Violet: Hello there! (waves gaily at screen)

Leal: Where's Vacurai?

Vi: Oh, him. I haven't seen that weirdo in a while…today, however, he said I could post my story about Shadow Falls Camp.

Leal: I've never heard of that world.

Vi: Good, because you never wanna end up there. So! I, Violet Auvergne, do not own the Shadow Falls Series or anything else I use here. Happy now? Move on.

Leal: Wait!

Violet: What is it now?

Leal: I, uh…just wanted to say that, uh…uh…uh…uh…

Violet: Ugh. We'll be here forever.

Chapter One

"Lacey…are you okay down there?" Jack crept down the steps to the basement, flashlight in hand. He had a bad feeling about this. His girlfriend, Lacey, had disappeared hours ago and he'd been searching for her since.

"I'm perfectly fine…why don't you come down here too, Jack?" With un-eagerness he pushed the door open and stepped inside, torn as to whether or not to go back. It was pitch black in the small room with the boiler, and the lanterns along the walls were out, but Jack switched on his flashlight and scanned the room.

"Lacey…w-where are you?" He noticed that his voice had become shaky.

"Over here…in the corner…" He walked forward carefully as his torch flashed and went out. A chill was sent spiraling down his spine as he felt someone next to him, and he placed his hand on the person's shoulder.

"Is that you, Lacey?" There was a bloodcurdling scream as Lacey sank her teeth into Jack's neck, and everything went black. Then the end credits rolled along the screen, and the movie ended.

While Dad peeled mom off the ceiling Vi switched the television off. Vampires never really scared her, or anything of that sort. The only thing that could frighten her was being caught wearing nothing while standing in Times Square. Man, was that was one awful dream. People were pointing and laughing at her while she'd been on display in some glass box that immobilized her and had no exit.

"Hey, Mom," asked Vi, turning back on the lights. "Do you believe in vampires?"

"No, honey. Now go get ready for bed."

"W-what? But I'm fourteen!" she protested.

"And afraid of the dark…" Her sister, Nina, smiled wickedly.

"No I'm not! Besides, there are worse things to be afraid of…such as your phobia of single taillights."

Dad stood up. "You still have to go to bed."

Vi had another one of her wicked dreams that night. She remembered wandering through some sort of maze, all the while voices muttering 'We are come to claim you…claim you…' At the end of a corridor her sister stood facing the wall. When Vi put her hand on her shoulder, asking if she was alright, Nina spun around, bared a set of fangs, and sank them into the teenager's shoulder.

That was how, at eleven thirty am, after stifling a scream, Vi came to be sitting up in bed and reading a good book. She had to admit that that movie had scared her. She couldn't say why, but it touched a nerve and made her unhappy. What's wrong with me? It's just a movie. Vampires can't be real.

"Hey there, Vi."

"What the-? Dammit, Alex! What are you doing here? You nearly scared me half to death!" Her boyfriend crept in through the window. "And how did you get in here? This is the second floor!"

"I got a really long ladder." He seated himself in a chair and glanced at the clock. "Hey, what do you say we sneak out and go paint the town red?"

"Nobody says that anymore. And besides, I'm kinda tired." Violet lay facing towards the door on the other side of the room. "Come back some other time. I need rest just like everyone else does."

He hesitantly stood up. "Okay. But I'm leaving the ladder up in case you want to come find me." Alex turned around and backed out the window. "See you tomorrow, or…" Vi heard his footsteps receding on the cobbled pathway they had put in.

"Crazy old Alex." She turned over in bed and lay on her side. Not fifty-five seconds later, she was up and getting dressed, slipping on a plaid skirt and black jacket over her punk tee and pocketing a cellphone in case she had to call someone. Honestly! Whatever got into Alex's mind must have wormed its way into hers too.

"I thought you were coming." At the bottom of the ladder her boyfriend leaned against the house wall. "Almost thought you'd changed for a minute there." The two were about to take off when the window suddenly slammed down behind them.

"Oh, great." From here Violet could see that her sister Nina had locked the window. Apparently she had no intention of opening it, either, because she closed the curtains also. "Hold on a second, Alex. Let me call her." Vi punched in Nina's number and let it ring.

"Hi, sis. What are you doing up so late?"

"You know perfectly well."

"Actually, I don't. I had no idea you were hooked up with an actual boy. So…why don't I come along with you? I haven't snuck out recently."

"No! You're not coming with us."

"Then, not only will I let mom sleep and find you out here in the morning, I'll tell her about Alex too and your night escapades. How's that sound?" Crap. Her mother had no idea she was going out with Alex, so leaving home in the middle of the night to do who-knows-what with a strange person might get Violet grounded forever. She and Alex had never done anything but make out, but even then it was in secret, so it wasn't really much of a relationship.

