I have to admit something. Since I was a teenager, I've always had a fascination with vampires. I watched every film that came on TV, and any show that had a vampire in it. That's before it became "cool".
But I wondered what MY vampire would be like. That is, if they existed.
Mysterious? Of course. I used to draw vampires walking along in a cemetery.
Handsome? Well,
duh!
Romantic? Most definitely.
Dangerous? Comes with the teritory.
So, it's no wonder that I might write novels about vampires, as well as short stories. I've done a number of them. I'm working to get a few published. One, Holy Devil, is published on Amazon. But I will be adding a few to my list.
A short story Vampire, My Own, was something I came up and realized this is very Buffy-esque, and YA, which I don't often write, but being that it was to be a short story, I decided this might work.
It's about a teenage girl who discovers a vampire who lives in a nearby graveyard. In fact its a cemetery through which she takes a short cut many times at night, but this one night Riley decides to drop in on her and introduce himself to Karen. Karen isn't too shocked by the fact that there is a vampire living so close by. In fact he fascinates her. Riley is from the Civil War era, and seems to be a perfect gentleman. Karen becomes terribly attracted to him and can't wait to tell her best friend, Angeline about him.
Of course a little romance begins as Karen seeks him, although he doesn't seem to be around one night and she becomes worried, wondering who he might be with, because, after all, he never took blood from her, as a matter of fact he hadn't even kissed her.
Then, one day her friend, Angeline doesn't come to school. She's sick. Karen thinks nothing of it, but when she goes in the next day to gather homework from her teachers, she learns a horrible thing: Angeline is dead.
My story doesn't stop there, of course. Karen's decision to do something about this is the clincher, and the way I twist the ending... well, let's just say I think it will surprise most. And I think it suits the young crowd.
Here is the LINK:
A noise above her head made a distinctive sound that brought to mind sheets put out to dry on the clothes line when the wind whipped them. Choosing to ignore it, she trekked on. The noise seemed to follow her. Fear wrapped itself around her, giving her chills. Her footfalls quickened as she dashed toward the fence where she knew she could slip through to her backyard. The noise came closer and louder. She looked up, into the sky. There, against the moonlight, was something flying. Something very large. Too large to be a bat. It looked like a man with wings—which was incredible. They were huge wings. Like that of a Pterodactyl. She thought she was hallucinating as she stood there panting. Oddly enough, she could run no more, as if mesmerized on the spot by this thing flapping its wings, lowering itself toward her.
He landed effortlessly in front of her path. Heart thumping in her ears, she stared at him. Regally handsome features, with large eyes and a high forehead. She fell in love with his face the moment she saw him in the moonlight. A crown of very think, dark hair halloed his white face. She still wasn't sure she wasn't imagining this. That's when the wings disappeared.
What the hell?
He bowed. “Pardon my intrusion, pretty miss, but I do not often see a young lady running through my graveyard at night.” He had a slight southern drawl.
“You're graveyard?” her voice held disbelief in it.
“Yes. My abode is just over there.” He pointed toward the large Riley mausoleum. “Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Lute Riley.”
“I'm Karen Merdock. So, you live here? In the cemetery?” She resisted the urge to sputter her disbelief.
“Yes. I stay in the mausoleum on occasion.”
“In the mausoleum?”
“Yes. Sometimes there. Sometimes in my family home, in a secret room that no one knows about.” He smiled down at her, anointing her with the full force of his eyes. No. It was more than his eyes. She could feel his aura, his animal magnetism. She found she couldn't move away even if she wanted to—and she didn't. He leaned forward, and said low, “I'm a vampire, by the way. You aren't frightened, I hope?”
A dog's barking startled her. Bright yard lights went on in the back of Mr. Riggs' house. He yelled at his dog with a murderous voice.
“Uh, no. Not really. I'm totally cool with that you're a vampire, and live here and stuff.” Lame, Karen, so lame. Looking up to take in Lute she thought his hair looked more like sheep's wool it was so thick. He wore a yellow tee shirt with the Batman emblem on it. She had to stifle a chuckle at the irony.
Mr. Riggs' dog quit barking, and the yard light went out. Karen's disappointment made her frown, as she couldn't see Lute as well, now.
“The mausoleum belongs to my family. This was our land, and all of the Rielys have been buried here since the Civil War,” he said, hand motioning around himself.
“Except for you?” She flipped back her long blond hair behind her shoulders. She wasn't about to question his expertise on this. “So, you were turned back then?”
A soft chuckle escaped him. “Yes. And then I awoke as I am now. A vampire.”
“So, you live here. How come I've never seen you before?”
He shrugged. “I might ask the same of you?”
“I live just over there.” She pointed. “I'm heading there now. My mother's going to kill me if I don't get home soon!” she fretted.
“Then we must get you there safely. Come. It isn't safe for a fair young, lovely lady like yourself to be walking about alone at night un-escorted. Especially through a graveyard.”
“Because someone like you might try and take advantage of someone like me?” she challenged with a smirk. ©Lorelei Bell
