Moon Children

The Strange Way of Nikola Addaley at Sunset or Freckles on a Full Moon

Freckles were an odd trait for a moonchild to carry. Normally, they were associated with exposure to the sun, little flecks of darker toned skin that appeared in the summer. For some they were wistfully whisked away during the winter months until the reappearance of warmer temperatures. Unfortunately for Nikola Addaley, his never seemed to fade. They were well into November and still his face was pinpricked with little dots of reddish brown skin. Nikola always became more aware of his freckles when he was anxious, and always around sunset.
        Sunset was a weird time for him. It was a time where the moon and sun almost existed in harmony. The rays of warm golden light contradicted with the darkening blue sky, making him wonder which world he really belonged to. Sometimes he worried that the daytime Nikola might never release it’s hold, and then when it inevitably did after the sun had completely disappeared, he harbored the same thoughts about this nighttime persona.
        Now Nikola sat in an uncomfortably furbished bus seat in the very back where the bus’s inadequate air conditioning didn't seem to reach. Beside him, but not uncomfortably close beside him, sat Evan McCarter, Nikola’s ever present partner who no matter how many times Nikola pleaded would never let them sit towards the front of the bus.
        Evan sported a jaw like a finely crafted marble bust that you might see in a museum, and his hawkish nose was straight enough to possibly ski down if he were a giant. His forehead might have looked a bit too long if not for a thick sheet of dark brown bangs which fell from the longer hairs on the top of his head. His eyes glinted like obsidian in the moonlight, contrasting Nikola’s bight and curious blue eyes like night and day, which was, yet another thing that made Nikola uncomfortable about himself.
        Suddenly comparing himself to the arguably more handsome boy, Nikola reached up to adjust his thick framed glasses that were in no need of adjusting. His hand stopped though, it was one of those small actions that didn’t feel quite the same this close to the realm of the night. He had already started an action though, so instead he made his hand clasp the silver pendant hung above his plain collared shirt as to not look foolish. Nikola rubbed his thumb across the Celtic knots in the crescent shaped pendant feeling all at once calmed and concerned. He wondered if this was a daytime Nikola quirk or a nighttime Nikola quirk. As the sun set lower, however, he got less and less concerned about the difference.
        Nikola let his eyes wander as the bus made it’s way down yet another city street lined with impeccable glass skyscrapers. His view out the closest window to him was impaired however since Evan’s head was in the way. Nikola considered pushing Evan out of the way, found that thought ridiculously out of place, and then turned to look out the window across the isle of the empty bus.
        The sun was almost completely gone now, the only glimpses of it that Nikola could catch was a thin yellow line on the horizon. He sighed in relief that twilight had almost come and that he soon wouldn’t feel conflicted, at least, not until tomorrow’s sunset. Beside him Evan shifted slightly drawing Nikola’s attention back to him. It wasn’t enough for anyone who wasn’t incredibly close to him to tell, but the other boy’s shoulders were slightly more squared and from what Nikola could see of his face in the window’s reflection, his eyes seemed more awake as well.
        Nikola released his silver moon pendant and accepted the night with a smile as his fingers drummed in anticipation on his knee. Tonight was a special night, and Nikola knew when the full moon rose things were bound to get interesting. It wasn’t very often that the partners were invited to the Moonglow Manner, and even less often that they were invited on a full moon. Nikola only half wondered what Lord Black wanted Evan and him for and used the rest of the half to wonder how many other moonchildren would be there tonight.
        The bus finally found it’s way to the edge of the city and pulled over to the bus stop to let its passengers out. After this it would head back to the garage. Nikola had once spent one of his nights hiding under the seat, journeying with the bus driver to the garage. The trip had taken the better part of thirty minutes and wasn’t as fun as Nikola had hoped, ending in the morning with a very confused daytime Nikola with very little recollection of how he got in a large building smelling of bus exhaust. Careful not to repeat that disaster, Nikola followed the only other passenger, Evan, off the bus leaving daytime Nikola and all his contradictions behind.