Nightmares in Moonlight (On Hold)

Chapter One: Welcome to Moonlight

When I was a child, I was afraid of the dark. As I got older, my fears changed, slowly becoming more and more mature, a fear of snakes, a fear of heights, and finally, a fear of death. Fear fueled my life, making me jumpy and as skittish as a cat. Eventually, I learned that fear is not a bad thing and that sometimes, in order to do something good, you have to be afraid.

I pulled up to the small house that's yard met with the graveyard. The thought of all those rotting bodies made me shiver and I quickly turned the car off and climbed out. Why had I decided to move to a town where the only avaliable house was next to a cemetery? I popped the trunk of my car and grabbed a box while a large white work truck pulled up next to me. My parents climbed out and looked at the house. Seeming to come to some sort of mutual conclusion, they both turned to me at the same time.

"Could you guys quit your freaky copycat thing and just help me get these boxes inside? Please?" They chucked at my response and opened the back of the truck, grabbing a few of the boxes they had helped me cart to my new home. I carried my one box to the door and fished in my pocket for the keys I had just dropped in there. Finally finding them, I attempted to unlock the door. With a sigh, I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would have to put down the box to open the door. Setting the box down, the key finally slid into the lock and the door clicked open. The movers had already delivered my furniture and it was set hazardously around the house. I could see they had taken my instructions literally when I had said to just drop it wherever. I pulled the box left outside into the house and shifted it to just inside the door. Turning back around, I watched as my parents struggled to bring in the boxes they were carrying. I sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day, thinking about all of the boxes I had to bring in. This was going to be a long day.

It wasn't long before the sun was setting and all the boxes were finally in the house, ready to be unpacked. The day had been long, but the night would be even longer, much to my dismay. I had no idea what was in each box and so I couldn't even just unpack my pillow and sheets and be done. I was the world's worst planner, apparently.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay the night and just head back tomorrow, baby?" My mom asked, suddenly behind me, making me jump. I put a hand on my heart, as though that would somehow slow it, and turned to her.

"No way, Mama, I'm fine. I am 22, you know. I can, at least kind of, handle myself," I kissed her on the cheek and gave her a hug. She returned it fully, squeezing me hard. I smiled and didn't even complain. Both of my parents weren't ready for this, even after I had gone to a college in a big city, a few hours drive from our own small town. My older sister had stayed in town and planned to stay for the rest of her life. At 26, she was already married and had a baby. My parents had yet to experience any empty nest.

Once my mother finally released me from her grasp, I was instantly in the arms of my father. He trapped me in a bone-crushing hug and picked me up, leaning backwards to take my feet off the ground. I protested mildly, sad that this may be the last time in a while I receive physical affection from these two. They weren't the only ones over attached. I had always been a bit of a homebody. That was one of the motivating factors for me to move so far away, I wanted to break out of my comfort zone. I knew that I was being a bit dramatic about living alone, but it was a very big step for me to move so far away from my parents.

I waved as they pulled out of my driveway, before turning back inside and locking the door behind me. I began sorting boxes, ripping the tape off to see what was inside before placing it in the appropriate rooms. Hours passed with me moving furniture, my hardwood floors suffering a few scrapes.

I finally had everything at least in the right rooms, though not necessarily in the right places within those rooms. I shrugged, looking over my space. It would have to do for now. I went to my bedroom and began unpacking what I knew to be bedroom things.