Diary of a Newborn Vampire (BOOK #1)

Sunrise

William

The drive back home was as long and agonizing as ever. I only had my thoughts to keep me company, and they plagued me with their growing darkness. What had I done? The girl was meant to die. She was supposed to die. And I made the stupid decision of stepping in and turning her into a monster.

The oncoming sunrise lit up the sky, its power already draining me. I had exerted most of my last dose of energy into this little excursion—into turning the girl. Now my muscles twitched oddly and my overall being felt weak.

I pulled into the garage, noticing the familiar set of cars reminding me that everyone was home and probably worried about where I'd gone. Surely I was in for a rude awakening. Abandoning the hunting trip had been a mistake all its own. But abandoning my coven for some wild quest to go hunt down a vigilante fit itself unacceptable.

"So nice of you to show up," Angelina announced, her usual fairly amused features pulling down into a scowl so Jane-worthy.

She stood in the doorway that led out to the garage, her dark curls tangled around her face further adding to the expression of a woman bound to burn down a whole city. Rarely did Angelina get angry, so I knew no that I'd caused a heap of trouble with my absence.

"Don't even try to deny anything. What the hell did you think you were doing?"

I brushed a hand through my hair and placed the keys on the hook beside the door. "The usual, you know."

She wouldn't budge from her place between the inside of the house and the freezing cold garage. Not that the temperature bothered me all too much though I couldn't quite place whether the chill that went down my spine had to do with it or Angelina's current wrath reigning down on me.

"Yeah, going out trying to prove yourself?" She crossed her arms, her dark eyes narrowing and filled with fire. "You do realize how stupid that sounds, right? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"But I didn't." I sighed. "So what? I just wanted to know what was up with the whole vigilante ordeal in that Newberry town. Nothing bad happened," I lied.

"There are Hunters out there William," she stated as if I was a clueless child. "They don't care whether you're a good vamp or not."

"I know," I reminded her, my chest now burning. "You and I both know I have experience with Hunters. Even if it had come down to it, I would have been just fine. But besides that fact, nothing bad happened. I went out. Scoped out your typical eastern U.S. small town. There was a party and a bunch of drunken teenagers. End of story."

Well, maybe it was only the beginning. But my thoughts were far too muddled to even begin explaining the night's full tale of events. I decided to keep it at that. If things happened, they happened. But for now—and for forever, if I was lucky enough—I would forget about it all. What my coven didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Her lips quirked to the side as she assessed me. "You're paler than usual. And there are bags under your eyes. You haven't fed yet, have you? And you're leaning more on your left leg than usual. Geez, are you twitching? You need a shot, too?"

Just like the typical sixty-five-year-old human, we vampires needed our daily dose to keep us going. Sometimes we really could manage to skip a day or two, but in the end, we needed to keep our energy levels high so that we were capable of doing what we do.

"Bernard's in the kitchen," Angelina said, finally stepping aside.

I slowly made my way into the house where everyone else waited. Jane only glared over at me for a second as she sipped a cup of coffee—probably made black just like her soul—before grumbling some British obscenity under her breath and walking away.

Victor leaned across the counter, his frame tall but hunching. He glanced up at me underneath long lashes, his expression unattainable as per usual. Jacqueline sat at the kitchen table stirring her own cup of coffee.

No, vampires didn't need a caffeine fix not even at six a.m. Truthfully, all I wanted at the moment was find the bottle of whiskey I kept hidden in the back of the pantry. I promised myself to pour a glass after taking my shot and hunter.

"Ah, there's the prodigal son," Bernard piped, his voice low and unsaturated.

He stood right over Jacqueline, a light hand on her shoulder. They'd always viewed themselves as the parental figures in our little group. After all, they were the oldest—so old they even refused to tell us their age though I know they, at least, didn't date back to the prehistoric—not to the mention the wisest.

"Before you say anything else," I started holding my hands defensively, "I want to tell you that, yes, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have gone out there. And as for disobeying your trust, I truly am sorry."

Bernard's expression barely shifted. He merely nodded. "Alright then. I believe you. And for now, I won't even bother asking any further questions. I trust you and your instincts boy. I don't believe you're all that stupid."

I swallowed, guilt drowning my bones. "Thanks."

"He needs his shot," Angelina told him. "Poor guy's bound to turn into a pile of dust the moment he walks outside or while chasing after an elk."

Victor rolled his eyes "There are so many things wrong with that statement."

She shot a grin his way. "And what do you know about the sun's power on us, Victor, huh? Have you ever walked outside after a week without Mela?"

"No," he said though the hint of a grin crept upon his lips. He pushed himself off the counter and started walking toward her. "And I have no intention to, thank you very much."

Before I had to watch the two of them cast any more affection over each other, I followed Bernard down the hallway to his study where he kept our storage of Mela. Papers were strewn across his desk and stuffed into file folders. A heavy collection of books lined the shelves all along the walls. Bernard just happened to be the definition of a mad scientist.

"I meant what I said, you know," he said, pulling the vial of golden liquid from a case. "I do you trust you."

I licked my lips and nodded as he readied the syringe. The words sat like a lump in my throat. I didn't know how to properly form them. What could I say? "Sorry, I might have accidently turned a poor girl into a vampire because I couldn't watch her die?" No, that wouldn't go over well.

Bernard has always considered human lives to be expendable. Even as a doctor in earlier eras. He knew a lost cause when he saw it whereas Jacqueline saw hope in everything and everyone—even if they didn't deserve it.

Another thought occurred to me. "Jacqueline said you went to Newberry to chase down the vigilante. When did you get back?"

"This morning," he said, avoiding my eyes. "I had some business to take care of."

"But what good could you do Newberry?" I couldn't help but ask. "I thought you always said we should leave others on their own—other vampires at least. It's the way of life, isn't it? People die. People kill. Vampires kill. We can't easily change things."

The gentle sting of the needle forced me to flinch more out of surprise than pain, but as the rush of warmth hit my veins, I felt the familiarity of it all.

"My mission wasn't to save a burning village," Bernard told me.

"But there were Hunters supposedly out there, right? If I put myself at risk going to Newberry, then so did you."

He now looked down at my with those pale gray eyes as if I was a child. "There's a difference between me and you, though, William."

I pulled my down my shirt sleeve and stood up from where I leaned against the desk. "And what might that be?"

"I think with my brain," he explained, pointing to his head. Then he reached out the same finger and jabbed me in the chest. "You, boy, think with your heart. It's not always a good thing, but in the end, you trust it. I trust it."

Little did he know my heart was just how I got into this mess.

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