《Wannabe Vampire Empress》


 Book 1 Ch 1: Hot Vampire Film Night

    A horde of zombies came rushing forward before the vampire with silver hair and glaring red eyes strode through them, ripping limbs and heads off with equal ease.


    He snapped his fingers and several wolves ran forward snarling and tearing through the last remnants of the original thousand strong crowd.


    Higher above a lone hill was a moon that was shifting in colour from black into a reddish hue. A single individual stood there with a dark green magic circle and an outstretched hand as they raised even more shambling  to tear apart the lone vampire.


    I turned the screen off at this point. The trailer had already shown me the first part of how the initial movie in the trilogy was going to be, action and gore in equal measure.


    Not to mention the usual handsome vampire who casually tore his way through an army of th to kill some human necromancer who wanted his blood to take over the moon.


    Or something. There were so many fan theories about how the trilogy was set out, I¡¯d even heard rumours that they were going to include an army of vampire hunter knights. On horses. In armour.


    Yeah. Not the most original idea but I¡¯d take it. So would my friends I hoped.


    ¡®Sal. You done with the trailers now? We can go upstairs, head in or you want me to grab some snacks first?¡¯


    ¡®Meat. You need to eat meat. Or vegetable proteins are also acceptable. Stop trying to tempt her into eating more junk food. Oh and I¡¯d like a strawberry topped yogurt drink if you¡¯re buying it. Hold the cream.¡¯


    ¡®Sharon. We all agreed to share. Sal. Sal!¡¯


    I jumped up at that a little, shoving my phone into my backpack. My two friends had their little disagreements sometimes and they tolerated me so it was all good.


    ¡®Guys. Ah, yeah. Sorry, I just wanted to pick up any further clues anything from the trailer for the first film again. Research. Sorry.¡¯


    They both pointed towards a massive screen mounted on the wall to the right of the snack counters.


    ¡®Sal, I love you like a sister but you but the trailer is right there. It¡¯s been playing for the last five minutes. Do you know that if me and Trevor here weren¡¯t holding onto you while you gazed into your little screen you would have tripped and fallen down like a dozen times?¡¯


    ¡®So that¡¯s why my arm hurts so much. Sharon, you have a seriously strong grip.¡¯


    ¡®Sal. Sharon, how about I get the snacks and you two get the drinks? Oh wow, this place is totally packed out. I think nearly everyone from our year group is here today.¡¯


    Trevor was right. Our local cinema was completely packed out. I mean, it would be for a Friday night, but this was ridiculous. Never before had so many teenagers gone to the cinema for vampire movies. Not on this scale. Odd. Fun for odd.


    Not that I had a massive social group to hang out with but still, this was meant to be my thing. And tonight I got to share it with everyone else. I might even have the chance to talk to a few more people about vampires and the myths and legends around them.


    It was then that my arm got punched, it didn¡¯t hurt as much as I thought it did.


    ¡®Sharon! You holding back on me?¡¯


    Trevor raised his hand up slightly sheepishly.


    ¡®Yeah, that¡¯s on me. You were spacing out. Again. I know you love the whole blood-sucking silver hair actor on the screen but are we getting a move on or what? Otherwise¡­Sharon¡¯s going to punch you. Yeah.¡¯


    My friend Trevor wasn¡¯t the tallest or the strongest but he had a sort of presence about him. I put it down to his interest in public speaking since he got involved way back in primary school. He could talk his way out of so many situations it wasn¡¯t funny. Or inspire.


    ¡®Right, right. I just feel happy Like, this one night is for everyone to learn about vampires.¡¯


    Sharon chipped in.


    ¡®Oh, we know a lot. Oh so much about them already.¡¯


    She rolled her eyes at that.


    ¡®Sorry! How about this, my parents were happy with my grades so they gave me the cash to buy some snacks and drinks.¡¯


    I took out my purse from my vampire style handbag. The clasps were little fangs with edged blood. My card was there and I handed it over.


    ¡®Gift card, specially for this occasion. Spend it or lose it right?¡¯


    I felt so happy about tonight, the premiere of the newest vampire film was going to be coming out. This was going to be fantastic; I had asked my parents for the price of the tickets for myself and two best friends including popcorn and snacks and they had agreed as long as I met the right grades and passed my exam.


    It turned out that the school itself had been in contact with the cinema and arranged for all the kids in my year group to get free tickets right after our exams.


    Hundreds of kids all got to experience the purest vampire experience, maybe they wouldn¡¯t be into it as much as I was but still, it did feel nice to be the odd one out for a change.


    I was planning on asking my besties Sharon and Trevor if they wanted to go with me so we could arrange tickets together. Although the cost of the tickets was covered the price of drinks and snacks wasn¡¯t going to be at our own expense tonight, I had to thank the bank of dad and mum for covering us all tonight.


    My dad hadn¡¯t been a big fan of me going out to watch the vampire film because he wasn¡¯t into all the supernatural parts of life. It wasn¡¯t as though he was really against it though, he was just more of a matter-of-fact man.


    His job was working in uncovering rumours from reality and he was a massive history buff. Do you know the legend of Vlad Tepes? My dad went into all the background about where the vampire myths came from, it had been when he had met my mum in Shanghai in China.


    He¡¯d been doing all this research into local folklore and had been recommended to a particular tour guide who had a fetish for really getting into the role. At least all of this was according to the stories that they used to tell me growing up as a kid and I saw the pictures.


    My mum made for a pretty good vampire when she chose to dress up, she loved to do the same to me during Halloween and it was our thing until I got a little too old for it.


    Growing up on vampire stories and legends was great because from my parents I got to hear the original stories, the old concepts without all the gore and horror that the films and other fictions usually fed readers and watchers.


    My dad the researcher and historian and my mum the enthusiast, had the qualities that they gave to me their only daughter.


    I thought vampires were just amazing if a little bit sad on occasion. They had all of these powers, could heal from injuries, and even fly. Mesmerise others into doing their bidding, make blood slaves, and create other vampires and ghouls.


