Under the Full Moon

www.AntonioGarciaBooks.com
Andy couldn’t stop shivering as he laid naked in the middle of the forest, unsure where he was and how he had gotten there.

Fortunately, there was no breeze that added to the low temperatures trying to seep into his very core.

Not wanting to die where he laid, he pulled himself up, and picked a direction to start walking in, keeping the sun on his right.

His surroundings didn’t seem familiar, but he knew that if he just walked in one direction, he was bound to come across a road.

He felt completely exposed walking through the woods naked.

While he hoped he found a road soon, in the back of his mind, he was concerned how he must look if a car happened upon him while he followed the road to the nearest town.

It was only a couple of hours until his concerns were realized.

He came across a road, and recognizing it, walked in the direction of his home. It wasn’t long before a car rounded the corner, heading towards him.

The car skidded to a stop and an elderly couple jumped out to help. The older man pulled a blanket out of the trunk and quickly wrapped it around him. The older lady began asking him if he was injured and then soon turned to asking how he had ended up there.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly, as they helped him into the car. “I was home alone, doing some writing, when I blacked out. When I came to, I found myself laying naked in the middle of the woods.

“I didn’t know where I was until I came across the road. Once I realized where I was, I started walking home.”

“Oh dear,” the lady said. “Would you like us to take you to the hospital, police station, or home?”

“Home would be great,” he answered. “I don’t feel like I have any injuries and I would like to get cleaned up before I try to explain this to the police.”

The elderly couple understood and said they would take him home.


“Thank you so much,” Andy said, after returning from inside his cabin, having thrown on some sweats.

He handed them their blanket back and continued, “I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if you hadn’t stopped to help.”

They both smiled and the old man said, “Think nothing of it. I’m just glad you’re not injured. You take care of yourself now.”

“I will,” Andy said and waived as they drove away.

He took his time in the shower, not only wanting to clean himself up, but ensure he wasn’t injured, and to see if there was any evidence of what had happened the night before clinging to him.

Nothing but mud washed off and he saw no bruising or any other sign of injury.

He decided to turn on the TV and try to remember what had happened and if he couldn’t, move on with life.

The only thing on the news was a story of a group of backpackers that appeared to had been ravaged by a wild animal.

‘That’s unfortunate,’ Andy thought and switched off the TV.

He grabbed a stiff drink and sat down hard at his desk. Writing would help take his mind off of things.

All of a sudden, he felt the urge to throw up, so he quickly ran to the bathroom and began puking. It was gross enough that he was throwing up, but when he looked at what was coming out of him, it made him even sicker. It looked like blood and chunks of meat.

Thinking it was strange and gross, but not overly outrages, he flushed the toilet and cleaned himself up before returning to his desk.

“What the hell did I eat while I was blacked out?’ he asked himself.
When he sat down, he saw that there was a ‘New Text Message’ notification waiting for him on his phone.

His heart raced when he saw who it was from.

It was from a woman he had dinner with a couple of weeks before. They had met through a dating app and immediately hit it off when they met in person.

He remembered after they ate and had a few drinks, they went back to his place and made love. He thought he must have also drank too much, because he only remembered the first half of their love making.

He must have blacked out because the next thing he remembered was waking up the next morning, naked and alone.

The only proof that he was with her that night was a bite she left on his clavicle, and it was already healed.

With a smile on his face, he opened the text hoping she wanted to meet up again. To his pleasant surprise, she did.

He replied that he couldn’t wait to see her and set up a time for her to come over.

A few hours later, he heard a knock on his door. He nearly tripped rushing to answer it.

“Hi,” he said as casually as he could when he opened the door.

With a warm smile, she replied, “Hi.”

He showed her in and led her to the couch.

“Can I get you a drink?” he asked.

“Sure,” she answered.

Andy came back into the living room a few minutes later with two drinks in his hands.

“How have you been?” he asked. “I don’t remember everything about that night, but I think we had a good time.”

She took a sip of her drink and said, “I’ve been good. I did have a good time, but an emergency came up and I had to run.”

He could tell she wanted to tell him something, but he didn’t want to press. He also realized that she could have texted any time between when the emergency happened to now but didn’t. He didn’t want to press her on that either. He was just happy to see her.

He made small talk while he watched her finish her drink. From her responses, he could tell she was just buying time for something she had to say. Probably the reason she had texted in the first place.

“Can I get you another drink?” he asked.

“Sure,” was all she said, though he could see that she was visibly shaken.

He took a couple of steps, turned around, and asked, “Is everything alright?”

