Jade was not a popular girl at school, she was well known ,but not someone you would want to get caught hanging around. She often hung around other nerdy kids. She enjoyed reading her manga books during lunch and she kept to herself in the hallways. She often was referred as “that girl” behind her back, though she sometimes heard them. She had pale blonde hair and bright green eyes. Her hair was tussled from the wind that had blown by earlier that evening. The seventeen year-old wore a pink hoody. The hoody conformed to her lush and curvy body and stopped to her knees.
Jade was walking through the woods because of the Loki bridge was closed off for some comet crash that she did not pay attention to on the news. She was totally reliant on the internet to get her information, even going on the local weather sites to get information on the forecast of the week. She had not looked up the local comet crash because she thought it was a internet hoax. She wished she had paid attention to news, seeing now that the bridge was blocked off
Jade did not fear walking in the woods at all. She heard about the legends from her classmates but she often would reply with,”How sexy would it be to come across some sparkly hot vampire?” They would just agree or laugh at her.
That night the fog had gotten worse again. She took off her very round glasses because they fogged up. She placed them in her case and shoved them in the side pocket of her cozy hoody. She could still see,she really just wore them for the style of it. She continued into the thick woody area avoiding the quagmire to her left. She never went in that direction that alone creeped her out. She had ventured in these woods before but never been near the quagmires. She walked and walked and walked. She was thinking about her friend whom she was taking the risky trek for. It was a guy that she had really liked and she hoped he would ask her out. His name was Dennis Hopstrich. He was tall and a red head. Two things that she always found attractive. He had invited her to his house for a movie night that he was hosting and he asked her to be his date. Jade of course accepted. She was happy that she finally found someone who liked her for her.
There was a crunch to her right ear. She assumed it was a deer. A yelp was let out. “Maybe a wolf”, she whispered to herself. She heard signing also. “prikhodi ko mne v obʺyatiya”, said the male voice. She took a liking to his sound it was very good singing. It was very soulful and young. She just did not understand what he was saying. She then headed towards the sound. “prikhodi ko mne v ob”, he continued. She peeked around the tree she was basically hugging.
She could see a rather large deer approaching a kid maybe around her age. She could only see the the guy’s profile. He had dark black hair, green eyes and pale white skin. His haircut was quite like what many “rockers” had. His bangs were even combed over to one side covering most of his forehead. He wore a torn black t-shirt, and tight blue skinny jeans and scuffed up white sneakers. Next to him was a motorcycle helmet that looked like the ears of a bat attached to it. She looked at the peculiar singing boy. She knew him for it was Finn. She of course never had a long winded conversation with him. She felt they had talked long enough for her to come out and compliment his singing. Before she could step out. She saw his arms around the deer hugging it. His teeth grazed along the deers neck. Blood ran down its neck. The deer did not even struggle. As if it had not realized it was under attack. Finn let the falling blood wash his tongue like a water fountain. The juicy red liquid stained his lips. To Jade he did it in a way that seemed elegant or graceful. He had such etiquette when he sipped blood from the poor animal.
The deer slowly dropped to the ground. Jade had her back turned from Finn against the tree. Jade’s knees first to the ground. Some dead leaves crunched as she made impact. She felt stupid for finding a vampire graceful. Her face blushed with fear and embarrassment. A pale hand went across her vision blinding her. Before she could try and fight him she heard his singing. Her body became limp. Her arms fell asleep and soon would she.
Finn did not recognize the girl, but he knew he had seen her before. He did not really even want to recognize her, especially someone who he was about to take blood from. He brought her face close to his. Finn practiced a technique that he was once taught to extract blood from a human without leaving bite marks. He parted open his cold wet lips. The blonde girls lips already parted met his. His body parallel to hers, hugging her as close to him as he could. He could feel her blood literally boil. Eventually from her mouth a small stream of blood poured from her mouth into his. He sipped from her mouth as he kissed her. The blonde girl and Finn’s lips both were dark red like a pomegranate. Finn with his high standards made sure no blood even touched his chin. He felt her heart beat slowly. He immediately stopped. His intention was not to kill her.
To Finn’s knowledge, he had never killed a human being before nor did he plan to. He only took a a pint of her blood being that it is the blood donation maximum requirement . Finn pulled back his black silky hair off of his forehead. He had completely forgotten the deer. He did not want any rangers to stumble upon it and think some wild animal attacked it. It could possibly lead to him if they find a trace of him near it. Getting the blonde girl home was his first priority. He slithered one arm under her knees and one around her upper body and squeezed her tightly against himself. Her head draped over his shoulder and her body limp. She was out and would probably sleep until morning. Taking notice that her ruby stained lips would not be “approved” by her family, he kissed off what was remaining of it. He licked the blood off of his own lips after. He let of a half smile. He headed in the opposite direction.