    Raise zombies from dead bodies with dark magic. Not the sparkly kind though. Do not mention that type in my presence. Seriously, I¡¯d rather be a hair-eating vampire than a sparkly style type.


    Oh, you thought all vampires drank blood. Yeah, they don¡¯t. Got all sorts of types. Some of them eat your life energy. Qi it was called. I think they were called jiangshi, my mum told me stories that she had heard was she was younger. I remember her dressing up as one for Halloween and hopping around when we went back to Shanghai to visit her side of the family.


    They didn¡¯t take it so well as I had thought and it became pretty serious when they called in this old Daoist priest along with a policeman to make sure that it didn¡¯t get out of control. I never realised that vampires and other dark creatures were taken so seriously when people had strong beliefs.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Imagine a vampire that could only hop after you with these long claws dressed in some ancient-style outfit. Super strong and you couldn¡¯t kill it with a wooden stake or scare it back with a cross. Nope, it would ignore these and try and attack you with a long tongue. You could use urine against it.


    Yup, you really could, a disgusting but true fact. All sorts of different vampires had their weaknesses and strengths, the fact is that they all ended up being typecast as these evil monsters, and some of them were pitiful in my eyes. To live for such a long time but be unchanging and limited by so many restrictions didn¡¯t sound amazing to me but plain sad.


    I think Dad blamed her for getting me into vampires as an interest, it¡¯s a hobby at least that kept me occupied even if not many people understood it.


    It wasn¡¯t as if he helped when he kept giving me history lectures and geography lectures about how the last age had lengthened the nights and shortened the daytime and how it would have been a brilliant time for hunting seasons according to vampire myths.


    Recalling one film though about a vampire who was super old and turned out to be the only one of his type that existed made me feel slightly sad.


    He kept snacking on the film crew who were making a film around him, when they asked him why he didn¡¯t make other vampires he said it didn¡¯t work.


    This one ancient monster was still dangerous to regular humans. He had become so old that he began to forget how long he had lived and how he was created in the first place, that was a vampire that was just nothing special. More like a wild animal than a sentient being.


    I always thought that vampires should be able to evolve, the fact that we had all these stories and myths going on about them, but no one had any real proof. It was more likely that humans had simply killed them all as they were a threat to the human species.


    Once there used to be wolves roaming around forests, or better yet did you ever hear of a bird called the dodo? Anything that was either a threat to humans or livestock that they owned got exterminated in quick order.


    Made for some good films though. Some bad and some good. The main purpose of vampires these days was to entertain us with boring, old humans and sometimes give us a good scare.


    The creator of the first vampire book had some great ideas, so much had been created from that one source.


    This was going to be a fun evening out. A few hours of my time were spent out with a few good friends, and snacks and I had heard word that the cinema was going to be handing out fake vampire teeth and blood capsules.


    The kind that you break in your mouth, and your saliva turns into this fake blood subsitutue. Kind of like a Halloween deal going on, it was going to be awesome.


    My friend Trevor had called me up earlier in the day to check if I was going along with the usual crowd. I remember the conversation that we had earlier.


    ¡®Hey Sal, are you going to the event tonight? I heard the film is going to be part of a full trilogy. Word is that it¡¯s going to be epic!¡¯


    ¡®Trev, you¡¯re a good friend but everything is epic with you. It¡¯s just your go-to word when you get over-excited.¡¯


    ¡®True. But still, aren¡¯t you super hyped to go and watch it? I heard that loads of people from school are going there tonight. You know, after all the stress of the exam and all. How¡¯d you think you did with it?¡¯


    ¡®I think that my parents were pleased enough with the results that they paid for my cinema tickets and all the snacks that I can stuff in my stomach.¡¯


    ¡®Wow, that sounds epi-¡®


    I interrupted him straight away. ¡®Epistemological!¡¯


    He sounded dazed before he finally responded to the sound of my voice. He was a good friend but sometimes he just had his moments when I confused him. For fun mostly, it¡¯d do him a lot of good getting teased by a girl for when he found someone he liked.


    ¡®Trev? You still there?¡¯


    ¡®¡­I have no idea what that word means.¡¯


    ¡®You dummy¡¯


    I told Trevor before putting a hand on his shoulder to make sure he knew I was teasing. He was all sorts of sensitive sometimes. Price of being smart I supposed.


    ¡®It was one of the key vocabulary words on the exam. How about you tell me your results instead?¡¯


    ¡®¡­I did well enough.¡¯ He said with some hesitation.


    ¡®I¡¯m sure of it.¡¯ I tried and failed to hold back a chuckle.


    In the cinema, I was fully loaded up. I had my friends around me in a few seats, a load of people from school were also crammed in the screen room and lastly, my lap was covered in a tray filled with snacks and fizzy drinks.


    A bag of pick¡¯n¡¯mix sweets to top it all off. Yes, I was going to make my stomach sick from sugar and junk food and just binge it all during the showing of this latest vampire film.


    The premier tickets had cost a great deal, but some offers had been on. It meant that my parents and other mums and dads had been able to afford to send their kids to a posh cinema where the main movie stars would be attending as well.


    Judging from the kids jamming into the screen room I would guess that most of the kids in my entire year would be at the cinema tonight.


    My dad hadn¡¯t been too happy about me going to watch a vampire film again though. He thought it would be too violent and give me nightmares. Mum, on the other hand, was a lot more relaxed about it, she said that if I had worked so hard to pass my exam then I needed to play hard with friends as well. I was to study focused and should go out and enjoyed my life more.


    A night out in the cinema watching a full vampire trilogy with friends from school and a wicked ton of snacks was according to her ¡®Better than being out on the town god knows where.¡¯ I guess that meant that she thought that my mates and I would be buying cheap drinks with a fake IDs or trying to sneak into a bar.


