A Date with a Vampire

 

by Shirley Martin

 

    Suppose you meet a vampire at a party, and you know he's one of the undead.  Now suppose he asks you for a date. Would you say (1) I never date vampires, (2) Let me think about it, or (3) Your place or mine?

    Within the last few decades, vampires have been portrayed as real sex symbols, handsome and debonair. But it wasn't always so. Centuries ago, people actually believed in vampires, creatures shown to be ugly and desiccated. In eastern Europe, especially, people dug up graves of anyone suspected of being one of the undead and drove a stake through the heart or burned the corpse. 

    All of that changed with the publication of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" in 1897. Now the vampire was portrayed as being more, well, human. At the time of its publication, "Dracula' didn't garner the fame that later years brought to the novel. Yet Stoker's novel set the standard for vampires that would last for years.

    With Anne Rice's publication of "Interview with a Vampire" the bloodsucker underwent yet another incarnation, this time as a troubled, introspective hero.  And since then, we have seen an absolute plethora of novels and movies centered around the undead. Now, we see the vampire as a sexy, romantic hero, one any woman would die for.

    In my contemporary vampire romance, "One More Tomorrow" my heroine, Stephanie (Stevie) doesn't at first realize that the man she has fallen in love with is a vampire. Imagine her shock when she finds out what he is and that he's over one-thousand years old. 

    Here is a truncated version of Stevie's reaction when she discovers that Galan, the man she loves, is a vampire.. . .

    Galan sat down on the bed next to her, but she slid away. "If only you knew how I wanted to tell you, how it hurt not to reveal what I truly am."

    "Yeah, I'll just bet that broke your heart."

    "Dearest, you are breaking my heart now."

    "You don't  have a heart."

    He nodded, pain and misery on his face. "My heart is not like yours. But this much I tell you, and I beg you to believe me. I never sought my vampirism. It was forced on my whilst I lay drugged and unconscious."

    "And you expect me to believe that?"

    "No matter, it's the truth." 

    She had to be by herself. It was all too much to take. If what he said was true--and she had to take him at his word--what a horrible burden to bear until the end of time.

    She raised a finger to catch a tear sliding down her cheek. "You'd better go now, leave me alone. And I think--" Her voice caught. "--and I think it would be best if we stopped seeing each other." 

    "You need time to get used to the idea. I'll call you later this week."

    "No!  You don't understand. This is 'goodby'.  I don't want to see you again."  

 

 

 

   Destined to live only in darkness Galan must defeat the evil Moloch to win the love of the mortal woman, Stephanie.

 

"--an enchanting book with the charm of a fairy tale and an ending that's pure gold."  Alma at Fallen Angel Reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006WSJZLO