Jade was safe and sound at the hotel. Finn merely placed her in the bedroom. The song he sang in particular would wipe out her memories, well what she saw in the woods that night. It still bothered him that he did not recognize her. How could such a girl escape from his memories. He did not let it press his mind too much.
Finn used a key to unlock his front door to his house. It was an old plantation-like home. It had old rusty red shutters. The panel on the rest of the house was a buttery yellow. You could still tell that it needed to be washed for it looked like rain had stained its once bright paneling. The grass was tall but not enough to say “wild”. There were thorns wrapped around the columns on the porch. The porch was enormous. It had a couch set in the front and a little coffee table in the middle with cards that lay in a fashion that seemed to be where some people previously played spades in. Next to the cards were two empty beer bottles standing adjacent to one another. On the white porch rail sat his alabaster colored cat. The cat had one green eye and one blue. His name was Jin. Jin was deaf which is why he never woke up from Finn’s loud footsteps. Finn remembered reading in one of his class biology books. It mentioned how cats with two different color eyes had a high risk of being deaf or blind. Unfortunately, Jin’s eyesight was also poor now being that he was an older cat. They had owned Jin for thirteen years and they knew not his age when they got him.
As the key turned to open the front of his door he heard a strange click. The door flew open. A tall man with a gaunt expression on his face stood there. He had light brown hair, dark brown eyes and a pale face, much paler then Finn’s. His medium long hair was slicked back like it was gelled. His glasses were rectangles slipping off of his nose. He held a cup of piping hot coffee in his left hand and an television remote in the right. His apparel was a red and green plaid shirt that buttoned to the very top to his neck. His jeans were a washed out blue bootcut. He grinned at Finn and then went back to his bony expression.
“Come sit down”, he said with an unpleasant inviting sound. Finn leisurely strolled in. As Finn walked into his home he reached for his backpack. He felt nothing realizing he may have left it on the bridge or the woods.
The living room was white. Two undead people; Finn and the man sat there. The couches were a red wine color. The wood floors were black. The floors needed polishing as you can make out the white scuff stains on them. The curtains to the left of the chairs were the same red wine color. On each side of the windows was a tall lamp dangerously close to the curtains. In between the lamps sat a white radiator. In front of the two chairs was a fireplace. It was tall and made of brick. It was not a plantation style which suggested the inside of the house was recently renovated. The living room did not wield a television. Finn thought maybe he had toted it from the kitchen,where there is a television. Behind the chairs was a staircase that obviously led to a corridor or rooms.
“Finn, do you want to tell me where you were?”, the man said. Finn was always smart when he answered a question, with a lie. This time that would probably be impossible. This was just an outlandish night. Finn would have felt guilty for lying this time. Finn had once lied about his whereabouts when he had his first drink of blood but he was not a very good liar back then. He felt guilty and confessed.
“Dad, I was there when the comet crashed today. I was in the woods and some girl caught me feeding on a deer. I wiped her memories”. He held the fact that he took her blood too. His dad stood up. “Did anyone see you at the bridge?”, his father asked
“No”, Finn answered.
His dad with a peculiar face said, “Be careful,you know how dangerous it is to be out at night. What if some other vampires saw you?” Finn stood up too. “I know. I know dad I’m sorry”. Finn immediately noticed his own vulnerable tone. He feared his father a bit. He thought how embarrassing it would be if his band members heard his voice at that moment.
“Now go get ready for school”. He grabbed the top of Finn’s head and ruffled his hair. He took notice of his vulnerable tone. Finn forced a smile and darted up stairs.
When Finn reached the top of the stairs he pulled out his cellphone. He pressed the 3 on his speed dial. “Ready?”

