The Stone of Blood (43 page)

“Turn off my flashlight?” I questioned as hers went dark.

“Yes, turn it off and stand right there.” She answered. “Don’t move!”

I turned off my flashlight and the whole wide world went black! And we stood there beside one another quietly in the dark. I could hear her breathin’ to the right of me, and I could feel my heart beatin’. It was like we were in a world within’ a world, as if we were the only two people in all of existence.

“Sit down with me Toby.” Cricket whispered as she grabbed for my hand and pulled me down onto the cool cavern floor in the dark. We sat there beside one another for a few silent moments and I placed my arm around her to keep her warm.

“Toby.” She whispered. “If we find that stone and break the spell …am I gonna die?”

I think it was at that moment that my heart just broke for that girl. I could feel her cryin’ by the way her body shook beside me in the dark. But I didn’t know what to say. So I just said what I knew.

“I don’t think so Cricket.” I whispered back to her as I held her close beside me. “I think that God has got a special purpose for you and for your life.” I whispered again as I tried to think of somethin’ smarter and wiser to say. But all that I had was what I remembered.

“My mama says that ‘
Our purpose may be that we are here to meet one person, for one moment and be the witness and light in that one person’s life.’”
I whispered to her.

I was feelin’ really warm inside then and I knew that I was havin’ feelin’s in my stomach like butterflies or somethin’ like I had never had before. And I also knew that no matter how I said what I was gonna say next, it was gonna come out soundin’ stupid and dumb like a pick up line or somethin’. But with her, I’d rather be thought of as dumb or stupid then to not tell her how I was feelin’. And since nobody else but her was in there to listen to me make a fool of myself, I decided to just come on out with it and say what was on my mind.

“Cricket.” I whispered in her ear. “I think
you are
that light
.”

And she laid her head on my shoulder.

As we sat there quietly for the next few moments in the cavern in the dark, I thought about how I used to not want to have any part in growin’ up, cause my whole life was changin’ so fast and I wasn’t gonna get to be a kid no more.

But suddenly, sittin’ right there beside that girl I didn’t mind growin’ up.

I figured that if this was
Neverland
and I was
Peter Pan,
I would be willin’ to give up
playin’ pirates
to be with that
Wendy
girl
.

Cause in those still quiet moments, holdin’ Cricket as she cried …I decided that I didn’t wanna be a
lost boy
any more.

Twenty Four

Crescent Moon

‘T
he world is changing. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.’-
These were the words that filled my mind as Cricket led me even deeper into the caverns hold within the darkness of the ‘
werewolf
’ cave. While I had no fear of where my journey might end, I had much uneasiness for what it might hold in store for me as I was gettin’ there; and I wondered where it might lead. For if I were a character within the pages of a Tolkiens’ book, what part would it be that I would play? Would I play the part of a
hobbit
, returnin’ to
Mount
Doom
to destroy the
one
ring
? Or would I play the part of a boy who was charmed into releasin’ those same evils back unto
this
middle earth
?

The tunnels opened up for us now from the once narrowed mine-like shafts into a much larger cave-like hollow with high reachin’ ceilin’s and fissures that seemed to drop off into bottomless voids to our right and left as we walked. Our footsteps echoed throughout the recesses of the chasm as did our words as we spoke. So we lowered our voices to those of mere whispers when we remembered to do so, and we walked along as swiftly and as quietly as we could.

“How much further til we reach the Grand Hall?” I asked louder than I expected to and the sound of my words echoed throughout the cavern.

“It’s just up ahead.” Cricket whispered in answer. “There’s a small underground stream that flows through here just a little ways up. It empties out into a warm mineral spring on the other side of the cavern.”

I remembered that spring. I had been there before.

“That spring is really good for swimmin’ in!” Cricket whispered. “The water is heavier kinda, thicker, and you can float real easy. The Chamber room lays just the other side of the stream up ahead. Just hold tight Toby. I’ll get you there. I promise.”

This was the second time that I had been in the cave. And just like before, while there had been the possibility of bein’ discovered or runnin’ into someone or
somethin’
unnatural, we hadn’t done so. And I had to wonder why.

As we reached the underground stream we both sat down again and rested for a few minutes.

And Cricket put her feet in the water.

“This feels good and warm, Toby!” Cricket said as she moved her feet around in the water and reached down and splashed some upon her legs. “You should try it!”

