Disclaimer: We all know the drill, I do not own Vampire Kisses or any of it's characters, although I wish I did. It all belongs to Ellen Schreiber.
A/N: This is my own little twist on the Vampire Kisses series. The Sterling's didn't move in until Raven was an adult, and she has already fallen for Trevor. Even if you hate Trevor, please read anyway because Alexander will be in it and it won't turn out the way you think it will. Read and review, my lovely little slurpees!
Years ago, atop a hill was a mansion. A mansion huge enough to be my Barbie Dream House, minus the crystal clear Jacuzzi, pastel wallpaper and plastic furniture. Instead, it held trails of cobwebs in every corner of every room. There was nothing inside that wasn't covered in lovely dust.
The legend of the mansion on Benson Hill was that a Romanian baroness traveled here to Dullsville in pure isolation. No family or friends, just the Romanian baroness and her servants. She was terrified of strangers. But I don't blame her, these Dullsvillians freak me out too.
In the evenings she would sit by the highest window in the house, and gaze out at the moon. But she died. The mansion was boarded up ever since and stood atop that very hill as an eyesore to the whole town. But in my eyes, it was absolutely beautiful. Nobody ever claimed it.
Not until one week ago. One week ago today. The proof was right outside the mansion in a big white moving van, workers carrying in beat up antique furniture and big crates marked SOIL.
I didn't know exactly what the SOIL boxes were for. But I know one thing for sure: vampires sprinkle soil from their home land around their coffins. Did I believe in vampires? Did I really think a vampire family finally claimed that house? Well, yes and no. For all I know, the boxes could be used for gardening. They could always be a family decked in plaids, pinstripes and khakis who will plant the whitest lilies everywhere and set up a bird fountain. Just because the mansion was like that now, didn't mean it was going to remain that way.
"Wake up, witchy!"
I slowly opened my eyes, heavy with sleep. My brother was yelling and pounding on my door to wake up. Obviously, he memorized my work schedule. That little nerdy pest is going to become a stalker someday for sure. I was dead tired and still had a hangover from last night's party. It was my eighteenth birthday and that meant I was in control. No more curfew, and that meant I decided when I would come home at. Being the irresponsible person that I am, I didn't get in the door until a little after four in the morning. Glancing at my alarm clock and the schedule I had scotch-taped to my painted grey wall, I was informed that I didn't get much sleep last night and needed to be at work in three hours.
But there was something I wanted to do. Something I felt I couldn't hold back from at least trying.
It was last night, my eighteenth birthday. Trevor threw a wild party at his house, music blaring and all the beer an underage girl could drink. When the party was over, I was cuddling on the sofa with my boyfriend of two years, Trevor Mitchell.
Okay, okay, we're complete opposites. I wear black lace and combat boots and he wears designer jeans and loafers. But that wouldn't stop our love. Trevor was seriously feeling me up big time, a can of cheap beer in my hand, not exactly aware of where this night would take me.
"You know monster girl," Trevor whispered seductively in my multi-pierced ear. "The mansion's taken."
My heart sank. Trevor and I had plans to run away and live there after graduation, get married and have kids someday. It may seem impossible to afford that house, but Trevor's dad had enough money in the bank to buy several mansions. But now that the mansion was occupied, our dreams were crushed.
"Well, I want to see it one more time before they put up a picket fence and paint the walls white," I confessed, sadness leaking into the tone of my voice. I was only half serious when Trevor nuzzled my neck and whispered do it.
I settled for getting out of bed, taking a brief shower and throwing on some clothes. Unlike my usual over the top attire, I wore light blue jeans, a black hoodie over a grey tank top and my beat up Docs.
After passing my unusually chipper parents nursing coffee in the kitchen and grabbing a banana, I hoisted myself onto my bike and headed for Benson Hill.
Everything was in place, no fence or birdbath anywhere. But parked in the driveway was a shiny vintage Mercedes!
Could it be? Could it really be? Maybe they're not vampires, but certainly a family that was more…well, like me. I tried not to get my hopes up but I couldn't help from getting all giddy at just the thought of it.
The sun was blaring down on my pallid complexion. I'd kill if any inch of my skin was burnt, tanned or freckled. I sneaked around the back of the house. The lawn was obviously not very manicured, and the garden didn't look any better.
It was perfection.
