Nightclaw: Blood Moon Apex

Chapter 1: Turning To A Friend

-2022 (One Year Later)-

At the office where he worked for his day job, Dave Rosenblood stopped by the break room in order to brew a cup of coffee to try and keep himself awake. While waiting for the drink to finish brewing, a coworker of his also walked into the room.

"Hey, Dave," he said gently. "I give you my condolences for your loss. It's been.....what? A year?"

Dave sighed. "Yep. A year since I lost my son, Murray Rosenblood, to an inoperable brain tumor. I've never seen my daughter—Carla Rosenblood—so devastated, though.....she's taking this all very hard. Like you said, a whole year has gone by.....but she still hasn't recovered. Her mother, Martha Rosenblood—my wife—also died of something similar many years ago. Well.....cancer, at least."

"Well, we all move through grief at our own speeds," his colleague pointed out. "Some move on quickly, while others hurt for years. You should talk to her; she could use the company."

"I know, but we've been swamped with paperwork as of late and I never have the time. Sometimes, I feel like the boss cares more about our physical worth than our health."

"An unfortunate truth for many businesses nowadays. But hey.....what are you going to do?"

The coffee machine beeped, and Dave took his cup out of the slot, placing a cap on it and unsealing the mouth opening. "Thankfully, I've been trying to get as much done here as possible. Hopefully, I'll be done with today's tasks by the end of the day, and I can spend this evening trying to console Carla."

"That's what I like to hear." The coworker then turned around and prepared to exit the break room, but then swiveled back to look at Dave. "By the way, Nightclaw hasn't been seen in a long time," he observed. "She just sort of.....disappeared at the beginning of the year, and no one's seen her since."

Of course, Dave was already aware that his daughter, Carla Rosenblood, was Nightclaw; the werewolf superheroine who was also one of the eight Paragons. However, to protect her identity, Dave opted to feign obliviousness. "Yeah, that's weird," he agreed. "I haven't seen her around, either, and I'm getting kind of worried about that."

"You don't think something bad happened to her, do you?"

"Oh no, Nightclaw's a strong superhero," Dave responded. "She seems like the person who can take anything the world throws at her. Hey.....don't all eight Paragons keep in touch with each other?"

"That's what I was thinking. So wouldn't they be checking in on Nightclaw?"

"I thought that, too, but they more or less disbanded, remember? At least.....until the next global threat comes."

"Doesn't mean they need to completely isolate each other," the colleague argued. "They're friends, so they ought to check on each other in times of crisis."

"Well, it's not like I know any of the Paragons personally," Dave fibbed, taking another sip from his coffee. "Tell you what. This evening, I'll try to console Carla.....and I'll also send a telekinetic message to The Viper telling her to check in on Nightclaw."

Both men laughed.

".....You don't actually have telekinesis, do you?"

"No," Dave answered. "That last part was sarcastic."

"Okay. Just checking. In a world full of flashy superheroes, you'll never know who'll come next!"

"You got that right. Now, come on.....let's get back to work. With any luck, both of us will get done early today."