Ages 12-13 (JSS2-Book 9)

Red Moon, White Moon

By Tom Cunningham

With his hands raised, he slowly walked towards me, once again asking me to be
reasonable and place the gun down. Mrs. Perry followed behind him, not saying a word.

“Mrs. Perry, what are you doing? Get away from him, he’s a monster,” I pleaded.
Suddenly, Mr. Farley’s body went stiff and convulsed for a second before
dropping to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Mrs. Perry, whose hand was now a bloody claw, snarled at us. “I thought he
would never shut up.”
Confused, I looked down at Mr. Farley’s body and up at Mrs. Perry. “Wait, you
are—”
“Enoch?” She cackled. “Yes, of course I am. Don’t tell me you thought this idiot
could pull off such a masterful plan.”
Stopping to think about for a second, it made perfect sense. She talked to Farley
the day I got beat up. She demanded to know about Bear and his crew. She was hanging
out with Jack and the other werewolves. How could I have been so stupid?
Before I could say another word, Hayden laid Tammy down on the floor gently,
stood up, and faced Enoch. “There is no escape for you tonight, Enoch.”
“Hayden, how nice to see you again.” With a devilish smile, she continued. “Why
would I try to escape, since everything is going according to plan? Even your little spy
couldn’t stop me.”
“We’ll see about that,” Hayden said.
“Boys, stick to the plan no matter what,” Hayden said before rushing Enoch and
changing into his wolf-man form.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Enoch snarled, changing into her wolf
form.
The collision between the two sounded like a stick of dynamite igniting as they
thrashed back and forth at each other. We didn’t know if Tammy was still alive, but Bear
picked her up and locked her in a supply closet in the hope that she was. Like clockwork,
we heard the first rally of gunfire, screaming, and animated howls. Before Bear or I could
react, the gym started filling up with werewolves being driven in this direction by the
others. We picked them off as they entered. Behind us, Hayden and Enoch were locked in

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an intense battle, biting and clawing at each other. Blood was splattering everywhere, and
we heard painful screeches every few minutes or so.

Bear signaled me to follow him out to the stadium, and, as we reached the door, I
turned and saw Enoch slamming Hayden against the bleachers, knocking him
unconscious. Enoch slowly circled around Hayden for the kill, and my instincts took
over. I charged Enoch, screaming and feeling my birthmark burning. I lost all feeling and
could see only in black and white. My sense of smell intensified, and I felt my body
strengthen beyond comprehension.

Bear paused and shouted at me, “Hit that bastard so hard, she’ll cough up bones!”
I slammed into Enoch, knocking her off Hayden and onto the floor. She stood up
and sized me up and down. For the first time, I was in my wolf-man form. My claws
were massive, and my fur was white as snow. Enoch snarled at me and charged. We bit,
clawed, and pummeled each other viciously. With each strike, I grew stronger and could
feel her growing weaker. I threw her into the visitors’ bleachers, and she fell to her knees,
a bloody mess.
I slowly made my way over to her beaten body and grabbed a hold of her jaw. She
struggled with what little strength she had left, but she was no match. I pulled as hard as I
could, and almost immediately, I could hear the sounds of bone cracking. She put up as
much fight as she could, but with one last mighty pull, Enoch’s jaw was snapped apart.
She collapsed to the ground, lifeless. I put my arms over her chest and let out a monstrous
howl of victory.
I hurried over to Hayden, transforming back to my human form somehow, and
found that he had done the same thing.
I leaned over him and helped him to his feet, asking, “Are you okay?”
He was holding his hand over a bad gash on his chest. “Yeah, but she got the best
of me.” He looked past me to see her lifeless body lying in a pool of blood. “But it seems
like I couldn’t say the same about you.”
We walked over to Enoch, and Hayden kicked her onto her back to examine the
body. “Snapped jaw, I see.”
Rubbing my head, I said, “Yeah, I guess you can say it’s my thing.”
“Nice work,” he said.

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Red Moon, White Moon

By Tom Cunningham

Hayden made his way over and unlocked the door where Tammy was to check on
her.

