1 Prologue

The moon illuminated her big, blue, doe eyes as she moved further into the shadowed, night woods. Damp soil squeezed between her toes with each barefooted step she took. A light, autumn breeze blew through the night air, causing chill bumps to form on her bare arms. She knew she should have grabbed a jacket or even shoes for that matter, but the full moon was calling to her, beckoning her to come play. Nothing can stop her once the moon calls.

It had rained all morning but luckily for six-year-old Meredith, it had stopped hours before her mother put her to bed. Sneaking out every night after her parents were fast asleep has become her nightly routine, but when it's raining she can't safely make the climb out of, or back into, her window. 

"Once in a month, when the moon is full," Meredith chanted, as her angelic lullaby voice echoed through the trees, " Some secret place shall ye gather." Gracefully twirling around on her tiptoes like a ballerina or a woodland nymph, she made her way further into the woods, gently touching the moist, mossy bark of every tree as she passed, "Adore the spirit of me who is, Queen of all of the wise. And I hear you calling." The end of her purple nightgown flowed around her with each spin. 

Meredith couldn't recall where she had heard the song from, but every night when there is a full moon high in the night sky, the words force themselves out. They were peaceful, making her calm and happy. Each word, each lyric, seemed to emanate from somewhere deep inside her. Her heart? Perhaps her soul? 

Suddenly stopping, arms outstretched towards the sky, she focused her eyes and whispered to the moon, "And I hear you calling." Warmth filled her body, starting at the tips of her fingers and making its way down to soles of her mud-covered feet, engulfing her whole body. Leaves and loose flower petals flowed around as a peculiar wind wrapped its way around her like a tiny tornado. A feeling of nirvana consumed her as she began to lightly glow.

Meredith stood like that for ten minutes or more before a noise caught her attention. Coming back down to earth, she took in her surroundings. What was that? Looking around she tried to figure out which direction the noise had come from but silence filled the air. Time to go home. Turning around she cautiously started walking back in the direction of her house. 

One step, two step, three st-, what was that? 

A dark shadow darted through the trees to the right of her. Meredith was paralyzed with fear, frozen like a statue. Her breathing deepened as she tried to force her feet to start moving again. With great force, she managed to take a few more steps before placing her back against a large tree. Steadying her breath, she slowly glanced around the edge of the tree. The small clearing between a group of trees, where she had just been standing, was a large shadowed figure crouched down low to the ground. It appeared to be on all fours, like a dog. Fog drifted in surrounding the figure.

Gradually the fog thickened as the shadowed figure started to stand, becoming a hulking seven feet or taller. What looked like thick, black fur covered its whole body. There is a gleam of something wet shining of its fur. Is that blood? Shifting its snout-like nose upwards, towards the full moon, it let out a guttural howl.  Meredith shivered from the goosebumps that gut-wrenching howl caused to run up her arms. Again, she found herself paralyzed by fear; that is until something touched her back.

Quickly turning around, thinking surely another one of those shadow creatures were behind her, she was ready to run for it. She came face to face with familiar hazel eyes.

"Oh my god! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Meredith said, relaxing her body slightly at the sight of her older sister, Alicia. 

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat!" Alicia said rather loudly.

"Shhhhhhhh!" Meredith quietly whistled out, turning back around to look at the clearing. The shadowed figure was still there, but so was someone else; a woman. She stood noticeably shorter than the shadowed figure, barely coming to its chest. She was saying something to it, but Meredith couldn't quite make out the words. A light glowed around the woman. White, glossy hair fell down her back in perfect ringlets.  

"What are you looking at?" Alicia asked, startling Meredith.

"SHHHHHH," Meredith insisted, pointing back towards the clearing, "Look! Don't you see them?"

Her sister stood there for a few minutes really focusing on the clearing, before turning back to Meredith, "There's nothing there, Mere. You must be seeing things."

Meredith looked at her sister, then at the clearing where the shadowed figure and the woman still stood quietly talking. How could she not see them? They're standing right under the moonlight.

"I'm heading back home, you probably need to, too. I'm not staying up all night to help you back in the window," Alicia stated, flipping her chestnut hair over her shoulder, before turning around and running back in the direction of their house.

Meredith pressed herself back up against the tree and looked around the edge of it again. They were still there. The woman was making frantic movements with her hands, as though she was commanding it to leave. The shadowed figure leaned in towards the woman, almost nose to nose, and let out another gut-wrenching, guttural howl, before turning and running off into the woods on all fours. And just like that, the fog was gone.

Turning back around, with her back to the tree once again, Meredith took a big, long, deep breath to steady her nerves. Glancing back to the clearing she saw that it was now empty. Relief rushed through her. She turned around intending to dash back home, but instead, she ran straight into someone. Not just anyone, but a woman. The same woman from the clearing.

"You should not be out here, it is not safe, little one," her green eyes glistening as she spoke.