Before starting, I suppose I should mention that the only Vampire Masquerade game that I have played is Bloodlines, and I haven't even completed that as of yet. This fanfiction is based on the game of Bloodlines, and it situated in Los Angeles. As much as I love the plot to Bloodlines, I am tweaking it a little to fit my story. Familiar characters from Bloodlines may make an appearance, as I have a general idea of where I want this to go.

While Bloodlines is the only game that I am completely familiar with, I won't just to using that for reference. I will be doing my homework and looking at other sites for information about the VtM world. I have actually already begun to do so, since I am greatly interested about the snippets of information that is given throughout the game. The world of VtM is immense and very detailed and I want to do my best to stick to how it is foretold.

General Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I pretend to, any rights to the game Vampire the Masquerade. I am only borrowing the story and characters in a non-profit manner to play out in my imagination.


The Moon as my Witness
Lady Draculea
Chapter 1


Los Angeles really wasn't what she had though it would be. For one thing; it was dirty. Sure, the more popular tourist attraction sites were clean and shiny, but the rest of the streets, the parks, the buildings, were dirty. Garbage, mud, goop-that-she-wasn't-going-get-closer-to. It was just gross.

Luckily dad and Heather had found a place somewhere relatively clean, even it if was where the granola-crunchers seemed to congregate. Oh well. The palm trees were tall, the sand white, and the waters were reasonably clean, so she couldn't really complain, right?

The house was nice. Two stories, three bedrooms, a living room, office, kitchen, everything houses generally were equipped with. The smallest backyard she had even seen, though. Melanie was probably back there sunbathing when she was supposed to be helping her unpack!

Diana scowled, dad and Heather had left an hour ago to look around the city and check out the building where Heather's new job was located. It was at some well-to-do tower downtown and dad and Heather were ecstatic about it. It made her slightly ill over how often they shared their enthusiasm. Thankfully the walls were thicker here than back home.

Besides the thicker walls, which was the only good thing about the whole move if Diana had anything to say about it, the whole process of traveling across the country to 'start over' here was more hassle then it was worth. The summer before, Heather and Melanie had flown to LA for a couple of days, apparently falling in love with the city, and not to mention the shopping malls, in the process. It didn't take much to convince dad about the 'benefits' of living in the City of Angels, specifically, Heather reminded him of the great job she had been offered here often enough, and the fact that dad would find work easily himself, being a teacher and all.

Of course, they never took into account it being a pain in the rear-end for her to switch colleges, find a new part-time job, and memorize the bus schedule, not to mention try not get lost, which she was bound to do eventually anyways.

So now here they were, in a city that was too big, too noisy, too hot and too dirty. But the thing that pissed her off the most at the moment was the fact that she was the only one in the friggin' house unpacking! There were boxes everywhere, furniture scattered and she was hot, sticky, and felt like smashing the next person that spoke to her.

"Diana!"

Oh how fate hated her.

"Diana!" Melanie called from the back patio again, this time louder and much more annoyed.

"What?" She snapped, sliding the patio door open and popping her head outside.

Melanie looked over her sunglasses, "get me some lemonade, would you?"

Diana scowled, "I'm not your servant. Besides, the glasses are still packed."

"You still haven't unpacked those? What have you been doing in there, sleeping?"

"You mean like what you've been doing out here?" She squinted into the distance; she could see the tall buildings of downtown LA from where she was standing. "If you want something to drink, get up and make it yourself. Better yet, help me unpack like you're supposed to."

Melanie smirked, clearly enjoying invoking he step-sister's temper, "but that is what you are for, sister dear."

Diana growled, "bitch."

The redhead just laughed as she returned to her tanning her already golden coloured skin.

Frustrated, Diana stomped into the house, giving the patio door a satisfying slam. Breathing deeply, she counted to ten in her head, forcing herself to calm down. She hated it when she let Melanie get under her skin, something which she seemed to do more often than not.

Once back to a relatively neutral mood, she returned to the living room, and began digging random things from out of boxes and running around to place them in their designated rooms. It was gruelling work, especially since she was working by herself.

Sighing, she looked at the mess sitting scattered on the floor, then at her watch. Three hours until dinner. The kitchen was a mess and she really doubted that Heather was considerate enough to bring anything back home for them. No doubt she would be dragging dad to one of those up-to-do restaurants.