    Yeah, no thanks. Vampires were my thing. At least the stories and films about them. It¡¯s not as though they were real, I didn¡¯t fancy dressing up as one, but the cinema provided fangs and fake blood capsules made for a fun scare between my friends. Sort of, they were pretty used to my antics by now.


    The cinema staff had experienced it all though, given how one of them yawned when one of my friends had pretended to bite my neck and then bit into several blood capsules. I had tried my best to pretend to be in pain and dying from the bite without success.


    The usher came across to me as super bored as he moved us along.


    Rude!


    He could show a little bit of a reaction at least. I guess that it was the job of working in a cinema surrounded by films that he got to watch that eventually killed off his emotion and enthusiasm. I did like his red jacket though; it was proper smart.


    ¡®Yeah, great job kids. I get that you¡¯re all wannabe vampires. Your viewing is on-screen six. Enjoy your film. Next!¡¯


    I didn¡¯t think that he was much older than us. A bit pale though, all that time working indoors didn¡¯t help his complexion out. No spots at least.


    Plot twist! The usher used the opportunity to bite all his victims in the quietness of the cinema complex and survived as a hidden vampire for decades until he was discovered by the trio of amazing monster-hunting teens.


    One of them became a half-vampire, one a zombie and the last a werewolf. The final battle would take place in the snack area and the police would flood the place to find bodies and blood everywhere. Or not. To be honest my ideas for films were a bit rubbish at best, besides we came here to watch a decent film.


    The whole working in a cinema thing could have been a secret cover for his undead life. Not sure how he covered his tracks though when draining the blood from people. That is if he was a western vampire.


    Different foods for different tastes. Western enough with scruffy blonde hair and bad posture, bored as well. My theory and film idea immediately flew out of the window as I watched him turn to yet another group of kids to check their tickets. Boring.


    I tried to tell my other friend Sharon about it, but she was busy I saw that she was paying keen attention to the rest of the kids from our year group who were buying snacks.


    Hmm. Interesting. Who was she watching out for?


    Nudging her arm, I told her about my opinion of the usher, but she brushed me off without really listening to me.


    ¡®Hi Sharon, we¡¯re on screen six. Hallllooo! Can you hear me? Hey, isn¡¯t that Mike over there?¡¯


    ¡®What? Where?¡¯


    ¡®Oh darn it. I was mistaken for another handsome guy who is a complete stranger to me.¡¯


    Sharon lightly punched my arm. She was a pretty strong girl, so it hurt. Working out in the gym and working on her muscle tone was her whole thing but we had been friends since primary school, so it balanced out. She had her quirks and I had mine.


    ¡®Sharon! That hurt you know.¡¯


    ¡®You deserve it, Sal. The next time that you think someone is interesting I¡¯m going to point out some random old man instead. You know that I don¡¯t take well to teasing.¡¯


    ¡®You have a thing for him alright. If I do I promise to tell you, you never know, he could be in the screening room with us. C¡¯mon. Trevor is buying his stuff and I¡¯m loaded with enough snacks for both of us and him.


    ¡®I think that he wanted to buy some ice cream as well. I¡¯m not that easily forgiving to you, Sal. I¡¯ll get my revenge.¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t be dumb about it.¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sure that you can catch up with Mike if he¡¯s around here somewhere. Now, let¡¯s get on with the whole vampire experience.¡¯

 Book 1 Ch 2: Blood Snacks

    We both took some time to admire the trailers that the cinema was showing for new films.


    ¡®Yeah, sure. Hey Trevor, we¡¯re here! Screen six!¡¯


    Trevor walked up to me and Sharon holding a giant tub of ice cream. Hello ladies, I have enough ice cream for everyone.


    I smiled at that. ¡®I got the snacks and Sharon bought the drinks. Less of the try-hard attitude and more of a friendly guy would be appreciated.¡¯


    ¡®Apologies Sal. And Sharon.¡¯ He nodded in her direction.


    ¡®Better Trev, we¡¯re not the girls that you want to impress. Anyone you fancy at the cinema tonight?¡¯


    Sharon interrupted.


    ¡®He¡¯s the strong, silent type.¡¯


    ¡®Yup. That¡¯s you Trev.¡¯


    His face blushed a bit before he managed a smile. He held tight onto the giant tub of ice cream with both hands.


    I grinned at him showing my vampire¡¯s teeth. ¡®Yes, the blood. The delicious blood is rising in his face.¡¯


    ¡®Sal put it away. I got those plastic fangs remember? They make eating ice cream hard though.¡¯


    I took the fangs out of my mouth and stuffed them into my denim jacket pocket. Not the most hygienic but needs a must when your friend is talking about ice cream. I¡¯d be needing to give them a good wash later when I had the chance. Ideally not in the cinema toilets, I¡¯d prefer not to visit those places, a bottle of water with some salt would do a better job.


    Sharon just sighed at us and rolled her eyes. ¡®Let¡¯s check before the film starts. Trev got the ice cream, I got the soft drinks, and Sal got the snacks and tickets for all of us. Any romantic talk stops when the vampire night trilogy starts. Agreed? If any of us recognise someone we fancy, then we can stop and talk to them while the others wait. Oh, Sal, the perfect person for you is right over there.¡¯


    She pointed at one of the lifelike models of one of the main actors of the film trilogy. Good with a touch of class, of course. Except that the model was a zombie wearing a suit. The film promotion model had been designed as a type of zombie half-dead with bites taken out of his body, his mouth wide open and a thin line of drool frozen by his mouth.


    ¡®Haha, very good Sharon. I think he¡¯s dead out of my league.¡¯


    Silence came out of both of them. I knew from experience what was going to happen next.


    ¡®No. Just¡­no.¡¯


    ¡®¡­¡¯


    ¡®You two just don¡¯t appreciate my sense of humour.¡¯


    Sharon sighed once more.


    ¡®Sal, please. Let¡¯s just go to the screen room now. Which one is it?¡¯


    Trevor grinned.


