Chapter One

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    Kelani loved being a librarian. She was a bookworm and her favorite books to read were about vampires. To her vampires were dark and mysterious. They exuded so much strength and power. The way they could read your mind was incredible. Their quick ability to do things was something out of this world. 

    At times she wished she were a vampire. Then again the thought of tasting blood made her queasy. She was so engrossed in her reading she didn’t realize Alexander was standing there. When she looked up she pushed her expensive-framed lenses up on her nose.

    “What’s up, Alex?”

    “Aren’t you going to head out? It’s already dark out and I don’t understand why you insist on walking when you have a nice car,” Alex griped.

    “I like to enjoy the night. Besides my apartment is only a block away.” Kelani shrugged.

    “You are definitely a different breed.”

    All Kelani could do was smile. She loved she was different. Although she was different she was beautiful as hell. Behind those spectacles were some beautiful honey-colored eyes. Her skin was the color of toffee. Kelani’s body was to die for. She was thick and curvaceous. The curly coils of her hair were slicked back in a bun with her fine baby hair resting perfectly. A few stray curly tendrils rested at her temples. 

    Whenever she smiled her breathtaking smile could easily sucker punch someone in the gut. Those gorgeous dimples were so deep one could stick their fingers inside. Looking at the time she realized Alexander was right. It was nearing 8:15 pm and she needed to be on her way. After putting a bookmark in her book she made sure everything was in place before leaving. She let Alexander know she was leaving.

    It was nearing the end of summer and Kelani loved the fall. There was something about the night air. She stepped out the glass doors and headed down the steps of the library. A few people were milling about on feet or on bicycles. Some cars zoomed by as she headed down the sidewalk.

    The only thing she hated about walking to her high rise apartment was she had to pass a dark alley. Every night she did she tried her best to never look down that way. She knew she needed to be aware of surroundings. One could never be too careful. Tonight she had this weird feeling and she couldn’t put her finger on the energy she was feeling.

    It seemed as she got closer to passing the dark alley she thought she heard something. She had to be over thinking. When she heard a trashcan being tossed followed by a groan of someone in immense pain, she knew she needed to hurry up and get her ass home.

    Why couldn’t she just walk by and act like there wasn’t anything going on. Kelani knew she had no business stopping. She had no business staring. What she saw had her frozen in place. Could her mind be playing tricks on her? Was she really seeing what she was seeing?

    There stood a tall figure with his fangs showing with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. The alley looked like a fucking tornado had hit it. Her eyes dropped and saw the lifeless body on the ground. Kelani’s eyes slowly rose to meet the flash of red in his eyes.

    There was no way was it? Just like the flash he zoomed away quicker than she could blink. She wanted to run. Hell, she wanted to scream…cry she was paralyzed in fear and most of all shock.