Nightfall

By Nicole Chartier

Callie Nightfall is cursed. At least, that's what she believes. Her family has been plagued with mysterious deaths, and she hasn't seen a full moon since the night her grandfather died.

Now, a record-breaking storm is rolling in, and burglaries are happening all over town. Whatever they're looking for, she knows it's linked to her family. Except no one believes her - no one but Garrett Reyes, the (young, hot, and forbidden) small town sheriff who kissed her on her birthday last year and then ghosted her.

But as she and Garrett work to stop the robberies, Callie begins to unravel her family's secrets - as well as Garrett’s - and she's in more danger than she ever imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sapphire Hollow Press
• Release date: Aug 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215411254

Nicole Chartier

Nicole Chartier has a penchant for darkness, dances under the full moon, and writes paranormal and dystopian fiction. She’s a lifelong lover of werewolves and finds beauty in cemeteries. When not planning for the zombie apocalypse, she hangs out with her husband (who always howls at the moon with her) and her dog (who refuses to play wolf).She also writes contemporary YA/NA fiction under the name Nikki Chartier.

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Nightfall

The Nightfall Series, Book 1

Nicole Chartier

Copyright © 2023 by Nicole Chartier

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact Nicole Chartier at www.nchartierbooks.net.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Book Cover by S. J. Fowler at Night Witchery

First edition 2023

For Delilah, my favorite little wolf

Contents

1. Chapter One

2. Chapter Two

3. Chapter Three

4. Chapter Four

5. Chapter Five

6. Chapter Six

7. Chapter Seven

8. Chapter Eight

9. Chapter Nine

10. Chapter Ten

11. Chapter Eleven

12. Chapter Twelve

13. Chapter Thirteen

14. Chapter Fourteen

15. Chapter Fifteen

16. Chapter Sixteen

17. Chapter Seventeen

18. Chapter Eighteen

19. Chapter Nineteen

20. Chapter Twenty

21. Chapter Twenty-One

22. Chapter Twenty-Two

23. Chapter Twenty-Three

24. Chapter Twenty-Four

25. Chapter Twenty-Five

26. Chapter Twenty-Six

27. Acknowledgments

28. About the Author

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A cloud of dust spirals around Ruby’s car. Rocks ping against the doors, and a tan haze blurs the view through the windshield, but that doesn’t slow her down. The Moonstone Mountains’ roads aren’t paved, and they’re not meant for vehicles other than ATVs, but that hasn’t stopped anyone else in the town of Charmwood, and it’s not stopping us tonight. Nothing is coming between me and my chance to see the full moon.

Ruby’s car twists around the curves, kicking up gravel in our wake. Her headlights shine through the fog, casting an eerie glow along the tree lines, like phantom demons warning us not to go any further. These paths were made for hikers, off-roaders, and adventurists. I’ve never been one for camping or hiking, but the crisp air and scenic views aren’t so bad. Five more minutes and we’ll be at the highest peak of the mountain with an all-clear view of the elusive full moon.

I’ve never been up to Reaper’s Peak, but tonight, I’m all in. Fresh air floats inside through the cracked window. I close my eyes and breathe in the scent of wintery days, a perfect blend of pine, cinnamon, and musk. I imagine a fresh layer of snow, blanketing the trees and cloaking the grass. Snowflakes sparkle and twirl, performing an elegant ballet through the cool air.

Then it all fades away with the all-familiar chirp of a patrol car. It pierces through the night, echoing off the mountainside. I jolt forward, forgetting my imaginary snowfall, and turn back to look through the rear glass, even though I already know who’s there.

Ruby hits the brake, skewing her car sideways on the gravel road. She overcompensates, knocking my head back against the passenger seat. She slams her hands against the steering wheel as we skid to a stop.

Damn it! she yells. "If anything was going to stop us from getting to Reaper’s Peak, it would be him."

She’d sworn to me that tonight was the night. She was going to prove to me, once and for all, that the full moon isn’t hidden by some magical force that’s out to get me. I knew better than to get my hopes up.

Blue lights swirl around the car’s interior, bouncing off the rearview mirror and Ruby’s cheeks. She stares ahead, refusing to look at the guy in uniform approaching the passenger side door. I tap the button to roll the window down. This is my battle, not Ruby’s. That’s clear.

Callie, Ruby, he says, propping his elbows on my windowsill. What are you two doing up here? I know there’s not exactly a speed limit on the mountains, but it looks like you guys have a death wish.