Diana picked up a box, recognising it as one of her own. She might as well make it easier on herself and just lug the lighter boxes to their designated areas. It would have been a simple task, except both Heather and Melanie had specifically said that their stuff was not to be touched for some stupid reason like Diana didn't know how to handle delicate materials, being the uncultured heathen that she was. Well, that wasn't exactly how they had put it, but it was close enough.

The boxes seemed to be multiplying, especially the ones with the pink, scrolling writing on them. Diana was even beginning to think that Heather and Melanie's boxes were slightly scented. "Gah! I'm going for a walk!"

Even though no one was there to see her nod her head, nor the fact that she was talking to herself (not that she wanted that to happen - no need to give the terrible two anymore more incentive to make her life a living hell), she did so anyways. It was an old habit that she couldn't seem to get rid of.

Decided, she grabbed her shiny new set of house keys and left, the door closing soundlessly behind her. The street was more or less deserted; no doubt everyone was indoors, enjoying the comforts of air-conditioning instead of frying in the late afternoon sun. The AC in the house hadn't been activated yet, both dad and Heather were not mechanically inclined, and she hadn't bothered to do so herself, preferring to keep Melanie suffering until she got off her tanned, lazy ass and did it herself.

Not familiar with the area yet at all, Diana chose a direction at random and began walking. It didn't take her long to regret her decision. It was HOT, way hotter than the cooler temperature of Michigan. "Gah… how do people live in this weather… right, they don't. They are all chilling with their air-conditioners on full blast. Lucky bums."

Diana was seriously beginning to doubt her sanity now that she was actually talking to herself. She blamed it on the heat… and Melanie. She made it a habit to blame all of her misfortunes on her step-sister. Sure it was unfair on her part, but she doubted that the red-haired part-time voice of Brandy's Shoe Warehouse included 'fair' in her vocabulary.

Some time later brought her facing a dead-end. The street went no further, well, unless she planned on jumping the fence and crawling through thick underbrush. As tempting as the cool shade of the wilderness looked, she wasn't dressed for it, nor did she fancy getting dirty when she didn't even know where the box with all her clothes were.

A glance at her watch told her that barely an hour had passed. That meant that it would probably take her another hour to get back home, get cleaned up and start up the AC. There was no way in hell that she was going to boil in the house any longer just to piss Melanie off. As fun and humorous as that was, Diana would rather be cool and comfortable with just a little wounded pride, rather then hot and irritable just to make sure that her step-sister was as well.

She didn't notice it so much while walking, but the street ran down a hill. Now, as she was walking back it was more obvious to her while she dragged herself up the hill, panting with every step. Lovely, just bloody lovely. Taking a walk really wasn't one of her more brilliant ideas, not that she was having very many of those lately anyways.

The whole trip had thrown her off balance. First the suggestion of the move, of course she was against that and had more than once embarrassed herself by reducing her behaviour to one reminiscent of a seven year old. Heather had suggested if she didn't like it, then she could very well stay. She was old enough, after all, to get her own place. Completely ridiculous and Heather knew it. She could not afford her own place, roommate or no, on a salary that was barely over minimum wage and attend college at the same time. So she had no choice but to tag along.

Next was the fact that she had to scramble to get everything in order. Luckily it was August, classes had ended for the summer, but it was too late to try and gain admission at a college here. Not to mention the fact that course fees were petty much ludicrous in LA. Quitting her job back in Michigan wasn't such a big loss, but she now had to find another if she wanted some spending money and to start saving up for school. Not to mention the fact that Heather would blow a gasket if she didn't find something to keep Diana out of the house and not scratch her precious floors.

Actually, traveling here had to be the worst. Dad and Heather had flown out once or twice to find a house, something that seemed like a waste of money to Diana and made her wince every time she thought about the price of plane tickets. Luckily, it didn't take them long to find their perfect home, and for Heather to accept that job at the LaCroix Foundation.

Once everything was paid for, packed and ready, the moving trucks set out for California a full day before they did. Last minutes scrambles and tears (mostly on her part, though dad did partake in a sniffle or two) were made and they were off. Diana would be the first to admit that riding stuffed in Heather's gas-guzzling SUV for nearly a week with her family was pure torture. Melanie complained for most of the way, dad replayed his AC/DC CDs over and over, Heather slept, thank god, and herself, well, she must have read her favourite novel back to cover at least four times. The rest of her books were packed away in some box, and she had misplaced her ipod, though she was pretty sure that it was stuffed into her favourite jeans pocket. She'd have to check before washing anything.

While she had thought that the days were bad, the nights had been worse. To save money they only rented one hotel room, which meant she and Melanie had to share a bed.

