Scarlet Moon

Scarlet Moon

Chapter 1

The Underprivileged Werewolf

Reyna Port straddled between consciousness and unconsciousness as she listened to the hum of rain on the roof of the carriage mixed with the dreadful noise of her uncle gurgling rum in his throat—it would be his third bottle that afternoon.

Fifteen years of hell, Reyna thought with satisfaction, finally ending.

Ever since her parents had abandoned her at birth, Reyna had lived with her aunt and drunkard Uncle Richard until her aunt had died five years ago.

“Yer pa ran away when she found out yer mum was a werewolf.” her uncle had told Reyna. ‘Ad given birth to a werewolf for a daughter, and he was not happy. I don’ blame ‘im, though. Nobody likes us half-humans these days. Then yer mum ran away shortly aft’word. Shame, nice woman.”

Though it restricted her from having real parents, Reyna was not ashamed of being a werewolf. A good ten, maybe twelve percent of the population of her hometown Berscum was made up of werewolves—the rest were human, except for a very, very small percentage of sorcerers.

Being a werewolf meant that every night at the setting of the sun, when the moon became the largest light source in the sky, the ancient transition would commence—all of the werewolves would alter their human appearance into that of an enormous, vicious wolf. The transition lasted until midnight every night, and Reyna never got tired of it.

Being in wolf form half the night didn’t take sleep away, for werewolves had an entirely different genetic structure, and required less sleep than the average human. Contrary to popular belief, werewolves didn’t feast on live flesh, either. In fact, Reyna knew some werewolves who were vegetarians.

She had often been stopped around town by worried neighbors who had pleaded with her not to eat their children. But she and her uncle, while in wolf form, would be required by law to remain in the forest while in wolf-form.

Reyna thought this was a relatively foolish law, since it was extremely rare that a werewolf harmed a human being.

Her uncle, however, had slowly built up a strong hatred for Reyna, more than likely caused by the fact that Reyna didn’t have the capability to bring him  “MORE RUM, MORE ‘UM, REYN’!” every moment of her distraught teenage life. Finally her uncle had accumulated the sense to turn her over to an orphanage—and Reyna, though nervous, was thoroughly looking forward to the transition.

She jumped as the old carriage swerved in the middle of the lane, making her heart skip a beat. Her uncle hiccupped vilely.

“So, Rey……Rey……er…what’s yer name now, girl?” he slurred a few minutes later, casting a lazy, tomato-red eye back at her.

“I’m Reyna, uncle.” Reyna said calmly, tucking back a stray lock of her brown hair. She was used to this sort of thing.

“Meh. Well whatev’ then. Reyn’, remember now, no horsin’ off, or they’re gon’ send you back teh me. You wouldn’ wan’ that now, eh? Would ya? Eh? Eh?”

“Er—no, uncle. I won’t cause trouble.”

 Her uncle grunted, and then hiccupped again as the horse whinnied against the reins he was pulling a bit to harshly and pulled backwards into an open spot at the side of the road, narrowly missing the carriage in front of them.

Reyna peered excitedly through the side window to look at the building that would now become her home—it was located on the corner of two narrow roads. It appeared to be of considerable size; the orphanage stood five stories tall and was made of red brick that was crumbling down the sides of the building likes crumbs of a giant five-layer, red-frosted cake. The icing-like gold words engraved over the entrance read “Caring Claws Orphanage for the Underprivileged Werewolf”.

“There you go, Rey—er—Rhonda. Get outta m’ bloody carriage. I’ve got more importan’ things ter be doin’. Hurry up, now! I don’ got all day!”

Reyna opened the door of the rickety old carriage and stepped outside into the cool drizzle. She whisked her pack off the seat that included clothes, some of her aunt’s old books, a toothbrush and comb, and had barely shut the door when her uncle slapped the reins and raced away around the corner. The carriage ramped a sidewalk and caused the nearby lamppost to shudder, making raindrops scurry in every direction.

Reyna glanced nervously up at the golden lettering of her new home before advancing toward the crumbling stairs.