The Weekly Eclipse

April 8th, 2024. The day of the weekly solar eclipse.

For Maria Sweet, the eclipse is just another day. Maria knows the rules: do go outside during the eclipse. Being outside during the eclipse is something no human in Holdover should do. The Goddess of Holdover has warned all the citizens about the consequences of being outside during the eclipse.

Maria is 26 years old and works in the local hospital in Holdover. She must travel to the hospital before the eclipse to start her shift. However, due to her constant procrastination, Maria is running late. Maria quickly puts on brown mascara to emphasize her green eyes and braids her long blonde hair. Maria grabs her bag and runs out the front door. She looks at her watch, she has exactly 15 minutes to make it across town before the eclipse curfew goes into effect.

Maria starts running to the hospital. She knows she will be in grave danger if she does not get into the hospital before the eclipse starts. Maria has been warned that if she is outside during eclipse, the monsters that live below the city get to roam freely. The moon and sun when directly in front of each other form a key that allows the monsters to leave their habitat below the city. Anyone out on the streets during this time runs into fear of being attacked.

The last attack during the eclipse last week resulted in 10 people going missing. The families of these people are still missing their loved ones. No one knows what happened. No one saw. The sounds during the eclipse are terrifying enough to Maria and all the people of Holdover. The Goddess’s warning about the eclipse was not enough for warn the curious minds.

Maria starts running so fast she does not look where she is going and trips. She falls straight into a pothole and twists her ankle. Great, now she is going to be late. Maria starts sweating and anxiously twists her hair. Maria finds the town clock and sees she is now 8 minutes from the start of the eclipse.

“What am I going to do?” Maria mumbles to herself. Her knees are bleeding. Her ankle is swollen. Her bag is thrown across the street from her fall. She is hopeless.

Maria looks around to see if anyone else is outside scrambling to get to work before the eclipse. The streets are completely empty. Maria starts to prop herself out of the pothole and puts weight on her ankle. She can barely stand the pain. If Maria is outside, the pain of her ankle will be nothing compared to the rumors of what the monsters are capable of doing. Maria wobbles over to her bag and picks it up. She gathers her stethoscope that fell out and starts fats hobbling down the street. She is putting more weight on her good ankle, but her pace is still slower than it needs to be.  

Maria starts looking around for an open building to go into. It’s clear she will not make it to work and needs to seek cover. She walks over the house with a yellow door, locked. She starts knocking. There is no answer. She goes next door to the red door house. Locked yet again. Maria starts banging on the door and screaming, but there is no answer.

The town clock chimes. Maria now has 2 minutes to find shelter before the eclipse.

Maria starts hobbling from house to house. Every door is locked, no one is answering their door. The countdown on the town clock starts going to under 1 minute. Maria checks to see if any stores are nearby, but all of them are closed on weekly eclipse day. According to the town clock, Maria has 30 seconds to find shelter before the monsters are released. The sky is starting to get dark, the eclipse is happening. Maria runs as best as she can on her ankle to an alley and finds a wooden crate.

“This will have to do” she thinks to herself. Maria hides behind the wooden crate and waits. The siren signaling the eclipse sounds. Maria is anxiously waiting for the horrifying sounds of the monsters to start.

There is a shuffling sound coming from behind her. Maria turns while crouched behind the crate and sees a figure coming from the shadows of the ally. Maria’s heartbeat quickens. This is it. These are the monsters coming from the darkness the Goddess had warned about.

The figure from the shadows forms into a man about 6 feet tall. He starts walking directly towards Maria’s crate where she is hiding. Maria closes her eyes.

“Dear Goddess, I am sorry for disobeying. I am sorry for not heading your warning and being late to work. Please tell my mother I love her” Maria whispers.

Maria feels a presence behind her. She turns and looks into the eyes of a handsome man. He has dark brown eyes, short brown hair that looks to be slightly gelled back, and stubble across his face.

“Someone didn’t listen to the Goddess it seems” the man says cocking his head to the side. He is studying Maria. His eyes land on her ankle. “Or it looks as if being clumsy got the best of you.”

Maria’s hands start shaking. She is terrified and confused. She squints her eyes and stares at the strange man.

“What are you?” she asks him.

“No one” he replies.

“You can’t be no one.”

“You can be if you’re out during an eclipse” he smirks. The strange man offers his hand to Maria. “Let me help you up.”

Maria stands without his help and puts weight on her bad ankle with a wince. The man now looks down to see her bloody knees. Whatever monster he is, Maria is in trouble. She cannot stop staring at his handsome face and brown eyes. He then looks at Maria with such intensity she almost faints.

“Let me heal this for you” he offers.

“Heal?” Maria asks.

“Unlike what rumors you have heard, not every creature that comes out during an eclipse is a monster. I am a creature who can heal your wounds if you would like. It may sting, but only for a second. It seems like you are out here by mistake and I’d hate for you to cross paths with something else” he says. Maria stares at the man. His face is stoic, no sign of foolery in his expression.

Maria stares at the man. “Someone who claims they are no one can heal my knee?” she asks. “Sounds like there is more going on down below than the Goddess has led us to believe. Unless this is all just a game and you heal me to just torment me later” Maria adds huffing her chest out.

The man then crouches down and touches her right knee with his index finger. Maria tries to step away, but the man is too quick. Maria feels a sudden pain and sees a bright flash of light. She looks down and sees where the man was touching is no longer bleeding. Her right knee looks good as new. The man then touches her left knee and the same pain with light happens. The man stands tall again and eyes down Maria.

“I did not say you could do that” Maria scolds. She crosses her arms in front of her.

The man smirks and offers his hand to Maria. “I am what you would call a ‘monster of the underworld’ but my close friends call me Aaron, Aaron Gruesome.”

Maria takes his hand and feels a bolt of electricity, “Maria Sweet” she says.

“Sweet, huh? What a lovely name.” the man drops her hand. The electricity disappears. Maria’s cheeks turn a slight pink and she turns her head away.

“Now onto that god awful ankle” Aaron says, “this is not going to feel great. I will have to use both hands. Its best to keep quiet so no one else hears us and notices that you are human and not part of our world. Do you trust me Miss Sweet?”

Maria looks at the man, she stares right into his brown eyes. She has no idea why but she says “Yes, I trust you.”

The man grabs her ankle and twists. Maria feels an intense pain on her ankle and tears swell in her eyes.

“Thank you” she says. She starts to move and puts weight on her ankle and feels no more pain. “How did you do that?”

“If you come below, I can show you” Aaron replied.

Maria looked at Aaron. She studied his face, his clothes, and the way his eyes shined when he spoke to her. Should she follow this monster down below?

Maria takes Aaron's hand and follows Aaron below. She is never seen again.