I noticed that they hadn't finished taking the boards and nails down in the rear of the house. The same window that lead into the basement still had a crack just big enough for me to get through. I remember sneaking into the mansion's basement when I was just a tween, and I was damn proud of it. I did it for a man named Jack, so he could show off to his drunken friends. I remember how he kissed my cheek after I handed him my necklace to pose as the souvenir he "found" while venturing into the withered estate. It was sweet, but nothing compared to the countless number of kisses I shared with Trevor.
Not much had changed, there was still dust and covered mirrors scattered about the basement. I checked under one of the sheets that covered a full length mirror.
It was cracked.
I shrugged my shoulders and let the piece of sheet I was holding fall from my hands. It was possibly an accidental crack. As if a vampire caused that?
I noticed a new addition: the SOIL crates, about a dozen stacked on top of each other. One had a little white paper hanging from a string of thread attached to it, like a luggage tag. It read Romania in thick black ink.
Vampires?
As much as I wanted to believe it, I couldn't let myself think that way. I thought I was over the obsession now that I had a boyfriend, who was clearly, human.
All of a sudden I heard footsteps, slow, creeping footsteps above my head.
I realized I was just seconds away from being discovered. Now that I'm an adult, I go right into the slammer. They don't even take the 'calling your parents to rat you out' step when you're an adult.
I haven't thought of all the details, just the highlights.
I ran for the direction that I thought was the window I entered through. I couldn't do it without tripping on my shoelace and falling on my face in the process. Struggling to get to my feet, I gathered my balance and headed for the small trickle of light coming from the window, and escaped as fast as I could.
Welcome to Armstrong Travel. I was definitely making a statement. Instead of wearing my usual morbid shades, I sported a new knee-length red skirt and crystal-white blouse that hugged my curves in every direction. I couldn't go anywhere that had a designated time to be there at without being at least ten minutes late. I apologized to my boss and employee, Ruby and Janice.
"Hiya sweetie," Ruby responded, petting her dog. Ruby had a thing for wearing a lot of white. I mean, everything was white, including her dog that sat on her lap, on her white skirt. Ruby was nice, and one of the many things I loved about her is how she is totally okay with me coming in to work late, as long as I at least show up and attempt to get some work done. "Do you mind making a few copies for me?" Just because she asked me to, didn't mean I had a choice. I nodded with a smile, took her stack of papers to be copied in my arms and began copying.
As I was running the copy machine, I fiddled with my ear ring on my left ear. They were dangling little black cats on top of little black cats all the way down to my shoulder. Billy got them for me yesterday, ordered all the way from Romania, he said. It was the sweetest thing a nerdy little brother could do. I saw Janice pass by, carrying new brochures to Cuernavaca. I politely waved, but she gave me a funny look and stalked over to me in her killer high heels.
"Ray, honey, are you aware that your right ear ring is missing?" She asked me. I shook my head no, then caught a reflection of myself in the screen of the copier. It was gone. I remember putting the other one in today, it just couldn't be missing.
When I didn't reply, she shrugged her shoulders. "I was just wondering, you know," she flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "It just looks a little funny, so I wanted to let you know."
For the next two hours, I continued to fulfill my duty as a part-time travel agent. The phone rang on Ruby's desk, which was white, by the way. Ruby told me a few seconds ago that she needed to go "powder her nose" so I should keep watch for her. As I sat in her chair and answered the phone, I couldn't help but wonder why she couldn't just say "I have to go to the bathroom." Well, that's Ruby in a nutshell for you.
"Hello?" I said in a friendly-overkill voice into the receiver. Then I got the scariest news of my life.
"Raven!" It was my mother, and she sounded out of breath and probably on the edge of a heart attack at the moment. I couldn't help but start panicking at her next words. "It's you father. He has cancer."
I could've dropped the phone right then and there, letting it smash onto the crystal glass desk into a million pieces. It wouldn't really break, but it would be a very dramatic scene in a horror movie. But my grip on the phone only tightened in my warm, sweaty grasp.
"Mom…" I began, but couldn't find the right words to say. It was unbelievable that my father, the man that gets up at five in the morning just to jog, the man who hardly touches fatty foods and takes such good care of himself could have cancer.
"Just…just come home,"
"Where are you?" I questioned.
"I'm at the hospital. Find a way home, I'll come pick you up later so you can see him," she finished. Then the line went dead.
