Pt2- The Full Moon
Emma had been living in the manor for the past month and had come to love the big old house. With every day that passed she was increasingly sure she wanted to live there. She'd cleared out her old apartment, bringing her belongings to the manor--not that she really had much of value, it was still nice to have her things. Her friends had questioned why she'd want to move out of the city, away from everyone and everything, but Emma just felt like she belonged there. Though she did still find herself avoiding the library, even if she felt ridiculous about it. She'd picked out a room and was slowly making it her own. Her favorite room was the solarium. Most of her time was spent there--reviving the green space by clearing out old dead plants and potting new ones. Sometimes she even took her laptop out there to work.
In contradiction to the past month of feeling at home, the past few nights she had felt oddly uneasy, though Emma was unsure why. She convinced herself it was likely just nerves and the longer nights as the seasons changed. The fact that it was storming tonight certainly didn't help. As she drank her tea in the parlor there was a sudden howling that sent chills down her spine. Emma could swear it was coming from inside the manor. In fact, she was certain it was coming from the direction of the library.
Telling herself she was being foolish, Emma got up to investigate. The property was fairly wooded so it wasn't impossible that there was a stray dog, coyote, or even a wolf out there howling in the darkness. That was certainly a more likely explanation than it coming from the library. Even still, she hesitated as she stood outside of the library. It made no sense and she knew it, but she was paralyzed, unwilling to go in. Just the day before Emma had been in there looking for a book, but that had been during the day. Now it was dark and it felt very different. As she stood there the howling started again, unmistakably coming from within the closed room.
She shook her head, "No, there's a wolf or something out there, near the window so it just sounds like it's coming from the library," Emma rationalized out loud. She still backed away, making her way back into the relative security of the parlor with it's inviting fire.
Emma sat back in her chair and tried to relax. Feeling uneasy and not wanting to be alone, she pulled her phone out and typed a quick text to James, asking him to come over. They weren't really dating, at least that they discussed and she was pretty sure he was seeing someone else, but he'd come to spend the night with her a few times over the course of the month. After a few long moments, he texted back that he'd be on the way with food. She breathed a sigh of relief, trying to push the sound of the howling out of her mind. Emma knew that James would tell her she was just letting the dark play tricks on her. And then he'd help take her mind off of it.
It would be a bit before James got there, but Emma unlocked the door so he could let himself in. Then made her way into the kitchen to busy herself. She got down some plates and started to pull a bottle of wine from the rack when she heard the clicking, like a dog's nails as it walked on a hard floor. Emma froze and sucked in a deep breath before turning around. Nothing was there, but she could hear soft panting. Leaving the plates and wine, she back towards the door--eyes darting around, looking for the shape from the library in the shadows. Nothing seemed to be there, she turned and darted out, shutting the door behind her--as she did there was a low growl from inside.
Emma couldn't convince herself that she had imagined what she'd just heard. She couldn't see anything, but it had been there.
She shook her head, "No, it's not possible," she scolded herself, "There isn't some sort of invisible dog creature--it's just the storm."
Her resolve faded almost immediately when the lights went out. The howling starting again, but this time it seemed to come from everywhere, to surround her. Emma could feel something behind her, could feel it breathing on her neck. She trembled, remembering her dream from the first night and suddenly questioning if it had really been a dream.
Emma heard the front door and ran towards it, startling James.
"What the fuck... why are you running?" he asked, "Is your power out?"
"Did you hear howling? Outside, before you came in, like a wolf or... something?" Emma asked in reply.
He looked at her oddly, "No? Emma, are you okay?"
"I don't know. I think I'm going crazy."
He smiled at her, "It's dark out, the storm took out your power--it's bound to get to you. The howling though, I don't know--it is the full moon, maybe it's a werewolf.. or the wind."
Emma laughed sheepishly, "The wind... that would make sense."
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