Page 18 of Wicked Hungry

“Blood?” she asks herself, in wonder. “No, really, blood?”

“Do you want me to get a Band-Aid?” I ask her. “We can put some Neosporin on it.”

She shakes her head, her eyes wide. “No, Stanley, I’m going home. Right now.”

“I’ll get you a Band-Aid, and then I’ll walk you back.”

Like I could keep up with her.

“No,” she says. “I don’t need a bandaid. I need to be alone. Now.”

And she’s gone. Just like that. A red blur in the night.

Chapter 6: A SURPRISE ON MY DOORSTEP

My mother knocks at my door. Somehow I couldn’t sleep last night. The moon was so big, so obscenely full, and as I tossed and turned I kept thinking of running. But who am I kidding? My joints ache; my teeth feel ready to fall out. Then there is that coarse black hair sprouting all over my chest, all over my back.

Maybe I have Lyme disease, after all. I mean, it’s pretty endemic up here in New England. And I love the woods. But if I have Lyme disease, what’s the matter with Karen? I can’t get her out of my head. That look that came over her face when she sucked her bleeding finger. What is wrong with us?

Whatever else is wrong with me, I know I’m a lunatic. Following the moon’s commands.

Because to night the moon will rise. Full. The biggest moon in months.

And I don’t think I’m ready for it.

“Stanley?” my mother calls.

“Yeah, Mom?” I groan.

“We’re going to Trader Joe’s. You want anything?”

I’m hungry. But not for anything that my mother will buy me. In my church they say shame is a useless emotion. But I’m still filled with it. Filled with shame, and longing. I want to go to Burger King. Now.

I can’t keep this hunger under control. Maybe Enrique has something that would satisfy? I’ve got to do something. School will start soon, and I can barely walk on the best of days. But when the moon is waxing? When it’s full? What am I going to do at school if my teeth start to bleed, if my joints hurt so bad I can’t walk, can barely stand? What am I going to tell the nurse? What will my mom think?

There’s only one person who might be able to help. Not my Uncle Eli. Not anyone in Providence, either. Someone a lot closer to home.

But I’m afraid to call him. I mean, once we were great friends. Now I’m not so sure what he’s up to. Karen doesn’t trust him, but I don’t think anyone else has any answers.

My window’s open, and I hear someone outside. My God, is it him? Or is it her? Someone fast, in any case. Lately my senses seem to be on overdrive. Not just feeling the moon, but movement, out in the streets. Out in the woods. Smelling things too, from blocks away.

The doorbell rings. I hobble down the steps, open the front door, but there’s no one there. He was here, though; I know it was him. But now he’s gone. He’s so fast.

What did he want?

It’s warm outside, and the sun feels good on my skin.

I turn to go back inside, when I notice something. There’s a little brown paper bag. On my doorstep.

I look next door, and there’s another one on Enrique’s front porch. Another little brown paper bag, twisted shut at the top.

I reach down and bring mine inside.

The paper is warm from the sun. Inside there is a bottle. Made of black glass, which is kind of strange, but I guess that’s normal for Zach—he hates plastic. The label though, is paper, covered with strange symbols that shimmer in the light, but words, too: “ETERNAL CLEANSE. All-natural, Organic, Biodynamic, Holistic Vitamin and Cleansing Supplement. Helps with Focus, Pain, Healing, and Other Assorted Ailments. Take three times a day with or without meals until bottle is empty. Contains 90 pills.”

A month’s supply, then.

Forget it. This is madness. I’m going to play with some vitamins, when I don’t even know what’s wrong with me? And if Karen’s right, and they change me?