Diary of a Newborn Vampire (BOOK #1)

The Welcome Committee

Ava

"William!" Angelina and Victor came running up the stairs and made a failed attempt to pull the man off of me.

"What are you doing?" Angelina screamed at him. "Get off of her!"

The man's--no, he was younger--back slammed up against the wall underneath Victor's fist. I noticed the deeper features of William's face now that he was in the light. He was tall and muscular, his body ripped by the T-shirt that crossed his chest. His lips were curled up in a snarl, and his eyes were dark and menacing.

"Why is she here?" he screamed. "Why did you bring her here?"

Angelina helped me off the floor. "This is Ava. She's a Newborn. I was offering her a place to stay. But what are you doing home, William? You're supposed to be out hunting with the others. How long has it been--"

"I'm fine," he claimed, his eyes staring holes through my head. I quickly looked away, avoiding them and their intensity. "Why did you bring her here? If she's a Newborn, she'd be better off on her own. You can't force anything on them. You know that, Angelina."

A strange look crossed Angelina's face, and her eyebrows furrowed inwards. "William, I would greatly mind if you avoided speaking about Ava as if she's not here. She's just like us, you know. She still has feelings."

I wanted to crawl into a hole right now. Never had I felt like such a pariah. William shoved himself away from Victor and took a few steps back.

"Sorry," he said in a low, demeaning voice. "Just next time we have a guest over, I would like to be informed. That's all I ask."

He ducked back down the hallway and into a room a couple of doors down from mine. Angelina and Victor stood there unmoving. Victor still standing tall and unfazed, and Angelina annoyed with her arms crossed over her chest.

"And that," she sighed, "is William."

I straightened my shirt which had twisted around and fallen lopsided off my shoulder. "What's his problem?"

"He's not a huge fan of people, especially strangers. I don't know. He always been weird, but that was really off. He has been really off lately. Most of the time he's your typical vampire, all reclusive, only roaming in the middle of the night. He rarely ever sees the sun."

"Wait," I paused. "You mean you--we can go into the sunlight. That we won't blow up or become human disco balls or anything like that?"

Victor chuckled from behind me. "Of course not. Those are all myths or silly stories written for teenagers. You shouldn't always believe what you read."

"But," Angelina held up a halting hand. "Things do happen to us if we go into the sunlight without proper treatment."

I leaned my back against the wall, my body tired from the whole confrontation and everything else that had happened over the last few days. "Treatment? Like what?"

"Mela," she said. "It's a special injection we vampires are lucky enough to have. It counteracts the sun's effects on us. We'll give you one tomorrow morning if you'd like. They have to be taken every few days to last."

"And if someone doesn't take one?" I asked her thinking of any other potential Newborn running around alone and oblivious to such just as I was only minutes ago.

"I don't know. I've never been around one who hasn't had their shot, but I've heard the horror stories. If you don't take one, you grow extremely weak. There's probably a cure out there or some other proper treatment--maybe a stronger form of Mela--but if you go out without it, you're screwed. You get weaker and weaker and they you just die away. Sun poisoning is the only sickness known to kill a vampire."

I took a deep breath. The thought of dying such a slow and painful death seemed far worse than what I faced. Becoming a vampire was once thing, but being a sick vampire another.

My stomach turned all warm and fuzzy with gratitude for Angelina and Victor. Newberry didn't have people like them--no, not just vampires--but people who were willing to help. It made me guilty over the life I had lived.

Damn, these emotions. It was like my head and heart were bound to explode at any minute.

"Are the others like this?" I motioned in the direction William had stalked off and slammed his door.

Victor shrugged and Angelina elbows him in the ribs.

"For the most part, everyone is okay," she explained. "There are three others besides us. Bernard is sort of like our leader, but Jacqueline really wears the pants in the relationship. They're married and have been for centuries. No one really knows how long they've been around. They refuse to tell us."

I bit my lip, nodding. "Okay. And the other one?"

"That's where I feel like I'd be lying to you if I said we were all angels." Angelina quirked her head to the side like she was trying to find words to describe the other vampire. "Jane...She's been through a lot in her lives. She doesn't tend to share much more than her harsh opinion. Oh, and she despises being a vampire."

Now, I couldn't blame her for that. Who the hell wanted to be cursed to the life of an outcast? So far, being a vampire was so much harder than being a human. There were so many rules and restrictions and risks. So many rights and wrongs. Every day was a struggle, just making sure you did everything right.

Victor sidled up beside Angelina. "She surely won't like that fact that you're here. William may be able to walk away, but Jane's not going down without a fight."

"She sounds splendid," I said dryly.

"Just don't worry about it right now," Angelina insisted while flitting her hand through the air. "You're supposed to be in your room resting. You shouldn't be out here worrying about what may or may not happen tomorrow. We'll talk to Jane and the others the minute they get back. We'll explain everything to William so he doesn't rip your head off the next time you two encounter each other. Everything will be alright, and you can stay here as long as you want."

I swallowed and attempted to flash back a gracious smile, but if anything it felt painful. I hated sticking out. It was the whole reason I lived the way I did in my human life. And now I was the new girl in a house filled with vampires--those who would tolerate me and those who might attack the minute I walked into the room.

But this is it.

There was nothing else out there for me. This was all I had--my only chance. And I had to make it work.