A/N: Hey everyone! The time has finally come. CHAPTER TWO!

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Chapter Two: A Shadowy Feeling

When I arrived in front of Nookington, I was stunned to see a department store in a small town like this. Normally you would only see one of those in the city. Inside the store was even more amazing. The cool air and the shelves full of stationary, flower seeds, tools, and food supplies. It was so unexpected for a small town to have a store like this. Looking around the giant store, I found the stairs to the furniture department and a little hair salon. Before I could even take one step up the stairs, I could hear footsteps behind me.

"Welcome to Nookington. Take a look around. Let me know if I can help you."

"Oh, ummm, I am looking for Tom Nook," I said turning around to find a raccoon staring at me with a look that said 'you better buy something.'

"That's me. How may I help you?"

"Well, Mr. Nook, Pelly sent me here to inquire about the housing in town. You see, I am moving here today and I am in need of a place to live and …"

"So, you're Yukihana. You should have mentioned that in the first place. Come with me to my office and we will discuss the terms of your housing." Tom Nook got a lazy look in his eyes and slowly walked to the door hidden behind the advertisement bulletin sign.

I followed him into what he said was his office. It looked more like a storage room with all of the boxes lying around and the dim light that didn't quite fill the room. It made me think of the mafia movies that my dad used to watch. Tom Nook started digging through some boxes looking for something.

"Well the house is ready for you to move in, but first we need to talk about price and how you are going to pay for the house."

"Okay."

"From what Pelly told me you don't seem to have the Bells for the house. Even if you did have some Bells, I highly doubt that you have enough to pay off the debt that Lila left behind."

"Umm, how much is that, Mr. Nook?" Do I really want to hear this number?

The raccoon took a break from searching through the boxes and looked me straight in the eye,

"The house is going to cost you 728,000 Bells. It is three floors, with the bedroom on the top floor. There are a few pieces of furniture that Lila left behind and it is located at the north edge of town. If you ask me, there is a nice sized yard and room for expansion if you wish to do so. The expansions will only be available once I can trust you to pay me for my housing services first."

"Yes, sir, I will work on paying you back for the expenses of the house." The large number rolled around in my head over and over again. No, I thought to myself, I will not let this amount of Bells scare me away from the new life I am starting here. Mom would be disappointed to find out that I ran away from such a small issue.

"Aha," Tom Nook said grabbing something green from a box beside his desk. "Here you go. Put this on and come with me. You can leave your suitcase in here until you are done."

"Um, okay," I said. The raccoon gave me the green lump of cloth, which turned out to be an apron with the store logo on it.

"Now, you will be working for me for a little while until you get used to this town and make arrangements for working. If you work hard and show that you care about this job, I might make it a full-time position. For now though, you will be working part-time as the stores delivery girl. I already have today's load waiting for you outside. Here are the addresses and I am sure the map that Pelly gave you will help find them."

"But don't you think I should get settled in first before I even think about wor…" I could feel my eyes grow wide listening to all the plans he had for me all ready.

"Nonsense! Working will help you get use to the town and its layout much faster and you will meet new people just as quick. Plus, if I were you, I would start working on paying on that large amount of debt that you owe me now."

"Well, alright." I couldn't believe I was doing this, but the old raccoon has a point. So, I slipped the apron on and headed outside. Waiting beside the store was a bicycle looking thing that had an attached wood trailer full of boxes. "Better get to work." I sighed as I got on the bicycle and started peddling.

The first stop on the list was down near the beach. A smooth ride with little peddling effort since most of the path was down hill. The trees in this town were beautiful. All the different pear trees made me a little hungry. The sparkling water of the river looked so inviting, even though I knew I couldn't go for a swim. The air was just so clear and fresh. I couldn't believe that places like this still existed, nature that had been untouched by human destruction.

Before I knew it, I found the little cottage where I was supposed to make my first delivery. There was a happy glow to the area due to the colorful flowers in the garden that seemed to wrap around her house. Well the box wasn't going to deliver itself, so I grabbed the small package and walked up the path to the house.

