Blue Moon

Chapter 1 A Forgivable Fear

Now what I'm about to tell you, you can believe, or not, I honestly don't care. But if your smart, like you seem to be, then you'll listen closely. There is a world with unbelievable things, so unbelievable, most people who witness the world, tend to be locked up in insane asylums. Very few are able to witness the world and still live to tell the tale. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start with a story, a story of a boy, with a casual life, who's world, disappeared.

Ferek Gothamer was a regular kid. Regular family, divorced parents (which is more regular than you'd think), regular house, plenty of friends, A's and B's (and occasional C's that his parents never knew about), and his whole life in front of him. He was happy. Well, his version of what he thought was happy. He thought his life was alright. Not to boring, not to exciting. He told himself that he wouldn't trade it for the world. But little did he know, that he wouldn't have a choice soon enough.

He awoke to the sound of his alarm, which was strange for him, as his father usually woke him up for school. He figured his father got an emergency call that forced him to break the speed limit and get to work. So he stood, rubbed his eyes and grabbed his shoes, slugging off downstairs to grab a granola bar or something. He didn't usually eat, but today he had a small feeling he might want something. So he took his granola bar and bit into it, walking off to the bathroom. He put the granola bar in his mouth, and grabbed a comb, fixing his jet black hair as best he could, before remembering he had to brush his teeth, so he wrinkled up the granola bar and shoved it in his pocket, scrubbing his teeth, almost knocking over the strange candle that sat on the sink side, throwing on his shoes, snatching his backpack and heading out the door.

The morning was much darker than usual, with the still heavy clouds over head and the weird thick mist, shimmering with the tiny rays of sunlight glistening off the fog. He stood there and waited, since he didn't have a car, he had to ride the bus. So he waited. More waiting. More. Until he finally realized there was something wrong. There were no cars, no people, and not even a hint of any life around. First he thought it was the weekend, then realizing it was Wednesday, though maybe he set his alarm to the PM, and looked like a idiot standing out there, but then realized, there was the nearby gas stations sign, reading "Wednesday, 7:52 AM, 50 degrees". So he waited longer. Barely being able to see the road, he heard a loud fluttering behind him, almost like a bird, but that big? He turned to look, only to see the driveway, which seemed to lead into the shimmering abyss. But he saw the fog move, like a car pushing through, he looked closer, stepped closer, rubbing his eyes to hopefully see better. But then he removed his hands, he was face to face with a giant, sleek, shining beak. He froze, unable to move a muscle, the beak made a arrangement of quick inhales, from the nostrils directly above the mouth, then let out a loud roar. Or was it a caw? It seemed to be a mixture of both. Then, with the loud...Caw roar?...Ferek found his limbs and turned, breaking into a full on sprint, no where specific to go. Just away from the strange giant bird thing.

Ferek saw the old church, which was reconditioned to be a library, and B-lined for the front door, not questioning weather or not the thing was chasing him, and slammed through the front door, shutting it behind him, and pulling the long board that they used to use to lock doors in medieval times down, barricading the door, then scurried back, catching his foot on the small lip of the carpet and falling backwards, still scurrying to the back corner. The church had no electricity, and with the heavy dark clouds over head, it was almost pitch black. So Ferek sat there and didn't move a muscle. Only moving his eyes frantically back and forth, making sure the creature had not some how gotten in with him. Then, he remembered the church tower.

But only too late. He heard the loud creaking above him, as the floor boards withheld the heavy weight of this strange creature. It creaked and groaned, and Ferek watched the dust float down under each foot step, and heard the heavy breathing. Then, the floor under the creature collapsed, and the creature fell too, and with a loud crash, let out the saddest and most painful noise, you could ever hear. It pierced your soul and kept going, and you could here every being in the world cry as the noise struck with intensity. And Ferek wasn't even fazed, not because he didn't care, oh he cared, but only because his fear was so much more. So he sat, wide eyed, at the pile of dust and darkness surrounding this creature. He fumbled around, feeling the flashlight role over from the table that was just destroyed under the weight of the creature, and hit his thigh. He grabbed it , and clicked it on, still only being able to see the dust cloud, but being able to see his surroundings better. He stood, building up the bravery to step closer to the wreckage. He could hear the fast paced short breaths coming from the creature. Then he realized, it's been injured.

The flashlight aimed directly at the impaled leg of this creature, as a single broken board had been stabbed through the leg of the creature. He saw the leg, and his father being a zoo animal veterinary, recognized it right away. It seemed to be a lions hind leg. With the thick thighs and the ever so slightly thinner shins. He also recognized the fur, brown, with a slight orange tint. A younger lion. Questionably though, if this is a lion, how could it be the same creature as before? And how did it get into the church? He didn't have time to think as it let out another heart squeezing groan. He took off his jacket, setting it aside, and grabbing ahold of the board. He didn't know why he was helping the creature, and he didn't know what the creatures intent was, but his heart couldn't let this poor creature suffer, so he placed his hand, on the creatures side, hushing it, and running his fingers through his fur, and quickly pulling the board out with all of his strength, listening to the creature let out another sad wail, then quickly wrapping the thigh in his jacket, which was just big enough to tie the sleeves together. He sat there, wiping the blood from his hands onto the most nearby book, setting it back down and picking the flashlight back up. He started to scan over the creature, realizing it wasn't a lion, or a bird. It was in fact both, the torso seemed to be lion, with the fur and the strong thighs and the long tail, but the rest, was eagle. It had giant wings that looked to be about the span of a car, and that's not opened, and it had the head of a eagle, with the long beak that Ferek had become acquainted with a while before, and its feet were birds feet, with long talons, and fur. It was all covered with fur. Except for the wings. Those were still feathers. And it was three times the size of a normal lion. It was gigantic, and very, very intimidating. But it seemed to not be hostile. Or it was just not ready to attack yet. Ferek stepped back as the monster stood, watching as it towered over him. It wobbled on its poorly bandaged leg and managed to gain balance. Lowering its head to once again smelling Ferek. Ferek stayed calm, shutting his eyes and hoping the creature wouldn't eat his legs first, when he felt a gentle nudge of his jeans pocket. He opened his eyes and realized the creature was pushing his leg with its beak, as if it wanted something. He lowered his hand into his pocket slowly, not to startle the thing, and withdrew...

"The granola bar?" He asked the creature. The creatures tail twitched and it sat as a dog would, wincing at the pain in its hind leg. Looking at Ferek with a excited nature.
"You want the granola bar?" Ferek repeated, just now questioning what in the world is going on. He unwrapped the left over granola bar and hesitantly offered it to the creature. Reaching out slowly. The creature, seeing Fereks worried face, ever so gently took it from his hand, tilting his head upwards and dropping it down its throat. Swallowing and gently lapping at Fereks hand. Ferek sort of smiled. The creature seemed innocent, like it was a house pet. Ferek slowly reached for the creature, and slid his hand down its long black beak. The creature pushed back gently, accepting the invitation to a new found friendship.

Ferek couldn't help but look the creature head to toe. It was a fascinating animal that has obviously never been captured before. That's when he noticed the satchel. Gently tied around the animals neck, worn and torn, Ferek slowly reached for the satchel. He opened it slowly, not to tear the paper thin material, and withdrew a small note.
"Get on"