The Shadow Of The Lunar Curse

Chapter 3: Silver Pendant

The party was still ongoing, and everyone was full of energy. The crowd all danced to the beat, and their laughter was mixed with the thumping bass, and the smell of alcohol was everywhere with the cool night breeze. Jerry was trying his best to blend in with the dancing crowd; he was still wearing the silent disco headphones around his neck, but he couldn't shake the awkwardness.

Jerry's eyes kept on drifting towards Erin Moore, who was standing near the bonfire with her red dress practically glowing in the flickering light. Tim, on the other hand, was practically having a good time. He was dancing without a care in the world; his awkward but nice dance moves were earning a few laughs and claps from the people around him. Jerry couldn't help but smile softly. At least one of them was enjoying themselves.

"Yo, Jerry, loosen up, man!" Tim called out, dancing and moving around the place like he was in a bad music video. Jerry just shook his head and leaned his back against the nearest tree while also crossing his arms.

"You look like you're auditioning for a High School Musical reboot," Jerry said.

Tim rolled his eyes but kept dancing anyway. "Whatever, dude. You're just jealous of my moves."

Jerry chuckled softly, but his smile faded when his eyes landed on the Talen twins. Raiden and Raiten were practically royalty at Roomba High, and they knew it. Raiden, in particular, was leaning close to Erin now, and he looked like he was saying something that made her laugh.

"Why do you even care?" Jerry thought to himself and looked away. He hated how he felt. He barely even knew Erin, but still the sight of Raiden flirting with her made his blood boil.

Before he could go too far into his thoughts, Tim appeared beside him. Tim was slightly out of breath from all the dancing.

"All right, what's going on? You've been staring at Erin all night like she's the last slice of pizza at the table."

Jerry shot him a look. "I'm not... okay, maybe a little. It's just…" He hesitated, struggling to put his feelings into words.

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Dude, she's just a girl. A very hot girl, but still. You're acting like she's a goddess or something."

Jerry sighed and ran his hand through his messy brown hair. "It's not just her, Tim. It's everything. My dad, school, this stupid party… I just—"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud crash interrupted him. Everyone turned toward the sound. A car had driven off the dirt path and slammed itself into one of the trees at the edge of the clearing. The music stopped as people rushed toward the wreckage, their phones were already out to take videos or call 911 for help.

"Holy crap," Tim whispered with his eyes wide open. "Is everyone okay?"

Jerry's heart was racing as he started pushing through the crowd of people; Tim was following Jerry from close behind him.

When they got to the car, they could see that the front of the car was completely crushed; even the windshield had also shattered. Suddenly, a faint groan came from inside the crushed car.

"Someone's in there!" Jerry yelled, and without thinking, he sprinted forward.

"Jerry, wait!" Tim tried calling out to him, but Jerry didn't stop for a second.

When he got closer to the car, the stronger the smell hit him; it smelled like metal, oil, and something else. It just smelled unnatural. Jerry reached the driver's side and yanked the door handle, trying to open the slightly crushed car door, but it wouldn't even budge.

Jerry then gritted his teeth and pulled harder with all his strength when suddenly a strange warmth spread through his body, and all his muscles were tensed, and for a split second, his vision became blurred. Then with a loud creak, the door finally gave way.

Jerry stumbled back a bit, almost falling; he was a bit shocked by his own strength.

"Dude, what the hell?" Tim said after finally catching up to him.

Jerry decided to ignore Tim and then leaned into the car. Inside the car, he found a middle-aged man who was in his mid-thirties; there was blood trailing down his temple. His eyes fluttered open as he locked onto Jerry's eyes.

"Please... help... me," the man said weakly.

Jerry nodded and carefully pulled the man out of the wrecked car. Just as he was pulling the man out of the crushed car, his eyes caught sight of something in the man's jacket; it was a silver chain with a strange glowing pendant.

"Jerry, hurry up!" Tim urged at him as he looked over his shoulder at the increasing crowd.

Jerry then quickly handed the man over to a couple of bystanders, but his eyes were still on the pendant. Without thinking, he reached for the pendant.

But the moment his fingers touched the cold silver pendant, a sharp pain shot through his hand; it felt like fire racing up his arm. Jerry suddenly let out a gasp and stumbled back a few steps.

"Jerry! What's wrong?" Tim said while grabbing his shoulder and shaking him.

Jerry opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He felt the world around him begin to spin, the voices of the crowd fading in his ears. His vision started to turn dark, and the last thing he saw before everything went black was the glowing silver pendant.

---

When Jerry woke up, the party was already over, and he was lying on the grass while Tim sat beside him with a worried expression on his face.

"Dude, you scared the crap out of me," Tim said while handing him a bottle of water. "What happened back there?"

Jerry slowly sat up; he could feel his head pounding. "I don't know. That guy, the pendant, it felt like…" Jerry trailed off and shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it."

Tim frowned. "You were out cold for like three hours. I was even about to call 911."

Jerry took a look around the clearing, which was mostly empty now, well, except for a few stragglers. The car was gone, and so was the man.

"Did anyone else see the pendant?" Jerry asked.

Tim shook his head. "No. Why?"

Jerry didn't answer. Instead, he looked down at the palm of his hand and the part of skin that he'd touched the pendant with, which was red and raw, almost like a burn.

The faint outline of a strange symbol seemed to shimmer briefly before disappearing.

Something wasn't right.

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