The night was cool. The moon was full. The wind was settled. The trees were dead. The party was live. There were many girls at the venue. It was rather big for Rusk, California. This was we’re most of the locals came to perform, the popular ones that is. The band playing tonight was “Purple Panda”. The lead singer was described as an angel. Mainly because his voice was like one. The lead singer, Finn, wore a purple tee and black jeans. The band was metal and with his combined singing gave a very unique sound. They were the most well known band in Rusk. The band was definitely close to stardom. The two band members Brad and Joseph normally slept with the girls. Finn supplied protection, only if they let him get blood. Brad and Joseph had known he was a vampire since they were very young. They were the best friends Finn could ask for. Finn never let them around his dad. He had his reasons. And good reasons they were.
Finn was full this night so he stayed out of the back lounge area. He decided to go talk to some of the guest while they were on break. He really needed a homecoming date. He had not dated since the beginning of sophomore year. That did not work out with her discovering he was a vampire. He wiped her memory ,but Finn was not comfortable around her anymore.
He felt a tap upon his shoulder. An old girlfriend from freshman year. She had cherry red dyed hair. She had a light tan, dark brown eyes and black dimple piercings. She probably only wore them at these concerts. “Hey Tina, how are you? I haven’t seen you since-” “We broke up? I have been good, you know the high school life. what about you?”, Tina said.
“Eh you know rockers life. Pretty boring”, Finn answered
“Doesn’t sound boring to me”, Tina replied.
“Remember when I wrote your first song?”, Tina asked. She had let off the biggest smile. He had not seen her smile this big since he first met her. She looked more attractive with the cherry red hair. When they were dating her hair was shorter and was a baby blue color. He never did know her true hair color. She did not even have dimple piercings at the time either.
“Yes,I remember the song it was-” Finn was cut off by the screech of the microphone. That was the cue to assemble the band members among Purple Panda. It was funny at first, now Finn realizes it can be a nuisance. “Tina it was nice talking to you. I will call you later”.
“I have a cell now. So here’s my number.” She handed him a ruffled piece of paper with eloquent hand writing on it. “Unless you want to call my house phone? I’m pretty sure you would want to talk to my nasty old father”, she smirked. “Um I–I will just call your cell.”, he said nervously. She laughed again,” Can–” The screech went off again.”I gotta go”, Finn said.
Finn briskly walked to the stage. His brain rushed with so many thoughts approaching the stage. Did he start to like her again? He did not even consider the arguments from when and how they broke up. Maybe he did not care. The past is the past,right? Finn went behind the stage for his electric guitar. He walked on stage and plugged it in to it’s respective amp. Finn thought he felt his heart beat. He smiled on the inside of course his heart had not pumped blood since he was seven years old. Finn felt silly for thinking that way.
“Guys we were playing Miranda the Panda, Finn said.
“But you said we would never play it again”, Joseph said.
Joseph was a scrawny guy. He was brown-skinned, with grey eyes. He normally wore glasses. He would be condemned if he wore them to a concert. Joseph was the drummer of the band he was the genius behind the band. He wrote wrote and or inspired most of the songs.
“We are now”, Finn said. Finn could feel Bradley gawking at him. Finn was good at ignoring him. Bradley was a sarcastic person. He was also very cocky. He was a dirty blonde haired kid. His eyes were not very memorable. Even his mother probably would not know his eye color. Brad played bass guitar. He was the master in the studio. He has his own studio that his brother left him when he went off to college. The studio was for other locals to which is what endorsed the Purple Panda band.
Finn was a great asset alone with his voice. He booked all the gigs because he knows anyone who is anybody. Yes the three of them could never break up they all were to great of an asset to the band.
Finn and Bradley both strummed their guitar. This was a ritual they performed to let each other know they were ready. Joseph tapped his drums. The audience automatically assembled. They began. Finn screamed, Miranda the Panda! The crowd roared. The drums began playing and so did the guitars. Finn sang with all of his heart. The middle of the crowd began to mosh. Fist were flying everywhere. Everybody else began jumping up and down to the music.
He tried to see if he could see Tina in the crowd ,but he could not. He stopped looking because it would distract his singing and playing and the spotlights flashed too brightly. The drums got louder. That was part of the song and Finn’s signal for his solo. Whatever Finn did he played with his soul. Well an allegorical soul if it was within his body. He could feel the sweat dampen his hair. His knees became weak as if weights were placed on them. His fingers moved so fast on the strings that you would not know which was which finger. The amp almost did not keep up. The crowd got more rowdy.
The screams fueled Finn with the energy to keep playing. His shirt was drenched as if he jumped into a pool. He broke down on his knees. Still playing. The girls shrilled like banshees. Finn knew a banshee once so he could identify with it. Even a guy in the front of the crowd shrilled like a little girl. His glasses soaked in sweat from his long jet-black hair. Bradley saw the guy and exploded with laughter, but no sound emerged from his mouth. Finn played his last note. He dropped his guitar and he had jumped into the crowd. Finn always feared he would be dropped. He in fact was dropped the last time he jumped in a crowd. Finn had a broken arm and leg. He told his dad the truth this time because he would not want to say it was a motorcycle incident. He would never ride again.