    ¡®It¡¯s the one filled with vampires.¡¯


    He had his fake vampire teeth in his mouth this time giving us a cheeky grin.


    ¡®You mean the blood-drained victims.¡¯ I said in reply.


    It was getting noisy around the cinema now, loads of kids our age all chatting away and buying snacks. Some of them even posing


    ¡®Yeah, what¡¯s with the whole setting up the cinema for this vampire event? I get it that the whole trilogy is meant to be great but for the whole school year group. Kinda off. I still love the night creatures but still¡­¡¯


    Sharon spoke to me directly. ¡®Sal. Which. Screen. Room?¡¯


    With a quick glance at the cinema tickets I responded.


    ¡®Screen six guys. Ok, let¡¯s go for it. We have seat 6a, 6b, and 6c. Not too close to the screen but kinda in the middle. Pretty good seats considering.¡¯


    I began walking from the cinema lobby straight past the usher and all three searched for the right screen room.


    ¡®Ugh, every single room is showing the same vampire film. Sharon, you don¡¯t get odd feelings about this?¡¯


    She just stared at me and put her arm around my neck.


    ¡®Sal. I think you¡¯re jealous. Right Trev? Her little precious isn¡¯t so rare now. Everyone wants to get a taste. Yum yum.¡¯


    Sharon mocked biting into my neck as I pushed her away. Trevor pointed out the screen and pushed open the doors with his feet, hands still packed with ice-cream.


    ¡®You got the tickets Sal. Show us our seats oh Vampire Queen.¡¯


    ¡®Empress. Always beats Queen every time. Just don¡¯t call me Mistress. Ah, right, just up there and on the right. Wow. this place is totally full.¡¯


    Entering we saw that the place was completely packed out with kids from school. I felt kinda surprised but at the same time not really, all the tickets had been given out for lower-than-normal prices to the school as a reward for our exams. The sponsor wasn¡¯t named but everyone assumed that it was just a publicity stunt designed to generate more interest in the trilogy.


    Once the boring pre-film adverts had been finished silence fell across the cinema. The film began with an opening scene that showed a normal city before a man appeared who was holding a cross and a modified handbow. He turned in the direction of the screen before walking into standard office building. No people around though. Kinda odd.


    Uh. Vampire hunter but in modern times. Not the most original idea. I had been expecting more. At least there ought to be a half decent fight scene sometime soon.


    I was thinking about what the man was doing in the office building before the sound just turned off. Not only the screen but everything around me became silent. No noise of popcorn being eaten, or drinks being slurped. I looked around me before the screen blanked off and I was left in absolute darkness and silence. My eyes closed.


    [Welcome Wannabe Vampire. System tutorial initiating¡­]


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    [Initial Character Choice automatically made according to last known preference. Searching host memories¡­zombie phenotype detected. Corrections are being made to the current host body.]


    ¡®Is this part of the film then?¡¯ I asked.


    For a moment I thought that the screen had been turned down for dramatic effect before there was a sudden action scene, a pure black screen before a creature of the night appeared and gave everyone a shock.


    I was wrong, a deep chill filled the insides of my body like I was made out of ice. These words¡­instructions echoed in my mind¡¯s eye, inside my heart, my soul. I felt them carved into my existence. Blood, the importance of the blood.


    The sun hung brightly in the sky before it slowly became darker. The light became dimmer and dimmer before only darkness shone down. Shadows formed upon the ground.


    I saw the total eclipse of the sun and the moon fully moon visible in the dark blue sky.


    A single figure stood there laughing with outstretched arms like they had controlled the movements of a giant rock satellite orbiting the planet through sheer force of will. A red liquid flowed into the shapes of rivers and lakes across the surface, oceans were formed until the entire surface was covered in a deep colour of blood.


    Then the outline of a single figure, humanoid in shape, felt far larger than its size. A hunger, a desire to take and control. To eat and feel satisfied. His heavily toned muscles were defined and he was surprisingly topless but not in a sparkly way. Slim but strong, broad shoulders. Gah. That was a cheap try wasn¡¯t it, to make vampires more attractive but he had something more than good looks going for him. I could feel a real presence going on.


    When it became necessary the whole planet would be soaked in blood, to aid the development of a new Vampire Emperor that would only slake a deep thirst with the deaths of entire populations. Wow. I couldn¡¯t believe the intense feeling that the actor was able to generate through gestures and special effects.


    I was pretty sure that he wasn¡¯t one that I recognised, but he could suck my blood anytime. Even being turned into a thrall would be a lot of fun.


    I confess that a tiny part of me was feeling a little disappointed that they had gone for the whole Vampires being sex gods, but it was all about the passion. Feeling my cheeks redden slightly a strange voice popped up in my head but I was too into the imagery and atmosphere to take much notice.


    [Initial Tutorial Mode has begun. Scanning phenotype of host body suitability for zombie class¡­]


    ¡®This film is amazing. Sharon? Trevor? Are you guys getting this? I didn¡¯t expect there to be zombies after that blood moon sequence.¡¯ I whispered this so I wouldn¡¯t end up ruining the film for other people.


    With no response from my friends, I became a little more concerned about the situation. I didn¡¯t want to ruin the film but still, it was a bit rude not responding to me.


    ¡®Psst. Hey, pass the snacks at least Trev.¡¯


    though the film had stopped running and the projector hadn¡¯t been turned off yet. I saw that the snacks on my lap had vanished as well. Standing up I became even more scared as I realised that it was only me, in an empty room. I stood up from my seat and walked down a few aisles but saw no sign of anyone else.


    ¡®Hello?¡¯ I called out. ¡®Hey! Anyone around!¡¯ I raised my voice this time but only got sheer silence in response.


    Even the seats themselves didn¡¯t have any snacks or other rubbish lying around. It was as though the whole place had been cleaned out at the end of the day and the screen hadn¡¯t been turned off. At that moment I was seriously considering running to the exit doors and looking for help outside the screen room. There should be someone on duty at this time and the chance of an usher unintentionally leaving someone behind when the film had finished, and the cleaners had come in was pretty unlikely.