Ruby doesn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. I wish I could disappear into the seat with lost receipts and bubblegum wrappers.

Hi, Garrett, I say, avoiding eye contact. We’re going up to Reaper’s Peak. It’s a full moon tonight.

He pushes himself off of the vehicle and tosses his head back. An audible huff escapes his lips. I could predict this conversation before he even got out of his squad car. It doesn’t matter what he says, though. I know for a fact that I haven’t seen a full moon in nearly eight years. The night my grandfather died, the full moon phase went with him.

Callie, I’ve told you more times than I can count, he begins, leaning back into the car window. It’s not safe to drive up here.

Ruby shoots an angry glance my way. I can’t make her suffer because of me. I reach for the door. Obviously, it’s not safe to drive up the side of a mountain, whether I’m in Ruby’s car or on the back of a four-wheeler.

I pop the door handle, forcing it open. Garrett jumps back, questioning me with his eyes.

Fine. I’ll walk, I snap back. I toss my purse over my shoulder and step away from the car.

Garrett shoots me a glare before he looks back to my best friend. Ruby, go home, he says. And drive safely.

I wave her away with my hand, but I don’t stop walking along the dirt path. She backs her car into a nearby thicket. Branches slap the exterior as she pulls away, heading home without me. As soon as her taillights fade away, I stop and watch Garrett, waiting for one of us to play our next hand.

Get in the car, Callie, he says, motioning to the patrol car. You’ve gotta stop doing stuff like this. You’re going to get yourself hurt or killed. Do you think I want to see the look on your dad’s face when I have to break the news to him? He’s been through enough.

Do not! I shout, storming toward him. I jab a finger at him like a dramatic girl screaming at an ex-boyfriend in a romantic comedy. He’s not the only one. I lost my mom and Granddaddy too.

My family tree is full of broken branches, and I don’t need him to remind me. I walk around to the passenger side and get in. I don’t want to give him any satisfaction, but I also don’t want to walk home. I slam the door shut, and Garrett returns to the driver’s seat.

And for the record, I inform him. It doesn’t help that the newly sworn-in sheriff kissed me in secrecy at my seventeenth birthday party last year and then demanded I never tell a soul because it would ruin his career. Another loss in the books for me.

Garrett grabs his chest. Ouch! Don’t make him out to be such a monster, he says.

Tell him not to act like one, I say.

He looks out his window for a moment, choosing his words carefully before he speaks. Then his eyes shift toward me. He’s too young to look so exhausted all the time. Charmwood’s crime rate is nearly non-existent, but the bags under his dark brown eyes say otherwise.

Look, I promised I’d watch out for your family, he says, his face softening. That’s why I took this job. I swore to my own family and to yours, and I intend on keeping that promise.

I’ve never understood the connection between our families. His grandfather and my grandfather were best friends, but even now, with both of them gone, an invisible force still binds us together.

One day, you’re going to have to choose, I tell him. I turn away to avoid his reaction. Eventually, you’ll have to choose between your oath to the town and your oath to my family. We both know you can’t let the masses suffer to protect the one.

I peer through the windshield, instead of at him. I can’t see his face clearly enough from my peripheral vision to gauge his feelings. He may be able to chase me through the Moonstone Mountains when there’s nothing else going on in town, but someday, he’s going to have to let me run wild while he deals with the real evils of the world.

I’ll tell you what, he says, facing me. I’ll take you up to Reaper’s Peak. We’ll see if the moon is out. But you’re going to do something for me in return.

I look to him and wait for his negotiation. It’s probably some lame promise that I won’t let Ruby bring me up here anymore because she drives too recklessly. Or that I’ll call him first to let him know I’ll be somewhere dangerous. Or that I’ll stop talking about how the full moon has disappeared and agree with my dad’s insistence that our family isn’t cursed.

No promises. I shake my head. I don’t trust whatever you’re about to demand of me.

He laughs. You don’t even know what it is.

He reaches across the car and picks up the moonstone crystal on my necklace. His fingers barely graze my neck, an electric sensation that I wish I could deny feeling. He pulls back and reaches into the pocket of his shirt.

I know you like crystals, since you’ve worn that moonstone for the last five years, he says. So humor me.

He unravels a cord and places a black stone in his hand. It’s not much bigger than my own crystal necklace, but it’s definitely not as pretty as the moonstone. My grandfather made my necklace out of the moonstone rocks I was gifted at birth. He held on to it until he passed, and then my dad kept it until my thirteenth birthday. It was a gift from beyond the grave.

