Frank Van Direstag watched as his father left the admissions building to go to the van and pick up Rose at the hospital. He wasn't sure on exactly when they intended to release his mother, but if any last minute things in the morning seemed okay, Frank figured they wouldn't be able to keep her there for long. And since Frank wasn't fully sure on how long it would take heal from bruised ribs or the nature of that kind of injury, he couldn't be sure there was much the hospital could do regardless. Most of that though had to do with the fact that his high school sports career had been less than stellar. He'd played some football, and only got on the field for special teams plays, and basketball and largely rode the bench... so he had little experience in dealing with those injuries.
Thus finding out that his mother had been attacked by a mundane Mountain Lion and had suffered some bruised ribs in addition to the gashes, scrapes, and anything else that might have happened was something knew that Frank could only hope for the best on. He'd originally hoped that he and his father would go together to pick up Rose, but he also accepted some things in a way that would relate to how his parents felt about each other and where they were. His father had been clearly against staying in Moon Lake over the Mandatory Were Law, and Frank had heard him and his mother arguing over it, which in turn lead to the circumstances that resulted in his father becoming a werelion and his mother getting attacked. Frank also remembered seeing his father looking incredibly guilty when he came to pick his father up at the hospital the previous night, and he figured that right now his father was trying to cover and make up for what frustrations and mistakes were there the previous night. Frank could accept that.
"Will you need directions?" the secretary spoke to him from her seat snapping Frank out of his thoughts and making her turn to see one the main admissions secretary for Moon Lake College sitting there and looking at him over the desk between them.
"Directions?" Frank repeated.
"To the Commons Building and where the college bookstore is," the secretary answered, "as if you're needing to pick those up... that will be where you need to go."
"Oh... no thank you," Frank answered, "I did get an official tour when my dad and I first toured the campus and I picked up the computer that was loaned to me last summer. So... I do kinda know where the buildings are. I'd think for the moment I'd be more interested in looking around and seeing what the other students are up to... I promise I won't get in the way of any classes."
The secretary nodded and let Frank then make his way out. Once outside, he found the morning sun coming down on the steps that lead up to the admissions building, and despite being early November, things weren't too chilly. He quietly made his way down the steps and then turned to head south and took in the surroundings. For the moment it was just a casual tour around the campus as he expected that he'd have a rather hefty box of books to carry once he got to the bookstore. He didn't want to be carrying that around the campus buildings. The walk was calm and peaceful as he got another look at many of the older looking buildings that were likely part of the original buildings on the campus, though as he moved over the grounds he also found that there were some newer buildings as well that had different architectural designs. It made for a good contrast.
"And in a way surrounded by the forests of the area," Frank quietly mused to himself and then though over again on his mother being attacked by a Mountain Lion the previous night, "though... I wonder how the college keeps local wildlife off the campus as there are probably non-were students that come here too."
"Most of the time we have rules that keep students in the dorms at night when most mundane predators would be the most active... if they come into town," said a male voice from behind him and making Frank jump in surprise.
He jumped and turned around to see a relatively well built man standing on the grass nearby with a leaf rake in his hands. Behind the man was one of the deciduous trees that were planted on the grounds and had its leaves starting to truly turn color and even had a few of them fall. Moon Lake had had a fairly warm autumn which had prevented these trees from losing their leaves, but as it was early November a lot of that seasonal shift was starting to happen. The man had to be a grounds keeper that was doing his best to maintain the lawns and the scenery and Frank had over looked him as he walked around the Admissions building and onto the sidewalk that walked around the campus' interior.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," the man apologized.
"No, it's okay," Frank raised a hand, "I wasn't paying attention... You were saying on what the college does...?"
The man nodded, "Yes... Generally with non-weres that would be coming to live on campus in the dorms, we would have set rules that they stay on the campus grounds. They don't go into the woods outside the campus or into the planted woods between the rows of houses. It would cut down on them wandering onto deer being hunted by weres, any mundane predator that has wandered in following deer from outside Moon Lake, or weres enjoying each other's company in the woods."
Frank nodded, as that sounded like trying to prevent things like what happened the night before, both what lead to his father's transformation and his mother being attacked. "But surely you can't keep everyone INSIDE, can you?"
"Well not always, as there will be some classes that are on at night," the groundskeeper answered, "but we try to keep the sidewalks here on campus well let and encourage students to try and stick to those paths, as most wildlife will tend to try and avoid well lit areas. That then allows campus safety to then patrol the areas here to the south of the campus where things like Mountain Lions and Black Bears wandering in would be the most likely to come from. There are also lessons that are available for all students, including were students, on how to deal with those sorts of situations. They're actually rather rare and don't happen often... and thus a "just in case" educational policy is actually quite helpful. In all my years of working the grounds here, I don't think we've ever had an animal come onto campus and attack a student."
"Interesting," Frank mused slowly.
"You new?" the groundskeeper asked.
"New to Moon Lake," Frank answered, "we only just arrived this past Sunday... and have had a bit of adventure in transferring things from the online option the college gave me to in person learning. I start with the actual classes tomorrow."
"Are you in one of the dorms?" the groundskeeper wondered.
"No... I'm still with my folks as they moved the whole family here," Frank answered, "it's been interesting."
"Many things are," the groundskeeper answered, "have a good day..."
