peered out. Typical that her mother would wear sunglasses even when it was dark. Her hair was in rollers, a sign she was preparing to go out, probably to one of her stupid society functions.
At the sight of her mother, Vivian’s newfound rage began bubbling to the brim. She clenched her hands into fists.
“What are you doing out here?” her mother cried, using the high-pitched critical voice that set Vivian’s nerves on edge. “You’re meant to be getting ready for the Sandersons’ party!” She paused as Vivian took a step into the light. “Dear God, you look like death! Come inside quickly so I can sort out your hair.”
Vivian’s long, blond hair had once been her pride and joy – the source of envy amongst her school peers and a powerful magnet for hot boys – but right now, Vivian couldn’t care less about how it looked. All she could think about were the new sensations ricocheting through her body, the gnawing hunger in the pit of her stomach, and the desire to kill that pulsated through her veins.
“Come on!” her mother snapped, making the rollers on her head quiver. “What are you just standing there for?”
Vivian felt a smile tug up the corner of her mouth. She took another slow step toward her mother. When she spoke, her voice was cold and emotionless.
“I’m not going to the Sandersons’ party.”
Her mother glared back, her glance filled with hatred.
“Not coming?” she cried. “That is not an option, young lady. This is one of the most important events on the calendar this year. If you don’t come all kinds of rumors will start flying. Now hurry, we only have an hour before the car arrives. And look at your nails! You look like you’ve been crawling through dirt!”
She wore a look of incredulity, mixed with disbelief and shame.
Vivian’s anger only deepened. She thought of the way her mother had treated her her entire life, always placing her prized society functions first, only caring about Vivian inasmuch as she fit into the perfect image she wanted to project to the world. She hated this woman, more than she could say.
“I’m not going to the Sandersons’ party,” Vivian growled, as she stepped ever closer.
She realized then that there was a word for what she was doing: stalking. It was what pack animals did in the wild as they approached their prey. A thrill of anticipation ran through her as she watched her mother’s expression change from frustrated to fearful.
“I’m not going to the Sandersons’ party,” Vivian said again, “or the Johnsons’, or the Gilbertons’, or the Smythes’. I’m not going to another party ever again.”
The look in her mother’s eye was something Vivian never wanted to forget.
“What’s gotten into you?” she said, this time a nervous tremble in her voice.
Vivian stepped closer. She licked her lips and cracked her neck.
Her mother stepped back, horrified.
“Vivian…” she began.
But she did not get a chance to finish.
Vivian pounced, teeth bared, hands outstretched. She grabbed her mother, wrenched her head back, and sank her teeth into her neck. Her Prada sunglasses flew to the ground and she trampled them beneath her feet.
Vivian’s heart beat faster as the sharp metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. And as her mother fell limp in her arms, Vivian felt an overwhelming sense of triumph.
She let go and her mother’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground, nothing but a heap of twisted limbs and designer clothes. Her dead eyes stared directly at Vivian, unseeing. Vivian stared back down and licked the blood from her lips.
“Goodbye, Mother,” she said.
She turned and ran across the shadowy garden, running faster and faster, and the next thing she knew she was flying, up into the night air, over their immaculate estate, and into the cold, cold night. She would find the man who did this to her – and she would tear him limb from limb.
CHAPTER FOUR
A full moon was glowing above Kyle, making the trees that lined Vivian’s suburban street look like skeleton silhouettes. He licked the dried blood off his lips, savoring his delicious kill, recalling Vivian’s expression of fear and terror. It sustained him. She would, he resolved, be the first of many, the first victim in the vampire army he was about to build.
The high school. That would be next. He had a burning desire to find the girl who’d turned him – Scarlet. Perhaps she would be there – or someone would who knew where she was.
If not, it was just as well – there would be an endless supply of young kids to turn. Ever since feasting on Vivian, he’d gotten quite the taste for teenagers, and he liked the idea of an obedient little army following him around. More than that, he liked the idea of wreaking havoc on this town – and on the world.
Kyle began jogging along the sidewalk, then he stopped short and laughed to himself. He remembered he was a vampire now, with the strength and skill beyond anything a human could dream of – and most importantly, the ability to fly. It was the one thing he hadn’t fully tried yet. And now he wanted to feel it all, and to feel it fully. He wanted to soar into the sky and look down at those insignificant ants going about their dull little lives beneath him. He wanted to swoop at them and hunt them down like an eagle picking off its prey.
He grinned to himself as he took two big steps and took to the air.
It was exhilarating. Wind rushed past him, tousling his hair as he flew higher and higher into the sky. Beneath him, he could see the small town lights twinkling. He thought of all the people in their homes, ignorant to the hell he was about to unleash. He laughed to himself, picturing the chaos he would soon create. Nothing would give him more joy than to ruin each and every one of their lives.
Soon Kyle saw the high school in the distance, far below. The police had set up a blockade around a large area of the neighborhood, including every road that led to the school. Each route was lined with police cars.
Idiots, Kyle thought as he flew straight over them unnoticed.
They were being willfully ignorant. Clearly, the idea of a vampire killer on the loose was too much for their little brains to handle, so they’d downgraded him in their minds to just a run-of-the-mill killer. They had no idea.
As Kyle neared the entrance to the school, he could see bits of police tape flapping in the wind from where those two men had tried to gun him down. He could see his own blood on the concrete. He clenched his fists and thought about how no one could stop him. He was immortal now. Cars, bullets, nothing could stop him.
He decided then to take the back entrance. He swooped over the athletics field, where football practice was taking place under the glare of the floodlights, and set himself down in the shadows. Using his super keen eyesight, he honed in on the two police cars parked just slightly around the corner, thinking themselves out of sight. Perhaps, Kyle thought with a smile, they were out of sight for a human. But not a vampire.
The place was in disarray. Smashed glass and litter were all over the pavement. He wondered how on earth they’d managed to convince any of the kids to stay at school. It was that willful ignorance again, he decided.
He paced toward