“I’m not takin’ my shoes off!” I said. “Uh uh …not me!”

And I shook my head ‘
no
’ as she laughed at me. Not a bad kind of
makin’ fun of me
kind of laugh, just one of those kinds of a cute laughs that I didn’t mind so much.

“Cricket.” I said. “Where is everybody? How come we haven’t seen anyone?”

“Mostly cause nobody ever comes in here anymore.” she said. “This bigger part of the cave is mostly forgotten about. Mainly when they come, they come into the Chamber room areas and that’s pretty much it. And usually, they only come then durin’ special occasions like under the seasons of the moon.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “What seasons of the moon?”

As Cricket continued to sit by the stream with her toes in the water, kickin’ her feet up and splashin’ me from time to time, she told me of the moons. “The full moon names,” she said, “…dated back to the times of the ancient peoples, when they kept track of the seasons by givin’ the moon cycles different names. The Wolf Moon.” she said, “…was so named for the month of January when the wolf packs would howl outside of their villages, while the Snow Moon or Hunger Moon,” she continued, “…would light up the skies in February, the coldest and hardest times for their hunters to provide food for their tribes.”

She went on to tell me that, “The Crow Moon casts its light upon the skies of March signaling the end of the winter with the return of the cawing Crow.” And that the, “Fish Moon of April signaled to them that the fish would return to their spawnin’ waters upstream.”

I listened further as Cricket told me that the, “The Flower Moon was named for its season in May followed by the Strawberry Moon or Rose Moon of June.” And she said that, “The moon of July was named the Buck Moon or Thunder Moon as it was normally the month when the buck deer grew new antlers and when thunderstorms were the most frequent.” She went on to say that, “The Red Moon was so named for August as it appeared reddish through the month’s sultry haze.” And then she told me that, “the Harvest Moon occurs in September which is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox.”

An equinox I knew occurred twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis was not leanin’ towards the Sun, with the center of the Sun bein’ in the same plane as the Earth's equator. It made the earth’s days as long as its nights.

“The Hunters Moon is the full moon of October. It’s also known as the Blood Moon, Toby.” Cricket told me. “This Moon …holds a special meaning.”

Cricket looked at me seriously then, lifted her feet up from out of the water, and sat cross legged while drippin’ water on the caverns floor. She looked me in the eye and whispered matter of factly to me and said, “Toby, the
Blood Moon
is the
Feasting Moon
.”

I didn’t know exactly what she had meant by a ‘
Feasting Moon
’ but I had good idea. I also remembered the story that Ms. Lillie had told to me …the story of the
dark prophecy
of the Blood Moon. My mind imagined what her story might’ve meant and what the choice words that Cricket had used might hold in store. I saw visions in my imagination of unholy things! And I remembered the campfire where we’d first seen em’, Colby and me, with the smoke risin’ from the fires as they cackled in the night! Flickerin’ shafts of light dancin’ through the trees as their shadows where cast in direct contrast to the light of what I now knew was the Thunder Moon!

And I remembered the ones who’d come to us in sheep’s clothing; and the one who had lingered in the darkness slightly outside of the light. Were these ‘
the others
’ Ms. Lillie had warned me about? These who had no fear of bein’ discovered in their darkened state, their truer form.

Had it been one of these who had stood behind me that mornin’ as I had stood before our barn, and up on our hill out in the field? Were these the ones who had chased me into my house?

I had to wonder that if they were so good at hunting; would they
not
know where I was now?

Colby had said that ‘
werewolves’ could hear you think.’
But could that really be possible? Or could it be that Colby had just had a slip of the tongue? Maybe he had meant to say that they could hear so good that it was
like
they could hear you think? I knew he wasn’t exactly an expert on the subject, but he
had
seen more movies about em’ then I had! I didn’t know if what he’d said was true, but the thought of it made my head hurt! So I stopped thinkin’ about it, and got up off of the cold hard floor. And with Cricket’s help, we found a shallow part of the underground stream and we crossed it.

The cavern began to take on a familiar shape as we entered the passageways that were leadin’ us to the Chamber. I remembered the Grand Hall and how it was that we had first came to discover it. There were heavy wooden and metal doors here. They were still locked, and I still wasn’t sure what the rooms behind em’ were for.