I explained the situation to Ruby, who hugged me and apologized again and again. I get it, she's sorry, but it's really not her fault. After texting Becky and waiting around for her to arrive in her pickup, the sun began to set.
I glanced out the window just as she pulled up, a pang of worry slashed across her face. I ran out of the agency and into the passenger seat of her truck.
"Rave," she began in just a whisper. She sighed. "I…I don't know what to say, I'd never expect…"
"I know, Becky. I know."
We drove in silence for what seemed like hours but was really only a matter of minutes. I just had to break the silence, but it couldn't be about my father. It had to be something excited.
"I snuck into the mansion," I blurted, and Becky nearly ran over a squirrel taking his chances and crossing the busy road through the city.
"What?" She gasped. "When? How? Raven, what's going on?"
"I snuck in," I repeated.
"Rave! You're an adult now, you need to start taking more responsibility for you actions. You could go to jail for trespassing," she scolded.
"Okay, Mom," I said sarcastically.
"So I'm really sorry about you father," she said, leaning over to hug me. I hugged her back, burying my face in her auburn locks. "Do you need me tonight?"
"I'll be fine," I lied. I was still pretty shaken up about the whole thing, I mean, would he make it? What kind of cancer was it, and most importantly, how serious is it?
I hopped out and head up my front walk, hands shaking as I opened the front door with my key. Becky didn't drive away until I shut and locked the door behind me. Man, I loved that girl, she'd put everyone else before herself in tough situations, which is good to have in a friend.
As I passed through the hall on my way to heat up dinner, I stopped and looked in the mirror. I felt a cool chill run through me and abruptly spun, facing the window. I watched as something black flew across the glass in a blur.
My heart nearly stopped.
Still shaken, I popped a square of last night's sausage lasagna in the microwave and climbed the stairs into my bedroom to search for the missing ear ring. My room may be a cluttered tornado, but my jewelry was always in place inside my jewelry box. Not finding what I was looking for, I turned on my heel to exit the room. I heard loud wind outside, and felt dazed and confused because the meteorologist called for clear skies and a silent night. I heard the beep of the microwave and nearly jumped out of my combat boots.
I could smell the heavenly cheese and tomato sauce drifting throughout my two-story residence. On my way out, I passed the best gift of all on my nightstand next to me Edward Scissorhands alarm clock. A pewter vase that held three roses were staring right at me. They were alive, yet painted black with a dark red tip. They're amazing. Trevor can really make any girl swoon, Goth or not.
Halfway down the staircase, I heard a knock on the door. I approached it slowly, because I'd been creeped out all night.
"M-Mom?" I said, but not loud enough for whoever was on the other end of the door to hear me.
"I know you're in there," called a Romanian accented voice. "Open up, I have something for you."
I gasped, my blood running cold. The phrase never talk to strangers was being screamed in my head over and over again.
"What do you want?" I yelled.
"I know you snuck into my house this morning. Come on, just open the damn door, I know you're there."
"What do you want?" I repeated, ready to call nine-one-one.
"I have an ear ring, it must be yours," he said in a now harmless sounding tone. "Little black cats?"
"I-I'm not opening the door."
"Alright, well…" he began, taking a deep breath. "I'll just leave it on the door step here, you can get it later."
I saw a shadow through the door bend down, then turn and walk down my driveway. I opened the door just a crack, and found my ear ring on the door mat, just where the man had said it would be. I snatched it and drew back into the house, watching as he got in his car and drove down my street.
It was the Mercedes from the mansion!
Suddenly, I had the crawling sensation I was being watched. I heard the wind whipping in the backyard and abruptly turned on my heel, making a dash for the kitchen. No! My conscience screamed. The back door was wide open!
"Raven, honey, are you in here?"
I almost fainted with relief. It was my mother, walking in with Billy by her side.
"Hey Mom," I greeted her. "Nerd Boy."
Billy was on his first year of high school, and he was getting a little old for my constant teasing, but I couldn't resist…it was habit. His response was a stern glare. I giggled and ruffled his hair.
"Ray, this is serious," she shook her head at me. "We need to leave. Now."
Dullsville's hospital was the same as any other. The stench of mashed potatoes and mystery meet filled the linoleum hallways. I walked in with my Mom and Billy at my side, rushing to the service desk, because my Mom was just here a half hour ago and it's too much trouble to write down the room number.
