lorena says, “Are you apologizing because you need to or because you couldn’t receive one?” 

Nora wipes a tear from her cheek. “I don’t know,” she says honestly. “I thought coming here would make things better. I actually thought he would put in the effort and change, but he still talks to her. He’s not even hiding it anymore. I don’t think we’re going to last the weekend.” 

 “Be patient,” Tía Lorena says. “Kata and I made sure the ritual was done exactly as Tatarabuela showed us.” 

Nora lets out a skeptical laugh. “Tía, at this point, I don’t even think brujeria can save our marriage.” 

“Have faith, mijita,” Tía Lorena says. “It’s a new moon tonight, and a new moon means new beginnings.”

Nora groans. “Have faith in what? On some dead fish and some scribblings Tartarabeula left us? Sure we prayed, but how is that going to fix anything, Tía?”

The line goes quiet for a moment. 

“Mija,” Tía Lorena says sternly. “Our prayers do not fall on deaf ears.” Her words were heavy with meaning. “Did you leave your offering on the ofrenda like we told you?”

 Nora reaches for the back of her neck, and wraps her forefinger around a lock of hair. Recently cut. 

“Yes, Tía. She has her precious lock of hair.”

“Then be patient, Mija. Your part is nearly done.” Tía Lorena says.

The conversation ends and Nora slips her phone into her back pocket. A shiver crawls up her legs and over her spine, but she doesn’t go inside.

Nora breathes in the briny air, letting it fill her lungs until it hurts, until her breaths match the tempo of water meeting earth. Something about being at the beach house peels away a layer of her anger and frustration and washes it away with the lull of the crashing waves. Her body eases and settles, and she swears she can hear a hum between her exhales and the roaring tide. 

In the distance, a single globe of light rises over a cresting wave. With curious fascination and awe, Nora watches it ascend, breaking the horizon line and over the blanket of stars. 

A new moon rises from the sea and Nora realizes it’s heading to shore, toward the beach house. 

Nora wavers, unsure as the globe of light teeters before falling and disappearing into a wave. She doesn’t know why, but she has to be there when it comes ashore. 

Nora’s gut wrenches, fearful for that small light struggling. Nora rushes toward the water.

Her heart knocks against her ribs as another wave topples over and snuffs out an aura of jade green light under the water. 

“Hey,” Nora says, shouting. “Hey!”

Nora’s bare legs crash into frigid water. She cries out. 

The deck lights flicker behind her and Nathan’s shadow appears on the deck.  

Nathan calls for her, but Nora can’t hear him, the hum and the thrashing of water drowns him out. 

Wading through the water, Nora sees a woman emerge from the seafoam lying prostrate on the wet sand. The woman is young and naked, her body draped under a tangle of inky black hair. For a moment, Nora wonders whether she sees the pale bioluminescent glow from the new moon surround the woman before it fades. 

Nora goes to her knees and rolls The Woman over. Nora hesitates before pushing strands of hair from The Woman’s face. When she does, honey-brown eyes meet hers. Nora’s breath hitches at the indecipherable familiarity that jolts between them the moment their eyes meet.  “Hola,” Nora says as if greeting a loved one.

The Woman’s lips, blue and chattering, twitch as if to speak. 

“What?” Nora says gently, bringing The Woman close.

Instead of words, Nora feels the imprint of a sharp smile and cold teeth press against her cheek. 

#

I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful—a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

And her eyes were wild. 

#

Nathan goes up and down the beach, his flashlight cuts up and down the black waves. Nora watches through the kitchen window until he disappears behind the seafoam-colored curtains. She pulls open a tin of Tía Kata’s dried chamomile and drops it into the kettle. The soothing aroma that blooms in the kitchen reminds Nora of childhood summers. She remembers picking the delicate flowers and searching for the faint perfume of belladonna. But that was a long time ago. 

The wind outside begins to howl. If her tías were here they would soothe away the storm with hot chocolate dusted with cinnamon. 

The kettle whistles. Nora picks out her favorite childhood mug from the cabinet. She pours the tea into the Little Mermaid mug before breathing deeply.

The Woman is curled up on the couch wrapped in a tasseled seashell blanket. Her black hair has dried into curls, framing her honey-brown eyes. 

Nora can feel The Woman’s gaze follow her as she moves across the room. 

“I’m Nora,” she says. She waits for a response but it never comes. “This is my tías’ house,” Nora holds out the mug. “Nathan, he’s the one who carried you in, he’s my husband.” 

The Woman wraps her fingers over Nora’s and smiles with just a hint of teeth. 

