Chapter 1- Fangirls? I Think Not...
It was a dark and stormy night. Sorry about the cliche, but that's how best I can describe it. I was seated, absorbed in my Anne Rice novel as my friend and fellow vampire, Ted, shrieked curses at her new favorite violent vampire video game...Blood Omen 2.
I eyed my female friend (yes, Ted IS female) mysteriously over the pages of "Vittorio the Vampire" as she hurled insult after insult at the virtual vampire through the screen. Had he been alive, I would've witnessed the death of my friend. Sighing and slowly shaking my head sympathically, I returned to reading...
Only to feel the substance of Cherry Coke splatter onto my head...
"Why don't you just shut it off, Ted?" I asked her as the controller whizzed past my head and I reached for paper towels to dab off my face.
"Because Sebastian just effen killed me AGAIN!" she muttered, tossing the long, walnut brown hair she kept back in a ponytail.
Ted has dark, copper-colored skin and almost-black eyes. It's easy for her to escape the attentions of wannabe vampire hunters. She also has a fondness for Indian style beads and buckskins. She tells me she was part of the Shoshone tribe before she was turned, and I could believe her. Me, I look like a 20's It-girl. Ya don't know what that is? Think of Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago. You know, flapper dresses, hair cut just below the ears, rhinestone jewelry, zoot suits? Yup, that's me, the living Time Warp.
My name is Antonie. I'm a lot more mature then my Indian friend, but she's a bit more down-to-earth then myself. While I enjoy quiet nights reading beautifully written novels of deadly vampires, seductive maidens and multilating demons, she enjoys witnessing it all in action movies, comics and video games rather then picturing it within her mind. She's somewhat of a hacker as well...
One time (an unfortunate time) she had managed to hack into the Soul Reaver game, and actually created her own character from the data she added in. Then she put it in her computer, recorded her own voice into the data, and changed the entire role of Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2. I can only imagine what she's gonna do when LoK Defiance comes out!
I resumed reading my book until I heard some odd crackling noises and Ted swearing. I looked over at her to see that she had accidentally spilled her Cherry Coke all over her PS2. A moment earlier she'd been trash talking to the green, pixellated vampire. The game had frozen up, and he looked furious. I set down my book and ran for the paper towels.
"Here, Ted, let me help you wipe that up..."
"Thanks, Tonie..." Ted said as she clutched what was left of.
"No problem." I wiped off the top of the PS2, noticing that the television screen suddenly seemed more like a window to the world within the game, and that the green vampire whose name I didn't recall suddenly seemed terrifyingly real. I watched in openmouthed horror as he reached for Ted.
"I've had enough of your mouth, wench!" he growled as he took her by the back of the shirt and dragged her into the screen.
Of course, I dropped the paper towels and dove in after Ted. What? You can't expect all vampires to be heartless fiends who just let their buddies get sucked into a video game, can you?
"I'M COMING TED!!!!!" I hollered as I crashed onto the ground.
I landed roughly onto a stone floor, smacking my forehead off the ground. After muttering some intense profanity, I heard my exact words out loud only a few feet infront of me. That green vampire, the one who took Ted, he had her by the throat, holding her up in the air. It was then I felt at least four pairs of arms reach out and grab me as well, holding me back from the vampire holding up Ted.
"Let me go!" I shrieked at the female vampire who was holding me back.
She was dressed like a skank, clad in what looked like leftovers from the Victoria's Secret underwear sale and a special on armor from a Renaissance clothing website. She kept her black hair up in a high ponytail and had incredibly tacky tattoos on her face.
"And put some clothes on," I muttered under my breath.
The green vampire eyed me mysteriously, taking his eyes off the struggling Indian in his claw. Just as he did this, she rose up her legs and kicked him hard in the chest. This took him by surprise that her kick was that hard, but when she saw the furious glare build up, Ted's face had been painted a picture of fear and panic.
"Please...let us go..." I said more softly, this time directing my attention toward the tall green vampire, "She had no idea that you actually existed behind the screen, she had no idea that..."
"But does that excuse her behavior?" bellowed the green vampire.
"No..." I admitted softly. Then I heard Ted mutter "Fangs, fangs!"
While I wasn't certain what she meant, I had an idea. You see, when one has been a vampire for as long as Ted and I, one becomes rather adept at hiding her fangs. So...I decided to expose my fangs for this angry mob of vampires to see. Relunctantly, the green vampire slowly placed Ted onto the ground. Then he removed his claw from her throat. My friend placed her hand to her throat, seeming to almost massage it as she inhaled massive amounts of air. But before she knew it, I had crashed into her, knocking her over.
"You're okay! You're okay!" I cried, causing her to gack.
"Yeah.. get off..." she stammered.
"Who...are you?" asked the Jolly Green Vampire (heh, couldn't resist).
"My name's Antonie," I said quietly, deteching myself from Ted, "But you can call me 'Tonie' for short if you want."
"And...I'm...Ted..." gasped my friend, still massaging her throat.
"I am Vorador," said the green vampire, probably more for my benefit than Ted's, as Ted already seemed to know who he was. Then he gestured toward little miss 'Victoria's Secret Vampire'. "This is Umah"
Umah glared daggers at me. Somehow I knew that I wasn't going to get along too well with her...