Back to Chapter 1 | On to Chapter 3

Morning dawned gloomy, like it always does here. I started off my day with some yogurt and gardening, then headed down to catch some fish for lunch and dinner.

It was a peaceful fishing trip, and I caught the fish I needed fairly quickly, and headed back home, thinking of the paintings I might paint next. I was deep in my own thoughts when I was brought up short by a blonde man in a button down shirt and dress pants. He looked out of place out here in the wild, as it were, and I thought to say something about it, but he interrupted me.

Turns out his name is Geoffrey Landgraab.. and although the name sounded familiar, it took him jogging my memory by reminding me that it was his company I'd bought my mother's ancestral lands back from. He was, apparently, concerned that someone appeared to be "squatting" on the land, and complained about the unsightly tent. I quickly told him it was me that was living there, and that I would begin building a home as soon as I worked up the money. He looked dubious about my prospects, seeing as I was in ripped jeans and was probably covered in dirt from my fishing trip, but I assured him the easel set up on the property was being put to good use. I heard him mutter something about "no-good artists" as he stalked away from the conversation, but I was fairly sure there wasn't anything he could do. The land deal was final.. and it was mine to do what I wanted with. My "unsightly" tent was here to stay.... at least until I could afford to build.

I started off home again, hoping I wouldn't see that unpleasant man again.. and was never so glad to see my little homestead undisturbed as I was just then. For a moment there, I had worried he might have done something to it while I was gone.

I spent the rest of the day - after a nice lunch of stick-fried fish - painting, and had made a tidy sum by the end of the day .. although I tried not to count chickens before hatching as I packed things up for the mail man tomorrow. Or whatever that saying is. Chuckling to myself, I checked on my garden again, then sat down to cook my fish for dinner.

I had hardly begun cooking when some sparks jumped out of the fire pit and lit the grass on fire. Luckily, I didn't have any chairs or anything near the fire to burn, but it still singed a good portion of the grass, and left me worried for the safety of my tent. After a moment of panic, I was happy to realize that the wind was going the other way.. and without a fire extinguisher, I was left waiting for the fire to go out. It did... but by that time, the fish was inedible, and I was left with some cold granola from my cooler. Not the best way to spend an evening.

Apparently, my fire attracted attention, though, and Nobuya Sasaki reappeared, with his eyes glowing more than they had last time. He appeared more interested in me than the fire, however, and I felt increasingly uncomfortable around him. Finally, I managed to end the conversation and get him to leave... and I uneasily retired for the night.

By the morning, I was convinced there was something with these strange people with the glowy eyes, and I made my way to the Windenburg Library to do some research.

The librarian's name was Mariko Watanabe. And she immediately pointed me towards the computer to look up information on Vampires. Which explained their obsession with watching my neck. I wondered for a short while about meeting two people named Mariko in as many weeks, but I soon forgot the coincidence and buried myself in my research.

Several hours later... I had come to two conclusions. Vampires existed.. and my town was full of them. I was going to have to be more careful.

Curiously, I asked Mariko whether she knew anything about Forgotten Hollow and it's Vampires.. and that conversation turned into a discussion on the rich local history of both towns. Before I knew it, Mariko and I were fast friends, and, to celebrate our new friendship, I invited her out for a coffee at the cafe. I even had enough money saved by now that I didn't feel bad about spending some of it on a friend.

We talked and talked, about everything we could think of.. and it was really nice to find someone who I got along with so well. She was a Bookworm, Neat, and an Art Lover, so a good portion of the conversation was about my budding art career.

While we were talking, however, I couldn't help but notice that Alex had arrived for her evening shift. I watched her surreptitiously while talking with Mariko, hoping my new friend wouldn't notice my distraction, but I'm afraid she did.

I had just about made up my mind to go and talk to Alex some more, but just then a local Celebrity walked in with the paparazzi in tow, and Alex was suddenly caught up in a rush of orders and chaos. It gave me an excuse to continue my conversation with Mariko, but certainly didn't offer me any openings to remind Alex that I existed.

Once the celebrity left, I used the excuse of needing more coffee and approached Alex. Mariko followed close behind, though, and I once again missed my chance.

By this time, we had been at the cafe long enough to start attracting attention. Not the Vampire kind of attention, luckily, but the looks didn't seem to be friendly. Finally, tired of being stared at, I concluded my evening with Mariko and left to do some shopping on my way back out of town. I bought myself a book on Vampires, all the things I needed to start keeping my own bees, and a desperately needed re-stock on my art supplies.

It was late by the time I got home, and I just had time to set up my new Bee Box before the light failed and I had dinner and retired for the night.

Back to Chapter 1 | On to Chapter 3