    My ears popped next. Or it felt like they did. A switch in my brain activated and the odd voice appeared again.


    [Correction made to Tutorial Mode. Active viewing correction is now in place.]


    This time I didn¡¯t hear any words echo through me; I saw them. I heard them in my mind. I could visualise the words. Not ok.


    ¡®Guys? This isn¡¯t a funny joke. Haha. I got it but sending me to sleep during a film during the opening scene isn¡¯t ok.¡¯


    I was answered with pure silence.


    [Welcome new participant. A full blood scan has been undertaken. Your genes are currently being modified to suit the following class. The tutorial will be beginning shortly. Please take your seat and a pre-recorded message will play on the cinema screen.]


    This time it felt more like instruction or order than a friendly voice giving me an update. It was odd. A zombie? No thanks. I preferred vampires; it was only a joke when Sharon had pointed at the actor model of a zombie out of the front. The living dead didn¡¯t look so good when they showed too many signs of decay. That was the fascinating part of vamps, you got to look amazing. For-Ever. Eternal youth and beauty? Yes, please. Ghouls? Nope.


    The cinema screen began to flicker, and a soft sound emitted from the speakers. I chose to sit down in my seat again despite the complete emptiness and general weirdness of this whole situation. A soft creaking noise came as my body eased down once again and my weight settled.


    A man sitting in a chair appeared on the screen. He looked boring. Wearing a smart red suit with accompanying red shoes he smiled. He wore matching dark red sunglasses and was completely bald with pointy ears. I saw the fangs sticking out of his mouth. He began to talk to me. It felt like a highly surreal situation and honestly, if this was a joke then it had gone so far past funny into scary then I would call the police and arrest whoever came up with this.


    Exciting upbeat music began to play in the background, I could feel the drumbeats and acoustic sounds that built up the tension in the cinema. Goosebumps ran down my back as I felt an unknown sense of excitement. He looked human except for the length of his incisors, oh and the red suit was probably a clue. The lacking hair part and pointy ears reminded me of similarity with Count Orlock. Just not as hideous.


    ¡®Welcome.¡¯ The man said one word and then just smiled even brighter, as though he had been told the best news in the world that to him bought personal satisfaction and happiness.


    I kept silent. Unsure if I should respond or not. To be honest, one of the scariest things that I had felt could happen in a film was that if you talked to a character then they would talk directly back to you. When the fourth wall broke it wasn¡¯t a fun story anymore, just creepy.


    ¡®I am talking straight to you. Said the red-suited man. ¡®Does it scare you?¡¯


    I jumped up in my seat and closed my eyes. This was a bad dream, a nightmare. All the junk food in my stomach and staying up to watch the film late at night had caused this.


    ¡®Sorry, this isn¡¯t a nightmare.¡¯ The man on the screen replied. ¡®And no, I can¡¯t read your thoughts. Call this an opportunity to make your dreams come true. Failure of course. Well, you can learn out for yourself exactly what sort of world we live in.¡¯


    ¡®Hello?¡¯ I hesitantly called out. The man on the screen didn¡¯t respond but paused for a moment like he had been put on hold.


    [Wannabe Vampire. Please view the pre-recorded message on the screen. The system will be explained in necessary detail.]


    ¡®Sorry, that doesn¡¯t explain anything. I¡¯m leaving now. The joke is over. Done. Finished.¡¯


    I stood up in the empty screening room and began walking down to the exit doors before the man on the screen unpassed and began speaking again.


    ¡®I¡¯d imagine that right now that you want to leave. I¡¯m telling you that it isn¡¯t a good idea. You need to know what you have to deal with and your role in this world. Also, your body is in the process of being prepared. Unless you have inherent protection against genetic scanning you should do three things. Sit down, shut up and listen. This introduction is only going to be played once for your safety.¡¯


    The man took his hands off his lap and crossed them. The smile disappeared from his face, and he looked more concerned than anything else.


    ¡®Ok, I¡¯m listening now. I do not like threats. You or anyone else do not get to tell me what to do.¡¯ I sat down in a seat near the exit, close enough for me to run too fast if this situation got any weirder.


    [Wannabe Vampire. Genes in current modification during the pre-recorded message. The Zombie class is now confirmed. Tutorial mode presently disengaged until the ending of recording and complete entrance to the world.]


    ¡®System, you work with me or for someone else?¡¯ I asked out loud to the voice that echoed within my heart, soul, and mind.


    The memory of the man standing there controlling the moon that was covered in blood made me shiver. No way that was a normal vampire. At least no vampire that I had ever heard of could make eclipses happen through sheer willpower.


    [Please view pre-recorded introduction.]


    The man on the screen began talking again even though I was the only living person inside the entire cinema.

 Book 1 Ch 3: Zombie. Nope.

    ¡®I¡¯d imagine that you have a lot of questions. Since you would have only just arrived on this planet then we¡¯ve got enough time to answer. Right, let¡¯s get to it. You¡¯ve been chosen to participate in a real war. Hard to tell how much an individual can actually achieve on your home planet but here you could eventually change the fate of the world or beyond. Or you could die. Quite a few times before it sticks but still.¡¯


    I responded. ¡®You might be pre-recorded, but you¡¯ve still been programmed to respond to my questions right.¡¯


    [Wannabe Vampire is partially correct. Please finish viewing.]


    ¡®Right, you should have first been imprinted by the system with the impression of the guy who created a blood moon eclipse. Good stuff, right? I can tell you that he did that through his power. I¡¯m sure you can do a lot more than that though. You have my full confidence and I sure hope that we got lucky with your selection. You better not turn out to be another zombie though. Even a bloodletter is a better choice.¡¯


    ¡®Hey!¡¯ I shouted out. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with zombies?¡¯


    The man on the screen still looked serious with folded arms as he carried on talking as though he hadn¡¯t heard me. Given that I was told by some disembodied voice that he was a pre-recording I doubt that he had, it was just that responses were given per some pretty advanced technology.