Never again.

Melanie kicked and alternated from either hogging the blankets to pushing them off the bed. That paired with the fact that Diana had never been able to sleep in hotels, meant some very long nights. Luckily she had managed to snag a few hours sleep in the car, else she'd be passed out in her unpacked room at the moment.

They had arrived sometime after lunch. The trucks had arrived not too long after that. Everything was unloaded, the trucks lefts, boxes were sorted, and then Heather had the brilliant idea of checking out her new work, so she and dad left to do that. But her bad luck didn't end there! Nope! She just had to take a walk in this sweltering heat not realising until too late that the walk back would up hill. Ugh.

Diana flicked her sweat soaked bangs from her eyes and muttered under her breath, "god, kill me now."


A little over an hour later, Diana finally made it back to the house. Her t-shirt was plastered to her skin and she was sure that one could smell her from miles away, but she was home.

Passing by Heather's SUV as she dragged herself to the front door, Diana was happy to note that all the windows were closed, hopefully because Melanie had finally gotten around to turning on the AC.

Unlocking the door, and closing it behind her, she slipped into the house, immediately grateful for the rush of cool air that greeted her. Sighing, she kicked off her shoes and stepped into the living room.

"Where have you been?" Heather is standing in front of the entrance to the kitchen, and as always, was completely immaculate.

Diana sighed, knowing where this was going. No doubt Melanie had concocted some sob story about her leaving poor, helpless Melanie alone with all the boxes and mess. "I went for a walk, is that a crime?"

Heather scowled, clearly displeased. "And you left Mel here by herself to deal with these boxes?"

"Listen," that came out a bit more sharply then she intended it. She did not want to start an argument. All she wanted a shower and something to eat. "I spent at least four hours slaving away in here, while 'Mel' sat out back tanning. I went for a walk, to look around the neighbourhood. I don't have to ask permission to do that."

Thin lines appeared around Heather's mouth as her frown deepened, showing that she was as old as the forty-five years she tried to hide. "Melanie tells a different story."

Diana snorted, "of course she does."

Heather's eyes narrowed, displeased over the fact that her step-daughter was blatantly contradicting her, but also saying that her Mel was a liar. "Don't you dare take that tone with me. You may be an adult, but you are living under my roof, or have you forgotten that already?"

Slightly taken back, Diana was silent. Heather had never threatened her before, sure she had yelled and insulted her, but threaten to kick her out if she didn't play by her rules? Diana shook her head, preferring not to say anything and potentially land herself in hot water.

Pursing her lips, Heather nodded and said, "I thought so. Now, find all of your things and take them to your room. I don't want them cluttering up the floor."

"Whatever you say."

"Diana, I am warning you…"

She turned around, spotting one of her boxes and bending to pick it up. "Don't worry, I know when to quit."

When Heather failed to respond, Diana turned to see the older woman walk back into the kitchen. Things had always been tense between her and Heather Toris, now Jacobson. Heather was everything that Diana hated. She carried this air around her as if everyone below her was not worth the time of day. She demanded a certain quality and held such high expectancies from everything. Nothing was ever good enough, and when it was, she only demanded the best of the best. It drove Diana up the wall.

As much as she wanted that to be the only reason why she disliked Heather so much, it wasn't. Diana felt that Heather had butted in so quickly after mom had left. Only five months after mom had left with her car, license, and new boyfriend, Heather Toris walked into dad's life and proceeded to knock everything askew. Diana didn't know what about dad attracted Heather. Women like Heather just didn't fall for middle aged English teachers, especially ones with a penchant for ghost documentaries and supernatural sightings. Dad claimed that it was love a first sight, strange, since that was what he said when he first met mom.

Diana couldn't say that Heather was replacing mom, because she wasn't. Heather was the most un-mom like mom she had ever had the misfortune of meeting. Heather let her cleavage hang out, she swore, talked about things to Melanie that Diana could never imagine talking to her own mother about. Heather was one of those types who worshipped youth and did everything in her power to stay youthful. She was vain as hell and it irritated Diana beyond measure. If a single hair was out of place, she would redo it completely. Diana hated being late for anything and Heather was the epitome of late.

Halfway up the stairs, Diana shifted the box in her arms. Ever since Heather and Melanie's arrival, her life had turned upside-down, flip-flopped and regurgitated itself several times. Things were never simple now, nor did she think that they would ever be again. Diana only hoped that she would somehow be able to survive all these changes that Heather was bringing. She had a feeling that she would have to.