The Vampire Slayer

Chapter 1

Maeve woke up with a jolt from the heavy rain outside. She was sweaty and breathless in her bed. She encountered yet another night full of nightmares. Unfortunately, most of her awful nightmares were about the terrible accident when she lost her mother. Even though it's been almost four years since that accident, she hasn't moved on. Nor did her father, who'd spent the rest of his years figuring out what happened that horrid night.
               Maeve also tried all possible tricks to get her memory back. She went to doctors, psychologists, and mediums to get a little glimpse of knowledge or understanding. Still, nothing happened; she couldn't remember anything.
              Yet, her nightmares never stopped. They always end right after she discovers her mother's dead body. After that, everything becomes black as two icy blue lights appear at the end of the dreams before she wakes up. Maeve always believed that was a clue, even if her father disagreed. He thought that it might be the lights from the police or the ambulance vehicle when they came and carried her away.
               Nonetheless, she's a nineteen-year-old woman, and somehow, she had to move on. So she looked around her dark bedroom and closed her eyes, hoping to go back to sleep. But, of course, she was fully aware that it won't happen. Insomnia which she had developed over the years, won't disappear anytime soon.
              Aside from the sleeping problems, the trauma has also caused paranoia and severe PTSD. Anxiety, fear of darkness, and very tact forests also trigger her PTSD. The full moon gives her the chills and flashbacks of that night's events; it greatly affected her life. She has become unsocial and introverted.
             She went from being the happiest, opinionated, playful, sassy, adventurous girl to a lone wolf. She built an invisible wall around her to keep all her thoughts, feelings, and problems to herself. She didn't want to have any relationships or friends. Instead, she drew her emotions on canvases by listening to medley gothic or rock music.
             Maeve used to love Christmas and all its jolly, though nowadays, she has become dark and mysterious as she's drawn to the idea of Halloween and other supernational beings. Nevertheless, some things have not changed; her passion and love for history, specifically the fascinating ancient history and the untold mysteries beneath it. 
             She had no interest in following her parent's steps. Her biggest dream was and will always be to become an archeologist. Maeve has read plenty of books about ancient Greek and Egyptian history during her teen years. She is determined to travel there sometime. She believed in uncovering the grave of Queen Cleopatra or Alexander the Great someday. It's one of the biggest desires in her life. She has set for them for quite a long time.
            The sudden thunders outside frightened Maeve by quickly seated up from the bed. She rubbed her eyes. Her night lamp was off, which meant the power was down, probably due to the rain outside. Maeve tried not to freak out and picked up her iPhone. She unlocked her screen, and the phone's brightness was too bright, which blinded her. The clock was three past five AM; Maeve sighed. She opened the flashlight from the mobile phone and walked towards the doorway.
            Outside her bedroom was the upstairs hallway. She lived in a two-story house; the upstairs area had two bedrooms and one bathroom. Downstairs was the kitchen, living room, and the second bathroom. Beside Maeve's bedroom was her father's bedroom and his door was halfway open. He usually worked at this kind of hours. She saw inside the bedroom and caught her father lying face down on his desk. Maeve heard him snore a little lightly and chuckled.
            She went down the stairs passing by the wall full of family photos. Most of them were from different holidays, vacations, and road trips. Her favorite one was the one when she met her grandmother in Ireland. Maeve was probably two years old and didn't remember anything from that trip. However, she adored her Irish grandmother's beauty, with long red curly hair, freckles all over her body, and blue eyes.
             On the other hand, Mr. Molony, Maeve's father, didn't have red hair or curly. He had straight shortcut brown hair. Still, he indeed had blue eyes and was pale-skinned like her grandmother. Maeve was eternally proud of being biracial. Having trips to Jamaica and Ireland now and then was delightful. Also, having two entirely different cultures, food, and traditions was stimulating.
            Maeve can cook Irish and Jamaican food, which her parents taught her. Maeve had no desire to cook something at this hour, though goes straight to the kitchen to grab some Irish snacks. Her father used to buy Irish snacks nearby a market in Houston, Texas. Her favorite is the tayto chipsticks with the salt and vinegar flavor, which is the one she's going for.
            The kitchen is pretty big and connects with the living room. Living in a mediocre big two-story house was comfortable. They never had any money issues. Both her parents worked well-paid and also respected essential jobs. Although they never spoiled her, she grew up with high family morals and discipline. Furthermore, hard work always paid off.
           Her father was quite conservative, overprotective, strict, and religious too. Though Maeve was the only child, she didn't have any problems with her rigorous and disciplined parents. There was still a lot of love, humbleness, and respect between them.
           Everything changed after Gabrielle, Maeve's mother, passed away. Her father became grumpy and dissatisfied with everything or anything around him. He renovated the house from being rustic to modern and polished. Maeve didn't seem to bother because she liked it. Yet, Cian, Maeve's father, didn't appreciate it.
           He re-renovated again to a Scandinavian-style house and wasn't satisfied either. Maeve realized that he was grieving by distracting and occupying himself to forget. She comforted him by complaining that she couldn't concentrate in school if he continued renovating the whole house again. Cian was determined that his daughter would have the best grades; he eventually settled immediately. Lucky for him, she was one of the best students in her high school.
           Maeve looked at her acceptance letter that was pinned on the refrigerator. She got accepted at this new Archeological College in New Orleans. Her father hated the idea of her moving out, but they made a deal together that she would come and visit him every holiday.
           Maeve, without recognition, ate the whole sack of snacks in just minutes.
"Oh, that will go right to my thighs and butt." She whined and rolled her eyes. Then, finally, she sighed and clutched her iPhone with the light on to navigate upstairs to her bedroom.
          Her father was still fast asleep on his desk and didn't move. She knew he would complain about his back the next day and wonder where he got it from.
          Maeve stepped inside her dark bedroom and sat down on her bed. Before closing the flashlight, she glanced around her bedroom. Soon she will leave this room, house, and place. In one month, to be exact, she will move out and move to New Orleans.
          She studies every little detail of her childhood bedroom. Her walls were light brown with a dark brown woody parquet floor. Also, all her furniture was from IKEA. Maeve's room was warm because everything was white, beige-ish, and woody. Her bed was on the left corner, and beside it was the window with beige curtains. Her bedsheet was white and beige; her bedside lamp was also off-white. Right in front of her were the paintings that she created, which are abstract.
          Most of her paintings have the same color, such as black, mahogany red, and icy blue, representing the night of the accident. Black stands for the darkness, mahogany red stands for her mother's blood, and the icy blue color stands for her dreams, how they fade away when she wakes up. Next to her paintings, near the door, was a tall wardrobe where all her mostly dark clothing was.
          At the right corner of her bedroom was the new easel that her father gave her on her nineteenth birthday, one week ago, July 23rd. She has already started with a new painting, although this canvas will be encouraging. She loved to paint abstract, except with a unique perspective, motivation, and inspiration this time. This time she wanted to paint all the ancient civilizations in one picture. All of them together, united, as one.
          On the opposite side of her bed, she had a light woody desk with her laptop on. Above the desk and on the wall a small wall bookshelf filled with ancient history books, supernational books, fantasy novels, and her favorite romance novels. She also had spicier stories, though she hid them under the bed. She didn't wish for her father to find out that she was reading erotic novels.
          Maeve's bedroom is diagonal; she doesn't have a lot of space. She would love to have a tv or even more space for her canvas and easels. Additionally, more wardrobes would be perfect too. Her wardrobe was always a mess.
          A bedside table was close to Maeve's bed, with a lamp and picture frame of Maeve and her parents in Jamaica. It was her mother's birthday, and they were on the beach wearing only their swimwear. Maeve chose this specific photograph because it was Mrs. William's last birthday.
         Maeve closed the flashlight on her iPhone and put it near the picture. Then, she laid down on the bed and took a deep breath. She knew that it would take time to move on and understood that it would be a significant relief to move out and finally become independent.

