Crescent Moon

By B.K. Arndt

Love. What is love?

The only love Kayla knows is family, and even that is rare. Gino is the destroyer of love. William has fallen in love, he loved before, but in the end, he had killed the very ones he claimed to love. Gino had ripped loved ones open and bled them dry and never thought twice about it and never once looked back. Kyle had painted entire cities in blood and, in doing so, had torn families apart and had been hunted for it, yet all have failed.

Love is a monster; it makes one weak.

Yet they had fallen in love. What kind of men are they? They are not men . . . They are monsters—monsters that all fear. William is a monster who love cannot fix. Kyle is a monster who one has nightmares about. Gino is a monster who make all those creatures that go bump in the night afraid. They are the ones who should be feared.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546264583

B.K. Arndt

Bonez Arndt: Lives in Pennsylvania in her free time she enjoys reading books, creative writing, taking photos, and anything outdoors. Crescent Moon is her debut novel. Kristina Arndt: Lives in Arkansas in her free time she loves to spend time with her amazing daughter as well as creative writing and taking pictures. Crescent Moon is her debut novel

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© 2018 B.K. Arndt. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/12/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6451-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6458-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018912332

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Kayla

Kyle

William

Lance

Kayla

William

Kyle

Lance

Kayla

Kyle

Kayla

Kyle

Aden

Love. What is love?

The only love Kayla knows is family, and even that is rare. Gino is the destroyer of love. William has fallen in love before, but in the end, he killed the very ones he claimed to love. Gino ripped loved ones open and bled them dry, never thinking twice about it, never once looking back. Kyle painted entire cities in blood and, in doing so, he tore families apart and was hunted for it, yet all have failed.

Love is a monster, making one weak. Yet they had all fallen in love. What kind of men are they? They are not men … They are monsters, monsters that all fear. William is a monster that love cannot fix. Kyle is a monster that nightmares have nightmares about. Gino is a monster that makes all those creatures that go bump in the night afraid. These ones should be feared.

Kayla

T he smell of iron fills my small dorm room. My bed is across the room, with a view of the door leading into my room. On my bed are four pillows and my favorite leopard -print blanket. Above my bed hangs a large clock, and a small alarm clock is on the bedside table. On the right side of my bed is a small window with light blue curtains and brown blinds. Near the window stands a desk and chair; my laptop, a white lamp, and all my schoolbooks are on the table. The light from the hallway leading to the bathroom shines through the open door.

My eyes slowly open, allowing me to glance around the dimly lit room. I feel soreness all over my abdominal area. Looking down, I see that I’m covered in blood—it’s all over my skin and on my blankets, with droplets on the floor and a bloody handprint on the door handle. Then it all comes rushing back to me, sending me into a panic.

A flashing red light on my phone informs me that I have a new text message. As I reach for it, I’m welcomed with a searing pain in my left arm. I can’t help but let out a small shriek. I extend my right arm to help lift me up as I rotate onto my back. The pain worsens to the point that I feel as if I may pass out. I finally position myself to lie on my back as I pick up my phone. I hit the side button and punch in my password. My home screen pops up. I click my Messenger app and see that I have four missed text messages. The first one is from a number that I don’t recognize, but it says, Run—get out of there! The second message is from my mom, asking me if I bought graduation announcements yet. The next message is from a friend, wanting to know if I’m going to see the movie tomorrow night. The final, and newest, message was sent ten minutes before I reached my phone. It’s from my boyfriend, Kyle. It just reads that he’ll be up over the weekend and that he loves me—with a little heart symbol at the end of it.

As I go to reply to the message, blood from my fingers smears the touch screen of my phone. I click out of Messenger and open my contacts, swiping down to Kyle’s number. Tears roll down my face as I hit the CALL button. I feel the warmness of blood radiating off my ear as I hold my phone up to it. All I get is voice mail: You’ve reached Kyle’s phone. Leave a message after the tone and I’ll return the call ASAP. Beep.

Kyle, this is Kayla. I need you—I think I’m in trouble. Please pick up. I hang up the phone and go back through my contacts until I find the number belonging to Gino, which Kyle gave me in case of an emergency, and I call him, hoping he’ll know what to do.

He picks up on the third ring. Hey … Kayla. What’s up? I can’t bring myself to answer. My hand starts to shake, and I can’t help but cry, letting out whimpers. This isn’t like me at all. Kayla, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Answer me! I hear the toilet flush and make my mind calm down. I speak into the phone with urgency.

