The days were getting shorter, and there was a nippy feeling to the air as the seasons changed and the leaves began to vacate the trees. Everyone began dressing up warmer, and spending more time indoors than normal. And so, for a while I didn't hear from my friends... at least, not the supernatural ones anyway. Although of course I would see them around town now and then, like bumping into Dawn at the grocery store.
She really doesn't look like a witch at all. In fact, I've never seen her perform a spell at all. I kind of wonder if Grim just pulled some random woman off the street and was all like, 'you're a witch now,'.
One thing that did happen upon the first full moon of Autumn was that Daybreak invited what must have been at least a quarter of the town to come to his harvest dinner. He didn't want to waste any of his food once winter came, so every year he would hold this big harvest shin dig at his house. Man, there was so much food there! And a fair bit of variety too.
There was pumpkin pie, vegetarian chilli, apple pie, pumpkin soup, tomato soup, mushroom soup, vegetarian burgers, vegetarian lasagna, and vegetarian dumplings.
By the way, I forgot to mention this, but Daybreak is a vegetarian. You may have guessed that by the constant presence of vegetarian meals that he was serving. He says meat drains his fairy powers.
We got a demonstration of these powers later that night, when the dishwasher broke down. Daybreak shrunk down into his red sprite form, got into the machinery, and fixed everything right back up again. Man, I wish I could do something like that. But I don't want to become a fairy. Not that there's anything wrong with fairies! Fairy magic is kind of cool. He showed me a small jar he keeps in his pocket for emergencies. It was full of magic fairy dust.
To be honest with you, I'm sort of starting to get used to all these supernatural people around, although I certainly have zero intention of becoming a supernatural being myself.
Admittedly, this makes me stick out like a sore thumb. I'm the only normal human surrounded by vampires, werewolves, witches and fairies. Which makes me the not-normal one, at least in this situation.
So, what else happened at the harvest dinner? Well there was a lot of dancing, for a start. Also, Grim ate way too much chilli and spent the rest of the night next to the sink, serving himself glass after glass of cold, refreshing water. Why would the/a grim reaper have taste-buds or whatever? I think it's best not to think about it.
Victor brought his boyfriend along – some guy called Chuck. The two were all over each other almost the entire party. I noticed he kept on looking over at me, as if he was trying to see if I was getting jealous.
I'm not jealous. If anything, I'm happy for them. I just hope Chuck knows that Victor's a vampire. But I'm not jealous. I've got Ruby.
Speaking of Ruby, she was disappointed in the lack of meat at the harvest dinner, but she kept her chin up and kept up a positive exterior until it was time to go, after which she moaned about how boring it was.
Dawn didn't show up to the harvest dinner at all. I guess she couldn't handle such a large crowd.
Anyway, that was it for that month. No bad omens or portents that were about to warn me that this little event would be the last time I would feel at peace for quite a while.
Ruby and I went to the library, where they were holding an art class. Everyone was standing around a big bowl of fruit. I'd have thought it would've been some naked guy or gal, but in this cold weather, I can't blame them for not wanting to leave the house. The library didn't have heaters, so I had to wear an extra jacket. That was annoying.
I was not an artist myself, of course, so I spent most of my time hanging around the main entrance of the library.
It was then that I noticed a book at the front of a stack titled 'Most rented'. The title of this book was “FOR A NORMAL WORLD”, by Gordon Johnson. I picked up this book, and looked at the back cover. This was what it read:
30 years ago, divorce and single parents were almost unheard of. Boys are falling behind girls in class and Men are growing up unmotivated and unemployed. Society is collapsing, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the town of Normal.
Who is to blame for this? We all know the answer, though nobody dares to speak about it openly. They are the supernatural, and they are the enemy of all that is natural and normal. They are real, and they are dangerous.
That is why I have written this book, to bring awareness to normal people like you and I. Together we can make Normal normal again.
I was taken aback by this. I was under the impression that the vast majority of ordinary humans like myself had no idea of the supernatural.
Surely this person would just be dismissed by everyone as some crazy guy ranting about witches and dragons, I assumed.
Out of curiosity, I turned to a random page and began to read.
The town of Normal has the largest population of supernaturals gathered in one town. Based on demographic studies, I have confirmed that at least 46% of the population in Normal are supernatural in one form or another. Soon, they will outnumber the normal, and not just in Normal. We cannot let this happen.
I turned to a different page.
Is the female obsession with vampires driven by the biological female desire to be dominated by a strong man? Scientific evidence would suggest so. But let's not just blame supernatural men, here.
Female werewolves, for example, have been destroying society by challenging traditional gender roles. They are much more assertive than their normal female human counterparts, often making the first move in relationships and shunning traditional marriage structures. From a biological perspective, normal females who do not marry tend to end up depressed and suicidal. This is not the case for all females, but the exceptions do nothing but prove the rule.
