Red Moon

A couple stay the night in a club.

Red Moon

The nightclub was packed. The noise from the band was loud, as the speakers shook.
A few stood in the beer garden behind the building, while they smoked or chatted with their friends.
By ten o clock there'd been a short interval where the band went to the toilet or got another beverage, before going back on stage for the second performance.
Chris had spent quite a lot of money to see these, it had turned out to be a wicked night. The band were amazing, better live, he certainly wasn't disappointed. Beside him was his girlfriend Christine, she was the same age as him, twenty two. They'd been together for just over two weeks.
"Good night, love," he shouted over the noise, putting a hand on her back.
Looking up smiling, she replied, "Yeah, great night."
A person a metre from them started being sick on the floor.
Turning to Christine, he giggled, before saying loudly, "Let's move over there. The smell of puke is making me gag."
A few seconds later they stood at the left side of the stage. A few standing in front made it difficult to see the band properly. He grabbed Christine's hand and both carefully made their way through the crowd. Once they were in a better spot, they watched the group play their greatest hits, enjoying themselves immensely.
Forty five minutes later the last song had finished. The lead singer thanked everyone for coming. It was time to leave.
Chris felt a little annoyed the night was over with. "Come on, darling. Time to go."
Everyone proceeded to the exit.
Christine had an idea, then said, "Let's hide in here. Once everyone's gone we can have a look about. Help ourselves to some drinks. What do you think?"
He laughed, before answering, "That's a terrible idea, love. Even if we didn't get caught, how the hell would we get out of here, we'd be locked in?"
"It'll be fun. Let's just do it. If the worst happens we can stay the night. Sneak out tomorrow morning. Come on, Chris. It'll be a buzz," she answered, giggling.
She was certainly the most adventurous girlfriend he'd ever had. "I can't do it, love."
Looking disappointed, she said, "Why not?"
For god sake this was getting ridiculous now. "I've got to go to work in the morning. Honestly, I would if I could."
Christine gave him that stare when she wasn't happy. "Where's your mobile?"
"In my pocket. Why?" he asked.
A smile came across her face, while she winked at him. "You haven't got an excuse now. Tomorrow you can ring work and tell them you're ill. Even if we are still trapped in here, there's nothing stopping you from ringing them."
He was becoming irritated now, and said, "Stop playing with my head, Christine. It's not fair."
"Then stop being such a p***y. P***y," she answered, laughing loudly. She observed most of the people had made their way out of the entrance, if they were going to do this, they'd have to act now. "Come on. Follow me."
Peering behind to see if anyone had noticed her, crept along the side of the stage to the door which led to the dressing rooms. Chris followed her not seeming too pleased.
"This is a stupid idea," he said. "If we get caught, we'll be in so much trouble."
Turning to him with an angry look, replied, "Shut up, you fool. Unless you want us to get caught?" Proceeding through the narrow door into a darkened hallway, Christine saw one of the dressing rooms not too far away, "We'll hide in there for the time being."
"Okay," was all he answered, knowing it was now too late to get out of this mess.
Once both were inside the room, she closed the door quietly. Then they waited patiently for everyone to leave.

.............................................................................

