Blood Moon by Rhuar Dean

They were eight feet away. The stinking fuckers. You could hear them sucking our air. I couldn't see them yet but I knew they were close. The silver moon lit up the path like the electric city streets far away. I signaled to my Lover to be quiet, she was hot for it and I was afraid she might moan. Maybe I could just take one of them - a weak one struggling at the back of the line that they wouldn't miss until it was too late. That'd be the ticket. We could stun it with some Fentanyl Agent - Lover could do it. She was quiet as a panther when she needed to be. She'd slide up on his back like his own shadow and caress that old rag across his face. Boy would drop down like a baby. I was getting a hard on just thinking about it. Lover bared her teeth, I could tell that she was eager. All we needed was a little tissue for a Southern blot and Boss would be happy with our efforts. We'd be home then for a while instead of out here hunting. Of course, we only needed a little tissue for that - it was up to us what we did with the rest of the Boy-mass. And Lover knew things about Boys. Magic things she said. Things that would make us stronger even to our own people. Things that would make being out here for so long worth it.

Lover slipped in behind, just like I said. The Boy looked strong - they all looked strong - but this one was slow. His feet lifted like they were tied to the forest floor and and his eyes - even in the moonlight - looked heavy. I didn't see her - and I was looking for her. Boy just stopped and quietly settled down. Of course, that was my cue and I was out there helping her slide him back into the undergrowth. We had some time. The other Boys would not look back for a good while and they'd need a conference with Mother before they could get clearance to send a party here to search. Mother never made decisions quickly so that wouldn't likely happen until morning. It was one of the few advantages we had out here.

We shuffled our sleeping Boy a hundred yards or so from the path. His breathing was calmer but still louder than ours. Never mind, we thought. It will be quiet soon.

Lover tied Boy's arms outwards onto trees and I ties his legs the same so that he made a star. We made strong the knots and tied his tongue and filled his mouth to make sure he stayed quiet if he woke. I suggested more Fentanyl but Lover rejected - she was the brains when it came to Boys. She checked his breathing to make sure I hadn't choked him and shone a torch into his eyes. Then she played with his things a while, flicking through the pages of a notebook he had in there and checking his weapons for anything interesting. She had already disabled his helmet camera back at the path and now she instructed me to remove his clothes. I cut them away, careful not to damage him. Boy was strong underneath. It was hard to tell which bits of him were real and which were New World. I didn't understand where his weaknesses came from. If he was one of us, he would surely be a champion. But when I removed his underpants lover looked angry. She pointed and I saw that he was not whole. That part, she said, was the most valuable.

I waited. Lover sometimes got the rage and that would be bad even for me. I'd seen her chew through peoples' faces when she had the rage. But Lover was calm. We could still get the tissue for the blot, she explained, handing me a receptacle and a scalpel - and we could still get some magic for ourselves. She held a loving cup underneath him as I prepared to cut. Boy bled heavy. The Fentanyl went quickly and he strained and shook against his bindings when he felt what we were doing but he could not free himself. We stored the tissue in our bag, careful to make sure it was properly sealed and cooled. Then we took turns to drink from the cup, smiling down at him as we sipped his life. Lover was excitable. Each time it looked like Boy was sleepy she'd close one hole and bleed him from another, twisting a little or finding some nerve to tweak. The adrenaline was good she said. The more he suffered the stronger the blood would be and we deserved the very strongest blood. And there we lay down in the moonlight filled with Boy's blood and rose into magical beings.

Rhuar is a poet, writer and occasional journalist currently based in Washington DC. This is his fourth appearance at the Liars' League and his second in New York. His work has appeared in mediums other than lies and for proof you should check out his website at rhuardean.com

Blood Moon was read by Jere Williams on 2nd December 2015 for Magic & Moonlight