I turned to a different page.
For years, reality-denying terrorists have been trying to shut down any and all attempts at legitimate scientific discussion of fairies. I'm an evolutionary biologist. Why are so many people afraid of rational debate?
I turned to a different page.
I am not saying that we need to hunt down and burn anyone suspected of being a witch. I am just saying the world would be a much better place if they were all killed somehow, preferably with fire.
Good grief! This guy sounded completely off his rocker. nobody would ever take a guy like this seriously. I put the book back.
Another thing that happened this month is that I was attacked by a clown. And trust me, it's not as funny as it might sound.
I had gone for a late-night walk through the forest, seeing if any of the fairies wanted to talk with me. No such luck. I didn't see so much as a glowing sprite. I guess Daybreak is just a lot more social than the other fairies in Normal.
It was then that I saw the clown. He looked back at me. He did not look like a very happy clown. He looked like something had been depressing him for quite a long time. I also noticed that everything around him was dead. He came towards me, and as he did so, every tree, every flower, every blade of grass shriveled.
I got the distinct feeling that if this man walked all the way over to me, I too would shrivel. I began to back away, slowly. The clown reacted by beginning to run towards me. I turned and ran, not knowing which way went back to town. I eventually came to the river. I could see my house from here. I looked behind me.
The clown was quickly gaining, leaving a path of dead birds and flowers in his wake. Against my better judgment, I dived right into the river. It was as cold as ice, but I swam and I swam as fast as I could. I managed to cross the river, shivering and almost frozen. Kind of reminded me of the time I'd almost gotten turned into a statue.
I looked behind me again, and I saw the clown was swimming across the river, headed straight for me.
What could I do? Would Grim show up and help me like with the witch, or would he just help me move on to the next world? All I could do for now would be just to run. I had made it halfway to my house when the clown was struck by an arrow of red lightning. I turned around to see who my saviour was. It was Dawn. She looked terrified. The clown began to make its way back up. Dawn blasted it again, and it turned to dust.
“Is he dead?” I asked.
“He was never alive in the first place. He was a malevolent spirit. We get those sometimes,” Dawn said.
“How did you know where I was?” I asked.
“The fairies saw it happen. They called Daybreak, who called me, and I came over here as fast as I could,” Dawn said.
“Well, tell the fairies I said thanks. And thanks to you too,” I said. Dawn blushed.
“I just did what I'm supposed to do. Protect the town,” Dawn said.
“Alright. You keep up the good work,” I said, and made my way back home.
When I got there, I found a flyer advertising Gordon's book – FOR A NORMAL WORLD. I wondered what Gordon might say about a man like me having their life saved by a powerful woman like Dawn. Nothing good, I imagined. I threw it in the bin. I don't need that kind of nonsense in my life.
I have been getting into the habit of going on morning runs, to keep my level of fitness up. I guess all those trips to the gym Victor had taken me to had an influence on me, for now I welcomed the morning runs that I once spurned.
This particular morning, I saw Grim grooming his horse and showering it with affection. He sure does love that horse. He told me its name is Midnight. He seemed somber this morning for some reason. I asked him why, and all he said was that something might happen tonight, or something might not happen tonight. He said he didn't know because it hadn't happened yet. But he had alerted all the supernatural leaders to be on their guard.
I admit, all of Grim's grim talk had made me a fair bit paranoid. However by lunchtime I had practically forgotten all about it.
In part, this was due to Ruby Brooke, sitting next to me on the park bench as we cuddled. It was unusually sunny today, and we welcomed the heat with open arms.
It was then that we were approached by a tall man. He had with him a Labrador retriever. I could tell just by looking at him that he was a werewolf, just like Ruby.
“Hey, Chase. I wasn't expecting to see you in town this full moon,” Ruby said.
“I wanted my visit to be a surprise. I trust I'll see you tonight at The Bloody Thorn?” Chase asked.
“Of course,” Ruby said.
“Who's the human with you? I can smell he's not one of us,” Chase said.
“He's my new boyfriend, Al Norm. And you better be nice to him,” Ruby said.
Chase looked me up and down, as if he were sizing me up. His dog sneezed. Chase turned to the dog, and the two stared at each other, as if they had reached some sort of understanding.
“Of course. See you tonight,” Chase said, and abruptly left.
When night time fell, Ruby and I went to The Bloody Thorn. Once again, it was rather busy, filled as it was with fairies, vampires, werewolves and witches.
I think that this is as good of a time as any to point out that, as far as this town is concerned, the term 'witch' can be applied to both genders. Both the men and the women call themselves witches. So that's that.
