Moonlight Lovers

Twenty-three

THEY FIRST stopped at another queue for a photo opportunity with the theme park’s mascot. Caleb grimaced, looking uneasy. “Can we maybe skip this?” He politely asked in a low voice, obviously not wanting to hurt her feelings.

When he looked at Selene, she was pouting cutely at him, gazing at his face with gentle puppy-dog eyes. “Everyone who comes here gets a photo with the mascot. Everyone, Caleb! Every. One.”

He sighed, smiling. “Fine. But I don’t need to be in the photo.”

Selene shook her head. “Non-negotiable. How will people know we came here together without proof?”

In the end, she was able to force him to take a picture together with the theme park’s popular mascot. He thanked the staff who handed the printed picture to him. He smiled, looking at the image, he actually liked how it came out.

“Now, time to win some stuffed bears!” Selene announced.

“What?”

Before he knew it, she was dragging him to a booth where small paper cups are lined on a shelf against the wall. Anyone who shoots eight out of ten cups wins the grand prize—a huge white teddy bear with a light green ribbon on its chest.

Selene gasped. “It’s so cute!” She looked at him with grim determination. “I want it.”

Caleb grinned. “You want to try?”

She just nodded.

They paid the staff and were given a medium BB rifle that shoots rubber pellets. Selene took her first aim, focusing on the middle of the shelf, shot, and missed.

She blew her cheeks and grumbled silently. She repeated it. Took aim, shot, and missed.

Caleb chuckled amusingly as he watched her. “You cannot miss again, you won’t get the prize,” he said. “Have you ever tried this before?”

“No, it’s my first time trying it,” she admitted.

Caleb gestured for the BB rifle. “Okay, let me win it for you.”

“Do you know how to shoot?” She asked.

He shrugged. “My dad used to take me hunting back in Clessau. I haven’t gone in a while so I don’t even know if I am even holding this right. But I’ll try my best.”

Afterwards, Caleb got in position, took aim, and consecutively shot eight cups off the shelf. Selene looked at him with great admiration and surprise.

“Caleb, you were great!” she exclaimed.

When the staff handed them the giant teddy bear, Selene hugged it tightly, smiling sweetly. “Thank you!”

They tried to visit every stall in the theme park, laughing and having so much fun as the night grew older. In the merry-go-round, Caleb stood on the side and took a video of Selene, smiling and blowing kisses to the camera, while he stood outside the low fence around the carousel and watched, mesmerized by her carefree attitude and undeniable beauty.

Caleb tried to hold her hand as they were walking side by side, from stalls to stalls. But in the end, he’s always hesitating and would be content with the slight brushing of their knuckles. He would watch her in amazement as she stares with great fascination at the many acts and different rides around the theme park.

When a firework display lit up the dark sky at around ten o’clock, both of them stood side by side in the middle of a crowd that was mostly couples. Caleb tried to once again hold Selene’s hand, but as soon as their knuckles brushed, Selene took her phone and captured a video of the event. Caleb lowered his head and pushed his hand into the pocket of his jacket.

After the firework display, they were strolling leisurely around the theme park. Selene was eating a bear shaped cotton candy, while Caleb was giving the bear they won at the shooting game a piggyback ride.

“This was fun, wasn’t it?” Selene asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed. “It is fun.”

Shortly, Selene noticed something from a corner. She shook his arm and pointed at the direction ahead of them. “Hey, a photo booth! We should definitely try that!”

“We should?”

“Of course! Come on!”

Caleb chuckled and just ran along with Selene. Inside the cramped space of the photo booth, Caleb placed the huge stuffed bear in front of them while they sat on the makeshift bench in front of the camera.

“What…should I do?” He asked.

“Anything you want!”

“Anything?” He repeated.

“Yeah, just don’t look boring, so our pictures will turn out nicely,” she elaborated.

Selene inserted a coin inside the machine and pressed a button. When she returned to the bench, she hooked an arm around Caleb’s shoulders. “And don’t forget to smile, okay?”

“You said I can do anything right?” He asked again.

Selene just looked at him and smiled. “Yes, Caleb,” she said full of encouragement. “Anything.”

There was a series of repetitive beeps before the first flash, Caleb planted a kiss on Selene’s cheeks. Second flash. Selene was staring at Caleb in surprise. Third flash. Caleb cupped Selene’s face and claimed her mouth, gently brushing against her soft lips. Fourth flash. Selene pushed Caleb on his shoulders and stared at him even more shocked.

Outside the photo booth, the machine whirred, then it released a four-grid photo strip of the things that happened while the camera flashes.

Inside, an awkward tension hangs in the air between Caleb and Selene as they stare into each other’s eyes.

“THERE was one thing I wasn’t able to tell you then about a spellblood,” Roald said, handing Godric a wine glass half-filled with Hosmurg’s famously preserved blood. He returned to his seat opposite Godric on the couch in the middle of the room.

Godric waited for what he would say next. “Which is?”

“A spellblood makes a vampire undeniably stronger,” Roald began. “Remember the only documented case of a spellblood I told you earlier? The man was an Egyptian pharaoh, and the slave—the spellblood—ended up being his queen. And the two of them became the most powerful rulers in all of Egyptian history.

“Anyone in the legislature will be wanting their hands on the spellblood that you found. Whatever happens, no one else must know about it,” he sternly warned.

Godric rubbed the glass with his thumb. “And you? You’re a member of the legislature, too.”

“I have probably broken a thousand laws in your favor, Godric. If that still doesn’t make you trust me, I don’t know what will.”

Godric slowly nodded. “I know and I trust you, Hosmurg. Just not the organization you are part of.”

Roald drank the entire contents of his glass and stood from his chair to fill it up again. “The most important thing is, you must never let your brother find out about the spellblood.”

“What happens if he does?”

“He might kill her to stop you from being stronger than him,” Roald replied. “Or worse, take her for himself—by force or otherwise.”