The Vampire's Curse

Chapter One

Chapter one

Las Vegas, Nevada 2014

The first day of a college semester is always hectic. Not just for the students, but for the professors as well. Today was no different for Nikolai Kavanah. This was his first class teaching in Las Vegas, Nevada at UNLV. He had taught at many schools in his life, but never in the deserts of Nevada. Las Vegas is a party city, and for a man trying to remain in the fringes and not draw attention to himself, ending up in Las Vegas was the last thing he ever planned on doing. It was the curse. Every time he thought he was getting the better of it, something would happen that he swore was not his doing. Ending up teaching Vampire Legends and Lore at UNLV, was one of those times.

It's a bit ironic; Nikolai thought to himself, that this is a night class. As a vampire, Nikolai was subject to certain limitations, but not the ones that most books and movies alluded to. He could go out into the sunlight; however he did not care for it and it made him very tired. He could walk into a church and not combust; crucifixes were not anathema to him. He could even eat human food if he had to. All the stereotypes that belonged to his people were just that, stereotypes. Hardly any of them were true, and he was about to start teaching a class full of those lies.

Nikolai looked at his watch and saw that it was 5:30 pm. Time to head to his classroom and get his class ready; he grabbed his briefcase and left his office. As he was walking down the hallway to his class, he thought back to the first time he had to teach. It was back in Ireland, in the small village of his people. He was teaching his son how to herd the sheep. They were out in the meadow above his small farm with their dog Basil. He was teaching his son the different commands used with the dog so the dog would know where to herd the sheep to. Back then he still spoke Gaelic. It had been so long since he had spoken the language that he had almost all but forgotten it.

He shook off the memories that always brought him pain. He did not want to be in a disparaging mood on the first night of classes. This is the only class he will be teaching this semester, as a new adjunct professor. He had to prove himself to the college before they would give him more responsibility. Nikolai arrived to his classroom and unlocked the door. As he entered the classroom, he looked around and took in his surroundings. It was a normal auditorium style classroom. There was a white board at the front of the classroom with a basic wood desk in front. There were about ten rows of seats. He did not expect this to be a very large class. Mostly made up of young women with an obsession with vampires; movies like "Twilight" being all the rage right now. There might be a few men trying to meet girls taking the class. He hoped they would not be disruptive.

He set his briefcase on the desk and removed the stack of papers. His roster showed that there were twenty students registered for his class, however the add/drop deadline was still a week away. He could have some students drop his class or have some add it too. He had made thirty copies of his syllabus for the class. He could always make more if he needed to. He set them down on his desk on the corner in a neat pile. Then he turned to the white board. At the top he wrote, Mr. Kavanah. Below that he wrote, Vampires Legend and Lore, with a line under it. As an English elective class, he wondered how much grumbling he would hear when the class saw the books on the syllabus that they would read and discuss this semester.

Nikolai sat down at his desk and placed his head in his hands. Something was bothering him, and he could not quite put his finger on it. A sense of foreboding; he only ever felt this way a handful of times in his 500 years as a vampire. It was always a precedent to finding HER again. It had been 25 years since he had last found HER. Miranda had been her name last time. Miranda O'Neil, a young Irish lass from a good family. He could still see her long dark hair that she always wore loose to her waist. Her shining cerulean blue eyes; She always has cerulean blue eyes. Her skin had been like alabaster, and glowed in the moonlight. He shook his head to chase away the memories of HER.