Gino, I’m b-bleeding a-a lot … ever-everywhere. I need help. Please come get me now! Get ahold of Kyle—please hurry. He’s coming back!

Gino’s anger leaks through the phone as he replies to my request. Damn it! I knew this was going to fucking happen. Okay, hold tight. We’re coming. Stay awake; don’t fall asleep or pass out. I’ll go get Kyle now!

As I hear the bathroom doorknob turn, I click the right button that locks my phone. I know he’s coming back to my room; I can hear his heavy footfalls approaching the bedroom. As he comes out of the bathroom, I can hear him flip the switch to the hall light, and instantaneously the hall grows dimmer. He must have left the bathroom light on and pulled the door shut behind him. I can see the outline of his heavyset body. Hey, baby, I’m glad I drove up from campus to see you. Can’t believe you broke up with me. I’ve missed you. Didn’t you miss me?

I stare at him in shock and scream—or at least I think I do. No, William, we broke up! We’re over. Why are you up here? I didn’t invite you, and besides, I have a boyfriend who is going to kick your ass!

He looks at me with an amazed expression on his face, and with a sad, whiny voice, he says, Hon, you don’t have a boyfriend. I was the best thing that happened to you. Look, I love you. Let’s just fix this and forget anything even happened to begin with. Just let me love you the way you should be loved.

Way to go—I have definitely pissed him off. I know because his voice gets all whiny when he’s pissed. The best thing that happened to me. I’d say no to that. More like the worst—and super clingy. I don’t know who he thinks he is

I move my left arm toward my desk next to my bed, but before I can reach my lamp, William grabs my arm. He pulls it over to the bed, and then he grabs my wrist with a tight grip and slams it onto the bed. Now come on, babe, don’t make this hard. Don’t fight the feelings you have for me. I can feel his left hand slide from my knee to the lower part of my thigh. I start to cry and close my eyes as I spit in his face. He lifts his left hand off my thigh and with a quick motion slaps my face as hard as he possibly can. Bitch, stop crying. And I swear, if you spit in my face again, you’ll be a sorry girl!

I look at him, not believing that he just slapped me and threatened my life. I hold back tears and clear my throat before I can bring myself to speak Um … look—just leave. Go away. I no longer have feelings for you. And please don’t threaten me again. Just go away before they get here. I look at the clock and see that the time reads 2:36 in the morning. It’s been about half an hour since I got ahold of Gino. William doesn’t seem fazed by this.

In case you didn’t notice, no one is coming for you.

The doubt of their not coming settles into the depth of my stomach, and I start to cry all over again. They aren’t coming. I just want to die … Please let this be as quick as possible.

Aw, don’t cry, love bug. He crawls on top of me and places his legs on either side of me. He brings his left hand up to my face, squeezing my cheeks together. Then he brings his face level with mine and licks the tears from my cheeks. I feel his skin brush mine as he moves his tongue down to my neck, and then I feel his bite … I think he bit my neck. His teeth tear my skin open, and I feel warm blood flow from my now open wound. He says, It won’t be long now. Nope, not long at all.

Ewww is the only thing that comes to mind as he sloppily licks the blood from my wound. What the hell is he talking about? I bring my right hand up to my neck as he pulls away, and it comes away saturated in warm red liquid.

He extends his head back up my body and brings his mouth heavily down on mine. His tongue parts my lips as he starts kissing me. I roll my eyes up toward my head. As I am doing so, my vision starts to grow fuzzy and the room spins like crazy. I feel his tongue inside my mouth, but I can’t move. My left arm is going numb. Is it from him gripping my wrist …? I don’t know. This is it. I’m going to die. I hope that it will be painless, but probably not. Time is ticking—where are they? Are they going to let me just die here in this manner? I thought Kyle loved me. Was I wrong? I can barely feel him lying completely on top of me. He extends his left hand to slide roughly between my thighs. Slowly spreading my legs apart, he moans longingly as he slips a finger into my vagina. Argh, get off m— is all I can bring myself to say before he pushes his tongue farther down my throat.