The gathering of people carried him all the way to the end. They gently set him on the ground on his feet. Finn could barely stand so it did not matter. He lost his will to stand. He felt himself falling. The free fall felt nice. The cool wind on his face and hair. He felt so comfortable. Then he felt himself land on an unsure person. As if the did not think through how they would support his unusually heavy body. “Oh God your sweaty”, the voice said. It was Tina. Finn looked up at her and stood up immediately and gained the will to stand again.”I’m sorry”, he said. “Wow you really played your soul out in that one”, Tina smiled. “Ha if I had one”, Finn boasted. Tina with the same smile said” You always did joke about yourself. Your soul is safe.” Finn thought if only you knew. “You played the song I wrote !” Finn let a little of his teeth show trying not to bare his fangs. Tina pulled out her cell. “Dad, ugh I am on my way. Stop rushing me.– okay I’m– bye.” She looked up at Finn with a look saying dads.
“So I will see you at school?”,Finn asked. Tina who maintained her smile the whole time replied,”Oh yes you will”. She walked away as graceful as she could in her jean shorts and Purple Panda fan tee. She grabbed the exit door opened it and disappeared. Finn just stared at the door. He could have done this for eternity if he allowed it. He was only thinking of Tina. The past,the present and the future. He thought of why he played that song. What if she thought he was a creeper for doing that? Finn felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Joseph with Bradley standing close behind.
“We have to clean up”, Joseph insisted. He looked over at Brad smiling at the girls who walked by. One stopped by and the had a distant conversation. Finn would have listened in on the covers action but they would know if he was. That would be an invasion of privacy. The girl handed him a piece of prewritten paper. Most likely her number with a smiley face or a heart next to her name. Bradley was always good with the ladies. He always had a new girl every week. A few occasions he had two girls one on each arm. Finn was not that way. Brad tried to teach him to be like him, it did not work out. Joseph and Bradley often called him an odd vampire. Finn had more than enough girls that wanted him but he was not the type to take advantage of a girl.
Most of the audience had cleared the venue. They could see its worn wood flooring. The venue was an large enough area for a good clear echo. The ceiling for some odd reason was filled with balloons. It was probably some dumb joke. Eventually days from now they would fall and have to be picked up. The air was not clear. The air was filled with cigarette smoke.
Finn zipping up his book bag felt a vibration. He reached for his phone. Did his dad find out he was gone? There were only missed calls from Joseph when Finn was on his way to the venue. Those text messages were from hours ago. A clank sound was produced from the wood floor. He noticed its black metallic color. It was the stopwatch. It vibrated again and again as if a call was being made. He reached out to touch it. A red glowing symbol was on the exposed back. He went palm first for it. It singed the palm of his hand. Finn’s hand retreated from it. The heat from the insignia burned its twin into his palm. Finn looked around to see if Brad or Joseph paid any attention. They of course were not. They were on the other side of the venue floor.
When the pocketwatch burned him he noticed that the burn was excruciating. At the same time he heard a voice say “It’s okay I am a friend”. Was this why he did not cry out? It is impossible for a stopwatch to perform such great tasks. Who was Finn to say, vampires are not suppose to exist either. It was a space age looking watch,literally. A pocketwatch from space just sounds completely outlandish even to Finn, who witnessed it himself. The more he pondered the subject he wondered why the bridge did not collapse. The bridge rocked but he did not think of why it did not crack. The strangest think that had ever happened to him was becoming a vampire. This took the number one spot.
“Finn, we gotta go get paid !”, Bradley screamed unnecessarily. Bradley was standing not even ten feet from him. Finn walked toward the back of the stage. Joseph and Bradley awkwardly climb the stage. In the back of the stage were two hallways. Finn took the left hall. Brad and Joseph caught up to him. The third door to the right was a open door. The hall dark and the light piercing from the open door. Finn, Joseph and Bradley all entered the room to see a man with a bowed head.
The man was sporting a brown suede jacket with the tassels suspending from it. He had long brown hair that touched his shoulders. He sat at a wooden desk. A bright light that filled the room that sat behind him. The room was very junkie with paper and instruments. Awards tacked on the one wall. On his desk sat a money counter and a suitcase full of money. His cellphone not to distant from it was vibrating he had no effort to answer.
“Ricky?”, Joseph spoke. Ricky looked up so quickly they were surprised his neck did not snap. He had a big smile from ear to ear. “I wrote your checks for ya!” He hopped out of his seat and skittered around his desk to the boys. “We made a fortune”, he said with his hands. He handed the three checks. Checks that made all three of the boys eyes buck. ” I have connections with a good friend. He might be able to get you higher paid gigs. I would love for you guys to keep performing but not at the expense of having you guys waste talent on this old town.”
Finn wondered who this mystery connection could be. Finn knew a lot of people in California. Who could it be that be? Finn dropped his inner conversation. He hated getting such thoughts of conceit. He normally blamed being a bloodsucker for it. That was childish of him to keep telling himself such preposterous things. His dad did mention that a vampire’s attitude was different from a humans. Finn took one of them as conceit. Finn struggled with that conviction all his life. His father had to be wrong. He still has the same DNA. He had the same memories. He was seven when he changed so how would he really know for sure? Finn pushed it in the back of his mind.
Ricky ruffled Finn’s hair. “Tell your Father I said hello for me.” Finn forced a grin. “I will”. Bradley, Finn and Joseph left the back door of the venue. A lot of steam from the air ducts clouded their view of the full moon. The dark concrete moderately damp and the smell of sea salt from the nearby ocean set a great atmosphere.
Finn felt a vibration. He reached for the stopwatch. This time he was smart for he grabbed it chain first. The pocket-watch was not burning or vibrating. Joseph called out to Finn,” Hey you coming?” Finn pulled out his cell. “Hold on”, Finn replied. Finn looked at the caller ID. It was his father. Read more