    [Zombie is the base type. Lack of evolution options.]


    ¡®Nope, any form of the undead has its advantages and disadvantages. Hey red suit screen guy, how are you talking to me anyway?¡¯


    ¡®The blood. It¡¯s all in the blood. Not all technology is mechanical. You might be surprised but to baseline humans who remain non-enhanced, you¡¯re looking at a blank screen. My responses have been selected through a process of hundreds of thousands of candidates. Sorry kid, you¡¯re not some unique snowflake. If you like vampires and the idea of them, that¡¯s the selection criteria. The rest of it depends on luck and genes.¡¯


    [Error found in the system. Phenotype not matching the database. Searching solution¡­]


    I began to get annoyed at the man in the red suit on the screen now. Who did he think that he was to kidnap me and bring me to this place? I liked vampires, more than my friends did but sure I enjoyed learning about the myth and knowledge.


    ¡®System, if this guy is meant to be giving me an intro, then why can¡¯t you give me a character sheet?¡¯


    [System error found. Apologies, for searching for a solution.]


    He mentioned that candidates were selected by an interest in vampires. That would mean that my friends and possibly everyone else who was watching the vampire film were in a similar situation as me.


    ¡®Hey, red man, do you know if my friends arrived with me?¡¯


    The red-suited man paused for a moment and the screen flickered for a second.


    ¡®Hi, kiddo. One moment, the system has found an issue in your genes. It¡¯s trying to work it out. And yes, this message has been pre-recorded and altered according to current circumstances. I hope that you¡¯re still inside the cinema listening to me on the screen right now. You do not want to go outside without some form of biological enhancement. Seriously.¡¯


    The system voice echoed inside my head again.


    [Error. Class Solution found. Partial transformation is possible. Error. Source fault.]


    I frowned upon hearing that. If anyone was going to be turned into a vampire it ought to be me, all those powers at my disposal would be a lot of fun.


    ¡®Hey system, can you appear in front of my eyes rather than keep shouting inside my head?¡¯


    [Visual option activated.]


    The words appeared as a sort of floating text box instead. Huh. I waved my hand at it, and it vanished again. Like a fancy kind of hologram that I once saw in a science museum back when I had been a kid attending a Halloween experience. I and my ghouls loved it.


    ¡®I¡¯m still expecting some sort of answer here. I fell asleep during a film, get woken up and receive footage dumped in my head of someone who can move moons. Yeah, and he looks inhumanely hot doing so. Unless all the blood is rushing to my head right now and not somewhere else.¡¯


    ¡®orry about that. A few changes have been made to your genetic structure, or rather whatever makes up your blood. It¡¯s pretty active right now. Your blood I mean. Your new system has now confirmed with me that some sort of error was found but it¡¯s been resolved now. I¡¯m guessing that you have questions though, let me try and run through them with the time that we have left. Firstly, you know that you¡¯ve been chosen and recruited for war. The second is that you¡¯ve just experienced a reality shift. Not explaining it right now, you¡¯ll understand the whole concept soon once you get outside the screening room.¡¯


    I just felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. I had watched enough films to know that something bad had gone wrong and this wasn¡¯t going to be a case of a bad nightmare.


    I lifted my face and decided to ask the most important question that was on my mind.


    ¡®Are you a vampire?¡¯


    The man in the red suit ran a hand through the nonexistent hair on his head before leaning forward in the chair and clasping both hands together.


    ¡®What do you think little Wannabe?¡¯


    I clenched my hands together into fists, pulled myself together and stood up looking straight at the bald man with the red suit, tinted sunglasses, and fanged mouth.


    ¡®Shut up. You said that you¡¯d answer my questions, now I don¡¯t need to know if you¡¯re a vampire or someone who likes to play sick jokes on teenagers. But you need to let me know either exactly what¡¯s going on or I¡¯m taking my chances and walking out of those exit doors.¡¯


    I felt cold inside and my heart was beating faster but my dad had always told me to try and take charge of my situation before someone else does. If this guy was a vampire, he was still stuck on a screen. The other odd, disembodied voice was far worse than some idiot in a suit pretending to be someone that he¡¯s not.


    The man stood up this time and putting one hand behind his back he bowed at me flourishing one hand in front of him.


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    ¡®Backbone. Good, you¡¯re not a simple primate after all. You¡¯ll need to find more inner strength to deal with what you¡¯re going to be facing. Now, the answer to your question is both yes and no. I¡¯m a creature of blood technology, a sort of artificial intelligence created from an original vampire template and altered through hundreds of thousands of interactions with candidates such as yourself.¡¯


    ¡®You¡¯re an electronic vampire then.¡¯


    ¡®As you wish. I¡¯m here to provide initial information and give you a rough guide. The system is there for the long run. Think of me as an initial tour guide. I provide the service each time and each interaction allows me to develop a better response. My actions and movements are monitored.¡¯


    Fine. I¡¯ll play along with it for now.


    ¡®You told me that I shouldn¡¯t go outside of this place, give me a good reason not to walk through the doors.¡¯


    This time I didn¡¯t receive an immediate response.


    [Partial transformation in progress. Class Choices will be accessible soon.]


    ¡®There you go, that¡¯s your reason. Until you either get some sort of upgrade or receive an


    actual class you do not want to go outside. Please, think of this room as a safe starter zone.


    It¡¯s a bit lacking I admit but you¡¯re not in any real danger yet.¡¯


    Staring at the man on the screen I narrowed my eyes.


