The night holds more secrets than common folk like me and you could ever dream to comprehend. The secrets of the night are kept only by those shadowdwellers who aren't afraid to roam the lands in darkness, who can see the magic of the night without fear or worry.

Beware these shadowdwellers, was what the worshippers of the sun exclaimed. For shadowdwellers scheme and trick, pulling innocent souls into their world of darkness to never return to the light again.

I stared at the vast midnight landscape, knowing that I should have gone home, knowing that I should have gone to bed and hide under my blankets where it was snug and warm, but I couldn't. The call of the moon that night was too strong to ignore. Amongst all the warnings and frightful tales of the night, people somehow seemed to have forgotten that not all of it was darkness. Even though the light wasn't as strong as that of the sun, the moon cast a glow over the earth that was soft and soothing.

Surely, a light that reigned during the night like this, couldn't be so harmful, couldn't be so frightening, could it?

Tonight, the moon shone as bright and as big like never before. I breathed in the scent of the sleeping flowers, felt lulled to sleep by the gentle breeze, as I bathed underneath the rays of the silver moon. My skin nearly looked like it gleamed, a stark contrast against the black backdrop of the earth beneath me. The stories of the frightful shadowdwellers and the horrid secrets they kept, soon faded like a fleeting dream, a warning that didn't need to be heeded to. 

I closed my eyes to surrender to the silence and peace of the night, convincing myself more and more that the stories of the shadowdwellers were false and that there was nothing for me to fear, but I should have known that in my moment of recklessness, they arrive. Twelve midnight guardians, monsters that keep watch over their lands. They all had a name and they all had blood attached to it. 

"I believe we've found ourselves a trespasser."

The voice was deep, unlike I've ever heard before, and despite my instincts, I felt myself succumb to that velvet voice.

"A sun worshipper?"

Lighter than the one who spoke before, this voice was young, but just as seductive.

When I opened my eyes, I was already surrounded by twelve shadows and despite the panic, I couldn't find it in me to move or even attempt to run away. Frozen, I looked at the twelve shadows that gradually turned into handsome young men. Their eyes were red while eying me, and I knew that I had trespassed on their territory. A dweller of the sun was never allowed to stay in the night because that was the time of the shadowdwellers to rule. To say I was in trouble was probably an understatement.

"What should we do with her?"

The tall man towered easily over me, looking down with a psychotic grin that made me shiver.

"I bet she came to steal our secrets." His mouth grinned like a lazy cat, his red eyes shone like flashes of lightning reflected off them.

"In that case, we should accomodate our guest and show her the secrets she craves for."

I shuddered at the hot breath against my ear, the whispering voice lulling my senses. I couldn't even protest, couldn't open my mouth to speak. Like a lifeless doll, they led me into their midnight paradise, to reveal the secrets the darkness had always hidden from the light.

The lands came to life in ways the sunlight could never reveal. The trees and forests glowed under the light of the moon, swaying to the soft melody the wind carried on its back. Gleaming butterflies and sparkling fireflies floated up through the air, the music swelling, enchanting, as my senses were overwhelmed with all the beauty I saw.

We get it almost every night, when that moon is big and bright...

Red eyes shone at me as I danced with the first guardian, his touch cold and freezing. He showed me the mist of our hot breaths in the cold night air, how they ghosted through the blackness and veiled my misty eyes.

It's a supernatural delight, everybody's dancing in the moonlight...

The second guardian had eyes that gleamed brighter than the moon. He made me hear the voices of the night, the heartbeat of the creatures that dwelled in darkness, his own- and mine, as well. It drummed and beat loudly in my chest, to the rhythm of the spell.

Everybody here is out of sight, they don't bark and they don't bite.

With dizzying senses, I was spun around in the arms of the tall stranger, and we floated as though he carried me with massive wings. His silver hair nearly put the moon to shame, his crimson eyes eying the red blushes on my cheeks...

They keep things loose, they keep it tight. Everybody's dancing in the moonlight...

The dark blue water couldn't slake my thirst, couldn't cool off the heat I felt radiating from my body and from him. His skin was smooth against mine, the droplets of water still clinging to my hair.