So anyway, we more or less milled about until Chase showed up. When he finally did, he'd brought some friends with him. They all looked like tough biker types. They were also all werewolves, just like Chase and Ruby.
“Hello, Chase. It's a lovely evening, isn't it?” I asked.
“It is a most fine evening. Ruby, may I speak with your boyfriend alone for a minute?” Chase asked.
“What are you asking her for? She doesn't own me, I can speak for myself,” I said. Chase acted as though I had not spoken.
“Sure, you can talk with him,” Ruby said. I raised an eyebrow. Isn't she the leader of the whole werewolf pack, at least in Normal? Why is she being so obedient to him?
Chase dragged me to the other side of the bar, his friends tagging along.
“I see that Ruby has taken quite a liking to you. Make sure you keep her busy this evening. I've got a big surprise for her, and I don't want it spoiled. So make sure you keep her here for as long as you can,” Chase said.
And with that, Chase and his friends left, though not before one of them dropped something out of their pocket.
It was a piece of paper. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a certain word that was written upon it. This word was 'bomb'.
Making sure nobody was looking, I quickly picked up the piece of paper and went back to be with Ruby.
“Hey, Al. What did Chase want to talk about?” Ruby asked.
“Nothing important. Just guy stuff. I have to use the men's room. I'll be right back,” I said, and went off. I didn't really need to use the men's room, that was just a clever ploy so I could read the piece of paper in private.
The full text of the paper read thusly:
Thomas, make sure you stay away from the main street supermarket. That's where we've planted the bomb. You will wait outside 12 Main Street until receiving further instructions. - Chase.
I ran back to Ruby post-haste.
“Ruby, you've got to read this,” I said.
“Just a minute,” Ruby said, “Chase is on the phone,”
“Ruby, please, this really can't wait,” I pleaded. Ruby ignored me and continued to listen to her cellphone.
Angrily, I slapped the phone out of her hand.
“What the hell is your problem? Are you jealous that I'm paying so much attention to Chase? Is that it?” Ruby asked.
“I think Chase means to do us harm. I found a note from him,” I said, handing over the note. She read over it, still looking skeptical. “I can't imagine Chase ever taking part in something like this. He's a good guy. He even saved my life once,” Ruby said.
“Well, we should at least call the police, to warn them,” I said.
“Alright, if it'll stop you freaking out,” Ruby said, rolling her eyes as she grabbed her cellphone.
Just then, there was the sound of a large explosion a few blocks away. Everyone in The Bloody Thorn ran out to see that the nearby supermarket was on fire. There had been some kind of explosion at the back end.
I saw many people rushing out of the front doors. Unfortunately, this was exactly what the werewolves were counting on, as they proceeded to savage each and every person who came running out, dragging their screaming bodies off into the woods.
“This is too big for the police to handle,” Ruby said, “Oh, I should have listened to Grim!”
I had the feeling Grim was going to show up quite soon, but not to help us – only to collect souls. Hey, he's just doing his job. Still, what of the other supernatural leaders? Would this be a repeat of the time with the clown?
Ruby ran over to the supermarket, as fast as a real wolf. She attempted to fight off the other werewolves, but there were too many of them!
“Ruby! You should retreat!” I said, but she didn't listen. She didn't listen, until finally, she was kicked so hard she hit a tree. She gave a yelp, and fell unconscious. I ran over to help her. She was still breathing, but she needed medical attention. I called the ambulance. Ten minutes later, they had arrived, along with the police, and the other supernatural leaders – Daybreak, Victor and Dawn. The werewolves had been shot down by the cops now, but the damage was done. Dozens of innocent people were dead.
I could see, out in the distance, Grim collecting the souls. Methodically. One by one. At least once or twice he looked over at me. He looked disappointed. Don't ask me how a skull can look disappointed. He just did.
This was an absolute disaster. A travesty. A massacre had just taken place here, and the veil of normality in the town of Normal was beginning to slip away.
Grim invited all the supernatural leaders, and me, over for a meeting the next day. He said we needed to organize something, to make sure something like that ghastly werewolf attack never happened again.
“Chase just didn't seem like the kind of guy who would ever have done something like this,” Ruby had said. Obviously she had been mistaken. I wondered what had given her such a high opinion of him. She did mention he saved her life once. I'd love to know more about that.
I don't remember who suggested it, but somebody said that it might be better if we had something better than just having the supernatural leaders scattered around town, where it could take ages to get organized when anything happens.
So what was the alternative? It was suggested that we needed to create some kind of 'task force building' that could handle any attempts by any supernatural group to do anything to harm the community. I guess kind of like a police station, but for the supernatural?
Everyone would live in the same building, each with their own room. That actually sounded pretty cool. We would build it next to the forest where the fairies lived. This could actually work. I looked forward to seeing what might happen next month.