The Innocent Life of Valerie Vale

Wired

Wired

Casper was still awake. He couldn’t sleep. His mind raced. He knew what Valerie was up to and he was worried for her. What was he thinking? Why did he ever agree to help her? Surely she was dead somewhere. No she’d be fine… for sure she’d be fine. He didn't know. He had no way to know. Was she going to call? Was that even her plan? He was unsure. He was nervous. He was wired.

The glare of the computer screen hurt his eyes. He sipped his coffee and squinted as he read and re-read… so many files, bits and pieces of research, scanned accounts, newspaper cuttings, diaries, myths and legends. What was he even looking for? His dorm in Leighton Hall was quiet now. Students slept long into the night but still Casper lay awake in bed. He was slowly going out of his mind and yet he persisted.

Casper was a genius. He was born that way. He had a thirst for knowledge and an imagination of innovation and invention. He was a geek. He knew it and he was unashamed of the fact. His blue t-shirt even had #geek written across the front in bold white lettering. He had scruffy brown hair, wore thick rimmed glasses and invested far too much time in computer programming. It was unhealthy. Ironically he was kind of cute, but he didn’t know that.

Casper graduated from Lakewood High before the summer and now he was undertaking a rigorous degree in computer science with a major in microbiology at the University of Lanton. Valerie was a kind of friend of his. He was unpopular in school and the truth is he fancied her but it was Valerie who came to him. She was interested in vampires and Valerie knew he had a particular skill set she lacked.

They spent many days together during the summer, reading and researching, exploring the silly subject and all of the nonsense that went with it. At first Casper thought it would be a great chance to get to know Valerie, that maybe he’d even make a move on her. He tried to ask her out once but be got nervous. In the end his, ‘Would you like to go see a movie with me?’ somehow turned into a, ‘Did you know I enjoy watching Dirty Dancing with my mom.’ This was a confession he would have rather kept to himself.

Then things got serious. They started to find evidence, real evidence. Valerie could have been right all along. It was as if she had sensed it, as if she had always known the truth. Casper was a pragmatic young man, he was a skeptic but overtime even he became convinced.

Little did he know, Valerie was plotting something in secret. She wasn’t just curious about vampires. She wasn’t just interested in knowing the ins and outs of their dietary needs, or fascinating facts regarding their sleeping habits or pet hates. She wanted to find one… and become one.

When Casper found out he tried to stop her. He tried to talk her out of it. ‘You know this isn’t some kind of romance movie where you ride off into the sunset… or sunrise… or whatever it is for bloodsucking, sun fearing monster,’ he said once. ‘Vampires kill you… that’s what they do, are you even listening… I said they kill you!’ he tried again. Valerie didn’t care, things at home had gotten worse and she couldn’t bear to face another year of high school. Not with that teacher… not with Mr. Davis.

Casper closed his laptop and put it to one side. He had class early in the morning. He would be exhausted and no amount of coffee could change that. He needed to sleep and there was nothing he could do now but wait. Valerie was on her own.

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