He brings his finger out of me and feels around down there until I do a little jump. As he’s kissing me, I can sense him smiling. He slowly moves his hand from between my thighs and squirms up my smooth body. Feeling his erection just below my navel as he adjusts himself right where he wants to be, I can feel his hand moving between my thighs, but this time he is gripping his erection, and he places it right outside my vagina. I can feel it resting there. He pulls his mouth away from mine just to whisper in my ear, You’re going to love this—trust me. Then he forces his lips back on mine and his tongue back in my mouth. He violently pushes his erection into me. Damn, that hurts. I want to cry, but crying will not help me at this point. I bring my right hand onto his back and dig my nails into his skin. It doesn’t seem to affect him whatsoever. I don’t know what else to do, so I close my eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, he finishes inside me, but he keeps it inside me and kisses me. By this time, my whole body is numb and instantly going cold. I’m going to die here, just like this. I guess this is okay. I can’t really feel anything besides the cold wrapping itself around me like a blanket. I start to close my eyes as a signal of my giving up. Beams of light brighten my room as a car with a loud muffler speeds down the side street leading to the back parking lot. It’s followed by three other cars. Please be them, please be them. I hear the first car pull into the lot as it squeals into a parking space. I hear the other cars follow suit, and the headlights of all the cars flip off simultaneously. This is followed by eleven cars doors opening and then slamming shut. I can’t even turn my head to look out the window. He brings his sweaty face off my chest to look out the window, and he rips out of me. I’m thankful that I can’t feel any pain.

The knock on the front door makes my heart jump. William hears the knock on the door, jumps off me, and pulls on his pants as fast as he can, tripping on his jeans as he does so. This, however, doesn’t help me because I can’t feel or move anything. He picks up his phone and dials a number. Hey, Bob, I need help. I’m at my girl’s place. Someone’s at the door. Come up with the guys and get me out of here. He grows silent as he listens to the other end for a reply, and the knock on the front door becomes louder. Okay, thank you. I owe you one. The banging on the door is followed by a muffled voice … Kyle’s voice.

Open this fucking door. I know you’re in there. I see your car. You have one of two choices: let me in or we’re coming in. William looks at me and brings his finger to my lips to shush me, as if I can speak. Wish I could. The front door makes a creaky noise, and I hear the voices become clearer. They must have broken the door. This is followed by the door crashing to the floor in the entrance hall, followed by a voice.

Please, Kyle, don’t kill anyone tonight. We’re in enough trouble as it is, and you just broke a door. Punch him—I don’t care—but that’s it.

I can hear his boots putting pressure on the tile flooring in our front entrance as he enters. I go to move so I can see him and let him know that I’m all right, but I forget the fact that I can’t move. The kitchen all of a sudden becomes alight, letting me know someone has turned on the light sitting on the counter. Kevin, look. There are blood droplets all over the carpet leading to her room, and you don’t want me to do anything to him … Seriously, just wait until I’m finished with him.

William looks at me and then moves quickly to the bedroom door. He quietly pushes it shut and locks the bolt. He slips his Call of Duty: Ghosts shirt, which I bought him, over his head so quickly that he does not realize it is on backward. As he slips his Nikes on, the door handle turns from the other side, followed by a series of punches from the person on the other side. "Look, William, let me in now; we can talk this out, work something out. I will not do anything. Just let me in!"

I lie motionless and helpless in my bed thinking to myself, which does not help matters. Does he really think William will let him in with the tone of his voice he is using? William then comes over to me, kisses me on the forehead, and says, I love you. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Call me, okay? He places his palms on either side of my face and nods my head in response. Good girl.

He picks up his now ringing phone and pulls my blinds completely open, exposing the darkness outside. Okay, yeah, I see your car. I’m on my way out now. How is he going to get past Kyle and all of them? He answers my question by opening the window and pushing out the screen. Before I can think about what he’s planning to do, he jumps from my second-story bedroom window to the grass below. I hear the car door open, followed by the slamming of it being closed.

The breeze from the outside blowing through my window does not help much with the state that I am already in. I only feel colder than before. The door is smashed inward, and Kyle comes running in, stopping in his tracks to look at me. He darts straight past me to the window and peers out the window, looking up and down the parking lot for the perpetrator, who has already escaped. He then fumbles with the switch before turning on my desk lamp. He knocks some of my books off the desk. Why won’t he look at me? Why isn’t he saying anything? Not that I would be able to turn my head toward him to look at him, nor could I open my mouth to speak to him. I can feel him staring at me, but he still