The wind blew through her hair as Veronika maneuvered her jeep down the long, narrow road to the beach near her home. The sun would be setting soon and she liked to come down here every once in a while just to relax and smoke a joint or two while watching the sunset. The jeep halted to a stop. The white sand seemed to go on endlessly up and down the beach. Putting in her headphones, Verokina sat back on the towel she had laid out on the sand and looked up at the sky. Shades of bright neon pink and almost lavender purple lit her face from above. What a beautiful sunset it was this evening. Hadn't been one quite like this in a long while.

Veronika sat up suddenly. It was dark. The only light was from the full moon. She gathered up her towel and mp3 player. The sudden sound of someone running could be heard coming from somewhere nearby.

"Is someone there?"

No reply.

"Look I'm leaving now so no trouble here…"

Veronika's voice trailed off as she stared into the darkness ahead of her. Over at the side of the car she could make out the silhouette of a tall figure somewhat hunched and seemingly looking at her.

"Who are you?'

The man did not reply. Instead, he sprinted toward her, jaws snapping viciously. He knocked the woman to the ground from behind as she had turned to run from him. The pointed fangs pierced the flesh of Veronika's throat and blood gushed out and into the man's mouth. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she let out one last breath of air before her body went completely limp. The vampire dropped the body and retreated back into the darkness, having had an appetizing dinner.

Pain…the pain was horrible. Veronika sat up and held her hand up to the side of her neck. There was a small gash that seemed to be rapidly healing even as she felt it. There was blood all around her, staining the once platinum colored sand. It was all her blood. How was she not dead? Panic overcame her and she rose slowly to her feet, walking to her car and climbing inside. Once behind the wheel, Veronika looked into the rearview mirror at her reflection. It seemed to be fading. This couldn't be happening. Vampires weren't real….but how was this possible? She started the car then and sped off away from the beach and back down the long road toward her home.

After taking a much needed hot, shower, Veronika sank into the couch and opened her laptop. While she waited for it to load, she held her hand to her neck again and pulled away quickly with surprise. The gash in her neck was totally healed. As if nothing had happened. The pain was gone also. Veronika pulled up dozens of webpages on the history of vampires and other related topics. If this was what really was happening to her, she wanted all of the information she could find. Better to understand than to be ignorant. A noise outside broke the silence. It sounded like something had fallen over. Possibly just a cat in the trash again.

"Hey wakeup bitch! I know you're in there!"

Unfortunately, it was no cat. In fact, it was the neighbor from down the street, Judy Gershon, who keeps accusing Veronika of sleeping with her husband.

Veronika slings the front door of her house open and steps outside, getting right in Judy's face, squaring off with her.

"What the hell is your problem coming down to my place at this time of night hollering and carrying on like this?"

"You slept with Johnny. I know you did! You can't lie to me about it I know you did it!"

"For the one hundreth damn time, I did not sleep with your husband, you stupid bitch. I don't even find him to be attractive. Also, for the record, I'm not in the mood for your shit. I've had problems of my own tonight and you are the last person I want to be talking to right now!"

Judy backhanded Veronika across the face. Veronika slowly turned back to stare at Judy for a moment, a red glow flashed in her eyes, and she pulled Judy into the house, slamming the door closed behind her.

"What the hell are you doing, Veronika?! Are you crazy?!"

Veronika slammed Judy against the wall, her fangs protruded and glistened. Judy screamed as Veronika bit the woman on the neck, drained a bit of blood, then snapped her neck. She wanted to make sure that she did not come back as a vampire. As she looked down at what she'd just done, a sort of guilty feeling suddenly came over her. There was now a dead woman in her home and she had her blood smeared all over her mouth and carpet. How was this going to be cleaned up?

Having to shower again was necessary. Veronika had not figured out to do with the body just yet. She figured she'd shower first then think about it. Better to have it all worked out instead of being rash about something so serious. She finished up her shower and dressed quickly, then walked back into the living room to get Judy's body. It was gone. Judy's body had vanished. No way she could be a vampire though. Her neck had been snapped. She couldn't possibly still be alive. As these thoughts rolled through Veronika's head, a hand slammed down on her shoulder and she spun around to face a now undead Judy; her eyes completely white from death and her head hanging at an odd angle to the right.

"You slept with my husband, you bitch!"

Undead Judy lunged at Veronika, knocking her to the ground and kneeing her in the stomach. Veronika cried out in pain, but reacted quickly by grabbing Judy by both wrists and yanking down really hard. Her arms snapped off and she fell back against the wall, continuing to scream an endless array of threats .

"I've heard quite enough from you, Missy," Veronika said flatly as she slammed her foot through Judy's head. Vampires and undead neighbors with grudges….what a night. Being a vampire was definitely going to be interesting.