So, it's time for a whole new moon and things... have not been going completely well. The good news is, there's been no supernatural attacks since we put a stop to that woman with the golden touch. Also, there's been less attacks on supernatural people this month.
Despite how much support Gordon appeared to have when we last met, word of our little 'supernatural task-force' had spread around amongst normal humans, and many of the non-supernaturals seemed satisfied that the supernatural leaders of this community were taking responsibility in keeping the situation under control.
So what's the bad news? Well, for a start, we still haven't found any leads for who's behind this sudden spate of supernatural attacks in Normal.
Also, I lost my job. It was very sad, but I don't regret giving it up.
I remember my boss, Mrs Herrick, had called me to her office to address with me her concerns. She told me that she had lost her father in those werewolf attacks, and could never trust the supernatural again. She went on and on about how she had been reading Gordon Johnson's “For A Normal World” book, and that she agreed with a great deal of what he had written. She said the problem with society was everything was changing, things weren't like how they were in the olden days, and how she blamed the supernatural for that.
When she'd heard that I was friends with the supernatural leaders, she was horrified. Even more horrified to hear that I was dating a werewolf woman.
“Gordon Johnson says that female werewolves are destroying the nuclear family, causing young women to get silly ideas about becoming big, important businesswomen,” she had said to me.
When I pointed out that she was a big, important businesswoman, she said it didn't matter. What mattered was that things were not like they were in the olden days, and the cause of that was letting the supernatural integrate into our society in secret, changing our values and morals. And by having an employee who welcomed the supernatural with open arms, I was helping bring in an age of moral decay.
And so, she asked me to choose. Between helping these supernatural leaders and between my job. I chose to help my friends, and my werewolf girlfriend. And so, she fired me.
What was she going to tell everyone about why I was fired? That I had gone to dance with the fairies? Everyone would think she was insane. I'd been a hard-working employee until now, and she just fired me just like that.
Whatever she would tell them, it didn't matter. I was fired now. I had to move out of the private home. I moved in with Ruby at the taskforce building. It's nice here, though I miss my old home. And I don't know what I'm going to do with myself from now on. Will I find another job? Or will I just be the house-husband who stays at home doing chores while Ruby goes to work?
Most days I just spend mulling around the hallways. Some times the others are around. Vlad got a job at the local school as a sports coach. So long as he only plays sports indoors he's fine.
Daybreak has moved all his plants to the task force building, and takes loving care of them each and every day. He seems to prefer talking to his plants over talking to others these days.
He told me he's expressed sadness that more fairies have not wanted to integrate into Normal. But then again, hiding a huge pair of wings is pretty hard, and given the general public's views of the supernatural right now, it makes sense why they would want to keep a low profile.
Grim, of course, has his job as a reaper. He tells me it's normally an easy job. Most people are willing to leave this mortal coil quite peacefully.
What did Dawn do for a living? I honestly don't know. She still spends most of her time to herself, in her underground basement, mixing up potions and such.
I don't know, maybe I should join a book club or something. I'm not quite used to unemployed life just yet. But I still don't regret choosing this life over living a lie just to keep my boss happy.
Still, it brings to light what a toxic influence this Gordon Johnson is. I hoped that I wouldn't have to deal with him again. No such luck. One day, when I was wandering around the courtyard, I saw him approach the gates. I rushed over to him as fast as I could.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Al Norm! Just the man I wanted to see. I feel we got off on the wrong foot last month. I would like to talk to you, so that you could perhaps understand my point of view,” Gordon said.
“I think I understand perfectly fine, thank you,” I said, blocking his path.
“I am a time traveler,” Gordon said.
I remained silent. Great, now in addition to vampires, werewolves, witches and fairies, I find that time travelers are real too. Now I'm curious. Do aliens exist too? Or super-advanced robots?
“I come from a future version of Normal. A version of Normal where there aren't all these supernatural freaks running around. Everyone is normal, and nothing bad ever happens. No random attacks, no crime, it is a peaceful utopia. Everyone knows their place, and nobody thinks outside their box. Just like they were in the good old days. In the future, things will be more like the past. But you see, there's a problem. Namely, you.
The future is not set in stone, and the timeline can be changed. We need to get all these supernatural freaks out of Normal, so that the future that we all want is the future that we will all have. I want you to give up being a puppet for these supernatural leaders. If you follow them, the future will be a place of chaos! A n unpredictable future of confusion and weird stuff!” Gordon said.
“Some time ago, I had no idea that vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches or reapers existed. And now you're telling me that time travelers exist too. So what else is out there? Aliens? Gods? Well, if there's a Hell that exists out there too, you can go there,” I said. I was surprised at my own rudeness, but it was what Gordon deserved.
“You should think about why you are so averse to what I am promising you. Don't you fear for the future? Can you really bare living in this world of supernatural weirdness, where you never know what's going to happen the next day? Where you might lose all your friends? Where anything and everything can change? Living in a world like that, that is already Hell. At least let me take you to my time. Let me show you how good life can be when everything is normal,” Gordon said.