“She is gone,” he said, bowing his head.
I leaned over Mr. Farley’s body. He had a blank stare on his face, and his skin had
started to turn white already. I wept.
“Mr. Farley, I’m sorry, you were a good guy after all,” I said, closing his eyes.
The others came rushing into the gym, covered in blood. I made a quick spot
check and saw Andie Rae and Lilly first. The others brought up the rear, but Prisha was
missing.
“Prisha?” I asked the group, running up to them.
Xavier lowered his head and answered softly, “No.”
Greta was consoling Santiago, who was crying for the loss of our friend, with
tears pouring out of her eyes as well.
Xavier walked over to Enoch’s body and asked, “So who was the mastermind?”
“Mrs. Perry,” I answered.
“You got to be kidding me,” he said.
“Yeah, I know. I thought for sure it was Farley,” I said.
“Hayden,” Bear said softly.
We all gathered around the closet where Hayden was kneeling with Tammy’s
head in his lap. He was stroking her hair softly, and he did something that shocked me: he
cried.
Andie Rae approached me and hugged me. “We did it.”
Hugging her tightly back, I answered, “Yeah, we did.”
Hearing sirens, Lilly rushed over to the gym doors, opened them and shouted at
us, “Come on, we got to get out of here.”
Everyone piled out of the gym. Hayden gently placed Tammy’s head on the floor,
leaned over, and gave her a soft kiss. Standing up, he signaled for me and Bear to follow
him out towards the stadium. As we walked out back towards the truck, we saw
numerous monsters and students lifeless, drenched in blood while others were sobbing
and being hugged by teachers. I saw Jack and his group in the distance, and they spotted

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us as well. Knowing their powers were gone, they ran out of sight, afraid of what we
might do to them.

Looking back at Hayden, I asked, “What happens now?”
“For the ones who survived, their curse is broken now that Enoch is dead. This
town can finally start to heal, and we are one step closer to Kane.”
We jumped the fence and got into Bear’s truck, speeding away into the night to
meet up back at the house.
The next morning, I left the house early and headed back to the white house in
Plant City. It was just like they said it would be: abandoned. Standing in the room where
I’d confronted Kevin, all that was left were scribblings on the wall and some papers on
the desk. I made my way out of the house and started back towards Tampa, wondering
where he was.
I drove to Chamberlain; there were reporters, police, and yellow tape everywhere.
The mighty werewolf chief was gone, and I just stood there taking it all in. The others
pulled up shortly after and came over to me.
“I thought you might come here,” Andie Rae said, hugging me.
Hayden handed me the paper and said, “Seems like school is closed until further
notice.”
I read the headline: “Massacre at Chamberlain High.” The story covered the wild
dog attack and how the town was under curfew at night until they could determine that
the threat was gone.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“Well, if I know Kane, he will be sending the Twins to deal with this,” Hayden
said.
“The Twins?” Lilly asked.
“Yeah,” said Hayden. “Enoch’s older siblings. Much more dangerous.”
“What’s our play, you old salty dog?” Bear asked.
Hayden smiled. “Go at them with everything we have.”
Bear slapped him on the back in approval, and everyone got into their vehicles to
head over to the shop.
“You coming?” Andie Rae asked.

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Red Moon, White Moon
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“Yeah, I’ll be along in a minute,” I answered.
“Don’t take too long,” she said, kissing me before heading over to Lilly and the
others.
I had an uneasy feeling about what the future held for us. We’d lost so much
already, and we were only dealing with one werewolf chief; now, it was going to be
twins. At that moment, I knew I was done with school and was now a full-fledged
member of the asylum. I felt guilty about what had happened to Prisha, Mel, Kevin, and
Tammy. I remembered at the beginning of the year I’d wanted Jack and his pride of
pukes to pay for what they did to my kind, but now that they had, some with their lives, I
didn’t feel like I thought I would.
I finally understood what it meant to be an outcast. We were a special breed put
here to achieve great things. Some would be bankers, dentists, doctors, or engineers to
make the world better place. For me, it meant I was going to rid the world of evil people
like Jack and his clan. In the end, bullies only have the power we allow them to have. We
don’t always have to resort to violence to stop them. Sometimes, we just come together
and say enough is enough. I got into my car and headed back to the shop, leaving my old
life behind me at the Chief’s Head. I was looking forward to seeing what destiny had in
store for me.

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