• She was born and raised as an only child. And most of the people who knew that thought that she was a spoiled brat, only a few acctually got to know her for who she was. But each time she made a friend, they quickly disappeared. Soon she became one of those people who stick to only their own buisness. A book nerd. Someone you would pass in the hallway and not even notice unless they bumped you, but even then you just ignored them. So, obviously, she never had a boyfriend. In fact, she was pretty afraid of them. She would stay her distance away, hoping that they wouldn't so much as set a glace her way. She was Luna Hiest. She hated school and only went to a public school because of the libraries. Her place was amoung the books. However, she was just like a normal girl in their freshman high-school year. Her normal black hair was bleached to a silver, the same shade of silver as the moon's rays. Her twilight blue eyes shone out of their curtian of silver like the moon and stars at night.
    Night was her place. Night was her home.
    But the years passed, and she changed. The night began to own her quickly. She would stay up all night and fall into a deep sleep in which only the moon's light could wake her. She was a night-owl. She ate, drank, danced, sang, bathed, lived, breathed the night. She took classes on the computer, studying books, knowing all that was going on in the world. She became absorbed in mythology. Vampires, ghosts, poultergists... All facinated her. Again, she changed. But this time, no one knew.
    Then her parents divorced and she was asked who she wanted to live with. When she said that she wanted to stay with her father, her mother lashed out. She was outraged and she started to attack her. Luna, shocked, bewildered, and confused, stood there stupidly as her mother released her anger. But she was wrong. Her mother had only scratched across her face, making her bleed and her face throb. Her mother wasn't aiming for her. She was aiming for her father. Mostly anyway. Soon after, they left. As Father and Daughter. Jack and Luna Hiest.
    They arrived in Maine and her father bought five acres of woodland and on that, he built an inn. Her father, after he was finished and even when he was designing it, named it Luna Light Inn. It was a quick hit with the travelers, although there weren't very many. Acctually, in the winter, there was vertually none. So they each had to get a side job. For Jack, it was easy. He was a fourty-three year old man who was the smartest kid in all of his schools. But for Luna it was more difficult. At age sixteen, she didn't have a high-school deploma, only did anything at the night, and was not religous in any way. But she was able to find a cafe`, Thick as Blood Cafe`, that would accept her because she was perfect for a cafe` that only ran by moonlight.
    On her fist day, she arrived a few minutes late, appologized, and put on the uniform--a black dress that went down to her knees, a blood-red apron, black nylons, and black high-heeled shoes--for girls. Her pale skin shown like the moon, the effect of living under the moon's light for nearly three years. She walked from table to table, taking orders. She went to the counter and recited one of her orders, hanging up the other two. She took off her apron and walked outside. She leaned up against a wall by the back door and looked out into the dark, misty forest. The kind you see in movies. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Watching her breath disappear into the night. Just as she had.
    "Excuse me," She looked up to find a small girl of but eleven in a long white dress and white slippers. She had long blonde hair and gray eyes. "Is this Thick as Blood?"
    Luna blinked, confused. What, the red neon sign isn't bright enough anymore? Even though it lights up, like, half the town? She thought. "Yeah."
    She took a step forward, her foot disappearing onto the light. Then stepped back quickly. She looked into the light, then looked up. Her body began to haze and she pointed at the cafe`. "Go nun." Luna looked at the door, but no one was there. When she turned back, the girl was gone.
    Luna scoffed. " 'Go nun'? Why the bloody hell would someone say that?" Luna stood up and walked into the cafe` once again, dismissing the thought, and the girl, from her mind.
    "Luna, there's some people at table nine waiting to order." One of her fellow employees said to her while passing.
    Luna put on her apron and picked up a notepad and pen and walked to the table. "Are you three ready to order?" She asked, leaning on one foot.
    Three menus went down, revealing three men. One had the classic blonde hair an blue eyes. Another had brown hair and brown eyes that had a yellow tinge, like a new moon's. The last one had black hair and green eyes. All had a deathly pale skin tone that made then handsome in some strange way. She reconized the signs at once. After all, she was at a cafe` where normal people met to act like the super natural. She believed in them, sure. But she knew that they didn't exist, no matter how disapointing it was.
    The black haired one cleared his throught, bringing Luna back to reality. "I said, we'll take three Black as Blood coffees."
    Luna wrote it down quickly. "I'm sorry about that." She said, "Sometimes I just drift off." She turned around and placed the order.
    "Hey, Luna." An employee said. She didn't pay attention to many people. "It happen again?"
    Luna looked at the person, a boy with red hair, brown eyes, and a freckled face. "Yeah."
    He put his boney hand on her shoulder. "You should go home and rest."
    Luna shook her head and put her hand to her forehead. "Yeah, I will. But first I gotta serve this table."
    He shook his head. "Man, you work way too hard. Especially for someone in your condition."
    A bell rang and she took a plate of three stand-your-hair-on-end black coffee, or Black as Blood coffee. "So sue me." She walked over to the table and served out the coffee. "Here you three vamps go."
    One of them shot Luna a look. "Vamps?" It was the blonde one.
    "Yeah, you know, vampires."
    The black haired one looked at her calmly. "Yes, thank you."
    She turned around. "Yeah, whatever." She muttered.
    She hung up her apron, got chaged into her clothes, and walked out of the door. As she walked down the street she put her long hair up into a ponytail and slung her jacket over her arm. The moon was full, so the streets were well lit up. A howl rang out in the distance, but she ignored it. She knew that it was either a wild animal or one of those people convinced that they were a real-life were-wolf. Either way, she didn't care.
    Rustling sounded from her back and she spun around, droping her jacket. "Hello?" She said in a steady voice. "Is anyone there?"
    The night's voice was the only thing that answered.
    She turned around and continued walking. As she approached her house, inn, rather, she heard rustling in the woods near her and her icolated home. She ran to the door and flung it open. There was no one in the kitchen. She locked the door with shaky hands and poured herself a cup of milk, sloping most of it over the counter. It was nothing. She kept on telling herself. Just a little rabbit.
    Or...was it? She wasn't entierly sure, but told herself it was a rabbit to calm herself. She sipped her milk. Someone knocked on the door, and she gasped, dropping her cup. It shattered on the floor, bleading the white liquid. She stepped over it and headed towards the door. "Coming!" She said with a shaky voice. She unlocked and opened the door. "Hello, may I help you?" She was taken aback by who she saw.