"Rrgh…fine. Come on. But don't expect to see any action."

"Yay!" She hung up the phone and met them on the ground.

"What's with her?"

Vi shrugged. "Dunno."

Later that night found them behind the old convenience store. They'd bought snacks at 'Java the Hut' down the road and were getting ready to eat them, but something romantic had interrupted the conversation and the lovebirds made out next to the dumpster.

"Really. Really?" said Nina, hand rested on chin. "Is this all you do while I'm stuck at home?"

"Pretty much." Vi had to break the embrace for a moment.

"I could have stayed there and played some games on my iPhone…" There was a hint of interest in her voice. "In fact, if you guys are going to take that long, I've got to introduce a couple birds to a pig."

"What's she…mm…talking about?"

"Who knows?"

Vi felt Alex's hand slip up the back of her shirt. "Whoa! Didn't know you guys were being inappropriate too." Nina smirked, but Violet wasn't happy with what her boyfriend had just done and pulled away.

"What was that for?"

"You've never done it before?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"No, I've never done it before and I don't intend to for a long time!"

"But you said that you wanted a more intimate relationship, right?"

"No you idiot, you said that!"

"Hey, I'm gonna go get some Mountain Dew real quick. I'd ask you two if you wanted any, but you're probably going to be too busy arguing to drink anything." Nina stood up and walked back around the building. The light was still on and the guy at the counter was practically asleep on his feet. She walked through the freezer section, dropped a 7up and a ten dollar bill on the counter, and waited for the man to be done snoring uncontrollably. Now that she thought about it, she'd rather be sleeping too if she wasn't spying on her sister.

"Uh, hello? I'd like to drink that sometime soon…" At the sound of her voice the clerk's eyes jolted open. "Good. Could you please just put the money in the cash register already and let me have my soda?"

He grabbed Nina's wrist. "H-h-hey! Let go of me, you jerk!"

"Human. Yum." He stepped out from behind the counter.

"What? What are you talking about? Let go!" She yanked herself free and ran for the door. Bottles broke as she darted away, but blockading the door was the weirdo pervert. How did he get here that fast? "Don't make me hurt you!" she hollered, as if she could do anything but turn around and run the other way. Which Nina did.

There, at the other exit, stood the eerily fast person. This was really creeping Nina out. She skidded on some cleaning solution and fell on her ass, crawling away from the clerk. His eyes were shifting color from green to orange to pure white and he was growling; Nina yanked a piece of glass out of her wrist and noticed she was bleeding.

The man was about to spring at her, when a metal baseball bat bashed him in the back of the head. "Keep away from my sister's…uh, sister, Vampire!" hollered Alex. Vi grabbed Nina's hand and hauled her up. "She's just a human. She doesn't know anything yet. But no thanks to your stupidity she'll…whoa, no need to get crazy!" He fended off the monster as he backed into a display.

"What's going on?" Vi stared dumbfounded. "What about vampires?"

The man swiped at Alex again. "I'll tell you later. Just go!"

Nina pulled her unwilling sister outside and held her back so she wouldn't go get herself killed too. "Alright, I'm calling 911. Maybe they know someone who's escaped from a mentally ill hospital and is posing as a store clerk."

"We can't just leave Alex! He'll die!"

"Would you rather take his place? Just stand here for a second." She held the phone to her ear and suddenly dropped it. "Oh, man, that was a new iPhone too! I just upgraded!" As she bent over to pick it up her right wrist burned bad enough to make her cry out and she sank to her knees.

"What's wrong?"

"I cut myself in there, badly, but it…stings for some reason."

Vi looked her over. "Here. Let me wrap that up." She took the scarf she'd brought and wrapped it around her sister's wrist, tying it tight to stop the bleeding. Suddenly, Violet's legs buckled and she dropped to the pavement.

"Sis? Are you…okay…?" Nina dropped also. The phone still beeped uncaringly, and the ruckus in the convenience store had stopped…

A black-haired woman wearing a black suit picked up the phone. She'd come from around the convenience store, and even her jet black eyes gave the terrifying impression of absolute power. "Hello, operator?"

"Yes, what is your emergency?"

She rolled Nina and Violet over with her foot. "I've got two girls who've collapsed. We're behind the Dart-Mart on third."

"Alright. I'm sending someone to pick you up. What's your name?"

Ignoring the question, she hung up the phone and dropped it in her suit coat pocket. This was the luckiest find of the day.

