Vamp Chronicles DIARY OF A VAMPEEN Book One Christin M Lovell — DIARY OF A VAMPEEN Copyright © 2011 by Christin M Lovell Cover Image © konradbak This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. — VAMP CHRONICLES Diary of a Vampeen Vamp Yourself for War Hit the Road Jack The Innocence of White (short) Vamp Versus Vamp Darkness Falls Reflections (short) Vigilante The Break of Dawn (coming soon!) — DIARY OF A VAMPEEN Imagine living a human charade for fifteen years and never knowing it. Imagine being provided less than a week to learn and accept your family’s true heritage before it overtook you. Alexa Jackson, Lexi, is abruptly thrown onto this roller coaster and quickly learns that she can’t change fate, regardless of how many lifetimes she is given. She will be transformed into a vampeen on her sixteenth birthday, she will be called upon to fulfill a greater destiny within the dangerous world of vampires, and she will have to risk heartbreak and rejection if she ever wants a chance at love with Kellan, whether she likes it or not. — This book is dedicated to my daughter, Kali. May your life be as rich as Alexa’s. I love you. — But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. II Corinthians 3:18 nasb. — Diary of a Vampeen Preface. I'd always wondered if the myths were true. Who got it right; who didn't? Were most recent Hollywood portrayals correct? Were all vampires gorgeous, pale specimens to be swooned over? Did they all have the same eye color and choice of human or animal blood for survival? Did they sparkle in the sun or were they prohibited from soaking up its rays due to a fire hazard? Further back, when we relied on books, were the authors more accurate in their details? Did vampires sleep in coffins and wake only at night? Were they forbidden from entering churches, touching crosses and eating garlic? Was I truly safe in my home if I didn't invite them in? If I put a mirror in front of them, would a reflection be visible? The list went on and on; so many questions I never assumed would be answered. They simply sat in the back of my mind; a slow curiosity that didn't agitate me, but I'd have loved to kill it. Perhaps that's their appeal though. Because there was no conclusive evidence I could manipulate the image of these immortals (the only consistency in all the books and movies) to be whatever was attractive to me. My imagination was allowed to love an Edward, a Dracula or Lestat because nothing was concrete, factually speaking, about vampires... until my sixteenth birthday, when I learned all but one of the above is inaccurate. — Chapter One I knew he was different from the moment I laid eyes on him. Not different in a paranormal or supernatural sense; just different. I could tell he wasn't superficial like the majority of high school students. He had a better grasp on life than most of us yet I didn't understand how or why. He was gorgeous standing there in all his glory. A buff body; strong, angular features that made his beauty harsh; he was hard, dark. He held mystery and intrigue. He was far from approachable yet his eyes, the most beautiful emeralds I'd ever seen, drew me in. His aura called to me yet his body language pushed everyone away. A red i-Pod Nano was attached to the bulk of his bicep, a lure to his strength. It was pumping music through his earphones as our eyes locked from opposite sides of the hall. "Hello? Earth to Lexi!" Mel frantically waved her hands in front of my zoned out face. He looked away, breaking eye contact with me. A second later he closed his locker and walked away leaving my heart racing. It took me a good minute to clear my head. "Hello? Lex!" Mel practically screamed my name for the entire world to hear and know. She's my best friend; I love her, but patience isn't her strong suit. "Sorry," I mumbled. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go so we're not late for class!" "I'll see you later, babe," Mike said, planting a quick kiss on my cheek. I instantly blushed. I was still adjusting to the idea that fat, four-eyed, less than perfect skin me had a boyfriend. A wonderfully devoted boyfriend who called me beautiful while others announced my hips down the hall. I was curvy. Okay, so I was extra, extra curvy with a side of cottage cheese. I guess that explained the nickname ‘Hungry Hippo.’ Cooper River High School is like all others. It has your jocks and preps, the kings and queens of the school who flaunt their perfection daily and make your inferior comparison public knowledge. Jason, the all American dream boy, a.k.a. the quarterback for the Riverdogs, and Jenny, the teen queen, a.k.a. the captain of the cheerleading squad, thought it was appropriate to attach the board game Hungry, Hungry Hippos to my locker with cement glue. I was mortified. I guess you can understand why I decided to forgo the locker this year. "Babe?" Mike prompted, interrupting my memories, while studying me closely. His brows furrowed in appraisal. A smile slowly crept on my face as I looked in his eyes. "See you later." "Oh God. Can we cut the mush and get going?" Mel tapped her foot expectantly. "I'm coming," I droned. "Wow. There is a God." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh stop! I thought you were happy for me," I teased. "I was...until you started subjecting me to regular p.i.a." We were power walking to class by this point. "P.i.a.?" "Yeah, p.i.a.: puke inducing actions." "Ugh, gross." I felt my face wrinkle in response to her twisted acronym. We raced through the door just as the final bell rang. As I scurried towards my desk, I froze. There, two desks back from mine, was him. My breath caught and I knew, had I needed to speak, I wouldn't have been able to. As cliché as it sounds, he took my breath away. Mel came to my rescue tugging me down in the seat behind her. "What has gotten into you today?" she scolded in a rushed whisper as Mrs. Henderson, our ancient, highly eccentric teacher, approached the front. I was irritated. I had never been stunned into a statue before. There was something about this new interest that stopped me dead in my tracks. I literally lost all train of thought, simply caught up in the glory of him. That alone was highly unusual for me. I was never affected by outward beauty, which was all I had to go on at this point. I’d learned the hard way that unless you were openly and equally accepted by society as an ideal model of physical perfection, you never stood a chance. I never stood a chance. So I forced myself to be blind to the beautiful to avoid ever making a fool out of myself. The rest of the period passed. Regardless of what I did, I couldn't shake Mr. Emerald Eyes from my mind. Fear momentarily reared its nasty head at the somewhat obsessive analyzing my thoughts were doing over him. I'm certainly analytical by nature, perhaps overly at times, but not to the point of insanity, which was the steady job my dear head was angling towards over this new boy... no, man? It didn't fit him. I could tell he was an old soul, but I couldn't define him properly. By the time I packed my stuff, Mike was waiting by the door. "Hey, babe," he beamed. "Mel." He spoke her name with disdain clear on his tongue. "Don't start," she snapped. "So…you two going to Barnes and No-bell tonight?" he asked as I walked towards the door. "Of course. You know we always go on Thursdays." I angled myself towards him, meeting his gaze momentarily. "Hmm. I'm thinking I could be in the coffee mood tonight," he smirked. Mel rolled her eyes. It was justified though. Despite him being my boyfriend, when it came to outside social events, Mike was unreliable. I didn't mind since I was never invited, not that I would have attended if I were. The only event I regularly attended was my weekly date with Mel. Every Thursday night, come rain or shine, Mel and I went to Barnes & Noble. It was a ritualistic gathering we'd been addicted to since our first trip in sixth grade, exactly one year after we'd met. Apparently I'd left my body again because I returned to Mel and Mike arguing with me in-between. "You are such a cocky bastard!" Mel crossed her arms and harrumphed.