Chapter 1
KRRRR-BOOOM! Thunder roars as lightning strikes the rising water. It hasn’t stopped raining in the past few hours, and it only seems to be getting heavier. The water logged houses are beginning to fall apart, ripping the occupants out and throwing them into the electrified water. Not even the largest houses are safe from the mighty flood.
“Maria!” a young man with flaming red hair wails.
He’s perched on a rafter, one arm extended. Treading the water is a young woman with chin length blonde hair with reddish strands throughout. She raises a hand to take the guy’s hand. He strains, inching a little closer. If he goes too far, he’ll fall off the rafter.
“Grab my hand!” the young man cries out, still straining to get his hand close enough to the struggling woman.
“I’m trying!” Maria wails, tears in her wide sky blue eyes. “The current is dragging me!”
“Try harder!” the guy yells, but he’s cut off by the booming thunder. KRRRRR-BAM!
Maria swims her hardest, long-sleeved crop-top absolutely drenched from the rain and flood water. The young lady reaches desperately, nearly grabbing hold of the guy’s hand. Right as he’s about to pull her up, some hidden debris strikes her from below. She screams as she gets carried away in the currant. The young man stares in disbelief.
“MARIIIIIIIAAAAAA!” he wails upon realizing what just happened, helpless to save her without risking his own life.
“Gaarrrryyyyyyy!” Maria wails, vanishing from sight.
KRRRR-BOOOM! More lightning strikes. Gary continues clinging to the rafter, sobbing bitterly. Not long ago, it seemed everything was good and perfect. Now, things couldn’t possibly be worse.
The rain has finally stopped, but it is far too late. Everything is ruined. Gary, still clinging to a rafter, is greeted by his father in an emergency boat. The young man doesn’t want to move from his spot, but he knows he has to. Quite reluctantly, he climbs down from the rafter into the safety of the boat.
“Gary, we’d been searching everywhere for you!” Gary’s dad announces, lips curled into a grin much like his curled sandy blonde mustache. “We’re getting out of here! Lucky for me, the briefcase is waterproof!”
“Dad…” Gary moans, sitting down in the boat. “I lost her… I lost Maria…”
“Don’t blame yourself! Blaming yourself is not in your job description!” Gary’s dad yells, looking disappointed.
“I tried to grab her, but I couldn’t…” Gary moans, looking rather deflated.
“Hey, what matters most is that our entire family survived. You can always get a new girlfriend,” Gary’s dad says, rather rudely.
“IT’S NOT FAIR!” Gary cries out, hurting his dad’s ears.
“The house may be in disrepair, but that is fine. We’ll all move back to my other house,” Gary’s dad says, briefly slicking back his ruffled dirty blonde hair. “Hah hah hah! The joys of owning all the money!”
Gary was both distraught and angry. How could his father be so heartless? Oh… Right… Because he’s the Mafia Boss… Those guys tend to be ruthless. He doesn’t know it, but this moment will be engrained in his son’s memory FOREVER.
Maria… What do we know about Maria? It all started when Gary and Maria first met. Gary, a charming young freshman at his private school had been feeling a bit lonely. Everyone had friends, but thanks to his family, nobody felt safe interacting with him.
Nobody but Maria. It was always Maria. As Gary stood, dressed in his finest suit, alone at the dance, she took her chances. She approached him when everyone else was too afraid to even stand near him.
She was a dove and he was a raven. The two were complete opposites, and yet…and yet they were pulled together like the opposite ends of magnets. Some onlookers watched as the two drew closer and closer until they touched. It was an uncomfortable touch, but that was because he was not used to being touched. He had not known a gentle embrace such as the one she gave.
“You seem lonely,” she whispered, holding his hands.
“You approached me. Why?” he asked.
“Do you want to dance?” she asked, staring into his eyes with her soulful brown eyes. (Her eyes are naturally brown, but she often wears blue eye contacts)
“You think I dance…?” Gary questioned.
“I assumed you did. We are at a dance, after all…” Maria pointed out.
“Alright, you got me…but are you really willing to dance with the school weirdo?” Gary asked, a sly grin on his face.
“If you will have me,” she replied.
“I would like that,” Gary whispered.
They danced together. Like blazing flames leaping through the woods. All the people who once stared in surprise and disdain now stared in awe and wonder. They had never seen Gary so gentle…so passionate… From that moment on, Gary had pledged himself to Maria, vowing to protect her. As we know, unfortunately…fate would tear them apart.
“Dad, meet Maria!” Gary exclaimed, bursting into his mansion with Maria after the dance.
“Maria? Hmph. Who? You bring a random young woman into my house?” Gary’s father asked, unimpressed.
“I’m sorry. Am I not welcome here?” Maria asked, a little upset.
“Daaaaaaad!” Gary whined. “You never let me have anyone over!”
“Yeah, and for good reason. What made you think you could bring HER in here?!” Gary’s dad asked.
“Because I love her!” Gary yelled.
“What?! You?! Love someone?! Impossible! You don’t love anyone but yourself!” Gary’s dad argued.
“No… It is true. We danced for hours, dad! I insist! Can’t I keep her?!” Gary pleaded.
“Fine. Whatever. Keep her away from the others… They… Might not let her leave…” Gary’s dad said, wiping his hand down his face in frustration.
“Yay! Thanks, dad!” Gary exclaimed. “Don’t worry, Maria. You are VERY welcome here!”
“How can you love someone you just met, though?” Gary’s father wondered, but Gary was already racing down the hallway holding Maria up into the air.
It was odd, but Gary truly loved her. They ended up spending many hours together every day much to the annoyance of Gary’s dad. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Well… Gary and his family are Vampires as it turns out. Not just Vampires, but Mafia Vampires.
There were times Gary had to butt in to save Maria. His family didn’t like her, but he loved her. They all saw her as a forbidden fruit filled gummy snack…or a juice pouch. To Gary, though, she was the most amazing thing that ever happened to him.
“Maria…” Gary whispers to his beloved girlfriend on the night that she was going to die.
“Gary…” Maria teasingly says in a similar manner.
“I’m gonna marry you. I don’t care what my dad says. You are mine… I want you forever,” Gary whispers, clutching her hand.
“I watched you murder people for petty reasons. You are pretty terrifying… But… I can’t help but love you,” Maria replies. “I don’t want to ever leave you.”
“We could be together. For eternity,” Gary prompts, barely audible over the falling rain.
“For eternity? Are you SURE you want that? I love you, but… I feel like such a burden,” Maria replies.
“You are NOT a burden. And after I make you into a Vampire, we won’t have to worry about the others trying to kill you,” Gary argues.
“You’re going to make me into a Vampire?” Maria asks, a bit taken aback.
“Do you not want to be a Vampire?” Gary asks.
“I need time to think about this…” Maria says. “I might take you up on that offer. We’ll see.”
“Okay… Goodnight, my love…” Gary whispers, giving her a goodnight kiss…their final kiss.
“Maria! Grab my hand!”
“I’m trying! The current is dragging me!”
“Try harder! MARIIIIIIIAAAAAA!”
“Gaarrrryyyyyyy!”
KRRRR-BOOOM!