Eris : I can sense a heavy mystical energy floating on air tonight.

Draco : The lycans, I can smell them.

Eris : How many of them?

Draco : An army, one strong alpha among them.

Eris : Hmm, yes I can sense his strength.

Meanwhile Sarah resting to heal her wounds, I saw Catherine approaching.

Eris : how is she?

Catherine : Better, her pulse stronger. She needs more time to heal, she’s not mature.

Eris : Do you realize what have you done? Your opening the wound that I’ve protected for centuries.

Catherine : We were fooled Eris. None of us have you thoughts. Your ability to sense.

Eris : Nonsense! we are vampire, the first descendants from the first. Did you really think that I killed my own brother? The one who protected me since I was child?

Catherine : Father protects you. He loves you, just the way he loved Mikael.

Eris : Save it, you’ll see what he really love when the time comes.

I don’t want to argue more about my father’s love. All that he want to protect was our blood. Mine and Mikael. The blood of a sinner. So I stepped into the cave of Draco’s lair, where Sarah and Richard resting while Draco and Catherine outside.

Richard : I heard. I’m sorry, I believed you brother.

Eris : I’m tired of this, could we just skip it? Please.

Richard was remain silent. He couldn’t believe what he just saw. His own father sent him to death. Just as the way he sent me and mikael.

Sarah : Eris… (whispering)

Eris : Hush… Rest sister, you need to regain your strength.

Sarah : Did he really love us Eris? Our father?

Eris : I don’t have that answer Sarah, you seen it. It is your choice to believe or not. But one thing for sure, I am sorry for what I did.

Sarah : I know you do.

She was wounded badly than I thought. Now the rest of us, Richard, Me, Draco and Catherine waiting for the unwanted lycans. The fairies are hiding inside the forest. Either The Nobles and The Peasants preparing to face their nightmare for once again. One supernatural creature they’ve never fought.

As a warrior, The Peasants known a vampire weakness. Yes we have. We are not immortal, and so is the lycans. We only lived longer, stronger, faster and other ability they never had. One thing immortal is the human soul. The body may able to be rotten, but the soul remain. Traveling into another realm I can’t imagine. A peaceful and place where no teardrops, fear, sorrow. Only happiness inside. The place we’ve called heaven.

Draco : You were not supposed to be here, you should be more aware of this.

Catherine : I have no regrets dragon. I finally know the truth of my father’s evil side.

Draco : After all these centuries you didn’t realize.

Catherine : No, I did not. Either Eris or my father I have no faith. One thing that I knew. I have to protect my siblings.

Draco : That is enough, as a vampire you have soul. Never loose it. You will need it to reach heaven.

Catherine remain silent. She never realize she would met such a wise dragon. She smiled and back into the cave. Draco stood still in front of the lair. Watching, guarding, in case the lycans reach this place.

Then suddenly I’ve sense something else. Something strange. The different aura inside the forest.

Richard : Eris…! Did you feel that.. (whispering)

Eris : Be quiet…

I stepped outside to discover the strange energy. A fearless energy.

Eris : What is it Draco? I’ve never sense the aura before.

Draco : Look… The moon has appeared.

I looked into the sky and just realize.

Eris : Red moon. This is not good.

Draco : Hurry…! Inside the lair.

Catherine and Richard comes out from the lair. They’ve sense the aura also. As a vampire they never felt this kind of energy. The energy that never diminished. The energy that refuel every seconds.

Richard : What is this, I’ve never sense something like this.

Catherine : Eris… are you….

Eris : Get back inside now.

I saw sightings inside the forest. And then I realize, its not The Lycans approaching. Something I recognize before. A part of The Forest that behold a remarkable strength. The strength to seal a Crusnik.

They called The Hunters. The Forest guardian. The Colony that never reveal them self until the night. The Red moon has strengthen them. The time has come for them to protect their domain. The threat they have to wiped out. Just like an animal grow stronger when they threatened. The Red Moon increase their strength. Even as a vampire I prevent the battle with them.

Chrysanthos was a Hunter. Chosen by the Sorcerer. The sealing technique requires an aura that never diminished. The Cursnik sealing was at the same time. When the red moon appears.

Draco : It’s them.

Eris : Yes, it’s them.

Richard : Oh Lord. What are they?

Eris : Now I know what prevent The Lycans approach.

Catherine eager stepped her feet back into The Lair. She realize, they are not the enemy we have to fight. The fight we have to avoid with. And there is only one thing on my mind. Are they enemies or allies. So I decided to to talked to them.

Eris : Good evening elders. I am Eris.

La Brie : I know who you are.

Among The Hunters I saw La Brie stepped outside.

Eris : La Brie..!

La Brie : I see you could use our help.

Eris : Thank you. You don’t know how glad I am now.

La Brie : We have no time, The Lycans will be here soon.

Eris : What,? Aren’t they fear The Hunters?

La Brie : They were, but now they also grow stronger. We must take your injured sister into the forest.

Eris : We cannot trust them yet La Brie.

La Brie : You don’t trust your own siblings?

Eris : Trust are to be earned.

La Brie : I’ll responsible. You have to be focus. That way, you’ll be able to defeat them.

I took a deep breath.

Eris : Very well.

I asked Catherine and Richard to follow La Brie into the forest while I hold The Lycans.

Richard : No, I’ll stay and fight with you. That way, I’ll prove my loyalty to you brother. Also for your forgiveness.

Eris : There is no guarantee you’ll survive this fight.

Richard : I’ve learned. Decapitate is the only way to kill The Red Moon Lycans. I have no strength to cast a blasting spell but my sword is sharp enough. Besides, Draco’s with us.

Eris : I won’t hold back. You will see the darkest part of me.

Richard : It would be an honor for me.

As Catherine follows La Brie into the forest, we stand our ground. Some of The Hunters stays to assist us. The battle once again begins. An army of Red Moon Lycans against us.