“What’s your name?” Nora says.

Instead of answering, The Woman gently takes the mug, and sips the steaming tea. 

“Oh,” Nora says before turning to a small end table by the couch. She picks out a pen amongst bundles of dried wolfsbane, an herb that hangs over every doorway in the house. Nora pushes them aside and pulls out a stack of conch-shaped sticky notes. She holds them out to The Woman. 

The Woman shakes her head. She taps on the mug.

“That’s okay,” Nora says. “All good things in time.” Her tia’s words ring in her head and out of her mouth. 

The back door swings open and Nathan trudges in. He shrugs off his coat as he enters the living room. “I didn’t see anyone out there. Not a soul.”

“Really?” Nora says, surprised.

“Yes, really,” he says, his voice snapping.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Nora says.  

The Woman shifts forward and the seashell blanket slides down exposing her brown freckled chest and shoulders. 

Nathan doesn’t bother hiding how his eyes follow the curve of her neck or how they linger over the slope of her breasts. He digs his hands into his jean pockets so deeply, the buckle of his jeans glint.

“Can I talk to you alone?” Nora says to Nathan. She bites her tongue before she turns to The Woman and forces a smile. “I’ll be just a minute.” 

The Woman takes Nora’s hand and squeezes it, Nora squeezes back before letting go. 

Nora’s smile softens, tongue bruised. 

Nora and Nathan disappear into the kitchen. 

“What was that?” Nora says.

Nathan rolls his eyes. “Are we going to do this now? You’re the one who invited her into the house.”

“Well, we should call my aunts,” Nora says. 

Nathan leans on the kitchen counter and crosses his arms over his chest. “No, it’s late. Why would we?”

Nora’s shoulders deflate. “Well,” she says, her stomach twisting. 

“You’re aunts wouldn’t mind,” he says. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Nora’s mouth runs dry and her heart rises with every beat into her throat.

“Trust me, ” Nathan says. He waits for Nora’s answer. “Isn’t that why we’re here?”

“Okay.” Nora nods. “You’re right. I’ll make up the guest room.”

Nora turns to leave, her eyes downcast.  

“I love you, Nora,” Nathan says. 

She doesn’t answer. 

He grabs her, gripping her forearm tightly. 

Nora holds her breath. 

His phone rings and Nora recognizes the ringtone. 

“Are you going to get that?” Nora says under her breath. 

The phone rings again before Nathan let’s her go. Nora can feel the blood return to her arm and fill the imprint of his hand. 

Nathan silences his ring tone, but his mistress’s name continues to glow on the screen.  

“Don’t answer it,” Nora says, something hot rises into her chest. “It’s late.” 

“It’s work, ” he says and brings the phone to his ear.

“Don’t answer it,” Nora says again. She looks him in the eyes, quiet and still. Her cheeks flushed. 

“Hello?” Nathan says, answering the phone. “Let me call you back.”

Nora leaves the kitchen and takes the keys from the clam bowl by the front door. “I’m going to get us some food,” she says and takes her raincoat from the driftwood rack. 

“Nora, wait,” Nathan says. “It’s pouring, I’ll go.”

“It’s fine,” she says and walks out the door. She lets out a deep breath and leans back against the front door. She hears Nathan speaking to someone else. The porch lights flicker. 

Nora pulls the hood over her head and walks down the creaking porch steps to the car, but stops in front of the living room window. 

The Woman is there. Waiting. The Little Mermaid mug in her hands, her black hair draped over her shoulders and chest; the blanket splits open.

“I’ll be right back,” Nora says. She can barely hear her own voice over the rain. 

When the lightning strikes, the bioluminescent glow surrounds The Woman again, but disappears when the thunder rolls in. 

The Woman’s lips curve into a smile with just a hint of white teeth. 

A flash of light and crash of thunder. 

Nora’s heart pounds and she runs out into the rain and to the car. Water pounds over the car roof and she quickly cranks up the heat. She plugs her phone into the dash and calls her tía. Tía Lorena answers on the first ring.

“I’m sorry it’s late,” Nora says, she holds the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turn white.

“What’s wrong, Mija?” Tía Lorena says. Nora can hear Tia Kata speak in the background. “Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Everything,” Nora says miserably. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.” Her voice cracks and she wipes her eyes with a damp sleeve. 

“Nora, tell us everything,” Tía Lorena says. 

“Start from the beginning,” Tía Kata says. 

Nora breathes in deeply, their voices like chamomile and hot chocolate.

