My name is Jade Wolfe, and I’m alone.
My parents, my sister, my friends. All dead.
And this is my story.








*****
I walk along the empty streets of London. (Yeah yeah, I know, you were expecting something cooler, like New York or L.A. Just shut up and read.)
A mouse turns up and squeaks at me. I scowl at it and it skitters a few feet away, but then comes back and stares hard at me.
I roll my eyes. “Scram.”
The mouse makes a chuffing noise and walks away, pausing on top of a discarded box to pick up a piece of bread.
I kick a rock randomly, and it clatters away down the road. I will be home soon.
My scar begins to itch, and I reach up to scratch my cheek. Another mark left by my family’s killers.
As I continue, I see my house coming up. House. Never mind, it can’t be called a house. It’s more of a spider breeding grounds. It’s okay though. At least I have decent shelter, even if the shelter is about three feet by six feet.
I open the door, walk in, climb onto the small pile of straw that is my bed, and pull out the granola bar I have hidden in the pocket of my emaciated tote bag.
Oh, don’t worry. I don’t steal food. I pay for it myself...with stolen money.
Now, a little introduction is at hand.
As I told you, I’m Jade. I have short, wavy black hair and pale skin. My favorite colors: red and black. I’m fourteen.
Okay, a few things you probably don’t know about vampires like me. A, blood isn’t the only food we eat. We’re good with a Twinkie anytime. B, we don’t shrivel up in the light, we just get bad sunburn. Like, really bad sunburn. And C, I happen to love garlic. Pumpkin, however, is much worse. Originally jack—o—lanterns were put out on Halloween to scare away the vampires.
Oh, and one more thing. No, we don’t as a matter of fact have sacred vampire codes and live under the watchful eye of the happy magical fairyland called Elysia.
I hear a soft creaking at my door. I look around for Trisha, the stray cat, but she’s sleeping on the floor. My door continues to creak slowly open.
A black figure steps heavily in, and I shrink into a corner.
“Who are you?” I gasp, as the surprisingly short figure comes closer, trapping me.
“Jade!” says a deep voice. “I am your father.”







*****
I laugh as I hear a click, and Ethan’s camera shuts off. When he takes the costume off, he’s fiddling with a camera, his frizzy red hair blocking most of his face.
I should explain. Sorry. Ya know how I said I was alone? That wasn’t entirely true. Ethan is my friend, sorta. He followed me around— and he’s a half—vampire. His mom was a vampire and his dad was human. He saved up his income from weed-pulling until he had enough, then spent it on his laptop and camera. He has a complete YouTube obsession.
He’s an orphan too. And he’s been trying to make his own personal slightly-different-plotline Star Wars for, like, three years. He’s twelve. And I forgot to mention, he has fangs, but he doesn’t drink blood. That’s the whole half—vampire thing.
“Did I do good, Ethan?” I ask, suppressing a smile at his disheveled hair.
He nods and taps furiously at his laptop. “That’s pretty good. I only need ten more clips and I’ll have finished that part.”
I offer him a piece of granola bar, and he accepts it. He refuses to steal food or money for himself... but he’ll accept food that I acquire with stolen money.
“Hey Jade, when’s the next Meeting?”
“Like I said about ten times, it’s this Thursday.” I reply, sighing irritably. I’ll explain later, about the Meeting. For now, once again, shut up and read.
“And who’s coming? Melanie’s—”
“I know, Ethan.” I reply bitterly, looking away. “Melanie’s gone. The ones who’ll be there are Sarah, Lance, and Erin.”
Ethan nods, and I toss him a McDonalds Happy Meal from my tote bag as he walks out the door.