Crimson Dawn: Darklife Saga

This is the first chapter of my vampire novel Crimson Dawn. Parts of it have been posted before but my ex deleted it, so here it is. I will post more if enough people want to read more.


Chapter 1

Crunch! I looked down at the broken glass under my foot, and took a quick glance back at the sleeping man sprawled across the bed .
Good, still asleep. The last thing I needed was for Michael...Mitch...Mathew...whatever his name is, to wake up while I was trying to make a smooth getaway before the sun got too high in the sky.
While the night before proved to be very entertaining for us both, I wasn't looking for anything beyond a one-night stand. And as my luck would have it, I picked a guy that liked to cuddle after sex and actually talk about his feelings, most of which involved us getting to know each other better. Yeah--I'll pass. While the sex was good I had my doubts that it was worth all this. Now I know that may sound rather whorish, but most vampires don't see promiscuity as such a bad thing. Pain and pleasure go hand in hand for us: they increase our chances of having successful feedings. Humans don't tend to take a few missing pints so bad if they've had an incredible night of sex the day before.
So does maintaining our anonymity. To make sure I kept my own, I placed a few mental blocks in said cuddle bunny's mind, ie. glamour. Just to make sure he wouldn't show up at my favorite Xtras club The Den looking for me later. The next time he saw me he would vaguely remember me as some chick he thought he went to high school with. The blocks wouldn't mean shit though if I couldn't get out of the house without accidentally waking him. I'd go from last night's thrill to trespassing burglar. Not high on my 'to do' list.
Fortunately with a little burst of vamp speed I was out of the house and into my car in a manner of seconds. Kicking myself the entire way for carelessly knocking over the glass in the first place. No sooner than I shut the door my cell phone started to ring. A quick glance told me that it was my roommate. "Yeah, this is Val, talk."
Irulan huffed on the other end. "Valeria you've really got to work on your phone etiquette, you have all the social graces of a sloth. "
I shrugged my shoulders and pulled my burgundy Fusion into traffic. "I knew it was you Ire, so why bother with the pleasantries?"
Instead of the snappy comeback I expected, I heard nothing but silence. Irulan took too long to answer. On top of that she covered the phone with her hand and lowered her voice to a whisper. God, I hoped she didn't have some girl in the bed with her while she was fussing at me. The last thing I needed was to be berated in front of her flavor of the week.
"Gee thanks", she said when she finally decided to respond. You really know how to make a girl feel special. I was just calling to make sure you were awake and on the way home, it's getting close to eight. I know you're pureblood and all, but you're still young in vamp years. You need to be in before the sun gets to high in the sky."
"Nah Ma, you think?" No matter how many times I make it home before the sun completely rises, she never lets me forget the one time that I didn't. To be honest, I think it scared her more than it scared me. I got off relatively easy... just a three month long tan. I've seen other vampires my age take a few years to heal similar sun damage. It's one of the few injuries that our bodies don't heal almost instantly. Granted, their blood might not have been as pure as my own.
"I'm already in the car and headed home on Tyvola, I'll see you in ten minutes." Irulan was obviously satisfied with my answer because she hung up without saying goodbye. Now who needed lessons in phone etiquette?
I live in the southern United States, Charlotte, N.C. to be precise. Charlotte, became one of the "it" destination for Xtras after the Awakening. The city was large enough to support us and allow us to blend in, yet small enough and deep enough in the south that the humans here hadn't lost their belief in all things otherworldly. They weren't quite as jaded as the rest of North America thus; they were a little more welcoming.
So much so that there are, at least four suburbs here aimed strictly at Xtras. Irulan and I lived in one called Emerald City. Yeah I know, but I didn't name the place I just live here. The last time I checked the census we were the fastest growing minority in Charlotte.