2.0 Moonlight Falls

 Alyca's Pov

The for graduation came and went. As were tradition we went to the bistro to celebrate.

Everything at home was packed. We had sold the house to some rich young couple that planned to bulldoze it and build something new.
We left that night. The moving van was packed and we drove silently out of town for never to return.
Then it really hit me that i might never see Bernard again, and tears welled up in my eyes. I looked back out of the back window, and saw the beautiful city of Riverview, slowly dozing off into the night.

Moonlight Falls was far away, so we didn't arrive before the morning. We had only seen pictures of our house on the internet so we didn't know exactly what to expect.

Camille's Pov

I couldn't believe my eyes! The house was magnificent. My mother had really done well on this one. We settled in with our furniture and stuff.

There were five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. We even had a basement! Now mom could really get to work on making nectar. She said she had wanted that ever since she visited the Nectary in France. That's when she got married to my dad and got pregnant with Bernard. I'm gonna miss him. He was a great big brother.
We had each chosen which colors our bedrooms should be, but i had chosen the colors of the rest of the house, and the interior design. We hadn't taken much with us from the old house. Most of it was sold with the house, so we had just enough stuff to fill the van. We had put all our money into this. We only had a couple hundred bucks left, so we hadn't had enough to decorate every room in the house.
Outside the house was some children's toys, a fire pit and a pool. I couldn't wait to dip into the cool water.
My passion was to travel. I wanted to see the world. But for that to happen, i needed a steady job. I couldn't rely on my mom to provide for me forever.
I went and got a teaching job at the local school. I loved children, so why not work with them?
As I drove down there in my new car, i looked around the town. It was such a beautiful town, but where were all the citizens? It was so quiet.

I went inside the school and applied for the job. They were in desperate need of a Playground Monitor, so I was hired on the spot!

Afterwards i went to the Arboretum. I was curious since, like Rie, I had investigated the town a bit ever since it was announced we were going to move here. I had read that fairies hung out at the Arboretum, so now i would find out if it was true.
That's when I met Jeri Stringer.

She wasn't a fairy though. But she seemed cute, and she was single, so I called Hans and asked him to meet me there.
He came fast and soon i had introduced the Jeri to my brother. They instantly hit it off.

Apparently Hans is a bit shy. But it figures. He never had much luck with girls. I went to search more after fairies inside the Arboretum.

James sometimes spend a lot of time brooding.

 I didn't get it though. He would sit for hours, thinking about the hollowness of life. I think he was wasting his time. He should be out there, experiencing stuff instead.

After work for a whole week i went to the Arboretum to search for fairies but to no avail. Maybe Bernard had been right all along. There were no mystical creatures in Moonlight Falls.
I went home, depressed. I needed something to cheer me up. I was always a happy person. I went outside to the water slide. Maybe i should try it, just for a little bit?
"Wooohooo!" I yelled, while sliding through.

This sure was fun. I kept playing on it for a while. Then I headed inside to get some food. Having fun always made me hungry.
Afterwards i went into the home gym. I needed to get into shape if i was to become an adventurer. I knew i was far from traveling, but i might as well get a head start.

As I stepped on the treadmill, random thoughts ran through my head. I thought about love. Would I possibly find someone to love in a foreign country? I thought about traveling. Where would I go first? I would at least need 6 months of paychecks to be able to afford plain tickets. I also had to pick a destination. The only 3 places i really yearned for was China, France and Egypt. Especially France. My mom always talked about how beautiful the country was and what nice people there were. I wanted to see it for myself. Yes, France would be my first destination. After that, well.. i would have to save up some more, but i had enough time. I just needed to have patience as well.

Most of the time i didn't understand James. We weren't that close either. He spend a lot of time just looking out of the window. It was strange. It wasn't like it was a view out over town.  He was looking at the opposite wall.

I would sometimes walk up to him and ask what he was doing. At times he would pretend he didn't hear me. And other times he just turned around and mumble "nothing" and t hen just walk off.
Or he would sit by the window and read the newspaper.

 Not that there was anything wrong with that, but he didn't keep up with the times. This was 2015 after all. Who read the newspaper still? I for one used the internet to keep track of the news around the world. He scared me at times.

Rie had been the one to talk the most about mystical creatures. She said she had heard rumors at work about vampires roaming the city at night. "They don't come out in daylight because it can kill them," she said. "You can tell if they are a vampire by their skin. It is hard as stone and cold as ice. Their tone is almost while as marble. And they have fangs for teeth." I knew she was just trying to scare me. It couldn't be true,.. could it?
"Come with me tomorrow night! We can totally find some vampires ourselves."
"But, aren't they dangerous?" I said, feeling a little scared.
"Of course they are, that's the thrill of it. Lets have some adventure." She was all psyked up. Her eyes shined bright and I could hear on her voice that she was excited.
"Okay!" I said, a little too loud.
When we got off work the next day, i sat in front of the tv when Rie came over to me. She looked around to make sure no one was around, and said: "I'm gonna head to bed so i can catch some sleep. I want to be ready for tonight. You should do the same."

