Diary of a Non-Conformist Vampire Victim

Chapter 1 | Beginning

~*~Hello, and thank you for reading this! DoaNCVV is sort of a spoof on vampire novels, so don't be surprised if you see a few cliches in here. I love comments, and will respond to everything. Please let me know what you think, good or bad! This will be updated at least once a week. Possibly more if people seem to like it. :) ~*~

~*~ Edited to add: This is rough draft, and thus I am amenable to changes that would make the story better. If you see something you don't like, or feel could be better, please mention it! You can't possibly hurt my feelings. I love critique. :)~*~

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I am a loner. I have always been that way. Call me anti-social, schizoid, or whatever the current buzzword is for liking your own company. On the outside I am a smiling and confident young lady, working my way towards a Master's Degree in Entomology. (That's the studying of insects.) On the inside, I live each day for the sole purpose of going home, shutting the door to the human race, and listening to the pure sweet sound of silence.

As a small child, silence was a precious and rare gift. Now that I'd made it all the way to university, I could lock myself in my dorm room, and go a whole day without speaking to someone, assuming it was a Monday and I had no class. Sure, it isn't truly quiet, but a quality pair of earplugs goes a long way to changing that.

Every night I keep the same routine. Class ends with woeful imprecision at 5PM. By 5:07, I am back in my dorm room. I dump my backpack on my bed, sit at my desk, and open my diary. I write everything that happened that day. Every conversation, every sight, sound and smell. I write it all in the diary, so I can shut it away. When I shut the book, I imagine all those people, and conversations, and social contacts getting trapped inside the pages, and that I am free.

By the time I finish, it is 5:27PM. I take a shower, change into a yukata and uwabaki, and spend the rest of my evening studying, reading, and practicing martial arts with an imaginary partner. Those long evenings by myself were the happiest moments of my life to date, and I looked forward to many such days. I never expected the vampire.

Yes, you heard me, a vampire. Hanging out in Southern California like it wasn't the sunniest state in the USA. It all started when Professor LeBlanc delayed my punctual exit from his class at precisely 5PM on Thursday for 12 minutes. 12 minutes that allowed a thousand students to pack into the hallway, and make it highly likely I would be forced to engage in small talk. If I tried to go directly to my room, the rowdy students on my floor, privately named "The Party Pack" would still be there. The Cafeteria was out too. Everyone else seemed to think it was safe, but I'd seen the boy at the counter handle a customer's tea bag without using gloves or even washing his hands. Twice. No way was I going to risk that.

No, the only safe place to hide until 6:27PM, when the Party Pack retreated to the lower floors for Beer Pong and Strip Poker, was the diner off of Pacific Ave and Third street, three blocks from university. I hastened across the broad stretch of grass that separated the building from the parking lot, zipped through the endless ocean of exhaust spewing cars, and walked the three blocks to my second favorite location on earth.

Joan's Diner was clean, and the booths featured tall seats and lots of plants blockading your view of other patrons as much as possible. I loved sneaking in late at night for bags of food to take home, and eating there when the place was deserted. Since it wasn't 2AM, the place had tons of students in it, but none of them looked my way when I slipped through the door and went to the front counter to order my meal.

Joan's face lit up when I waved to her, and she gestured me over as soon as I walked through the door. "Aah, Christine! You make new friend, yes?"

Uh-oh. I could sense Joan's matchmaking skills humming to life. I folded my arms across my chest, and wished for a more protective shield than that. "New friend?" I asked cleverly.

"Young man, leather jacket. He was asking about you," she drawled the last word in a teasing way, her wrinkled face breaking out into a delighted smile.

I was not so delighted. Young man with a leather jacket fit almost all of the boys in university, and boys were not on my mind. Ever.

"Did...did he know my name?" I managed to stutter.

"Yes, but you no worry. I no tell him where you live." She gave a little wink, and patted my hand, and I knew for a fact she was lying to me.

"Thanks, Joan. Can I have the special please? And the booth farthest from the door if it's open."

Joan waved me away, and I curled up in the darkest corner of the room to wallow in despair. Somewhere, probably uncomfortably close to my room, a boy was interested in communicating with me. I could only hope it had something to do with a term paper on Sitophilus oryzae. The thought made my heart stutter in my chest, and sweat form on my palms.

I slouched down in my chair and glanced furtively at the screen of plants that hid me from the other people in the cafe. Maybe he was in here right now. Maybe Joan was going to drag him over and suggest we share the same table, since we were obviously so close.

A plate clapped down in front of me, and I startled out of my reverie. Joan stood over me, hands on her hips, her usual smile spreading into a grin that stretched across her whole face. "You want see man?" she asked.

I shook my head so fast it made me dizzy. "Joan, I don't know any men, and I don't want to. I'm happy the way I am!"

Joan waved a hand at me and went off to check on her other guests. She hadn't paid attention to a single word I'd said. I picked up my fork and nibbled on meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but the worry over what Joan had done kept me from eating much. What if it wasn't even a student from university? What if it was a kidnapper or a rapist? Suddenly, I didn't want to walk home by myself. I just knew if I did something terrible was going to happen to me.

I peered around the pony tail palm thrusting its leaves impertinently into my face, and checked out the other diners. Most of them were students I didn't know, but I did see Professor Kent sitting in the far corner. I settled down to finish my dinner, feeling a little bit better knowing she was there. We got done eating at the same time, paid our tabs, and when she set foot out the door I was right behind her.

"Professor Kent!" I yelled in her ear as I ran to catch up.

She jumped and turned around, and then smiled when she recognized me. It felt good to have someone recognize me.

"Christine, good to see you. Did you enjoy the diner?"

I nodded, and pushed my glasses up on my nose. "Are you going back to the university?" I asked breathlessly.

She shook her head. "Going home. Why? Do you need something?"

I glanced over my shoulder at Joan, who was still doing her best to smile innocently. "I—I just didn't want to walk alone going back. That's all."

Professor Kent, blessed caretaker of helpless souls, chose to bless me with her kindness. "No problem. I'll give you a lift. It's only 3 blocks."

I practically flew into the passenger seat of her lime green Volkswagen Beetle, and waved smugly at Joan as we pulled away from the curb. I thought I saw a tall, bulky looking shadow in the alley next to the cafe back deeper into the narrow gap as we passed on by, and prayed it was just my imagination.