Blood Moon Knight

II

After completing a few chores and having lunch, Marco showered and dressed for the trip to his parents' university lab. As he prepared to leave, a picture on the wall caught his eye. He walked over, then gently lifted the frame off its hook, smiling fondly.

Among the photos of interns and exchange students through the years, was a photo of Brittney Wong's Quinceañera. Why it had been that, rather than her normal birthday bash, Marco didn't know, as she wasn't hispanic. His first thought was that it was to somehow draw even more attention to herself through faking acculturation. However, his family and friends, of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, adopted so much of the local hispanic culture that he was willing to give her some benefit of the doubt. The bigger mystery was why he and his friends were invited, for the first time ever; probably to lord her status over them, he supposed.

The photo was taken alongside the bus her party was thrown on. Brittney was affecting her usual childish frown, which was copied by her surrounding cadre of sycophants. Next to Brittney's clique stood Alycia Nefcy, uTewb reactor, wearing one of her ubiquitous cosplay outfits; Marco couldn't remember the name of the character she was dressed as that night, or what name she was going by at the time ... somethingFan13, he thought. Then came Alonzo and his hetero-lifemate Ferguson hanging all over each other, proof that you could behave gay without actually being gay. Then came the trio rounding out the group: Marco sandwiched in an embrace from Jackie on one side and Janna on the other. Seeing Jackie widened his smile, but when his eyes alighted on Janna he felt a deep sense of recognition and, unexpectedly, anger. He noticed, reflected in the glass of the frame, the upper half of the blonde woman's face, scowling in what Marco could describe only as rage. Reflexively he looked behind him, again seeing nothing, and when he looked back the ghost image was gone ... but the anger weirdly remained.

Marco carefully placed the frame back on its hook, then headed for the door. He reached for its knob, but stopped with his hand inches away. He stood there, transfixed, for a couple long moments; then, reversing an earlier decision, reached for his phone. Hoping the number he had was still valid, he texted, Lunch at Britta's?

To Marco's surprise, the response was almost immediate, Dude! Of course! One o'clock, tomorrow?

Looking forward to it, Marco replied. Smiling, he put away his phone as he left the house.

— OoOoO — O — OoOoO —

Marco stood at the bottom of a grand, marble, staircase. It led up to the main entrance of the main archaeology building on the campus of School University, his parents' "home" university. He was not looking forward to this visit, for many reasons. After a few moments of contemplation, he climbed the stairs and entered the building.

The interior was a strange jumble of reproduction ancient architectures mixed with "modern" glass and steel, a style popular in the seventies. The private staircase to the second-floor offices, where staff worked when not in the lab or field, was at the back of the building. As Marco walked across the first floor in that direction, he stopped from time to time to admire the architecture and look at photos. Many of the photos, hung on walls and displayed next to artifacts in glass cases, included his parents. The sense of melancholy and familiarity he felt when looking at the photos was expected. What wasn't expected was also feeling that way when looking at artifacts and the copies of ancient architecture, replacing his usual sense of wonder.

When his reflection was visible in glass or polished steel, Marco kept getting glimpses of somebody close behind him. When he looked, there was nobody there. He soon realized that the glimpses were again of the young woman he had been seeing since the prior day. He shivered despite himself; it was becoming unsettling. The worst occurrence was when looking at photos of a site in South America, thought to be a shrine to the local moon god; the face seemed to be looking directly over his shoulder, startling him, causing him to jump, to the consternation of several students admiring the artifacts in the adjacent display case.