Masonic Werewolves, James Livingood [top 100 books of all time checklist .txt] 📗

become the butt of a joke? Furthermore, he was sworn to these men and these men to him. They were his brothers, and they were all above that petty high school clique stuff.

Later that night, Jacob was removing his telescope from the car. He was parked near the entrance of a hiking trail, and beside him, members of the Moon Moaners also took out their telescopes. They exchanged banter about the upcoming meteor shower. Some of the men even had unique photography equipment that attached to their telescopes. Jacob wasn't sure how long this particular activity would take, since the shower was supposed to start in about four hours. He grabbed his packed lunched bag and slung it over his shoulder. Like all things, the lodge was probably about to do some ceremony before they could start chatting.

Jacob followed some of the men to a spot that was cleared out. He was then asked to help bring a cooler full of beer from one of their cars. He helped carry one of the ends of the cooler, his arms burning slightly afterward. Jacob didn't want to admit it, but the other man was carrying most of the weight. Still, he was happy to help and to be part of some brotherhood. He secretly hoped that Zan would show up, looking for a fight, only to have all his newfound brothers pop out of the woods. He thought of Zan running away, screaming and smiled to himself.

Once the men were in a rough circle, a fire was lit in the middle in a makeshift fire pit. They had dug it out and stones lined the hole. One of the members cleared their throat and then barked. Jacob looked at him an odd manner, wondering if he was already drunk. Jacob shrugged it off and knew that the ritual was about to begin. What Jacob didn't know, was that this ritual and night was specially set up to welcome him into the moon moaners.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

 

“Brothers! Brothers! Tonight is an amazing night. We have some new blood in our group! Everyone, please welcome brother Jacob Almeter!” said a bearded man in a red and black plaid shirt.

“I am sure you all remember,” the man continued, pointing around the circle, “Your first times being initiated.”

“Yeah! I was as scared as a ladybug on a spiderweb!” another man replied, followed by the group laughing.

That answer made Jacob a little tense, though he smiled politely. The sound of popping from the fire sounded like even the elements were chuckling. Jacob could hear exceptionally well tonight. He listened to the grumble from someone's stomach, even though that person was at the other edge of the large circle. Jacob could hear frogs and crickets making noise in the forest. Had the forest always been this loud at night? How did anyone get any sleep while camping if this was the noise they had to listen to?

"Now, just like other ceremonies, I need to blindfold the new guy. As you all know, this is to symbolize ignorance. In this case, it may be a bit literal." The man with a beard walked towards Jacob.

Jacob remembered his name, Brandon, just before he was in front of him with a blindfold. Before he put the blindfold on Jacob, he announced in a loud voice. "Brother Almeter, I will tell you what we are about while you have a blindfold on. If you want, you may leave. You will still be a full Masonic brother in our eyes. If you stay, you can remove the blindfold. Once you remove the blindfold, you will have another choice. If you stay again, you will be a moon moaner, just like the rest of us. If you leave, which you probably will, you will still be a full Masonic brother in our eyes. Are you ready?"

Jacob nodded, and they tied the blindfold on.

“So, Brother Almeter, can you tell us why you are here today?” Brandon asked.

Jacob usually had been given lines to say when giving responses. The fact that this was ad-lib, and that he had no lines to pull from made him wonder what was going on. “I guess I am here to watch the stars?”

“A truthful answer, yes!” said Brandon in a loud voice. Jacob could hear that he was moving around the men, as Brandon’s voice alternated between closer and further away. “But, brother Almeter, tell me the reason why you joined the Masonic order at all.”

Jacob thought for a moment. A simple reply usually did not work, nor would it be useful to give a sarcastic one. He decided to approach the question with some flowery language, "I was looking for a brotherhood."

Jacob heard murmurs of approval. He had indeed found something that everyone was expecting him to say. He was proud of himself that he had been so lucky to guess what the crowd wanted.

“That is good news!” Brandon declared, “Because we are indeed a brotherhood. You’ve been successful in that goal. But what do you hope to gain from this brotherhood?”

Jacob sucked in a breath. He had to be extra careful in answering, yet he couldn't give a generic response. He needed to reply with honesty and sincerity, but he needed the response to be something others could sympathize with. He took a long moment and said, "I was robbed, beaten up, and my dog was taken from me. When I met the robber a second time, I got my dog back, but was still laid flat on the ground. What I want from this brotherhood is to know I am safe."

The circle of men grew quiet. Extremely quiet. Jacob thought he must have said something wrong. “Hello? Was that the wrong response?”

A hand touched his shoulder. Brandon's voice said quietly, "No, that was a good response. We can offer this to you, but the truth is that you