Letter from Joe, a Vampire
My so-called 'life' has become a nightmare. Every time that I climb into my coffin at dawn, and the deep death-sleep claims me, I wake up and think that everything is ordinary again. As normal as a Vampire's being can be anyway.
In my dreams, I'm back in my old, everyday life. My creator and teacher, Jared Gray, is whole and with me again. Lilly Truscott, the woman I find irresistible, is just a ordinary human being coping with nothing more complex than being a cop and the girlfriend of a vampire…as if that isn't tough enough. Bella and Renesmee, my human family, are undisturbed by their own nightmares and secure and happy, as a young mother and daughter have every right to be.
But when the moon rises and the shadows lengthen to hide the monsters that exist on the fringe of human consciousness, my sweet dreams of normality implode under the weight of the here and now. When I wake, the real nightmare begins.
Jared, my sire and the companion who had my back for more than a hundred years, is dead, slain by Lilly, the woman I love most in this world. That leaves me alone to protect Bella and Renesmee. Already tortured and traumatized by the most evil of my kind, the crowning blow of Jared's death was nearly too much for them to take. As the most powerful mambos in this hemisphere, the daughters of my heart might not be as vulnerable as ordinary humans, but because they bear the priceless voodoo blood that can give vampires otherworldly powers, they are now hunted for their life force by the most evil and determined of fiends.
If that weren't enough trouble, there's a whole menagerie of monsters out to challenge me for the role of chief enforcer that I inherited from Jared. Now I have to ride the herd on all things nonhuman around here. Without me to watch over the local monsters, they would be free to threaten the mortal population of Forks, which is one of the most haunted places in the world. And for the first time, I have to do it without Jared and his formidable power at my side.
Oh, and let's not forget the worst enemy of all, have been left to contend with a council of the most evil vampires in history. They are trying to harness the elemental powers of the universe to enslave peace loving bloodsuckers like me and turn us into killing machines. Their most recent show of force briefly opened a port to the Underworld, through which dozens of reanimated vampires clawed their way topside in every demonic form imaginable. The only way I was able to convince Lilly to let me live was to promise to help her track down and destroy double-dead demons before they can wreak enough havoc to send the human world into a full-scale panic.
Yeah, Lilly wanted me dead. You see, the moment Lilly murdered Jared; she turned into a creature that I barely recognized—part demon, part avenging angel. As the vampire Slayer sworn to kill me and my kind wherever she finds us, Lilly is the new target for ever evil blood drinker on the planet. So I have to try to protect her from them while I protect myself from her and hope to God it'll be a while before she figures out that she doesn't really need my help. She's lethal enough on her own.
Oh, and by the way, Lilly's pregnant with my child doesn't know it yet. A child that is an abomination of nature and has no right to exist, but whom I already love with viciousness that frightens me. I would do anything to ensure the survival of Lilly and our baby, even if it means giving them over to the care of another kind of monster altogether. Probably just as well that she hates me now, don't you think? At least that's what my rational brain tells my shattered heart.
So as you can see, reality bites. Even worse than I do.
Welcome to the new normal. Welcome to my nightmare.