I admit, I considered his proposal for a moment. But only a moment.
“Sorry, but I've made my choice. And I must say no, thank you to your offer,” I said.
Gordon made no response. He just walked away. Good riddance.
This month, things have been looking up quite a bit! Still no more supernatural attacks, and attacks on the supernatural are practically non-existent.
My girlfriend, Ruby, has proposed marriage to me, and thus she is now my fiance and is soon to be my wife.
I was, of course, very happy to hear this, and agreed to her proposal straight away. It did seem kind of fast – we'd only known each other for a few months. But I guess werewolves are more impulsive than normal humans or something. Still, it's quite exciting! Ruby is an amazing woman, and I look forward to marrying her.
Anyway, the wedding will be held during the next full month. Now, I know what you're thinking – a whole wedding planned out in only one month? That's not normally how it goes. Can we really do that? We'll we're going to need a fair bit of magic to make it work, but we have plenty of that at our supernatural taskforce!
And, as Vlad would say, “we're supernatural. Not being normal is what we're all about,”. I mean, except for me. I'm normal.
We've decided to tie this into the big party we had planned, a sort of way to show normal people that the supernatural are not the enemy. Everyone who wants to come to this wedding can come, supernatural or not.
So, naturally, the supernatural leaders have been thinking of things to do for the wedding party. Cool supernatural stuff.
This was quite a busy month for us all, organising all the different bits and pieces until we had an idea for how the wedding event was going to proceed.
So who was going to organise all this? Well, everyone at the taskforce was playing a role, but especially Vlad, leader of the Normal vampires and local party-planner.
For some odd reason or another, most likely a plot convenience, I found myself knocking on Vlad's door.
“Vlad, you've got a letter from Chuck,” I said.
From behind the door came Vlad, who said, “bring it to me, I'm just on the treadmill,”
I pushed open the door, to find that almost the entire room was black. The brightest things in the room were Vlad's eyes, and his teeth. The only sound was the treadmill running, and Vlad's panting as he ran. I handed him the letter.
He opened it quickly but gracefully, then began to read. He did not falter even slightly in his pace on the treadmill. He just kept on running.
“It just says he wants to know what the seating arrangements are going to be at the wedding. Speaking of the wedding, who are you bringing?” Vlad asked.
“I don't think I want my relatives to get involved. They don't know anything about this supernatural stuff,” I said.
“Alright, well what about co-workers or friends?” Vlad asked.
“I lost my job, you know that. The only friends I had were coworkers, and none of them kept in touch with me after I lost my job,”
“Ah. Well, never mind all that. Focus on the wedding. I am very happy I get to plan a wedding once more. The last time I organised a wedding would have been back in 1894,” Vlad said.
“Wait. Vlad, how old are you?” I asked.
“168 years old. I know I look like I'm about 25, but that's when I first became a vampire,” Vlad said.
“Why did you never tell me this?” I asked.
“You never asked,” Vlad said.
“Right. So what other weird vampire powers do you have?” I asked.
“Well, my speed is obviously a big one. We can also be pretty strong. Of course, werewolves too are well known for their speed and strength. I suppose we share a good deal in common, vampires and werewolves. Of course, werewolves usually don't live as long as vampires,” Vlad said.
“I suppose that over the years you've seen a lot of different supernatural leaders,” I said.
“Well, yes, but I've only been the vampire leader for the past 50 years, after Astrid passed on. Back then, Arabella was just this sweet young girl. I still can't believe she turned bad,” Vlad said.
“Do you think that perhaps she could be behind all these supernatural attacks? Like an attack beyond the grave?” I asked.
“Once a reaper sends your soul to the next realm, it's pretty hard for one to interfere in Earthly affairs. That's one of the reasons some people choose to become supernaturals, to stay in this realm for as long as they can,” Vlad said.
“How does one choose to become a supernatural?” I asked.
“Find an open-minded werewolf or vampire. Locate a fairy mound. Unearth some unearthly spell. There's a variety of ways. Why? Are you thinking of converting for Ruby? Becoming a werewolf would be a gigantic change. And, to be frank, I think she likes you the way you are, mortal and all. Otherwise she would have left you for the first impressive male werewolf that strutted her way,” Vlad said.
“If Ruby and I had children, would they be werewolves as well?” I asked.
“It is possible, but it is not a certainty. It is considered... abnormal for a full human to start a family with a werewolf,” Vlad said.
“I see. What do Ruby's parents think?” I asked.
“They're fine with it, as far as I can tell. They're just happy that their daughter is happy. Of course, I could be wrong,” Vlad said.
“I see. Well, thanks for helping to organise the wedding,” I said.
“My pleasure,” Vlad said, his teeth shining up the whole room. I left, thinking about what the next month would hold. If I had any idea what was in store, I probably would have hid under my bed and cried.