The next day Maeve started to check the brochure she had delivered from The Archeologist College in New Orleans. There was much information about the college, its building, the establishment, the teachers and essential staff members, their rules, and others.
           Maeve was surprised about how well organized this college seemed to be. By the fact that it had a school curator, school nurse, a big school canteen, and a library with an entertainment room where you can play all sorts of video games. It seemed too good to be true, though it made sense why it was expensive. Although using the funds for a good cause was well appreciated.
           The school's facade was extraordinary, to say the least; it looked like an enormous old mansion. It had four tall white sizeable Greco-roman-like columns with dark blue and greyish concrete walls. This mansion-looking house was also extensive and could fill up to two hundred people.
           The rear of the brochure had a link to explore their website. That link demonstrated an introduction of the professors and a 360 view of the establishment. So even though the year was 2015, this college had brought the continent to another advanced and modernized level.
           The period to complete the degree is approximately four years long. Furthermore, Maeve chuckled at the school's location; the street had an amusing name and was on Leonidas Street. Maeve believed it had to be a sign because that's one of her favorite ancient Greek rulers.
           The school itself was over one thousand square feet. Surprisingly shocked and thrilled, Maeve was delighted; she couldn't wait to move to New Orleans.
            Maeve opened her laptop to read more about the school on their website. Although before she proceeded with that, she considered using her father's police explorer, a top-secret internet explorer that only police and more extensive investigation services use to search all kinds of hidden articles and crimes about anything.
           Typing in the school's name on the explorer, she stumbled upon some police documents and papers about the school. Then, in awe, she read about a homicide investigation that occurred last year, about a girl her age being murdered and hanged on a tree in front of the campus.