"Delivery for Deena," I said knocking on the door. After a minute of waiting, the door cracked open and an eye peeked out. "I have a delivery for Deena from Nookington."

"Oh," a small voice came through the crack. "I thought you were someone else." The door opened to reveal a green and white duck with pink cheeks. "Finally, my order has arrived. So, are you a new worker for Nook?"

"Yes. I am Yukihana. I just moved here today. I am going to be living in the house that used to belong to Lila." At the mention of Lila's name I could feel a heavy tension spread across the air between us.

"Well, I hope you settle in nicely. If you need anything let me know. Are you a friend of Lila?" asked the duck with a strange look in her eyes.

"Well, no, I never even met her. Pelly just said that the house was available and ready for me to move in." What is up with this strange feeling? Were Deena and Lila enemies?

"Oh, okay. You know I have a feeling we are going to be great friends. Let me know when you get settled in and we can hang out." The tension in the air disappeared.

After waving good bye and heading off to the next destination, I couldn't help but wonder what that was all about. Trying to shake the feeling that had crept over me I pulled up to my next stop. Out in the yard in front of the house there were two semi-buff looking guys. The rhino seemed to be doing some kind of sit-up work out, while the bird was doing jumping jacks.

"Umm, I have a delivery for Tank." The box in my hand felt so heavy.

The pale blue rhino looked up. "That's me. Jay look my weights have finally arrived. Now we can up our training to the next level. Bug hunt here we come. We will show no mercy." Tank looked up from the box. "Are you new around here? Cause you don't look familiar."

"I just moved here today. My name is Yukihana. It is very nice to meet you."

"Just moved here, hmm? Where are you living?"

"The house where Lila used to live." The same dark tense feeling fell over the air again. I could tell that the boys became uneasy by just the sound of her name.

"Were you two friends?" Tank glared.

"No, not at all. I have never met her. Pelly just mentioned that she was the last one to live in the house. That is the only reason I know the name, but I don't know her at all." The tension left quickly after I explained that I didn't personally know Lila, just like when I was talking to Deena.

"Well, as you already know I am Tank. That guy over there," he points in the direction to the dark blue bird, "is Jay. He lives just north of Nookington. As you just heard we are training hard for the Bug hunt that our town holds in a few weeks and the beach competition that is coming up next month. You should join in too."

"Oh, well, I am not into sports much, but I will give it a try," I said smiling.

"That sounds great. Once you get settled in you should come train with us, or at least hang out," Jay said.

After saying good-bye, I pulled the bike over at the bottom of the hill. Next stop, Bob's house. Bob's house wasn't too far fromTank's house. A little house with a green roof and a nice sized yard by the beach was at the end of the path that led to Bob's house.

Working in the yard's small flower garden was a purple cat. He was mostly light purple but had dark purple spots here and there. A large dark purple spot covered most of the left side of his face. His eyes were very lazy looking, which gave a hint to his personality.

"Are you Bob?" I asked.

"Yeah. What's it to you?" the purple cat asked.

"I'm here to deliver the lamp you ordered from Nookington. My name is Yukihana. I'm new in town. In fact I just moved here today." Haven't even got my house key yet, I thought. "Mr. Nook is having me work for him, so I can pay off my debt to him."

"So, old Nook has him another little worker bee," Bob said, "Hope you work out better than the last one. There's going to be a lot for you to do."

"Yes there is." I remembered seeing a list of deliveries that I was going to be making in the next few weeks. "Mr. Nook said that he will allow me to work part time for a few weeks 'til I get settled into my new house."

"That sounds like a good idea. Working only part time will be nice. Some free time to get to know the folks around town, fix up your home, and time to do whatever you heart desires. It's gonna stink when you have to work full time."

"Yeah, but I will only have to work full time for him until my debt is paid off. After that, I can work part time or do whatever I want to make bells to live." The thought of living on my own and supporting myself was becoming more and more exciting.