"Hi, can I help you?" She flashed a smile, freshly whitened.
"Paul Madison," my Mother told the lady. She had on hot pink cat-eye glasses and Scooby Doo scrubs. I fiddled with my finger ring while she typed away at her computer. She wrote the name and directions on a sticky-note and handed it over.
After dodging food carts and panicking surgeons, we came to my father's room. I could have broken into tears when I saw him.
"Hey Dad," I whispered, biting my black lip to keep from crying. I haven't seen him much this week thanks to his constant golf tournaments and my outrageous partying. "Hey."
"Sweetheart," he choked back a moan. He was obviously in pain, his leg wrapped up. He had undergone surgery to have a mole removed, according to the chart on the bottom of his bed. "Happy birthday."
"Thanks, Daddy." I leaned over and hugged him as tight yet gently as I could.
Skin cancer. Melanoma skin cancer, the most serious and deadly type of cancer. I prayed silently to God he would be okay. So many listings in the obituaries for deaths of cancer, the majority of the victims having this. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't it be somebody else?
Mom was in distress and Billy boy was crying his eyes out after our trip to the hospital. It was past midnight, and I was curled up on my bed, reading the sweet nothings Trevor had texted me during the day.
Planned sumthin specia morrow. (;
My mind went on a thousand journeys after reading that text, wondering what the surprise Trevor had planned for me could be. My phone vibrated and I received yet another text. It was from an unknown number. Who could be texting me, and especially this late? Becky, Trevor and my parents are the only people who had my number.
Love vampires?
Yes, of course I loved them, but I wasn't as obsessed and crazed as I used to be. I glanced around at the variety of ghoulish posters and pictures tacked to my bedroom wall. Nosferatu. Anne Rice. Dracula. My phone buzzed again.
I'm thirsty.
Care to share a bite?
I let out a little yelp, snapped my phone shut and stuffed it under my pillow. Rubbing my eyes, which were smeared with charcoal eyeliner and heavy from the lack of sleep, I stood and paced the room. This just had to be some kind of practical joke, someone trying to piss off the Goth girl from school. There are no vampires after me.
On my way to the kitchen for some tea and a sleeping pill, a shadow passed me in the hallway. This wasn't some harmless shadow, I mean this was a shadow that was really wolfing down the steroids.
I heard the flapping of wings mixed with the vehement thumping of my heart. Something the size of a softball glove flew over my shoulder and into my hair which was wet from my previous shower.
I screamed and dropped to my knees, yanking at the unknown thing in my hair. What was in my hair to begin with?
It untangled itself from my midnight locks and flew into the kitchen, through the dining room and down the stairs to the basement.
Taking a few deep yet shaky breaths, I grabbed the flashlight out of the hall closet and retreated down the basement stairs. Most girls, unlike me, would be terrified of venturing into a basement alone, especially at night. Tonight was different, though. I always do exactly what any victim would do in the typical horror movie; take the path that obviously leads you straight to danger.
Taking one step at a time, I shined the light down the path. The Madison family had the typical basement; dusty, a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house and filled with useless junk. As soon as I reached the bottom, I began to search.
I highly doubt the mysterious flying creature was a bird. But maybe, just maybe, it was a bat. Birds come out in the day and bats are nocturnal.
I don't believe in vampires anymore.
A cool air startlingly over came me. The flashlight fell from my chipped black nail polish painted fingers and blacked out. I picked it up. The batteries were still in tact, but it refused to turn on.
"Damn," I muttered under my breath.
It all happened too quickly then. A crash, a scream and a searing pain traveling up my left arm.
A light flashed. The light from my flashlight, and I could make out a few illuminated facial features. A nose, pale red lips and eyes like daggers. One eye was an aquamarine blue, and the opposite was an emerald green. They stared into my eyes, as if looking into my soul, my future…
"Wh-Who…who are you?"
"Jagger," he answered. I didn't exactly want to know his name, more so wanted to know what he was doing here and why he was in my basement. "What's your name?"
"Is th-that any of your business?"
He leaned his head back, and let out a menacing laugh that was similar to the laugh of The Count from Sesame Street. I was startled, and backed up a few inches.
"Aww," he lamented and drew closer and closer until my back was up against the corner of the room. "Is the little human scared?"
"H-human?" I repeated.
