Diary of a Newborn Vampire (BOOK #1)

The Mad Man

 Ava   

     William sat down with the other about the possibility of us heading to Newberry. I could tell he still didn't fully agree with the idea, but at the same time he didn't say no. I found myself scared of the rejection, so I stayed in my bedroom when William told them. All of a sudden, I heard yelling from downstairs, full of fury and confusion. Jane's voice naturally drowned out all the others with her abrupt, accented tone of fury.

"Are you an idiot?" she screamed at William. "You were the one saying that we had to stay here to ensure the safety of your little Newborn!"

"Jane," William spoke back, his voice rock-hard.

"No," Angelina jumped in. "Jane's right, Will. The Hunters are over there, remember? Newberry is the last place we need to be right now. We could all be in danger if we made the wrong move."

"Then who's going to stop them?" William asked. "If we keep running and hiding, then where are we going to get? Nowhere. You should know that better than anyone else, Jane. You've fought them before. And how did that end up for you."

Bernard's deep voice rang through a second of silence. "Are you suggesting we go in head first? Fight them before they have the chance to make their move on us?"

"They wouldn't expect it, would they? They think we're just going to sit here on our hands. We have to take them by surprise." Hope seeped through William's tone—an emotion I wasn't used to hearing from him. "They know that every vampire is hiding and living in fear of them. They won't expect someone to come knocking down their front door."

"You have gone insane!" Jane shouted again. "Has whatever you feel for this girl driven you mad? Are you really so clueless—so blind that you can't realize that every word exiting your mouth quotes an attempt of suicide?"

My chest tightened as Jane's words hit me. I was standing here hiding, waiting. Meanwhile all of this was my idea. I was the one who wanted to head to Newberry. I couldn't just let William get mauled down there.

I entered the living room in the second, finding myself in the middle of a circle of angry, and confused, curious vampires.

"Oh, so now she pops up," Jane grumbled.

William placed a hand on my shoulder. "Ava, I told you I could handle this."

"Yeah, thanks for helping. But it's not working," I said bitterly. "Let me explain. I know you all think I'm crazy and stupid for wanting to go back to a place full of people who are after our kind. Who want to kill us or experiment on us—whatever they're doing right now. But...William's right. We can't just sit around on our asses and wait for them, and we can't run away from this."

Jane crooked up an eyebrow. "So, you're suggesting we get ourselves killed?"

I swallowed. No, I wanted to tell her. I just wanted to go back to normal. Or as normal as I could get. I wanted a better life for myself. One without Hunters. One without hurt. I wanted to tell my best friend and sister how much they meant to me. I wanted to apologize to Luke for never saying yes.

But of course I wasn't going to admit any of this to Jane of all people.

Then out of all the moments for the bizarre and unexpected, the doorbell rang.

We all gazed around in bewilderment. Victor pointed out each of us, counting. Seven vampires. Everyone here and accounted for. All tucked away in a mansion hidden in a thick forest with only a narrow gravel road leading to it.

Jane was the first one to open her mouth. "What? Do we have another annoying Newborn coming to invade our lovely home?"

William only glared at her all while Angelina's face grew pale.

"It...it's not a Newborn," she whispered. "I know the sound of a Newborn. Their heart still beats only the slightest as they complete transition, as the last remnants of life eases out. The heartbeat outside is full. The heart of a mortal..." She looked at all of us with wide eyes. "It's a human."

A human standing on the doorstep of a house full of vampires. It was like the tale of the pig knocking at the wolf's front door. Or did the story go the other way around? I could never remember.

"Maybe someone got lost," I suggested. "Maybe they found the road and were going to turn around. Maybe they noticed that the lights were on."

We glanced around at each other, all afraid to answer the door. Bernard finally stepped up, being the man of the house. He walked to the door with Jacqueline tagging along behind him. The rest of us stayed in the living room still and listening to the thudding heart right outside the door.

Bernard opened the door. Then Jacqueline gasped.

The eyes of every vampire in the room lit up. The scent of fresh blood entered the room. So pure, so innocent. Human blood exposed to the outside world. And it stood only feet away. The last place this particular human needed to be was on the welcome mat of a bunch of vampires.

"You have to go," a voice wheezed. "You have to go. You have to...have to stop them. He told me...he said to warn you. That you could help. That you needed to know."

The room echoed with the thud of the human's body hitting the floor. Bernard screamed for help. I headed to the foyer with the others, but then Angelina grabbed my shoulders and started pulling me away towards the back door.

"You can't go in there," she hissed through her teeth. "Newborn or not, you can't be around human blood in your state. It takes years of practice and strength to get used to it. You can't go in there, Ava."

I gazed over her shoulder at the huddle of vampires. In between Victor and Jacqueline, I could see the familiar tuft of blond hair a structured jaw outlining a face I knew well. All of a sudden, Angelina could no longer hold me back.

"Ava!" she called after me.

I shoved my way through the cluster of vampires and dropped down to my knees leaning over the boy who loved me even when I couldn't love him back. The same fog that had been in Liv's eyes clouded his. And his neck was stained with dried blood. More began oozing out.

I held my breath, pulling my hand to my nose. "I know him," I told the others, my voice shaking. "Luke, what happened to you? Why are you here? How did you find us? Dear God."

Bernard pressed the scarf Jacqueline had been wearing to Luke's neck. Luke sputtered inaudible sounds. I bent closer to him even though I could feel the grasp of William's hands on my arms trying to hold me back.

"Ava..." Luke muttered.

Then his light eyes drifted shut. Not another word left his mouth.