Eris : It is time. Get ready.

Neither Draco and the other hunters can’t hide their fear. The vampire king’s first descendants has reveal its form. I realize, I cannot win this fight on a common vampire’s form. So I compiled my power and blast it into the air.

They sense a huge power from me as my bones begins to cracking. A different aura covered my body. Wind blows the mist and reveal my true form as a vampire first descendant.

The union of The Vampire King and The Demon Queen. I sense their fear as the time he saw my vampire form.

The nature cannot prevent the war between this two species once again. I cannot prevent my blood thirst. A minute later The Lycans howl into the silent night. An army of Lycans in front of us. Howling, growling. And the war once again begins.

photography by Melony Farrar
http://www.sweetwinkphotography.com

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Celia and Marco – unwilling antagonists in a battle of wits between their near-immortal mentors to prove one school of thought better than another. Bound to the challenge by magic, compelled to strive against one another, yet drawn to one another like moths to the flame.

Even now, the day after I finished the book, this is all I can tell you about the book. The story is easily summarised to a line or two, indicating a simplicity of storyline that is rare and not necessarily desirable. The scenes and individual events already blur and fade because they were part of a gradual build to the ending, rather than important events in their own right.

I enjoyed the destination of this book, but the journey often left me flat. Did I like Celia and Marco? In a vague, distant kind of way, yes. Do I feel I know the characters intimately, that I could tell you how they might respond in any given situation? No, not at all – in fact, if I were to describe the characters, I could only do so in vague terms. Was I invested in the outcome? Again, only in a slightly hopeful way.

The book is written in a peculiar fashion, utilising both second person point of view (use of ‘you’ instead of ‘I’, ‘he’, or ‘she’) and omniscient third POV (use of ‘he’ and ‘she’ in a remote fashion, where we feel the story is narrated to us and we are kept at arm’s length from the characters).

I detest the use of second person point of view in this book. It is used, I think, to create the sense the reader is in the circus. It irritated me, and distracted me from the story – not a good thing when I was already hardly invested in the story. Although I concede that the ending, the culmination of the use of second POV, was clever, it was not enough to compensate for its annoyances during the book. Third omniscient POV is what largely kept me from connecting with the characters. Never allowed inside the character’s heads, I never felt I got to know them, never got the chance to live and breathe their lives, their desires, and their fears.

The book uses present tense to compensate for the remote POV (he walks instead of he walked) but this, too is unconventional, as it often distracts the reader or creates a sense of discomfort – we are, by nature, accustomed to telling stories in past tense, even our own stories of each passing day, and use of other tenses can be an uncomfortable experience. I found it distracting and it didn’t sufficiently compensate for the POV.

The book also lacked conflict in my opinion. The main conflict turned out to be Celia’s and Marco’s desire to be rid of the challenge – the tension between what they must do by the rules of the game, and what they want to do. But the rules are so vague, each ‘move’ in the game so abstract (consisting mostly of each of them contributing to the circus by means of magic, adding a new tent or ‘act’ only made possible by magic), that the book is more than half over before the reader starts to gain a sense of this conflict. Other conflicts that might exist between the characters (for example, Celia and Marco’s blossoming romance, or the potential love triangle with Isobel) is negated by the use of omniscient third – we never wonder if Celia’s feelings for Marco are reciprocated because the narrator has already told us they are.

As a result, I found I had nothing to keep me reading except a vague curiosity in where the book was going. If I hadn’t been reading this for Club Fantasci, I may well have stopped in the first 10%. As it was, I was well past halfway before I felt I needed to read to the end. In my opinion, that is far too late.

My strongest reaction was early in the book to Prospero the Enchanter when he slices Celia’s fingers open in a cruel fashion to teach her to heal herself – but the impact of this, even, could have been made more immediate, and a stronger basis for the reader to identify with Celia if another POV had been used. Later, in the story, the emotional impact of this event in her life is played down.

The Black Moment (the moment of crisis, when the reader should catch their breath in fear and anticipation, waiting to see how terribly wrong everything has gone, and if all will be well) had me curious, but hardly emotionally invested to the point I should have been. I did foresee Celia’s plan for ending the game, and although it wasn’t what I wanted to happen, I found the most I could muster at the prospect of an unhappy ending was a mild annoyance.

While the story was different, novel, unique, and had a fabulous atmosphere and mood, I can only say I feel every opportunity for passion, for strong emotion, for the things readers hunger for, was missed. While I was not unhappy with the ending, this is not a story that will stay with me for years to come – or even perhaps past the week.

What I got out of the novel was not what I expected. Although I loved the premise of the book, the book itself didn’t stand up to what it could have been.  Author Erin Morgenstern did turn out a good book for her first novel without a doubt. It has plenty of imagination and creativity. What I felt was missing was any real bond to the characters or any real attachment to the outcome of the love story because that is essential what “The Night Circus” is, a love story.

It starts off with two young children Celia and Marco who are unwittingly looked into a life or death challenge that goes on for their entire life. They know nothing about it, how it works, whom it’s against or when it ends. They just exist and are in a combat of sorts against each other until into their adult hood they start to figure out who their opponents are and the stakes if the challenge is lost.