He winked the blue eye at me and opened his mouth. I could swear I heard a hiss after that. He had white teeth, whiter than anything Ruby ever adorned herself or her office space with. He smiled wickedly and I saw the unbelievable.
Two. Sharp. Fangs.
I gasped, shaking like a leaf when he leaned down, almost too fast, and sank his serrated teeth into my flesh. My heart began to race, my breath coming short. Warm blood trickled down my neck. Everything was a blur, and my mind seemed to become a wind tunnel, blowing in all different directions. All I felt was the pain of the bite, heard the laugh of the biter and tasted the fear of myself, the bitee.
I felt like I was being spun at lightning speed in a never-ending circle until it all faded, and all I could see was black.
The next thing I knew I was sitting at the kitchen table, swirling my spoon around in a miniscule serving of Count Chocula. My neck was throbbing, and my joints were aching. I did not dream any of this. I'm tired. I obviously didn't get a second of sleep last night. My bed was untouched. Everything felt so real. I was bitten. Who was that guy? I'm not going to ask what was that guy. The only fitting answer to that question would be vampire. And I knew that already.
"Raven," Nerd Boy sing-songed, in an immature lovey dovey tone. "You're boyfriend's here."
I stirred a heap of sugar into my black travel mug, grabbed my bag and ran out the door. Trevor's brand spanking new sports car was parked in my driveway, and Trevor, the hottest guy on the face of the planet, was leaning against the door sporting faded jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt that let his ripped, tan chest peek through.
I almost melted.
I ran to him, relieved and hyperactive that he was here, I was here, we were both safe and everything was back to normal.
"Trevor!" I squealed, throwing my arms around his neck and squeezing him tight. "I am so glad to see you!"
"Missed you too," he told me, giving me a quick peck on the lips.
"I did it," I confessed in a whisper, and I couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face. "I snuck into the mansion!"
"I didn't think you really had the guts to do it."
"Hey, I'm full of guts," I jabbed, punching him playfully in the stomach. He chuckled. "And thanks to your little challenge, I could've got thrown in the slammer!"
His eyes became wide with worry. "You got caught?"
"Almost," I answered.
He shook his head. "I'm sorry."
"You better be," I scolded. "I'm never going in there again. Don't you know the first thing about sneaking into places?"He gave me a funny look, signaling that he is the "good boy" and never sneaks around anywhere. Yep, that's Trevor Mitchell for you.
"You do it when no one is around!"
I stomped around the back of the car in a huff, climbed into the passenger side and slammed the door. I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the fresh leather that only I sat on. I stared out the windshield in a daze as raindrops began to fall and splash against the unbreakable glass.
Trevor got in and started the car. The heater automatically clicked on. It was Autumn and was beginning to get a little colder out, which I liked better than the blazing summer heat. I was instantly warmed by that and Trevor's presence.
"Come on, babe," he whined in an apologetic tone. "Don't be mad at me."
He leaned over and began to kiss my neck. I sighed. "Okay," I reconciled. "I forgive you."
"That's my monster girl," he laughed. He worked his way up my chin and began kissing across my cheek before finally reaching my lips, covered in a thin layer of morbid lipstick.
I remembered that nickname, which stuck with me since kindergarten.
He pulled out of the driveway as the rain really began to pour. I rubbed the side of my neck where I am almost sure I was bitten at. I searched for words to say, not knowing if I should explain or not. There's a good chance that if I do open my mouth about it, I would wind up in a straight jacket.
"I had this," I began, laughing softly without humor. "Crazy dream last night."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah…I was bitten by a vampire," I whispered. He looked over at me, then laughed and pet my hair.
"You're adorable," he said, turning a corner and leaning over to kiss me. I melted into his lips then a beeping horn knocked me out of my trance and turned Trevor's attention back to the road. I giggled.
"But the weird part was…it just felt so…"
"Good?"
I just shook my head.
"I had a dream too," he confessed. "Me and you were gettin' it on, and Becky was over there, and you were talking about how you always wanted to try it with a girl…"
"Oh, bite me, Trevor," I upbraided as we pulled into the parking lot of Dullsville's own Hell, High School.
"Anytime you want." He kissed my neck, took my hand and we headed for class.
THIS STORY HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. PLEASE MESSAGE ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN OBTAINING THE RIGHTS TO PICK UP WHERE I LEFT OFF.