Curse of a Blood Moon - 1. The Ritual of Full Moon

The Ritual of Full Moon

It is a full moon. A cool breeze is creating a mood to get along with the drive. It is too risky to drive that long at night, but he chanced it because he liked the full moon. The moon light is pouring down so brightly he doesn’t even have to switch on the head lights of his car. It looks like a living paradise for him. The drive is going smoothly and his mood is too good not to enjoy it.

The National Highway-5 he is driving is a rare travelling choice at that time of night, and for the season. No transport related vehicles will choose that path because of the heavy snow which is expected to start. The hill side forest that spread up to two miles square is another reason not to choose the route. It is a quiet area where no one is going to get any help soon if a problem occurred on the journey. The forest itself looks bright and harmless because of the moon light.

Driving along, he had seen some warning boards signing 'Dangerous Path Ahead'. Driving up the hill he is having trouble with his car's engine. Finally, up at the hill’s top the car stopped with a loud thud. He tried to ignite it several times, but no luck. Howling disappointment, he climbed out of the car to check out the engine, lifting the bonnet. The heat exchangers are smoking heavily, which is a rare and a strange thing to happen for such a small drive up the hill. He took the mobile from his jacket and found that he had no signal, which is a strange thing too. He kicked the car with his leg resulting an 'ouch' as a result. He checked around for any possibility of help, which he surely knew he was not going to get.

While he looked around, a light from a distance got his attention and he just followed it to find out the source. Surprisingly, it is coming from a mansion which can't be seen without walking into the forest. The mansion looks old, built of red bricks and looked used and faded. The lawn around the mansion seems to have been neglected for ages. The entire view looks terrifying and there is a foxy vibe around the mansion because of the moon light. A light is situated above the door.

He stepped up to the door and rang the bell hesitantly. He got no answer, so he rang again. Even waiting for quite a while, he got no answer. Sighing disappointedly he is about to turn, when the door is opened by a person dressed like a Butler in the movies.

"Would you care to tell me what you are doing here at this time... Sir?" The butler asked with a demanding voice.

"Oh... I am sorry... My name is Seth, Seth William." Seth told nervously.

"And?" The butler questioned.

"My car broke down, and I was looking for help. So... I saw the light and came here." Seth replied gesturing with his hands.

"Fine. But it’s up to my master to decide to help, including for letting you stay the night." The butler said.

"If you don't mind, may I..." Seth was about to say something, but the butler stopped him and gestured him to follow.

Silently Seth followed the butler in. While the butler is closing the door, he is seriously observing the mansion. It looks somewhat finer and neater than the outside, looking like the old castles that were used by the old Kings and Queens. It is a two story mansion with wide and long rooms. Large old paintings are hung either side of the hall. The butler took him to the far end room located at the back of the second floor and told him to wait. After about ten minutes he came out and told Seth to go in.

Seth entered the room while the butler went on his way down the stairs. He was amazed by how fine and rich the room looks. A king size bed is set in the middle of the room. A nicely arranged stanchion of books is set to one side and a tea table is set for four people to the other. A man is standing in front of the library, a book in hand. He may be up to 35 or 40 years of age but looks younger. He looks quite handsome.

"Mr. William. Nice to meet you. Don't mind Randolph Homn. He works too tough when we get to see unexpected guests." said the man.

"It’s okay Mr...?" Seth asked as politely as he knew.

"Carson, Charles Carson." He said in a royal way, extending his hand.

"It's okay Mr. Carson. He’s cool, strange but cool." Seth said with a small smile.

"He is." Charles smiled back. "The mechanic will come for your car tomorrow. Until then you can stay the night here."

"Thank you Mr. Carson, for everything" Seth said.

"It's fine Mr. William. Just put yourself at ease. Homn will show you your room after dinner, if you care to join me." Charles said in a welcoming way.

"It's okay Mr. Carson. But it's fine..." Seth is about to resist but Charles stopped him in mid-sentence.

"I insist Mr. William. You are a guest here. And it is our honor to take care of the guests." Charles said and escorted Seth to the dining hall, chatting a little bit along the way.

They entered into the dining hall where a large dining table is set at the center of the room. Seth is stunned to see how big the dining hall is. It could dine about fifty persons at one time. He was fascinated looking at the food items set on the table. He got the feeling he might be dining with the Kings.

