Becoming the Luna

We walk back to my house in silence, Virgil had pulled off his shirt to wrap up the apples so he's only wearing a tank top and cut offs, devastating.

Virgil has been grim ever since he found the shimmering tattoo on my thigh, one thing was for sure though, it wasn't there yesterday.

I'm pretty sure Virgil has forgotten about his promise to carry me and I don't bother to remind him, the atmosphere is still tense from my almost wolf attack earlier but with how shaken Virgil is about my tattoo, I'm not even sure which is worse.

"Hop on my back Hay." Virgil says suddenly, stopping in front of me and crouching low.

I start, he's still holding the apples, it's going to be really difficult for him. "No, no, i-it's f-fine." I wave my hands, I had packed up my hair in a small bun but tendrils of liquid-gold hair still snaked around my face. "I can walk."

Virgil looks around the woods that surrounds us, a dark look on his face, I can swear that his eyes turn gold again but just like the first time, I convince myself that it's just the sun's reflection on his blue eyes.

"We don't have time Hay, just get on." He insists with an edge, throwing the apples to the ground.

I grow cold, w-was the wolf back again? Without hesitating I jump on his back and as soon as I'm situated comfortably and safely, he takes off.

The wind rushes past me so fast that I almost don't hear the growling sounds behind us and the sounds of pounding paws. 

Oh no! Wolves are after us!

Virgil is running mind-blowingly fast, so fast that I'm getting whiplashed from the back-wind. I can't do anything but hold on tight for the wild ride.

It took us nearly an hour to get to the creek but Virgil gets there in less than ten minutes, he quickly crosses the street and doesn't stop till we're inside the house.

The rest were already up and lounging around the living room when we burst in.

They all freeze, looks of horror on Shana and my mom's face as they take us in.

"What's happening?" Dale asks coldly, his bright green eyes darkening.

"Renee, take Hay and give him a long soak, I'll explain everything later." Virgil simply says, letting me slide off his back to a pool on the ground.

I run into my mom's open arms and we make our way to my room.

"Are you okay?" My mom asks shakily, her grey eyes wide with fear.

I nod as best as I can with her hands caging my face. "Y-Yes." I whisper shakily. "Virgil made sure of tha…" I barely get all my words out before I'm pulled into a breath-taking hug, seriously, I can't breathe anymore.

The same uncomfortable silence falls on us while she helps me clean up, like there's so much to talk about but just not with me. I never think about things like this too deeply because I trust them but this is the second time this has happened, are they… are t-they hiding things from me?

"Is there something you want to say mom?" I find myself asking her as she helps me comb my long hair, Apple is on my laps purring.

She looks at me through the mirror, looks away and then steadily looks at me once more. "Not really." She says gently but firmly. "I'm more worried about what happened today."

I look down at my hands at this. "There was a wolf but Virgil got it to go away." I don't even question this logic because really, it's Virgil, there's nothing he can't do. "And there's something else, do I have a birthmark mom?" I look up at her.

She frowns at this. "No, no you don't, I should know, are you talking about the small moles?" She asks curiously.

I blush at this, I just had three but my mom made it sound like they were everywhere. "No mom!" I whine, hugging Apple tighter than usual. "I know what a mole looks like, besides it's on my thigh." 

"You have a mole on your thigh, another on your side and the last one on your collarbone…"

"Mom!!!" I interrupt her and Apple hops off my legs and lands all wobbly on the ground from how rough and loud I'm being.

"Just let me see it." She sighs in slight exasperation.

"Fine." I bite out, I'm wearing one of her sweaters again and short shorts so all I have to do is pull the sweater up. "See, the mole is behind my thigh but look at this birthmark, it's on the inside."

My mom goes quiet, studying the strangely shimmering mark like it's alive, the soft silver color blends well with the pale skin of my thighs that are back to normal now as my bruises are fading.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Shana walks in.

I roll my eyes. "You don't ask that after you've already interrupted Shana." 

"Hey! Shana, come over here." My mom invites, scooching to the side to make room for her in between my spread legs.

"Okay!" I gasp out, weirded out by this turn of events. "Can you not… ah! Don't poke it!"

But they just ignore me, immersed in studying the strange mark on my leg.

Shana looks up at me after an unnecessarily long while of staring at a tiny mark that isn't even up to an inch.

"Did your leg feel tingly recently?" She asks out of the blue.

I frown, messing up my already straightened hair. "I don't know? My body has been a little sore lately so I might not have noticed but I didn't feel anything like that."

Shana sighs gravely, yanking on a single lock of her hair. "This is a little scary." She mumbles.

I snap my legs shut at this and give her a bewildered look. "Scary? What is scary?"

Shana looks like she's about to say more but she just shakes her head and gets up. "I think it's possible to get a birthmark later in life but I'm pretty sure it's rare, that's all." She shrugs. "It's cool too."

I raise a brow at her tone. "Why is it shaped and looks like a crescent moon though?"

All color washes from Shana's face so fast that I'm scared she'll pass out from blood loss. "It-It i-is?" She stutters, looking down at my closed legs again. "That's e-even c-cooler." She nervously rubs the back of her neck. "I'll go make your favorite cereal for you okay?" She tags quickly on, rushing out.

I look up to my mom, about to ask what's wrong when I see her expression, her expression is closed off and her eyes are hard. Gulping, I unconsciously reach down a hand to touch the mark, what is it all about?

"We should go down so you can eat some food okay?" My mom says to me, a soft smile on her face. If I hadn't seen her expression a couple seconds ago I wouldn't have believed she could make it.

"Yeah, sure." I mumble absently, my hand still over the mark. Everyone is hiding something, I need to find out what and why.