“No,” she said bluntly and with a small smile continued, “But I do need that second drink first.”

Not wanting to push her, he quickly went to get her another drink.
She drank it down as if she’d just come out of a desert and was dying of thirst.

“Okay,” she started.

After a few deep breaths, she continued, “Did you hear about the group of campers that were killed by what seemed like a wild animal last night?”

“Sure,” he answered, confused.

“What do you remember about that night we were together?” she asked.

“I remember we had a good time and then I woke up alone and naked,” he said.

Knowing there was more, she asked, “And what else?”

Still not following how the events were related, the only thing he could think of was, “I remember you bit me.”

He laughed at how silly his answer was.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That’s truly the only thing I could think of that stood out.”

“Well.” She was silent for a long moment and then she continued, “That’s actually what I want to talk to you about.”

“Don’t tell me you have rabies,” he said jokingly.

“No, not rabies,” she said mysteriously.

“Look,” she continued. “What I’m about to tell you will sound ridiculous, but I promise you, it’s the truth.”

“Okay,” he said slowly.

“You killed those campers last night,” she said bluntly.

He stared at her waiting for the punchline and not hearing one, could only ask, “What?”

“I said you killed those people,” she said again. She knew he would be confused, but this was the only way to get his full attention.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, clearly concerned about her mental health.

“Let me guess,” she started. “You woke up this morning naked and confused?”

He stood up and almost shouted, “Did you drug me? Are you trying to frame me for something you did?”

He was ready to defend himself against her and throw her out of his cabin. He was now truly afraid of what might come next. She didn’t look violent, but her demeanor just might only be the calm before the storm.

“Andy, sit down,” she answered calmly. “It gets worse and I need you to stay calm.”

“It gets worse?” he said, pacing back and forth.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to say anything else until he sat down, he did.

She gave him a few seconds after he sat down to make sure he was calm.

Once she was sure that he was as calm as he was going to get, she started.

“Okay, truth time,” she said. “That night we were together and I bit you. I changed you.”

There was a long pause.

“I turned you into a Werewolf,” she said quickly.

Almost immediate, Andy started laughing and even seemed to relax, realizing she was messing with him.

His laugh faded when he saw that she didn’t join him, but instead kept her serious demeanor.

“What?” he asked, feeling like he had heard her wrong.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but it’s the truth,” she started again.

She drank what little was left of her drink and continued. “I wasn’t sure you would change until after last night. I had hoped that you wouldn’t have been affected.”

Andy was unsure what to say. He didn’t believe what she was saying, but it was obvious that she believed it.

“I think you should leave,” he whispered and then repeated it louder.

“Andy, I want to help you,” she started, but before she could continue, Andy stood up, ending the conversation.

She put down her glass and walked to the door.

“When the next full moon comes, you’ll kill again,” she stated flatly.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to respond, she turned and walked out.

Andy couldn’t believe what she had tried to tell him. All he could do was watch as she drove away.

Over the next few weeks, he largely forgot the conversation he had with her and just focused on getting back to his writing.

As the next full moon approached, he started having nightmares. At first they were minor, but when the next full moon was only days out, they became intense enough that he would wake up drenched in sweat.

He never remembered the nightmares, but each day he felt more and more tired as he felt he wasn’t getting enough sleep at night.

The night of the full moon started no different than any other night. Andy sat at his desk and worked on his latest book, enjoying the peace and quiet that came with living in a secluded cabin in the woods.

He was just starting a new sentence when suddenly, an image of a person begging for their life flashed in his head.

Jolted by the surprise image, he stood up.

Suddenly, he was bombarded with images of blood and gore. He instinctively placed his hands to his head to stop the constant bombardment of disturbing images.

Unable to stop them, he fell to his knees praying to any god that was listening to save him.

Then he blacked out.


When he groggily opened his eyes, he once again found himself laying naked in the middle of the forest.

He instantly shot up, gathered his bearings, and panicked, as once again he didn’t know how he had gotten there.

He turned when he heard someone approaching from behind him.
“What, what happened?” he asked the woman that had previously been at his cabin.

“What I told you would happen,” she said as she started walking toward him.

Afraid, he took a couple of steps back.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she assured him.

She threw a bag in front of him.

“I’ve got some clothes that should fit you,” she explained. “The group of campers you killed last night are just over that ridge. I’m sure you’ll hear about it on the news.”

He briefly looked in that direction and then back at her.

“Now,” she said. “How about we get you back to your cabin and I pour YOU a drink.”