Hello everyone, it's been one year since I first posted this Halloween story and have finally finished the re-edit (but I could edit forever there is always a typo somewhere. ;-)

Now it is Halloween again and everyone knows that the ending is not as spooky as it seems, I invite you to re-read Midnight Fairytale and invite your friends to read the story too. It is a love story first, before it is an adventure or monster story.

Below is a reposted revised Hints chapter that explains the story's deeper themes. I apologize this is not a new story chapter posting, but this is a completed work.

HINTS

This story was conceived as a love story between Ranger and Stephanie with a creepy vampire in the background to add suspense and action. Only a few chapters were written and then it was put away. It was mainly written to be spooky at the time.

4 years passed and I was a different person, but didn't realize it when I decide to dust off the story and post it. Instead of a spooky adventure love story the main theme was about facing a unsurmountable problem in an overwhelmingly powerful enemy. In other words, you are trapped in a hard situation with no way to escape. What will you do? Stories of what people do in these situations always interest me, if they do not spiral into darkness. Because they could become distraught and mean, give up and wait for death, do a bucket list, or fight back until the bitter end. Of course, Stephanie decides to fight on, faces her fear of the dark and every fear in between and wins. :-)

As the story progressed it wasn't just about a situation where Stephanie is trapped by a powerful foe with no escape. The vampire represents what was emotionally going on in her life. The vampire literally drains away her blood and life. But others did this to her all through her life before he arrived. They demanded she give away her life through time and energy by doing what they wanted until she was exhausted. But it was never enough, and she never earned their complete approval or love.

The vampire was at least, satisfied with her blood. But he is still seizing her life without permission and arrogantly saying she should be grateful. It is easier to show a person defeating an actual dark creature than shaking off emotional chains. Once a vampire is killed it is gone. But writing about escaping the grasp of human emotional vampirism is more vague and harder. But this type of emotional trap is something we see in real life, and an actual vampire is purely fictional.

When Stephanie is bitten, the thoughts of the people who were emotional vampires surface in her mind. This happens while she is thinking to distract her mind from the physical pain of the actual vampire bite. She sees it clearly for the first time and the heartache she finds is more painful than the vampire bite, so she turns back to the physical pain instead. The emotional vampirism is wholly introduced in the bite chapter at Hayward, but it is revisited again at the Plum dinner chapter and then briefly each time Ranger's love supports her in believing in herself and not letting the demands of others tug her askew.

Eventually, she decides to follow what she feels is right instead of trying to please others to win their love. Ranger's love doesn't need to be earned. This acceptance is freeing in a new way and she can be herself.

This allows her to begin to set boundaries with her mother without Ranger's help. This is seen in the epilogue when she tells her mother she will not invite her to the big wedding because her breach in security protocol hurt Ranger. This halts her mother's ranting, and she immediately leaves the room without further fuss. Stephanie realizes that people who withheld love or approval unless she complied, never offered anything but an illusion.

That is why the Hayward vampire bite scene is rather long and at times violently painful. If it was just the physical consumption of a vampire, I would shorten it. But the chapter also represents the emotional pain of human vampirism that is more devastating than an actual physical bite. It is written in a way that prevents Ranger from rushing in and saving her. There is a moment where she is bitten, and her arms fly out as she arches back and her hands are described as reaching silently for someone to save her but there is none to save. This is because in a way, a person in a toxic bond of emotional vampirism is all alone. Even if there is someone who loves her in her life, sometimes she will not feel their love. She is doing all she can to please and win love from the emotional vampires. But these people will never be pleased and will always consume. If the person is bent on winning their love, it can be devastating. No one can save her until she steps away from the toxic bond and believes in herself and another's love. I am no expert. I am only an observer of people and interactions, but writing my observations out in a story is rather cathartic for me.

If Ranger had rushed in that day at Hayward without knowing the Unmentionable was there, he would have been killed. Stephanie knew this. It was her greatest fear. The thought of Ranger dying struck her with greater fear than her own death.

The Vampire can only be destroyed when both lovers work together with all their might, thinking of the other more than themselves or their own anger or upset. It is the only way to throw off the emotional chains of deep wounds and heal with true love. Both Stephanie and Ranger were able to do this for each other and defeat the vampire. Though the story focuses on the freeing and change of Stephanie more than Ranger's change.

Ranger's transformation through love is not as obvious as Stephanie's. But it is there. He no longer pulls away or stays on the periphery of her life. He grabs on tightly, despite the risk of heartbreak and disaster, and owns the relationship. He also had a few issues to work through, but when he sees she won't run away, he calms down and stops worrying she will disappear on him.

No one wants their heart played with, even strong silent types like Ranger. He won't stand for anything, or anyone coming in between them, and he will protect her from everything possible. That is why he does not allow anyone else to train her on the mini stake he specially designed for her. He warns her he is not as fast as a vampire, not to discourage her, but so she will always wait for him, so he can do the fighting whenever possible. He doesn't want her to dash in and get hurt.

Ranger's transformation is seen with more openness, laughing, and expression of his feelings. It comes from the safety Stephanie offers, allowing him to experience and express feelings he previously didn't have the ability to understand. The transformation is subtle because the story does not focus on him. Sometimes he will tell you what he is thinking and how things are different now she is by his side. He can laugh and enjoy things in a quiet moment with her, instead of resting in isolation before returning to the daily battle of gauging if he is winning or losing.

Authors Update

Since writing Midnight Fairytale, I wrote a bit. One story was hilarious and more mainstream in plot. I laughed over one section for a week when I was working and trying to keep up with postings for Midnight. I must have been a tad delirious, because when I came back months later to read what I wrote, it was crap. Not even funny at all. Completely disappointing. So I just stopped right there. I didn't even know where to begin rewriting it. How in the world did I laugh over that for a week? I must have been really tired.

A month or two ago, I started another story and wrote 5 chapters. So far it does not have a full plot outline in my head. I need at least a skeleton of a story to keep moving. A beginning, basic middle, and end to aim for. So that one is resting while the rest of the middle and ending form. It isn't supernatural either. I went back to the first one, read it through, and for some reason it didn't suck anymore. It wasn't hilarious, but it was amusing, so there is hope. I added another chapter. If I get 10 chapters I will find betas to pilot read it to see if it makes good story sense and if it has some of the basic emotions I was going for etc. It seems I missed my target audience on this website with Midnight Fairytale, heehee, so beta readers would be a good idea.

Considering that, the readers were kind to me and I had a surprisingly great response writing a JE story with a vampire. I thank all the readers that followed me and this story. I greatly appreciate it. You are the reason I completed all the hundred thousand words I typed. Thank you, gracias, thank you for reading my little cry into cyberspace.

wherever you are, happy reading.