"But what about dinner? The others are gonna wonder where you are at."
"Just make something up. Say that we're sick or something." And then she wandered off to her bedroom. I had a bad feeling about this.

That night when everybody was asleep, we left the house and drove downtown. "Where should we go?" I asked her as i drove around town looking for a spot.
"Over there!" She pointed to the left. I pulled over and looked. "It's a lounge!" I said, surprised.

"I didn't think they had lounges in Moonlight Falls."
"It's not just any lounge. That is a Vampire Lounge!"
"No,... no it can't be." Obviously this was a trick by Rie to make me believe vampires existed.
"Come on," She dragged me inside, and i was amazed at how big it was. It was very spacious, but with only few items, neatly spread around the room. 
To my left, a pale looking man was playing the piano up on the stage, and in the other section of the room was a bar, a DJ-booth and a dance floor.

The woman behind the bar looked silly, with wings attached to her back. Why would she dress up when bartending at a lounge?
"Why is she wearing those silly wings?" I asked and pointed.
"Don't point," she said putting a hand on my arm and pulling it down. "That's a fairy! Isn't this amazing? I wonder when the vampires will appear." She was so excited. I have never heard this kind of excitement in her before. I guess i could play along, just to satisfy her.
"Come, let's get a drink." I marched over to the bar and ordered the first thing on the list.
"An Ectoplasmic Residue, please."
"Oh one for me too!" Rie sounded a bit too eager. She went to sit at the black haired man - the other bartender. Apparently they usually have so many guests that two bartenders are necessary.

 I sat there waiting for the blue haired girl to mix my drink, but it was Rie's bartender i was fixated on. He was handsome, apart from his wings. They made him look silly. I liked his glasses though.
"Here you go," She said with a British accent. "One Ectoplasmic Residue. You don't look like our normal customers though. How far are you?"
"Oh," I gave a laugh as i realized what she must have meant. "Oh no im not pregnant. At all. Do I look fat?" I said, feeling insecure. Why would she say that?
"No i mean how far are you in your transformation?"
"Transformation?" I said carefully.
"The vampire transformation? Wait a minute... Are you human?" Her eyes widened and she called to her coworker, "Hay Aiden, we have a couple of humans here tonight!"
He just nodded and said "Mhm". Apparently it wasn't that big of a deal to him.
Feeling a little offended i told her that they were humans too.
"No no, dear we are fairies. You know, Fluttering About? Don't you know that song?"
"Of course i do. But fairies doesn't exist. It is fantasy." These people were crazy!
"Aiden, i think we need to show it to them."
"Mhm." Did he never say anything else?
And then they stepped out onto the floor and floated above the ground! I instantly knew it was true, but i still couldn't believe my eyes! How could it be true? How was this possible?
"Woah, that is the most amazing thing i've ever seen!" Rie burst out.
"I'm guessing you are new in town? You just wait darling. You will be surprised to what this town has to offer."
After that little show i was a bit chocked. We went outside where we laid down in the hot tubs, relaxing our limbs.

"Mmmm... This is nice," Rie said with total pleasure in her voice. "Can you believe it has already been a week? Time sure passes quickly when you're having fun."
"Mhm.. fun. I'm actually not sure how much fun i've had recently. I mean," I sat up looking at her. "I want to go explore the world! It is what i was born to do! But now i'm residing in a town that apparently resides a lot of unnatural creatures, and i'm working a job for almost no pay that i don't even find as fun as i thought it would be. So, where exactly is the fun in that?"
She looked at me straight and said: "You feel trapped. It's natural. I felt it for years before we moved here, and see how relaxed i am now?"
"Yes and i don't get you. How can you relax with fairies and vampires around you?"
"I thought you didn't believe in mystical creatures." A sly smile on her face.
"Well, i'm not too sure anymore to be honest," i felt a defeated. "Everything i have ever believed in got torn down tonight. I don't know if i'm actually awake or dreaming. I don't know what to believe."
I covered my eyes with my hands, my head bowed. I felt Rie's arm around me as she said: "You know, there comes a time when you just have to cast aside everything you know and try to be open about new things. Maybe this is the time for you?"
Was it? Was it my time? Or was it just my imagination running wild? All i knew was that i needed to get home, because home was safe. Or was it?

Authors note: I know this chapter was a bit longer than the others, but there was just so much i wanted to add, and it think it turned out pretty good. I spend a lot of time taking these pictures, so please let me know if you like them or if i should do something differently. After all, you are my audience :)