Dancing in the moonlight, everybody's feeling warm and bright...

My senses came to full bloom when the fifth guardian held me in his arms, our bodies moving against each other fluidly. His dimpled smile seemed far too angelic for his dark red eyes, but everything around us bloomed and lived, glowing flower petals scattering and drifting by as we danced.

It's such a fine and natural sight, everybody's dancing in the moonlight...

It wasn't until the sixth guardian danced with me, when I noticed slight changes in his appearance. His eyes were gleaming, like all others, but there was a certain glow about him that I couldn't quite place. I had never seen more clear in my entire life...

We like our fun and we never fight, you can't dance and stay uptight.

I'm in ecstasy. All the fear and doubt I had believed about the secretive world of the night has been forgotten. How can something so wondrous, something so amazing, possibly be deemed dangerous and forbidden? The nighttime gave pleasures in ways the daylight had never given me before. The seventh guardian sang along to the song of the moon in a voice that was smooth as honey, as soft as silk and as beautiful as the flash of lightning in the sky.

It's a supernatural delight. Everybody's dancing in the moonlight...

The psychotic grin on the eighth guardian's face didn't scare me anymore. With that same smile he whispered sweet promises and loving nothings in my ear. His touch burned me, exploding my nerves and setting parts of my ablaze with a burning passion that I never thought I possessed. His eyes were lit with a strong flame of desire, a gaze that reflected my own. Even when I saw small fangs gleaming from that grin of his, I still did not feel any fear. The night had made a mistress out of me...

Dancing in the moonlight. Everybody's feeling warm and bright.

I had never felt the kind of strength from a man before like I had felt when the ninth guardian took hold of my hand to dance with him. His growling was like music in my ears. The earth trembled, as did my heart. 

It's such a fine and natural sight. Everybody's dancing in the moonlight...

Time stopped by the time I was dancing with the tenth guardian. What did the night or the day matter anymore? Who cares about the dangers of the darkness or the safety of the light? They made no difference to me anymore. Why did I ever think that there was a reason to be afraid of the dark?

We get in almost every night, and when that moon is big and bright...

Skin upon skin flustered me. I'm floating, I'm dancing, flitting from one place to the other like a blink of an eye. The sensations are dizzying, but I can't help but enjoy every moment of it. The eleventh guardian sends me to the stars and back. He asked me if I wanted to stay in the darkness with them, if I wanted to dance with them forever. His crimson eyes seem to bleed with hidden desires, tears of happiness streamed from my own face.

It's a supernatural delight. Everybody's dancing in the moonlight...

"Do you wish to stay with us? Do you want to be with us forever?" the last guardian looks like a man, but has the sincerity of a child. How can I refuse such sweet words? The wind overwhelmed my senses with their scents, their smooth skin feeling warm and soft like fur... Fur?

My mind is a haze of dreamy feelings of joy and all I could see were these twelve men, these shadowdwellers that gave me promises of a beautiful future and everlasting life, here in the world of darkness. I gazed upon the moon, still reveling in the slithering silvery rays until I noticed the tinges of red that dripped down from it.

The night darkened and the midnight paradise changed gruesomely before my eyes. The sultry voices of the twelve guardians turned into horrid growling, their soothing whispers changed to hungry grunting. I felt their lips tug up into snarling, their fangs grazing against my skin. I witnessed them shedding their skin as the deceptive light of the moon changed them...

As the dream slowly turned into a bloodcurdling nightmare, the music of the night combined itself with my screams of terror...

When the moon is full, and shines brighter than the sun, don't wander too far from home. Never stay out to admire its beauty, for you may find yourself attracting twelve loathsomely handsome shadowdwellers. They dance in the moonlight, luring their prey with honeyed words and gentle touches, all for the sake of satisfying their hunger and to safeguard the secrets of the night. Should you come across flashes of red in the black trees, run towards the other direction and never look back.

Always remember that these angels of the night, who dance in the moonlight with such exquisite delight, are the most gruesome of monsters, and they'll wait for you to join them. None will ever be able to tame them.

... Or will they?

(Don't look behind you...)