EXCERPT

“Wake up!” a shrill voice commands.

I bolt upright, startled from a dream involving a castle and riding a horse bareback, blankets tumbling from shoulders covered with nothing but thin spaghetti straps. My breath comes out in tiny puffs of condensation as I yank the blankets back up. My eyes dart around, searching for whatever woke me. Where my clock should be is another black space in the darkness.

Another power outage. Fabulous.

“Damn it, girl, get some clothes on. If you‟re dressed in nothing but a nightgown when they get here, you‟ll never survive the night.”

My head jerks toward the sound. There she stands, at the foot of my bed, the tiny slip of a woman I‟d barely known but recognize instantly by her glowing white curls and delicate features. Grandma Cooper. Even her dress is familiar because my mother had said it was in poor taste to bury the dead in white. Makes them look washed out. But even the choice of her funerary outfit had been part of Grandma‟s will, and though we didn‟t know it until she died, Grandma spent a lot of money to have lawyers who made sure every instruction was followed to the letter.

My mouth goes dry and my fingers shake as they reach beneath my pillow. Sure, I know her on sight, but she still shouldn't be here. And that means a weapon isn't the stupidest idea ever. But, if I turn my head to the side at all, she disappears as if she‟d never been there in the first place. Only when I look straight at her does she have substance, her body catching enough of the moon‟s light coming through the window to be visible against the darkness. And apparently with enough solidity that next time she speaks, her hands grip the covers and jerk them right off me.

“I told you to get dressed! Chop, chop!”

For a long minute, I sit there shivering in my nightie and staring at the blankets in her hands. “But...but...you‟re dead.” Please don't say vampire. As I think it, I realize she can't be one. Regardless of whatever else they can do, I'm pretty sure vamps can't disappear without moving.

“As a damn doornail. It doesn‟t change the fact you messed with the way of things and the time has come for you to face some hard facts.” Her eyes actually twinkle as she smiles. “And I‟ve been waiting a lot of years to help you figure all this out. Now, time‟s a-wasting. Get up and put on some damn clothes.”

She's the antithesis of the fairy godmother I‟d always wished for. All she needs now is a lit cigar between her fingers to totally bastardize that particular childhood fantasy. By this point, I already know I‟m dreaming. I mean, shit like this doesn‟t happen, right? I banish the idea that I shouldn't have watched my boyfriend turn to dust when I shoved a stake into his heart either, and instead, I do what any sane person would do when they want out of a dream—listen to the ghost. I get my ass out of bed and go to the closet. Then I grab my heavy terrycloth robe and start to slip it on.

“Oh no you don‟t. Trust me when I say you‟re going to want something a little more versatile.” She yanks my flannel-lined jeans and a thick, green cable-knit sweater from the depths of the closet and hands them over.

When the power comes back on, I‟ll roast, but I‟m not about to argue with a dream-ghost. Then again, no electricity means no light, and since Max, I‟m not very fond of the dark anymore. After tugging the clothes on, I say, “Fine. I‟m playing along, but I refuse to do this with the lights out. So if you don‟t mind, could you magic-up some electricity or something?”

She snorts. “No, but the power‟s coming back on soon enough. I have it on good authority.” She waves me toward the living room. Once we‟re sitting— me curled up in the papasan, her slouching on the couch—she says, “Your mother never believed me about you. She said I was nothing but a crazy old woman with too much time on her hands to fantasize.”

“Wonder how often she says it about me,” I mutter. Mom has never made any bones about the fact she thinks I‟m wasting my life or my insistence on waiting for Mr. Right. Then again, she hadn't approved of Max, so maybe she had a point.

“Not nearly as much as she said it about me. After all, you don‟t tell her all your secrets.” Grandma winks at me, her face suddenly looking years younger. “When she was a girl, I made the mistake of thinking she was the one, and I told her all of mine. She would've locked me up when she was fifteen if she could have.”

“And she wasn‟t „the one‟? Whatever the hell that means.” I couldn't help but wonder how Mom would feel about not measuring up to what Grandma expected. Maybe it would've made her go easier on me. I doubted it though. Especially since I don‟t have a clue what she‟s talking about.

“Ha! Hell no. I wasn‟t entirely sure it was you either, but then I saw how they treated you.” The power kicks on then, everything whirring back to life. She waves a hand, almost as if she has done it by magic. “Everywhere you went, at least one was around. When you started your cycles, hoowee, then it was like sharks circling prey. Of course, they never really knew it was you specifically. They could just sense something special and it drew them. But I knew.”

“Knew what? And why is there always a mysterious „they‟? Who the hell are „they‟ anyway?” Apparently, dream-me tends toward the bitchy and sarcastic. I kind of wish I could drag her out into the real world upon occasion.

“Knew you were special to them. To the vampires.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, blocking her from view and praying when I open them, she‟ll be gone. Even with the wish firmly in mind, I can‟t stop myself from saying, “What vampires?”

She laughs, the sound half-snort, half-smoker‟s cough. “Most likely all of them. But you better get your little ass ready because three are planning to visit you tonight.”

I gape at her and, when a word finally comes out of my mouth, it doesn't exactly make much sense. “Three?” Because, you know, one or two would be perfectly normal.

“Are you deaf, girl? Yes. I said three: one from your past, one from your present, and one you haven‟t had the pleasure of meeting yet.”

“But—”

“Don‟t interrupt; this is too important. One and only one can be trusted. When he comes to you, do what he asks. Your choices tonight can alter the fate of humanity, so for once in your life listen to your elders and don‟t be stupid.”