From outside footsteps were heard, both huddled in the corner hoping not to be found. Through the slight gap of the door a light was seen, whoever this person was they had a torch, maybe they were just checking the place was empty before closing up for the night?
Within moments the person made their way out of the hallway, as their footsteps got fainter.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Chris turned to Christine, then said, "That was a close one. Maybe you're right, this is a buzz?"
She smiled. "I knew you'd come round to my way of thinking, lover boy."
Knowing the danger was over with, Christine stood up, looking for a switch on the wall.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Looking for a light, I can barely see anything," she answered.
He didn't think that was a good idea, as someone might see the light from outside. "We need to be careful, just in case the person with the torch is still walking around."
"They're long gone," she said. "Now help me, or shut up."
Bloody women, he thought.
She felt a switch and pressed it. From the ceiling a bulb exploded, making them jump out of their skin.
"Jesus Christ," she yelled. "That was nuts."
Chris stayed on the floor, his heart raced. "Who the hell checks this s**t, no one by the looks of it? Jesus."
She'd had enough of being stuck in this room. "Let's get the hell out of here. It's a fire hazard, babe. Are you coming."
"What if he's still out there, Christine?" he said, not needing the hassle of getting caught.
She pushed down on the handle, the door opened. "How do you know it was a man with the torch, could've been a woman, don't you think women can do this job?"
Getting up from the floor, he took a couple of steps to her, then replied, "Well I know you're hard enough, love. This is why I don't want to get into an argument with you."
She smiled, before saying, "Good answer. Now let's help ourselves to some free alcohol."
The whole place was quiet. With haste both headed to the bar, to help themselves to whatever drink they fancied. The fridge lights from behind the bar were on, causing some much needed light in the room. Opening the door Christine helped herself to a bottle of beer. Using the bottle opener took the lid off, then had a mouthful. It was nice, a few of these would do the job.
Chris grabbed a bottle from the same shelf, not caring what it was he just wanted to get drunk.
Suddenly a loud bang came from the main entrance, what the hell was that?
To be on the safe side both decided to stay hidden behind the bar.
Another bang echoed around the big room. Followed by another, even louder than the last.
"What the hell is that, love?" Chris asked, a little freaked out.
Having a quick peek over the bar, waited for something to happen. "I'm not sure, babe. Exciting though, wouldn't you agree?"
"Exciting, what's bloody exciting about this?" he answered, feeling frustrated.
She looked down at him, pissed off with his attitude. "Why are you so f*****g boring. This is called excitement, Chris. For god sake it's only the bouncer or the owner of the place trying to scare us, must have seen us on their cameras. Silly me, I didn't think of that."
He was just about to answer when a terrific noise shook the room, followed by the entrance door falling with a crash to the floor. Christine saw this with utter disbelief, how the hell was that possible?
Coming through the opening she saw something which sent shivers up her spine. Joining Chris back on the floor she could hardly speak, once she'd composed herself, she said, "We need to get out of here now."
Inches from her, he replied, "Was it the bouncer? I bet he's pissed off with us."
Her eyes full of fear, said while trembling, "It's much worse than that, Chris. We need to get out of here now."
She began to cry, which shocked him very much. "What is wrong with you, Christine? I don't understand."
Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, whispered, "It's not human. I think a wild animal has escaped from a nearby zoo, and if we don't make a run for it soon, it'll kill us."
From the other side of the bar they heard growling, followed by a chair hitting the floor.
Putting a hand over her mouth, she shook terribly. She'd never been so petrified.
Something smacked the bar, causing Chris to panic. He got up, looking for a chance of escape. Leaving Christine behind he climbed over the bar, running to the entrance.
She stood up, shouting to him to come back. It was already too late. The animal attacked him, slicing his chest open, blood ran from his mouth down his shirt. He fell in-between some chairs. The monster fed off the flesh.
Screaming, she tried to make a run for it, noticing the animal blocking off the main entrance, decided to head back to the room from earlier.
The creature then followed. The animal flew into a table knocking it over, giving Christine enough time to make it to the side of the stage, then through the door into the hallway. The room just ahead, ran as fast as she could through the entrance, shutting the door quickly. She huddled in the corner, not quite believing what was happening. It was too crazy for words.
Still not having an idea what this animal was didn't help matters, by the size of it, a tiger maybe, or a wolf, because it was so dark it was hard to tell, in some ways it was probably better not knowing?
From outside the room she heard it enter the hallway, sniffing noises followed by a low menacing growl, as it got closer to where she hid. Scared out of her wits, she proceeded to the door, then sitting at the bottom. If the thing tried to get in here at least her body weight might help the door to stay closed, which was a long shot, but Christine needed to try, she wasn't willing to give up quite yet. All of a sudden she felt it being pushed from the other side. S**t, s**t, s**t. Staying in the same position, doing her best to keep it from opening, she realised she was fucked.
Who was she kidding, the thing had destroyed the main entrance with it's own strength? She was screwed.
Christine felt her feet slide along the floor, as the door was getting pushed further, this wasn't looking good.
Please, god. "Leave me alone," she screamed.
Panicking she used her legs to put more pressure on the door, but still the animal kept pushing. The gap between the door and wall had increased so much an arm belonging to the beast tried grabbing her. Its sharp nails tore into the flesh on her arm, causing her to cry out in pain. The door flew open shoving her hard against the furthest wall. Looking up towards the dark shape of the creature, it took a couple of steps closer, while it growled.
"Please leave me alone," she begged, raising her arms in front of her face.
The animal stopped, sniffing the air. Its yellow eyes glowed in the dark, staring at her intensely.
Suddenly a light beamed into the room, then four loud gun shots echoed all around. The animal cried out before falling to the floor.
Three men rushed in checking the creature was dead. One approached Christine, before saying, "Are you okay?"
She started to cry, the man comforted her, while the other two rang the police.

.............................................................................

The three men walked with her out of the building, two were bouncers she recognised from earlier. The other was a security guard who'd found her boyfriend's body ripped to shreds, realising something terrible had happened. Police cars were everywhere, a crowd had formed.
Peering up at the sky, Christine noticed the red moon shone in all its glory, it looked so beautiful.
A policeman entered the area where the animal had died, shining a torch onto the body was horrified with what he found. He left the room instantly.
"What's wrong?" asked his colleague, realising something wasn't right.
The man turned to him, with panic in his voice, replied, "From what our superior told us, I thought we were dealing with the body of a wild animal?"
Using his flashlight the other policeman walked into the small room, to be confronted by something which sent a shudder up his spine. By his feet was a young naked woman with long dark hair, and just below her right breast were three small holes where the bullets had entered. She was a local girl as he recognised her instantly. Sadness was felt while he placed a blanket over her corpse. With the man in the main hall also dead, this was the worst thing to happen in their idyllic town for a long, long time.
He then made his way out of the building to ring her parents and tell them the tragic news.

The End.