Unfortunately, Granddaddy died before he could tell me who gifted me the stones. He insisted I had to wait until I was grown to know and understand, but now, I fear that secret died with him.

Black tourmaline, Garrett says, zapping me out of my memories.

The protection stone, I say. I know what black tourmaline is.

He rolls his eyes. Obviously. But this one has a location tracker inside of it, he explains. "Whenever you decide to run off on one of your irresponsible little adventures, especially with Ruby, I want you to have this on you. That way, if something happens, I’ll be able to find you."

You’re asking for permission to stalk me? I ask.

He huffs a sigh of frustration. I’m asking you to make this easier on both of us, he corrects me. Callie, you’re going to do what you’re going to do, regardless. We both know it. It’s not like you’re wearing an ankle monitor. I tried to tailor it to you.

I have to give him credit for that. I do like crystals, and the fact that black tourmaline is meant to protect is rather symbolic. I don’t know why I couldn’t just add some location app to my phone instead, but if this is what it takes to do what I want, I can smile and bear it.

Fine, I say, unclasping the necklace and hooking it around my neck. I’ll wear it.

Thank you, he says, pulling the gear stick into drive. Reaper’s Peak?

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Garrett’s patrol car whips around a curve on a shortcut through the mountainside. Aside from the horseback-riding and ATV trails, I wasn’t aware these cut-thru paths even existed. I want to ask Garrett how he knows about this route, but I already know he’ll say something about law enforcement business.

He drives into the clearing at the mountain’s highest point, next to a massive, abandoned cave. The car’s engine echoes within the hollow mountainside. A metal railing stretches around the clearing, hugging it tightly and securing anyone who may venture up to the peak. He parks the car and looks toward me.

Thank you, I say, albeit begrudgingly.

We step out of the car. A light breeze rustles through the nearby thickets. Wisps of white clouds dance around the murky gray backdrop. A hazy shadow floats over the moon.

My heart falters. I’ve waited so long to come here, to have a clear view of the night sky and the full moon. Disappointment presses on my shoulders, weighing me down with sadness. Did I honestly think I’d be able to see it? Or was I out to prove that I couldn’t? It doesn’t matter what I’d hoped or thought. The moon is concealed from view.

Damn it, I mumble. I lean against the railing and stare off across the wilderness. When’s the last time you saw the full moon, Garrett?

He stands next to me, his hands on the railing but his eyes lost among the clouds. I wait for whatever excuse he is about to rattle off. He knows as well as I do that the full moon has been absent.

He shrugs. I don’t keep up with it like you do, he says. But it hasn’t been hidden for nearly a decade.

It has, I say, firm in my words. "Since the night Granddaddy died. And I don’t care what you think or what my dad says, I know I heard Granddaddy talking about a family curse. It was a few years before his heart attack. I didn’t misunderstand or have a wild imagination. I know what I heard."

He exhales and turns toward me. I know you believe what you believe, and there’s no convincing you otherwise, so I’m not going to try, he says. But since I can’t answer your questions about the alleged Nightfall family curse and since I can’t control the sky, how about we go by Moon Beans, grab a cup of your favorite Stardust Mocha, and I’ll take you home?

Bribery by coffee. Sometimes, I think he’s worse than my dad when it comes to changing the subject and avoiding the conversation. But at least with Garrett, I get something out of it.

This conversation isn’t over, I say. But if you throw in a blueberry muffin, I’ll drop it for tonight.

Negotiating with law enforcement, are you? he asks.

Consider it a plea deal, I say. Do you accept?

How am I suddenly the one on trial here? he asks.

I shoot him a knowing look. Coffee and a muffin are worth not bringing up last year’s kiss-and-run moment.

Okay, okay. I accept the offer, he says. He looks back up at the sky one more time. Sorry about your moon phase. Maybe you’ll catch it next cycle. Let’s get in the car.

I bite my lip to keep from arguing since I agreed to drop it for the night. I’m fully aware that until I know exactly what my grandfather was talking about before he died, I won’t see a full moon again.

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Do you want to tell me what happened last night? Dad asks, as soon as I come downstairs.

He folds his arms over his chest, a stern glare etched into his face. He should be halfway down Main Street by now, headed to the auto shop where he works. This isn’t good.

What are you talking about? I ask.

I assume he’s referring to the patrol car that brought me home or the fact that Ruby returned without me. For my own sake, I play dumb and hope he will elaborate.