#

I saw pale kings and princes too,

Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci

Thee hath in thrall!’ 

#

A torrent of rain runs down Nora’s windshield as the smell of fish penetrates her car’s upholstery. She stares out the window at the beach house and tightens her grip around the steering wheel. She doesn’t want to go inside. Sighing, Nora grabs the bag and runs through the rain.

“I’m back,” Nora says, calling into the void. 

In the kitchen, she tears open the plastic bag. Popping open the styrofoam containers, she calls out again. No one answers, so she walks into the living room. The television is on but no one is there. “Hello?”

Nora checks the deck. Nothing. Nothing except a small pouch behind the family ofrenda. Guessing its contents from the pile her aunts left under the deck, Nora pushes the pouch back into place with her shoe. Nora enters the house once more when the clock strikes midnight. It’s late. Maybe they went to bed.

Deciding to do the same, Nora stores the food in the fridge before heading for her room. When she climbs up the stairs, a distinctive chime tickles her ears. Nora stops. At the top of the stairs Nathan’s cell lights up. Nora reads the display. Six missed calls and numerous unread texts.

Then she hears it. That familiar sound. After six years of marriage, Nora recognizes her husband’s grunts, his moans, and the intake of his breaths. 

He wouldn’t. Not on our vacation. Not in our bed.

Trembling, she grabs the bedroom doorknob. 

Nathan yells just as she opens the door. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” he says, panting.

Nathan and The Woman are sprawled naked on the bed. The Woman is on her back, her body sweetly relaxed under his as he jerks and pumps into her. With a final grunt he slips out of her, his member soft and glistening.

Nora holds her breath as Nathan trails soft and open-mouthed kisses over The Woman’s chest. When his lips are just above The Woman’s heart he latches on. He sucks the sensitive flesh into his mouth like a starving babe.

Nora looks up and The Woman is staring at her. Right at her. The Woman grins and wraps her legs around Nathan. 

Something changes. 

Nathan is now struggling against her thighs. His eyes widen as they meet Nora’s but not in remorse. In fear.

The Woman’s lips twitch and Nora catches a brief glimpse of teeth. Sharp. So very sharp.

Nathan groans. Another. And another. He groans into The Woman’s flesh until the sound becomes a haunting scream, a one worded plea.

Nora shakes her head at the word. Her name. Nathan screams. The sound is muffled but Nora understands. Help. 

Helpless, Nora watches as his mouth becomes fused to The Woman’s skin. Saliva, tinted pink, drips out of his mouth and trails down her breasts.

The Woman undulates and her skin ripples. She sighs and a thin fleshy rod uncurls from her dark hair. It stands erect. At the end of this appendage, just above her brow, dangles a ball with a luminescence similar to a new moon. A false moon infinitely more beautiful in its purity.

Nathan panics. He scratches at The Woman’s thickening skin, his nails flicking off as The Woman grins. And like the new moon hovering above The Woman’s head, her skin begins to glow. This glow flows into Nathan. He struggles with all his might but The Woman flexes her thighs forcing his wet hips into hers. Tears fall down Nathan’s face.

In seconds, his skin is death pale. In minutes, it’s translucent.

Nora lets out a breath at the sight. Whether it be in her blood or the brujeria, she understands, she knows what must happen. 

The change starts with Nathan’s eyes. He doesn’t need them. Not anymore. The Woman doesn’t need them either for she has her own. So his eyes shrink until there is nothing there but a frightening emptiness. If Nathan could cry he would, but you need tear ducts for that and he has none. His stomach, intestines, bladder, lungs…He doesn’t need those either. 

The Woman grins a smile much too large for her face and extends her webbed hand. Nora lifts her hand in response. There is a brief flash of recognition before Nora blinks. Breathing heavily, Nora touches the short strand of hair behind her ear. 

Such a small sacrifice. 

She would do it again, she realizes. 

She would have given more.

Slowy, Nora shuts the door. 

In the kitchen, Nora grabs her keys and her phone from the clam bowl. She dials her tía’s number. On the first ring, she is outside of the beach house. On the second, she is pulling open the car door. On the third ring, Tía Lorena answers.

“You were right,” Nora says with a smile that shows just a hint of teeth. “About the new moon.” 

About The Author

The Gathering made up of a trio of Hispanic women who met at Cal State Northridge in a creative writing workshop placed 2nd in the Ghost & Horror Short Story Contest, October 2021, with their award winning story False Moon Rising. They won the $70 cash prize and publication in Indie It Press’s forthcoming Anthology, 2022: COURAGEOUS CREATIVE.