    ¡®Really. Are my friends in any danger?¡¯


    ¡®That would entirely depend on their suitability. If they possess key genetic markers and the right blood then yes and no. Circumstances being what they are, they either have the chance to be where you are right now just in an entirely different location talking to another version of me.¡¯


    I tried my best to put a stern-looking face on. ¡®You didn¡¯t give me a clear answer.¡¯


    ¡®I extrapolate data from hundreds of thousands of candidates and give automated crafted responses in return for the circumstances. I don¡¯t have to give you a clear answer if it¡¯s the right one. If your friends were watching media content like you which was thrown out there in your reality, then yes there is a chance they¡¯re in danger. Eventually. Worst case situation for you, they could end up working for the other side.¡¯


    I did not like the sound of that. My friends ended up with some red-suited artificial vampire construct chatting away and giving vague threats about how dangerous it would be once I left.


    ¡®Who is the other side then?¡¯


    ¡®The opposition. Vampires and other related creatures aren¡¯t exactly the most popular in all of existence. You can call them enemies of the blood. Humans as a general example don¡¯t tolerate the existence of vampires. Sound familiar to you? You do not want to go toe to toe with a Seraphim. They¡¯re pure death machines.¡¯


    I gave my harshest attempt at a stare of doom at the screen. It failed to judge from the look on the face of the man in the red suit, he didn¡¯t look annoyed though given that he had probably dealt with the same situation a thousand times before.


    ¡®I¡¯m willing to leave my seat right now before I have any transformation in progress or class levels and take my chances unless you give me a clear answer.¡¯


    It wasn¡¯t clear how a screen character could make a sighing sound so loud in a near-empty cinema screening room, but he could. His sound quality was brilliant, it felt like he was sitting right next to me.


    ¡®Kid, just choose a class when the system asks. It¡¯ll work out a lot better for everyone that way. Otherwise, you¡¯re just throwing away any future potential down the drain. It¡¯d be a waste of good blood.¡¯


    ¡®The system did choice did give me a character class though. Or at least it mentioned it as soon as I woke up here.¡¯


    ¡®Great, that¡¯s great news. Even a starting class of Ghoul will give you a sufficient boost of power to escape if necessary. Not really what you want to be aiming for but it¡¯s a decent start. So what did the system mention then kid?¡¯


    ¡®Alright, for one. Stop calling me a kid, I don¡¯t like it. The second thing is that it said that it detected a zombie phenotype for me.¡¯


    Suddenly pure, unfiltered silence hit the cinema screening room as the man in red on the screen froze. I looked at the screen and kicked my legs on the chair in front for a bit before stretching out and looking at the empty room. A random thought came into my mind about how the projector room should still be there so there could still be a chance that this whole thing was an elaborate joke at my expense.


    Nope. Blank space.


    The only visible light in the cinema came from the main screen. Looking back at the frozen screen I began to sit up and put my hands on the chair to stand up before the man in red unfroze and his body began a small shaking movement. I wasn¡¯t sure if an electronic person on a screen needed help, blood technology or otherwise but it felt pretty uncomfortable watching a being that was talking a short time ago going through some issues.


    I saw that the strength of the shaking increased until he reached up with both hands and covered his mouth, legs kicking the floor hard as his body rocked hard into his chair.


    Laughing. He was trying to stop laughing out loud, or his best attempt at that anyway.


    ¡®Are you laughing at me? I¡¯m out of here, it¡¯s been great, but I have my limits as well you know.


    The red-dressed man with the pointy incisors looked at me and immediately became serious once again. Arms flew down so fast on the sides of the chair that I could hear the crunch on the wooden frame as he sat down and gave me a stern-looking look.


    ¡®Out of all the probabilities that the system should have offered you that particular choice is a pretty inaccessible one. Evolutionary wise it¡¯s a dead end. A walking dead human with wings? A joke.¡¯


    ¡®A zombie with wings?¡¯


    ¡®Hey, let¡¯s put the z word behind us and call them kinetically charged deceased instead. It¡¯s usually that vampires control shuffling hordes of cannon fodder rather than the other way around. Still, it¡¯s a start. Not a helpful one I¡¯ll grant as you¡¯ll have to make more effort than usual with your appearance, as with all the classes there are certain benefits though.¡¯


    ¡®Kinetically charged deceased¡­.yeah, I¡¯ll still with the z word thanks. Why can¡¯t you give me a class list?¡¯


    ¡®That would be telling and super not useful for you right now kid. Oops, my mistake.¡¯


    He raised one hand to his lips looking thoughtful and mock apologetic.


    ¡®No, it would be helpful. You¡¯re a guide, so give me some help.¡¯


    The light coming from the screen flickered for a moment.


    ¡®Oh. The time just keeps rolling on, doesn¡¯t it? The system will sort your classes, just give it time. Not something that you have plenty of right now despite appearances. This safe zone is being closed in on by the opposition. One moment ki-. Sorry, young lady.¡¯


    And with that, he stood up from the chair, straightened out his red suit and vanished from the screen completely leaving a projected screen with a single chair on it.


    ¡®Hello?¡¯


    I was left by myself in an empty cinema waiting for a choice. Should I take my chances with the freaky system and get out of the empty screen room without taking any further advice from Mr Bald''s red suit or wait and listen to him? After a certain point, I¡¯d need to act though. If my friends were out there, like, actually in the same situation as me we needed to meet up to help each other out. It was Trev that I was most concerned about, he wasn¡¯t a tough guy. Not in the physical sense but in the mental sense, he just lacked the aggression and drive that a guy his size ought to have.


    The screen flashed again and the red-suited man appeared.


    ¡®Young lady. You need to get the blood hells out of this room right now. They¡¯ve found this location and will be here in a few minutes, first let me give you a little gift to show my condolences for the failure of your blood quality.¡¯

 Book 1 Ch 4: Sharon the Fallen Knight

    I needed this film night. Badly. As in really badly. My stepdad had lost it again and started this whole shouting match with my mum and I have to step in just to calm them down. He wasn¡¯t a bad man, he¡¯d never raise a hand to hurt any of us, never physical but when he panicked he just sort of lost it. Thankfully my brothers and sister were out on sleepovers with friends from school so once I stepped in they sorted it out and we got to listen to how he had done this big report for his current job and he was super stressed that his manager was going to fire him.


