MOON OMEN ✔

*Milky Green*

Caecilia Brook

Everything was arranged as promised before my arrival in the city. I got a temporary place to stay, and have enough cash to survive. That's all I needed anyhow.

I reached for my back pocket and pulled out the paper that has given to me before which holds every piece of information I needed to know about Jove Reiner. I know from where I needed to start.

With my fierce footsteps against the marble tiles, I entered an averagely sized conference hall. Spotless white walls and tall glass windows stretched from floor to ceiling confined the closed space. A raised platform facing the crowd was arranged. Chairs were arranged in rows, most of the front seats were filled only a few were left in the middle and at the back. People were mingling, engaging in the conversation with each other. I seated at the back avoiding any unnecessary communication.

A man made his presence on the raised platform. Big round spectacles on his nose, his dishevelled hair falling over his forehead, beard clung to his face accessorizing his look and his crumpled old shirt hung loosely over his body. That's how I had imagined a researcher would look but he is nothing how I had imagined.

He is so devilishly handsome. His rich chocolate hair made me run my fingers over the strands, the outline of his broad defined chest was visible through his light grey shirt. His milky green eyes were soft, sparkling in the artificial light of the room.

Looks can be deceiving, he is just a human and I am here to kill him. Nothing more. Nothing less. I keep reminding myself.

His presence was profound and deep, without any unspoken command everyone settled in their seat. The murmur of voices came to an abrupt halt and all their attention fell on him.

He spoke with his husky voice "Hello, many of you have known me before but those of you don't know me, I am Jove Reiner. And today the conference is about one particular mythical creature which intrigues us most, which is often found in fiction books instead of lurking in dark woods at night."

Humans started giggling finding humour in his words. They are pathetic, they just don't need any reason to laugh and I stared at him blankly with irritation.

He continued "That's right we are talking about Werewolves. We have been watching werewolf horror movies for years. We see these men rip their clothes, transform into beasts, and howl at the moon in a full moon night. We all have watched - The Wolfman, Underworld, Howl but what do all of these movies have in common? They don't tell us the real history behind the Werewolves. They don't tell us from where the concept of the Werewolves originated. Is it time to learn the truth behind their origins?"

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. Humans are making films and hosting shows about us, we are only a form of entertainment for them. I was tempted to show them what we are capable of that they could not even survive a minute in our presence. Humans need to learn their place but it's better this way than they start looking for our existence.

"The history of werewolves has rooted in many different cultures. During 15th to 17th century, People were under the dark shadow of ignorance and superstitions. Towns were not developed and people lived near woods. The fear of wolves was like a nightmare. Their attacks were so frequent that every morning people would found half-eaten human limbs scattered on their fields. And soon the place filled with piles of dead bodies. Normally, both wolves and werewolves are same in nature but the main difference is that only the werewolf can change into human form."

"One legend, in particular, states that the members of the Doronos tribe may have been the first to receive the gift of the Werewolf. Since the dawn of their kind, the werewolves have always been in conflict for their existence. Death and destruction have always been a constant feature in the tapestry of their history. Their race has born from the curse of the moon but they learn to accept it as a blessing and use their power to defeat the enemies. The origins of their race started with a human, he was the sole provider of food for his family and he hunts for a living. One night he was attacked and mauled to death by a bear, other hunters saved his life by shooting the bear and killed it on spot. The bear crushed his cheekbones, the entire top row of teeth was ripped out from his head and his left eye was punctured and pulled out. Over a month had passed he still did not recover, many would call him a dead man taking his last breaths. But his wife did not lose hope, goes beyond her beliefs and seek help to an old witch lived in the BlackWood forest. She told her that there will be consequences but his wife did not listen and told the witch that she was ready to pay any price to see his husband come alive. The spell worked its magic on a full moon night and the man changed into a werewolf. He was blinded by his true nature, he attacked and killed the first person he saw. That person was his wife. On next day he found the witch to seek revenge who made him a monster but the witch confronted that she had warned his wife but his wife did not listen. He was disheartened to lose his wife and he did not want to lose his children. The Witch offered him a solution to put him out of his misery. When the moon was bright and rises high up in the sky on a full moon night, he needs to drink the potion made from the leaves of wolfsbane to suppress his wild. He needs to bite his children, not with the intention to kill but hard enough to leave a mark and comes in contact with their blood."