Oh great here comes that feeling again. "It's the house where Lila used to live."

"Oh, so the one up the hill from Town Hall. It is sure to have a beautiful view! Nook has put a lot of Bells in building that place. I might have to stop by so I can see it myself," Bob smiled.

Surprisingly there was no shadow feeling come from this guy at the mention of Lila's name. "Did you know Lila?"

"Not really." Bob shrugged. "She moved out two days after I moved to town. All I heard from Nook was that she was quite the slacker. You seem like a good worker, so that is a good replacement."

It was a relief to find someone who didn't give of a dark aura at the mention of Lila's name. There was something wrong about that girl's past with the villagers here and I didn't know what.

"Well, Bob, I must be going. Mr. Nook is probably wondering why I haven't returned yet. So, I will see you around," I said mounting the bicycle.

"Yes, see you around, Yukihana."

It was already five o'clock as the Town Hall's chimes rang loud and clear. Mr. Nook was waiting at the door of Nookington.

"How did your first day go? Did you meet some of the villagers?" Mr. Nook awaited my answers.

"I met Jay, Tank, Deena, and Bob. I also got lost a couple times. Everyone seems pretty nice here. I think I am going to enjoy living in Sundrop."

"That is great. Well, here is your house key. You can use the delivery cart until you get all moved in. It will make moving furniture a lot easier later," Tom Nook said handing over my key. "Before you go home, I would like you to deliver these catalogs to Pate, Nan, Peewee, and Tiffany. It will be just a few short stops and it will allow you to meet the rest of the residents."

"Thank you." I said bowing respectfully.

I put my oversized suitcase in the package bin and road down the house to Tiffany's house. Her house was the farthest away from mine. It took about 20 minutes to ride down there since it was by the beach. She was Deena's neighbor. It was a very short introduction though. The white bunny with brown tipped ears was on her way to visit her boyfriend and needed to hurry since he was waiting at the town gate.

My next stop was at Pate's house. This blue-grey duck with very pink cheeks, due to her blush, was happy to see her catalog and told me she would love to hang out sometime. From the way Pate spoke so fondly of Deena, it gave me the impression that they were, and still are, very close friends. Pate said the she would love if I joined their close nit group of girls and I had no problem with that.

Peewee was in his back yard inspecting a tree for any rare bugs. The black and grey gorilla with oversized nostrils wasn't all that friendly and didn't seem happy to be bothered by such a small delivery. I did get another chilled shadowy feeling at the mention of Lila from not only him, but the previous two villagers, as well.

Finally, I pulled up to my last stop. A medium grey goat with yellow horns was sitting on the front porch, staring towards the now setting sun.

"Are you Nan?" I asked while standing at her gate.

"Yes," She said. "Are you my new neighbor? Everyone is talking about the new girl in town."

"Yes, I am. My name is Yukihana and I just moved her this morning. Mr. Nook has been having me deliver packages all day. Here is your catalog." I pointed at the book in my hand.

"Yay! Finally! I thought Nook had forgot. So, you are working for him to pay off your debt?" I nodded. "That's nice. You should come over sometime, or a lot. We are practically neighbors. You see that roof on the hill." She pointed toward the trees. There was an aqua green spot and chimney. "That is your house. Lila moved out about a month ago, so I can imagine things are dusty and all. Wait right here."

Nan took the catalog and ran inside. A few minutes later she came back with a broom, mop, bucket, and sponges.

I thanked her for all the help and promised I would stop by after work the next day.

The hill to my house seemed steep. I was ready to go inside, make my bed and have a good night's rest. When my key unlocked the door to my new house, I realized that the air around this house was slightly off. As if somewhere within it there was a dark secret hiding.

When I opened the door I could tell it had been a while since anyone cleaned this house. The cobwebs were unbelievable and the dust bunnies were everywhere. I decided that the best thing to do was sweep up my bedroom tonight and make my bed and then spend tomorrow afternoon after work cleaning the house.

Who knows what I will find in the dark shadows of this house.