Moonlit Shadows

Dead Ends

20 Years After the End of No Longer Alone

"Jaci, when are you going to just forget this entire thing? That field of study isn't even practical!"

"I've been in this field of study for four years, Austin!"

"But you can't seriously believe any of these things exist? Right? I've listened to you go on about them for years but I never really thought you truly believed in them."

"Why? I can't deny what I think is real. Plus, why is there a course line for this if they're not?

"There's course lines for lots of impractical things, Jaci. And anyway, what proof do you have?"

Jaci fidgeted with her pen, averting her eyes from the man in front of her. Her lips twitched from side to side as she frowned, pondering what her defense against his question might be.

Suddenly, her face lit up and she pointed at a plaque on the wall behind him. "That! The missing professor and his assistant! It's been over twenty years, Austin! Sunny Day went to Blood Mountain and never came back! No one has ever heard from her. Something must have happened!"

"And the professor?"

Jaci's excitement waned quickly.

"Exactly. Those are missing person cases that have been cold for years, Jaci, not proof that monsters exist." Austin shifted his backpack on his shoulder and began walking off. He paused after a few steps and glanced back at Jaci.

"I can't do this anymore, Jaci. I've humored you for too long hoping you'd snap out of this. But I need to move on. Let's end this here."

Jaci was startled into silence as her boyfriend since freshman year, simply dumped her in the hallway and walked away.

"What?!" she yelled, starting to go after him.

"Ah, Miss Aigle, a word please?"

Jaci turned and saw her professor holding the door open to his office. "Yes, Dr. Fenton."

She felt befuddled and confused as she walked into her professor's office and sat down in one of the brown leather chairs. How could Austin just dump her like that? Four years she had invested in that man! Four years!

"Miss Aigle?"

Four years for what? To be dumped because she couldn't deny the nagging feeling that supernatural creatures existed?

"Miss Aigle?"

It wasn't fair. He knew how she believed and yet he chose now to dump her like some bag of unwanted old clothes? No, he would be getting an earful from her later for sure.

"Miss Aigle!"

Jaci finally heard the voice of her professor and her head jerked up to meet his eyes. "I'm...I'm sorry. It's been a rough ten minutes."

"I saw your interaction with Mr. Williams in the hall. Want to talk about it?"

Jaci stared into the warm and friendly face of her professor. He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a knack for reading people. He had been in the supernatural studies department since before Jaci had come to the university. He had a reputation of being very convincing to the non-believers. His classes were all interesting, never boring, and filled with personal anecdotes.

And he always kept his door open to his students.

"My boyfriend of four years just dumped me in the hall," she muttered, looking down at her hands. She was feeling more embarrassment as time went on.

"Oh? Did he say why?"

"Because I believe in vampires and werewolves," she muttered, looking to the side.

"Do you think that's something you need to be ashamed of?"

Jaci's head shot up and she shook it vigorously. "No! I believe they exist. And I believe they're out there and someday, Dr. Fenton, I will find one."

Dr. Fenton leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Jaci, I've only ever met one other person like you. He was a dear friend. I see the same fire in your eyes that I saw in his. So, just like I told him, what can I do to help you?"

Jaci looked at the professor and wondered what his friend must be like. "But there's dozens of people in my class, Dr. Fenton. How can there be only one like me?"

"Because, some people take these courses as an easy way out. It's to make their parents happy that they went to college. Some people just think of it as a game, a fun hobby, something they can post to their YouTube channel but not actually believe in. But you, I sense that you really believe in what I teach."

"I really do," she sighed, hanging her head. "And that's why Austin dumped me. He can't stand listening to me talk about it anymore."

"Then he was never worth your time, Miss Aigle. Now, like I said, what can I do to help you?"

Jaci looked at him some more, wondering how he looked so young yet held such mature wisdom on life. "I'm working towards my PhD."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"And I've decided what I want to investigate and write about for my thesis. But I can't wait till I've graduated. I want to get a head start on it now. This summer."

"Okay, care to fill me in?"

Jaci reached into her backpack and pulled out two well-worn missing person posters. "I want to find them. I think that somehow, be they dead or alive, I can find out whether what I believe exists truly does."

Dr. Fenton looked down at the two posters, one for a Professor Samuel North and another one for the professor's young assistant, Sunny Day.

He looked up at Jaci, a questioning look on his face. "Why them?"

"Because! Dr. North was head of the supernatural department! Sunny was his assistant! They both went missing around the same time and the police said all the leads went cold. But what if they didn't? What if it was just a cover up? I've done a lot of research into these two and -"

"Miss Aigle, stop. I was around when these two individuals went missing. I followed the story closely. There is nothing to be found of these two. Absolutely nothing. I even looked for them myself."

Jaci gently ran her hands over the posters, smoothing out the wrinkles and folds. "I respect your opinion, Dr. Fenton. But I really think that these two can help me validate my research I've done for the past four years. I've read Dr. North's papers, his notebooks. I've even made my own timelines for their last known movements and interactions in my dorm."

"Jaci, find another thesis topic. You have all summer to do so. There's some credible footage of a yeti in Nepal that needs some validation as well."

Jaci felt an overwhelming rejection wash over her. Not only had her boyfriend rejected her, but now even her professor and head of the supernatural department was discounting her theories.

She stood up quickly and snatched the posters into her hand, clutching them tightly. "With all due respect, Dr. Fenton, I think I should follow my gut on this. Thank you for your time."

Turning on her heel, she headed out of his office and back out into the hall. She glanced up at the plaques on the wall directly across from Dr. Fenton's door.

She walked up to them and her hands lightly grazed the surfaces of the plaques. "I don't know what happened to you two, but I will find out. I won't let you down."

And with that she took off down the hall.

AN: Surprise! Welcome to long-awaited sequel to No Longer Alone! If you haven't read that one, please go to my profile and read it first! If you've read NLA, welcome back! I hope you will enjoy this book! 💜

See you in the next chapter!
Avid_Rdr