Along the way, a cast of characters again that you develop no attachment to pepper the story with little bits of their involvement here and there. Two characters die and you don’t really even know or care who they are although they are at least partially integral to the circus itself. The story jumps back and forth in time with nothing but a tiny sub-script line at the top of each chapter to let you know of the time shifts and if you are like me and extremely busy, it becomes very hard to keep that all in order as when I am able to read, I read in spurts and very rarely for hours at a time.

As Celia and Marco grow up and figure out they are pitted against each other in this challenge they had no choice in participating in, they fall in love and of course they have to figure out a way to be together upon discovering that the only way to win the challenge is to be the last to survive. It’s a challenge of endurance, who can last the longest before finally giving up because they can’t bear it anymore emotionally.

I won’t give away the ending but let’s just say it ends very quickly and very anti-climatically. I ended the book thinking to myself how completely unsatisfying it was to read. I do love the premise, I love the potential, but I don’t feel it was reached here. Erin Morgenstern is a talented writer; I think her ability to describe detail is very good. Her imagination is fantastic. I just think this story was a bit rushed and the ending was not thought out well to me. There was not enough character development to care about the outcome and the switching between first and second person was a bit off-putting.

All in all I would give it about three out of 5 stars. I would read another book by the author, but admittedly it would probably be after getting through all my other ones first.

The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets.

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city’s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly — and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics — and cultivate a flair for death.

http://www.brentweeks.com/books/the-night-angel-trilogy/the-way-of-shadows/

The Night Circus is a book that had me thinking it was fairly good until I really thought about what I did and didn’t like about it. I was initially impressed by the original theme and plot, and the writing is bordering on great but didn’t quite get there for me. Morgenstern’s descriptive language provides a rich atmosphere, but the rhythm overall is repetitive and, at times, monotonous.

The editing lets the book down. I know a lack of punctuation can be trendy, or speed up the flow, but only when used effectively. Tim Winton is a skillful writer who knows when to leave out punctuation, but Erin Morgenstern’s editor should be slapped with a wet fish. There were instances where sentences became unclear and I had to read them twice to make sure I understood exactly what they were saying—a comma can be a good thing. I also found a couple of run-on sentences, which a reader probably wouldn’t notice, but as an editor, I couldn’t help but see.

The characters were likable and I could picture them clearly, however they lacked depth and I didn’t love any of them. The love story between two of the characters had moments of intensity, but not enough for my liking (and I don’t mean it should have been more raunchy). It seemed like the author was keeping them apart to build suspense and it worked as I was thinking, come on when will they get to see each other again, but when they did reunite it wasn’t spectacular, it was just OK.

I’m wondering if the focus on the circus took too much focus off the characters. The author has skillfully set the atmosphere and scene but it has come at a cost to character depth. Sometimes I wished she would just get on with telling the story, rather than describe every single tent in the damn circus. The circus stole some of the soul of the characters and none were as central to the story as it was, which I think is a mistake. To me, this book is a good example that characterization can be more important than plot and setting—give me lovable characters and I’d be happy to watch them lazing away on the beach, but give me boring ones and my heart won’t race even if they’re wrestling crocodiles.

OK, I know it seems like I didn’t like the book, but I liked it enough that I wanted to read the whole thing and I did enjoy parts of it, however it doesn’t make my ‘want to re-read’ list.

Forever in Time.  Stephanie Fields was asked to describe herself, she’d say she was ordinary, calm and cautious. Her quiet life was exactly as she wanted it to be, or so she thought, until a mysterious stranger entered her shop. He had a knack for drawing her out of herself, for pushing her buttons, for making her feel… But now, just when life was getting interesting, someone was stalking her.

She has written three books in her Law of the Lycans series:

The Mating, Elise had no idea when she came home that day that she’d end up mated to a complete stranger. A new Alpha and the need for an alliance between packs have made her a pawn.

The Keeping,  Ryne Taylor was a sexy bad-ass Alpha set on establishing a new pack. Melody Greene was a journalism student researching his work as a photographer or so she said. But could Mel really be trusted or had she stumbled upon his secret? And if she knew, could Ryne save himself and the pack he d left behind without enacting a deadly ancient law known as The Keeping? Sequel to The Mating

The Finding, She discovered a dark secret, witnessed a murder and fled into the night fearing for her life. Three years later, Cassie is still hiding from her past, haunted by a dream lover and fighting to control a terrifying beast that seems to grow stronger each day. When Bryan, pack Beta, appears to claim her, Cassie is forced to face the truth of her existence. Innocence, betrayal, greed and love collide with ancient werewolf laws in… The Finding.

Bonded, Reno’s a tough Enforcer for Lycan Link who finds himself drawn to Brandi but duty rules his life. Brandi, just on the edge of starting her career as a Disaster Control officer, falls for Reno at first sight, but are they really meant to be? Is it love or lust and does it really even matter? Enforcers and DCs don’t get along…unless fate forces them to. Bonded precedes The Mating in the Law of the Lycans timeline.