Frank nodded and moved along. Though he did pay more attention and noted that there were a few other groundskeepers out and were either raking leaves that had fallen or preparing to place what would likely be insulation for plants that were designed to be displayed in the spring and summer but might not survive in colder winter weather. Moon Lake, being in Washington state might not have gotten as cold as Michigan could get in winter, but Frank figured that it wouldn't be impossible for them to get snow and even a fair amount of it. He did his best to stay on the paths allowed as he circled the campus before eventually making his way into the Commons building and negotiating the posted signs on various parts of the wall that lead to the college bookstore.
He found it open and walked in. The whole room wasn't all that big. Frank guessed that the room was twenty five feet by thirty five feet and half of the store was set up with metal bookshelves. The other half had some tee-shirts and assorted memorabilia like mugs, pins, pens, glasses. Frank ignored that part and looked toward the bookshelves on the western half of the room. He noted that at present those shelves were all empty and there were no class tags on any of the levels. It gave him a bit of a sigh as that meant that all the books that were for sale for the fall semester were probably taken in, which probably made sense. It was early November and the college's fall finals for Christmas vacation wouldn't be that far away. However, he did have to collect his books and made his approach to the counter where a young man was tending to it. He looked up as Frank approached.
"Need something for a class?" the clerk asked with a curious look to his face.
"In a way," Frank said slowly, "I'm Frank Van Direstag. I believe my parents ordered and paid for all my books through the mail with the expectation that I would be able to collect them when we arrived here in Moon Lake. The Admissions office also said you should have the box."
"Uh..." the clerk began and looked about the area near the register and then sighed as he couldn't find anything, "we'll have to see the manager... if you could come with me."
The man then moved around the counter and began to move toward the back of the store where there was a lone door that likely lead into another room. Frank followed him and noted the sign that read "employees only" and then stopped. The clerk turned back to him as he opened the door and said, "I'll be right back." Frank quietly waited and glanced at a nearby clock hanging from the wall, noting that it was approaching 9 AM, his sister and younger brother had to be through with their first period at Moon Lake High by now, his father would have gotten his mother home, and so on. Things were relatively quiet for a few moments and Frank waited patiently. After a few moments the door opened to reveal the clerk and a woman carrying a good sized cardboard box, not too different from the boxes that the Van Direstag's had had when they moved. The only difference was that there were clear handles on the sides of the box that the woman was using to carry it.
"I'm thankful you were able to sneak in Ms. Decrux," the clerk said to the woman, who Frank noted to be looking a bit nervous over something and that her hair was just barely combed, "I don't think I would have even known about this..."
The woman gave the clerk a frustrated scowl which sent the clerk scurrying back to the counter. That seemed a little odd to Frank given that no one else was present in the bookstore.
"Sneaked?" Frank asked, "you run the store and you had to sneak in?"
"I don't run the store... at least not in the sense of being the owner of the college bookstore," the woman answered with a semi nervous tone that Frank detected, "I'm just one of the shift managers. During busy hours I will help customers with goods that they may be looking for and during quiet hours... I'm keeping an eye on stock and keeping that organized. Which is how I knew about the order your father placed. Thankfully you came in before Thanksgiving. Otherwise we would have to discard the order because of the need for space for all the books that will come in over Christmas break for the Spring Semester."
"And you had to sneak in?" Frank asked again, "I thought Moon Lake was a place where all you weres were able to be... free, as it were?"
"We are free," the woman grumbled, "but that doesn't mean that we're devoid of problems... and my mother... well, let's just say she made a good many enemies that have felt hurt and leave it at that."
"They're trying to hurt you?" Frank gasped.
The woman sighed, "I'd rather not get into it..."
"My folks always said to be kind and help when we can," Frank commented.
The woman nodded and walked along past her as she took it up to the desk before the clerk. "And that's a good thing... but right now, that isn't safe. Particularly for a normal human... might not even be safe for a were."
"And yet you've come out here," Frank pointed out.
"I can't NOT work," she answered, "and campus security knows the details and will have the student union/commons building under observation, so no one will get in."
"Well... I thank you for saving my books, Ms..." Frank began.
"Decrux," the woman answered, "Megan Decrux. Anyway, since we do have on file that your parents already payed for your books, all we'll need here is a curtesy scan that will mark that they've been collected. And I must ask, can you effectively carry a minimum of fifty pounds, or will you need a ride anywhere?"
"With the handles on the box there, I'm pretty sure I can carry it," Frank answered, "it may be a bit of a hike, but I can carry it."
"Okay then..." Megan answered and then set the box down on the counter, "thank you and have a good day. And welcome to Moon Lake College."
Frank nodded and watched as the woman made her way back to the room she had come out from. He lost focus on what the clerk was doing as he followed Megan's path. Something seemed to have totally spooked her beyond all reason, and that was something Frank didn't expect. He hadn't really seen anything like that in Ann Arbor and figured this would be even rarer in such a small town as Moon Lake was, but some what was said just seemed to give him the sense that Megan Decrux was dealing with a host of things that had to be big, though he hoped that it was more a mountain out of a mole hill scenario than anything else. But there wasn't much that Frank could do at the moment. The clerk ran his scan and that gave an audible "beep," and when he was done, he pushed the box toward Frank. The beep from the scan had alerted him and he took the box and was soon on his way out and heading toward one of the roads that would lead him up toward the center of town and then back toward where the Van Direstags had moved in to...