Charles sat at the far end of the table and welcomed Seth to sit to his right side. Comfortably seated, they started the dinner. They ate while talking about this and that. When it comes time for dessert, Randolph brought a special kind of drink for the two, Randolph cautiously signaled Charles about the drinks with his eyes. Smiling Charles took the silver chalice and offered the gold one to Seth. Seth got confused by the offering and questioningly looking at the gold chalice.

"It is our tradition to honor our guest with this special drink" Charles interrupted the thoughts of Seth.

"But... Gold one???" Seth quarried looking at the chalice.

"This gold chalice you are seeing is gifted by our forefathers to their blood line. It is used on rare occasions. Today is the 'full moon ritual' to us. I thought there is no more special occasion than this." Charles explained.

"Thank you Mr. Carson. It is my pleasure to be honored like this. And thank you too Mr. Homn." Said Seth and took chalice.

Charles raised the chalice up and toasted "To the Full Moon" and smiled. Seth, having no option, did the same saying "To the Full Moon".

The drink tasted odd to Seth. He had never tried anything like it before. In spite of the off taste he found it addictive. After the first sip, he lost all care for manners and gulped the entire drink at once. After the dinner was complete, they heard something going on outside of the dining room. They came out to find some men waiting for Charles to give him some news.

"Did you find him?" Was all Charles asked.

The men became terrified by Carson’s voice and one of them answered 'No master'. The look on Charles’ face even made Seth flinch. He ordered them to search again. Then he turned, just walking towards the hall, Randolph walking behind them.

"A search party, Sir?" asked Seth with curiosity.

"We have a situation with a psycho around the mansion." Charles said hesitantly.

"A psycho!?" Seth looked terrified after hearing this.

"Yes Mr. William, but don't worry about that. The men will be guarding the entire night. He will never bother any people in the mansion while I am here." Charles assured him.

"Can you explain to me what is going on? Maybe I can help!" Seth asked.

"He is a local guy Mr. William. He has issues with his mental condition and now he is out in the jungle. He never harmed anyone before now, but I don't want to take any risks. So I sent my men to search for him." Charles explained.

Seth got too confused by all the events occurring around him. He became suspicious about Charles, and he doesn’t want to believe what he is saying. He just wants to get out of this situation by morning.

Observing Seth, Charles said "Don't you worry about our problem Mr. William. We will take care of it. And as for your car, as I said, the mechanic will come early in the morning."

"Thank you Mr. Carson. Thank you for everything." Seth said.

Charles turned to Randolph, looking seriously at him. "Randolph, will you escort our guest to his room while I take care of everything else here?"

"Yes Sir." Randolph said and turned to Seth gesturing for him to follow.

Following Randolph, Seth thought about asking him about all the strange things going on. Finally, when they are out of a range of Charles’ hearing, Seth asked.

"Mr. Homn, is this guy is dangerous?"

Silence...

"Mr. Homn. Do you really think they will find him before any incidents happened?"

Silence...

"Mr. Homn, are you listening?"

Silence again...

"Mr. Homn... Ah never mind." Seth finally got that he would never get any answers from Randolph.

Randolph finally took Seth to his room and let him in. "Just inform me if you need anything, sir."

"I will Mr. Homn. And thank you for everything." Seth said, giving him a small sigh.

"Ah... Sir... If you see him, never stand face to face with him and never look into his eyes." said Randolph hesitantly, sounding distracted.

Randolph left Seth alone and confused. Thinking back about it all, Seth shut door and locked it. There was a night gown lying on the bed for him to wear. The bed is not as big as he had seen in Charles's room, though it is big enough for two. The room itself looks luxurious, with a tea table arranged at one side, and a door to another side which he found to be a bathroom. A mirror of approximately 7 inches high is hung beside the bathroom door. A wooden divider dressing screen, looking like an antique, is set at a corner near the mirror. He wondered to see there were no other doors or windows for emergency exit other than the door he entered.

Because of the stress and fatigue, he headed straight to take a shower. The hot water was relaxing his stressed muscles and he spent longer than he expected. He got out of the shower naked, and took a towel off one of the shelves besides the mirror in his room. Standing in front of the mirror, he looked at himself. He knew that he may not be a hulk with huge muscles and all, but he is fit enough to be called a hunk. With a height of 6 foot 2, and 170 pounds ideal weight he is fine with a medium frame. He has six pack abs, nicely build biceps, triceps, quadriceps and all the muscles from head toe are perfectly fit. His chest is wide giving him a V-shape body. Two sets of long arms and legs are strong for this teenage hunk. A cute navel is just above the V-line that went low to his precious jewels. The small dimples either side of his butt making him too attractive even for himself.