Read more here…

http://mariamkobras.blogspot.de/2012/08/books-wine-and-music-club-fantasci.html

If so then Club Fantasci is the book club for you.  A little different from your average meet once a month at the coffee shop book club, Club Fantasci meets once a month on Google+ and we talk about the Book of the Month, Wine of the Month and the music that each host feels best relates to the book we are reviewing that month.

In Club Fantasci we will discuss speculative fiction and it literary merits. The marketing of it, its effectiveness, and whether or not it shifts to much from it expected outcome from it genre. We wants to bring our members a deeper understanding of not just story telling, but what goes into the book itself on every level.

Our first Google+ hangout is August 31^st at 7:00 pm CST. You can interact with us on our individual twitter accounts @lowryagency, @ciaraballintyne, @dionnelisterand @ShannonMillion to discuss your views on the book or just to have fun with us live. The video feed will be live on the Club Fantasci website.

Read more here…

http://dawnmkirby.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/not-your-traditional-book-club/

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Join Clube Fantasci and explore the deepest corners of your imagination.

How do you travel? By car, bus, boat, train or plane? Or… by paper and ink, or ereader, teemed with your imagination?

Where do you travel? Venice, Rome, London, New York? Or to the dark emptiness of space, where a vast planet curves out of sight in the vista below you? To a fantastical world where dragons fly, and sunlight pours like syrup?

I have been to hundreds of worlds I could never reach by car or plane, carried by the wings of fancy, aided by the dreams of someone else, written down and shared. I have walked the earth of planets far away, in our galaxy or another, and strode across the landscape of imagination to face the hordes of evil. Without speculative fiction, my life would be immeasurably poorer.

If this sounds like you, you should check out Club Fantasci, a new video book club for speculative fiction. The hosts meet monthly via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book, and you can tune in to watch. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads! There’s a current debate about what ‘traditional fantasy’ means exactly (in a situation where high/epic fantasy is a different category) so come along and have your say. My current view is it might be sword and sorcery, or possibly heroic fantasy. Do you know?

The first G+ Hangout is on 31 August at 7:00pm CST, and the Book of the Month for August is ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Feel free to drop by our Facebook Page or Goodreads group and make suggestions for future books. I’ll be revealing September’s Book of the Month at the August G+ Hangout.

Read more here…

http://www.amberrisme.com/2012/08/26/how-do-you-travel-explore-club-fantasci-and-your-deepest-imagination/#

I have. In fact, it was the Harry Potter debate that did me in. I still staunchly maintain those are not dragons. They’re wyverns – of the pterosaur variety. I see you nodding in agreement… We understand each other.

But ten years later, my friends still remember that incident. Don’t start on the dragons again, they say. Or the other objection I encounter is ‘You do know dragons aren’t real, right?’ So what? Why does that matter? The mythology, and even more recently, the fantasy classifications, do exist.

If you know what I’m talking about, you should check out Club Fantasci, a new video book club for speculative fiction. We’ll be discussing the literary merits of each selected book, but also the extent to which a book deviates from or meets genre expectations – anything and everything that impacts on a book’s effectiveness. The hosts meet monthly via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book, and you can tune in to watch. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads!

The first G+ Hangout is on 31 August at 7:00pm CST, and the Book of the Month for August is ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Feel free to drop by our Facebook Page or Goodreads group and make suggestions for future books. I’ll be revealing September’s Book of the Month at the August G+ Hangout.

Read more here….

http://www.safireblade.com/?p=5693

Want some Exotic With Your Erotic?

Do you like spaceships with your erotica? Beautiful, non-human sirens to tempt your hero?

I confess I am a relative newcomer to the genre of erotica. My early forays left me feeling a bit flat. Some of them (not D.C.’s of course!) seemed to revolve entirely around the sex. Now I understand that’s what erotica means (I’m not that silly), but where was the story? Surely this was supposed to be a story with sex, not just…um…. pointless, repetitive sex?

Read more here…

http://dcmcmillen.com/2012/08/24/friday-spotlight-ciara-ballantyne-puts-exotic-in-erotic/

And it’s not just the way we read books that is changing with technology.

Once upon a time, a book club would meet at a location, with paperbacks in hand, to discuss the literary merits of the book of the month. There might be coffee and cake. Or maybe wine, depending on the time of the meeting.

Now we have video book clubs, where the ‘hosts’ meet via video link-up of some kind – Skype, or Google+ Hangout. I’m sure there are others with which I’m unfamiliar. Members can interact via a discussion board. Now, people who have never met face to face, may never meet face to face, and could never have participated in the same book club, are meeting to talk about books. Because of technology, the internet, websites and forums like Goodreads, and innovations like online video link-ups.

Read more here….

http://hmjacobs.com/guest-blog-the-evolution-of-reading-by-ciara-ballintyne/

I look forward to your thoughts on escapism. What do you seek from the books you read? I hope you’ll let us know in the comments below. For now, let’s turn things over to Ciara!

Read more here…

http://rainethomas.com/raine/reality-isnt-for-me-a-guest-post-by-author-ciara-ballintyne/