Sheriff Reyes bringing you home, he says. I’ve told you not to stir up trouble for him, Callie. He’s got a lot on his plate, especially for his age. He shouldn’t have to deal with you and Ruby getting into things you shouldn’t be into in the first place.

I stroll into the kitchen as he lectures me about how I’m almost eighteen and need to act responsibly. It’s not like I’m out partying every night or running around with a rough crowd. I’m simply trying to prove a point, and if he’d listen to me and talk to me about it, maybe I wouldn’t be sneaking out to Reaper’s Peak late at night.

Dad, I wasn’t doing anything bad, I tell him. I grab a water bottle from the refrigerator. Garrett has nothing better to do with his time because nothing happens in Charmwood.

Dad stands in the door frame, that ‘dad look’ on his face. I avoid eye contact and stare at the name ‘Curtis’ sewn onto his coveralls like a name tag. I twist the lid on the water bottle and take a sip. It doesn’t do anything to signal Dad to move along, though.

I hope you don’t refer to him as ‘Garrett’ when he’s in uniform, he says.

Funny how Dad’s own uniform refers to him on first name basis, yet Garrett is supposed to be ‘Sheriff Reyes.’

But I wasn’t exactly thinking of him as ‘Sheriff Reyes’ last October when we snuck down to Lake Charmwood after my birthday party. I didn’t think of him as ‘Sheriff Reyes’ when he kissed me under a crescent moon. So no, Dad, I don’t call him by ‘Sheriff Reyes’ even when he’s in uniform. I think we’re past that.

I’m not giving him a hard time, I say. And I’m not causing trouble.

He better not have to bring you home again, he says. The elders don’t like seeing patrol cars in the village. Sheriff Reyes is looking out for us, and he means well. He doesn’t have any family left, and you know our families were close. You need to show him the respect he deserves.

I nod, accepting this is a battle Dad isn’t going to let me win. I stuff my books into my bag and accept defeat. I’d rather be in Ruby’s passenger seat on the way to school, complaining about the radio station, instead of finishing this conversation.

Trust me, Dad. I want to avoid ‘Sheriff Reyes’ as much as possible. I don’t seek him out, I explain. I won’t give him any more issues. I promise.

Dad nods, unconvinced. Thank you, he says. Can you drop by Uncle Henry’s this morning before you head to school? The extra milk in the fridge needs to go to him. I’m already running late.

I put my bag on the table and retrieve the milk. I’ve got it, Dad, I say, hoping this gets me back in good graces. Have a good day at work.

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Chief Henry, my dad’s uncle, sits on his porch swing in the early morning light. A gentle breeze sways through the village, rustling through his long, gray hair. A suede cord with an ornate key hangs around his neck. He smiles when I walk up the porch steps holding a half-gallon of milk.

That could’ve waited until after school, he says. His windchimes sing a fairylike jingle alongside his words. But I’m guessing you didn’t mind getting away from Curtis this morning. Especially after your chariot ride home last night.

Gossip spreads like wildfire in Charmwood, and our village is no exception. In fact, it may be worse. My dad has always been secretive about our roots. Our tribe, the Ahkoni, aren’t native to America, so we don’t live on a reservation or claim the title of Native American. Dad won’t let me say ‘indigenous people’ either. If that’s not who we are, then I’d never want to claim it, but I wish I knew more about my heritage.

Instead, our tribe lives in a small neighborhood called the Ahkoni Village. We’re still part of Charmwood, but there’s a fine line between when tribal laws go into effect and when law enforcement can push their boundaries. I’ve yet to figure out where that line is.

You saw the patrol car too? I ask. Warmth from embarrassment spreads through my cheeks. I exhale, hoping my humiliation will dissipate as well.

Chief Henry laughs. "I saw headlights shine across my living room, and I wondered who was sneaking around that late at night. I figured it was Ruby’s boyfriend coming or going, but then I realized it was Garrett bringing you home," he says.

It’s not lost on me that the chief refers to him as Garrett as well. I wonder if he knows more about our families’ connections than my dad knows. I want to ask, but I don’t want to make matters worse. Dad seemed disappointed in me this morning.

I’m sorry about that, I say, hoisting the milk onto the porch ledge. He caught Ruby and me going to Reaper’s Peak trying to see the full moon. I won’t let it happen again.

Chief Henry shakes his head. Callie, dear, I’m not your dad, he says. "I’d rather Garrett bring you home and you be safe. There are worse things you could do than chase the moon. Next