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Chapter 9

It's been 22 years of living and struggling in the town of Moonshaddow and Lumae is now anxiously sitting and waiting for them to call out her name, "Lumae Moonshaddow." She stood up in anticipation, ensuring that she slowly walks up the stairs towards the stage, with her head held high. As she approached her professor, he shaked her hand and handed her a certificate, "You've done well Lumae, you have big things ahead of you." Lumae smiles, takes her certificate, and walks towards the stairs on the opposite side, trying her best not to fall and look like a fool as she walks down. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she couldn't contain her excitement anymore, giggling and jumping for joy as she went back to her seat.

After the ceremony concluded, she immediately sprinted towards Grandpa Will, the person she had spent most of her time with as a child, and immediately fell into his embrace, "I did it, Grandpa Will, I actually did it!" Grandpa Will smiles and places his hand on her cheek, "I always knew you would. Come now, I've baked you your favourite, wild berry pie," Lumae looked confused for a second as Grandpa Will usually only makes wild berry pie on Saturday mornings, "Wild berry pie? But it's a Friday," Grandpa Will smiles, "Today was an exception." Lumae then proceeded to follow Grandpa Will into his little wooden house, where they then sat down at the dining table enjoying a slice of lovely wild berry pie.

The following day Lumae started to pack all her belongings neatly into a suitcase. As she was busy packing the last few things, she noticed a necklace on the nightstand. She then went to pick up the necklace and sat down on her bed as she examined it. It was her mother's necklace, with a blue crescent moon pendant. The pendant that helped her to discover who and what she truly is, the pendant that led her to realize that she is the last living bloodline of the White Moon pack. She then carefully placed the necklace in her suitcase, zipped it up and headed towards her car that she got for her 20th birthday, from the village, where Grandpa Will was busy packing in a few of her belongings for her. When he saw that Lumae was approaching he turned towards her, gave her a hug and with a sad expression said, "Well deary, it's been a fun, long, adventurous ride with you. I am proud of the woman that you have become. Just, do me one favour. Don't forget about this old fart on his porch, come visit at times." Lumae, now also saddened, gave Grandpa Will the biggest hug she could give, "There's no way I can ever forget your wild berry pie, Grandpa Will." Lumae then smiled as she retracted from the hug, then she placed the last suitcase into the trunk of her car and headed off, waving goodbye as she left the town.

Lumae had a full 8-hour ride ahead of her and she was definitely prepared for it. She had an entire plan in her head, with the amount of pit stops she can take, where she'll rest for the night and how much the entire trip will cost her. After an entire 2 hours of driving, she had made her first pitstop, to buy some snacks and fill up her gas, but she noticed a strange, sharp smell, which bothered her. It was definitely human, but it smelled more like blood? It could've just been her imagination, so she chose to ignore it and went ahead with her trip. She then continued for two more, long, tiresome hours, where she managed to book herself a room at a motel next to the road.

That night as she was laying in her bed, about to fall asleep, she heard strange noises at her window. She went to sneak a peek of what it was, partially lifting the covers of the window, but what she saw, horrified her. A person with a wolf mask, was standing over a body, with a knife in his hands. He, as well as the knife, was covered in a thick layer of blood, but as soon as the person, turned towards the window, she shut the blind, holding it still, so it doesn't move and kept her hand on her mouth in order to keep any sound from escaping. She didn't move an inch for almost an entire hour, until she heard his footsteps, disappearing into the distance. As soon as she knew that she was safe, she went to her bag, got her things, gave in her key at the administration, and went back on the road, hoping that what she saw, was just a nightmare. She now had another tiresome 4 hours ahead of her, with only three other pitstops where she got herself some coffee and snacks, and occasionally went to the bathroom.

When she finally reached a sign that said, "Welcome to Mortiferum," she sighed out in relief. She then continued through the city, up until she reached her apartment that she had pre-booked online. She had expected it to be a scam, since it was all too good to be true, but when she arrived, she realized that the apartment was actually in pretty good condition. Almost exactly like the photos she had seen. When she searched for the key, under the welcome mat, where the landlord hid it, she found a note, stating all the rules, "No pets, no parties, no loud noises, and NO lights on after 10 pm," but she didn't mind. She was happy with the place she found for herself and planned to abide by the landlord's rules. As soon as she opened the door and walked in, everything was perfect. There was a huge window in the living room, looking out towards the city. The bathroom was spacious and had pretty tiles, though there were a few cracked tiles here and there, it wasn't all that bad, she loved this little space she got for herself and tomorrow she sets off for her interview.

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