The first thing Violet's brain registered was how stupid she'd acted last night. Then she blamed Alex for leading her on, but when her vision came into view she blamed herself for nearly—or maybe actually—letting him get killed by that creep. Where am I? The…hospital? She and her sister were lying side by side in separate beds on the ground floor. They must have collapsed, or something, because it was morning now and her body felt like it was being boiled from the inside out.

'Oh, good. You're awake." Mom rushed over and clutched at my hand. "The police called us and told us what happened."

"Where's…Alex?"

"Who?"

Damn. "Nobody…I must have just dreamed about him."

Mom tilted her head inquisitively, but she didn't press. Maybe Alex IS dead…but no, that probably would have been the first thing out of Mom's mouth. "What were you thinking, sneaking out like that? It was very irresponsible of you, young lady. Where did you go, a bar? A strip club? A—no, wait, I don't even want to know. You took something, didn't you? Some sort of drug? Once we're out of here, you two are grounded for life." Yep, that sounds like Mom.

"But I—"

"No buts!" Nina stirred slowly and their mother clutched her hand. "Nina, why did you go out so late?"

"Nnh…I was following her…" She pointed in Violet's direction, and Vi silently thanked her sister. She would have said it outright—that is, if she could have moved at all without hurting and it wouldn't get her in trouble. Mom turned an eyebrow towards Violet, but again she didn't ask.

"My skin's even hurting…" said the incapacitated girl, "What the heck happened?"

There was a knock at the door, and a woman in a black suit with black hair stalked in. "Oh, right. Nina, Vi, this is Mrs.…what was your name again?"

"Oh, it's not important. My irresponsible children used to call me the Queen of Darkness, but I ignored their ridiculousness." Queen of Darkness? What a…rgh…nickname, but it is fitting.

Mom nodded, not noticing she hadn't achieved her goal. "Anyways, this lady will tell you all. While I go to the bathroom down the hall." She giggled a bit. It was always a favorite thing of their mother to rhyme on purpose, but both daughters hated it.

When the door had shut behind her—and Violet swore she wasn't just imagining this—the woman's eyes turned from dark brown to golden, then white and orange. They were her only cheery feature, but they seemed to hide terror behind them. Vi shivered.

"Let me see…" she peered at a clip board. "Let me see…ah, yes, Violet and Nina Auvergne. The two new vampires."

"Vampires? What the heck are you—" The Queen of Darkness stepped forward and caught Violet's chin, shutting her up.

"Hey, get your hands off of my sister!" The Queen bared canine teeth in Nina's direction, and both of the girls got nervous really quick.

"What I was saying was…you two have contracted a disease from someone called Vampirism which resides dormant in your veins until you come in contact with a carrier. I did not know both siblings could be carriers and keep normal, but perhaps it cancels it out."

"And your, nnh, point is?"

"You're going to go from humans to Vampires in four days. You'll need someone to keep you from killing yourself before Phase Two hits, and I know just the person." She let go of Vi's chin and grabbed an iPhone out of her pocket.

"Hey…that's my phone."

"I know who you're dialing!" Alex walked in through the wall, or so Violet thought. She was still dazed and in pain. "Put that away. I can take care of them."

"Alex…you aren't dead…"What the hell was going on? Violet felt like she was dying, or at least close to it. She was happy her boyfriend was still breathing, though.

"Yeah. I'm not that easy to kill." He faced the Queen of Darkness. "Just back away, alright? They don't need your help."

"How do you think their mother would feel about a strange man coming into their home?"

"I'd only be there at night!"

"You aren't even a vampire, so how are you going to help them?"

"I just…" He pounded the wall with his fist and a chunk of plaster shot away. "I'll find a way, alright? Now get out of here."

She scoffed. "Unlikely. You have no idea how much power I have." She waved her hand and he flew into the wall. Man…I must be hallucinating…"Now, leave before I destroy you."

"I know you real name." The Queen, instead of gasping or frowning or getting mad, merely smiled. "Who has power over who now?"

Still she eerily smiled, but Violet could tell it was a strained grimace. "Fine. You may watch them. But I will be back for both. This isn't over!" The Queen of Darkness disappeared in a puff of smoke, and that's when Vi passed out.

Again.

Violet: So you see how bad things are getting for me, right?

Leal: Yeah.

Vi: It gets worse. Please, everybody, review. Review…if you dare!

Leal: You're just as weird as Vacurai, you know that, right?

Violet: Right!

Leal: …Oh, jeez, don't tell me you ate him? Seeing as you're a vampire and all.

Vacurai: Hey, what? Violet, get off the—get off the screen! This is my account. Come to think of it, why am I typing this all as I'm saying it?

Vi: Who knows? You're just as wierd as I am.