Looking at his naked beauty, he is astonished by himself. He laughed. Even for him, it is sounding too gay. He never minded that because, he is. He was never a closet case, not even for his adoptive parents. He knew nothing about his biological parents and never cared to know either. He loved his adoptive parents with all his heart, and they loved him back. Finally donning the night gown, he went to the mirror to straighten his hair. While he is styling his hair, he observed two red lights flashing under the bed from the mirror. He looked into the mirror observing deeply without turning back.

He is shocked and terrified when he finally got the idea of what he is looking at. He is too stunned to move or do anything. His mind is not thinking straight and it is too late to escape. He again looked into the mirror at the boy lying under the bed. His eyes are red like blood shots and the boy is directly looking into his eyes. The boy crawled out from under the bed and stood still near it, looking at Seth in the mirror.

As terrified as he is, Seth can't deny the boy is looking handsome. The boy is about his age, a year younger may be. His stunning beauty made Seth to look at the boy with awe. The boy is stark naked and has scars all over the body. Seth is too attracted by his slim fit body. His skin looks too whitish and smooth, and he has no hair on his body other than a small patch at his pubic area.

Seth got fond of this astonishing beauty within such a short time, that he can't look at anything other than the boy. But something is distracting Seth from looking at the boy and forced him to remember Randolph's warning to not to look into his eyes. But another force was hypnotizing Seth to look straight into the boy's eyes. The force was making him weak, so he finally lost the battle and looked into those blood shot eyes.

"What is your name?" Seth asked with a weak voice.

"My name is Bryan, Bryan Carson." The boy replied. "Thank you Seth. Thank you for your sacrifice". Bryan lost consciousness and fell on the bed.

'Sacrifice' was all Seth heard. He was shocked to see the world turning to bright red. Finally he too lost consciousness.

********-----********

Charles is burning with the anger because of the unnecessary involvement of Randolph in the ritual, and the way he warned Seth about the ritual process. He controls his anger at his servant, because of the honesty and the service Randolph has put forth through all these years.

"I am not happy, Randolph. And I am not going to forgive next time." Charles snapped those words heavily on Randolph.

"I am sorry, Sir. I just did as Mr. Carson Junior said." replied Randolph.

"You serve me Randolph. Me" Charles shouted.

"I serve your family, Sir." Randolph replied calmly.

Charles is trying to control his emotions, but glared at Randolph.

"Why don't you listen to Junior sometimes, Sir?" Randolph’s voice is filled with concern. He can expect what his master is going to say.

"I can’t lose him Randolph. Not even for good cause." Charles replied with a caring tone.

Randolph knew very well Charles is not a bad guy as father. Charles came to his serious demeanor again and began chanting in some language Randolph never tried to learn or understand. He could feel a serious vibe around his master, and stood there as calmly as possible. Charles opened his eyes and gave a small smile, one which Randolph is very familiar with.

"I just made him that he won't get away from the ritual. And get Bryan after the ritual is complete." Charles said to Randolph.

"I will, Sir." Randolph replied.

"And make sure he won't escape after the ritual. Tell our men to never hesitate to kill if they see him out of the mansion. Fire the room and entire mansion too." Charles ordered Randolph.

"Yes Sir." Said Randolph and went on his way to Bryan's bed room.

Randolph entered the room when he thought ritual was completed. Seth was standing in front of the mirror wearing Bryan’s night gown from the foot of the bed. His eyes are red like blood shots. Randolph ordered some of the workers to take Bryan out of the room. He carefully took Seth to the bed and laid him on bed where Bryan was before. He poured oil around the entire room and lit the matches.

"I am sorry Mr. William. Don't blame Bryan for all this." he said finally, and threw the matches into the room.

The fire lit the entire room and Randolph closed the door and locked it from the outside. They all got out of the mansion before it went up in flames. Randolph ordered the workers to look after the mansion and make sure that Seth does not get out. Far from the mansion, Bryan is looking back from his car. He is waiting impatiently for the car to move away.

Out of nowhere Bryan felt a soothing feeling touch his heart. A smile appeared on his beautiful face making him ten times brighter. Finally he said "I know I'll meet you again Seth. I'll wait for you to find me."