Carolina Moon

Chapter 3

Lucy
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Lucy couldn't sleep.

She laid there for hours, in the master bedroom of the dusty old farmhouse. She and Cam had once had plans to fix it up for a bed and breakfast, but all the talk never came to fruition. She hated staying here—always had the worst hallucinations in this place.

Tonight, it was a bat, hanging from her ceiling. A large bat with a stubby body, and a Cheshire smile that was really beginning to get under her skin. It did nothing but hang there, upside down, blinking and grinning. But that was the nature of her hallucinations. They did nothing but exist to inconvenience her.

Tired of tossing and turning, just to look up once more at that stupid bat, Lucy climbed out of bed with a sting of exhaustion in her chest and tiptoed down the hallway. She felt the ghost of her father in this place, and it was a nasty feeling at that. Like washing your hair with dozens of little paper-cuts on your fingers. A sticky, ugly, painful feeling that never settled.

The one thing she did love about the farm house was its proximity to the lake. It was peaceful at night, the water still and the stars spelled out cleanly above the horizon. The lake was famous around these parts for UFO activity, and nothing thrilled Lucy more than the thought of seeing an alien with her own eyes. She thought, maybe one day, a flying saucer would hover over her farm and lift her up into its belly with that blinding beam of light. And she'd finally feel at home for once in her life.

She wrapped herself in an old, tattered throw blanket and wandered out into the dark.

The motion censor light from the house beamed on the moment she stepped out on the porch, moths and mosquitos buzzing around the naked bulb.

Lucy looked out over the water, admiring the dazzling lights coming from the many homes that wrapped the shoreline. She wandered to the doc and took a seat on the ledge, letting the pain of the day settle into the aching chasm in her chest. She had pushed David out of mind as long as she could manage, but there was a space in her heart for him still and it was time to open it up. To let it bleed out.

Lucy didn't feel like crying, but she did feel something inside of her wither up and wilt like a weed. She had really liked David.

He was in college when she'd met him, earning a business certification just like her. He'd dazzled her with his sweet smile and his golden-boy personality, and even then, she had only wanted to be friends with him. It was David who suggested something more. Now they were nothing.

Those two weeks were nice. But they weren't real.

A thud came from the barn.

Lucy had been so exhausted from the events of the day, that she'd nearly forgotten all about the wolf. She pulled herself up to her feet, tiptoed off of the dock and crept uneasily to the barn, listening to the sounds of something toppling. Something else jostled against the wall. It must've woken up.

Quickly, Lucy cranked open the old storage shed and retrieved a bottle of bear mace that her father used to take out on hunting expeditions. She'd never used it and hoped a situation wouldn't arise when she'd have to, but if the wolf was awake, it was probably angry.

Slowly, Lucy cranked open the door of the barn. The light was still on inside, and as she peaked through the crack in the door, she could see the fuzzy hind of the creature as it dug around in the straw, pushing around a nest for itself. She opened the door a little wider to announce her presence. The wolf's ears perked at the sound of the door, and it lifted its head. For the first time, Lucy got a long look at the beast.