    Ugh. Then my stepdad and mum made these eyes at each other and hugged and I just wanted to leave. Old people kissing, yeah no. Not even when they¡¯re a happy couple once more. We had these tickets which Sal¡¯s parents had provided.


    The whole thing was funny really because almost everyone in our entire year group had turned up at our local town cinema this Friday night to check out this hot vampire trilogy which was trending and apparently actually watchable.


    Sal, the super vampire freak who I¡¯ve loved as my little sister since we were both back in Primary School was so hyped for it. All I wished was that her parents didn¡¯t decide to come along and this time they didn¡¯t. Her mum was funny to talk with, she grew up in China in the countryside and had all these old stories and legends about vampires or jiangshi.


    Her Dad was awesome though. I¡¯m not ashamed to admit I had a little teenage crush on him, no, not that way, but the way that he lived. He was a living legend whose whole life was researching and documenting ancient legends on Belphus.


    I loved his research on ancient gods and current legends. He had all sorts of stories so I had a girl crush on his lifestyle and whole thing. Not the man himself. Ugh. Not my friends Dad.


    No. I¡¯m not going there. I need to find a boy my age or a little older who can take a good punch and a squeeze without flinching.


    Thankfully, I arrived at the cinema long before Trev and Sal to make sure that we had enough time to buy snacks, find our seats. The place was so packed, like so packed, with people I knew and knew me but not close with and they all turned up for the vampire film.


    I had planned after the film we could maybe take a bus afterwards down to the waterfront, grab a bottle of mild alcoholic fizz and some yogurt and mix them up for a good drink. I know that we were a little young to drink alcohol but I had turned sixteen last month and my height and body build meant that I could pretty easily pass for an adult.


    Yeah, I wasn¡¯t your cute, little dainty girl. My mum told me I was born strong and that¡¯s why my Dad left. He wasn¡¯t a nice guy and I apparently snapped a few of his fingers as a toddler when he got angry once.


    Dad. Yeah, my stepdad was good to my mum. Or I¡¯d keep him in line. So we entered the cinema screening room six and we even got seats 6a, 6b and 6c. I didn¡¯t believe in coincidence but we were together the three of us so I was happy. Trev, in his usual pushover self had gotten us all snacks out of his own pocket.


    I wished that I had enough strength to make him into a real man. Give him some confidence or even some of my muscle tone. I was naturally strong, really strong and tall. Trev was...average. Not short, not ugly but ehhh¡­.average. Lovely eyes and hair though.


    Yeah. So, the reason that I¡¯m sitting here talking to myself is that the trailer which Sal showed us on her phone wasn¡¯t the one which showed on the screen in front of my eyes. I don¡¯t know how they managed the switch but I blinked for a second and my friends were gone.


    The entire cinema was empty and I was stuck watching this trailer about some handsome blond guy or girl. Long blonde hair suits anyone I guess and I couldn¡¯t tell with the shape of armour. All I knew is that they rescued a few princesses and princes from an enemy castle. Then they killed a fire breathing dragon, saved the kingdom a few more times before the king cast them into a dungeon for betrayal or some nonsense. Stupid old king. Stupid old queen.


    I should have been paying attention to the fact that I was alone in the cinema and broke out running but the story just captivated me. There was one thing that the knight and I had in common. They were seriously jacked. Even under that armour they could lift up horses and carts and throw them around like milkshakes.


    When the knight was thrown into the dungeon I almost cried, here was someone who cared and fought for what was right and they were cast into this dungeon. Their armour was ripped from them but they wore one of those long robe things which covered their body and there they were.


    Trapped and alone and punished in this deep, dank dungeon and you know what they did? They cried and prayed for the health of the kingdom. Crazy I know. But yeah, one of the prisoners had died and become a zombie and then bit them. Hard.


    After that it got a bit darker, these black veins ran on their face and they became crazy angry and smashed out of the dungeon and picked up their armour which had begun to decay a little on touch.


    And then it ended. The whole trailer had to have been a few minutes but from my perspective I had been sitting here for years. The screen went dark and I saw nothing for at least thirty seconds, all sound vanished, even that of my breathing and I was wondering why I wasn¡¯t searching for my friends. Searching for Trev and Sal.


    This voice calls out. Enters my mind and forces me to see words which clearly aren¡¯t there even as I stare out into the darkness.


    [Welcome Wannabe Vampire. System tutorial initiating¡­]


    Yeah. I wasn¡¯t having any of this.


    [Initial Character Choice automatically made according to last known preference. Searching host memories¡­undead phenotype detected. Corrections are being made to the current host body.]


    I wanted to talk. To scream but it stopped me. Something inside my brain activated as it sounded out once more.


    [Welcome new participant. A full blood scan has been undertaken. Your genes are currently being modified to suit your chosen class. The tutorial will be beginning shortly. Please take your seat and a pre-recorded message will play on the cinema screen.]


    Nope. I¡¯m out of here. The lights came back on along with a flickering cinema screen with a soft noise coming from the speakers. I had read about this stuff, using weird sonics to make people hallucinate as part of some deep undercover military experiment.


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    My favourite person in the whole world. Carissa Acqua, this total beauty and genius who had married way too young in my view, she had vanished. Gone. No trace of her.


    There had been rumours that her ex-husband had enough of her because she was hated for her brilliance and creation but I did some digging and she had a strong interest in gene alteration and the military was totally interested.


    Yeah, this was going to be an experiment where they chose to use teenagers for test subjects. Nope. Out of here. Standing up I stretched out a little as something fell from my lap onto the cinema floor in front of me. Picking it up I recognised it as the same back of pick¡¯n¡¯mix which Trev had brought us. I stuffed in inside my pocket to keep it safe. Deep inside.


    ¡®Hey. Hey. You can listen to me and take this for free.¡¯ I held my hand up and made a gesture which I used when annoyed.


    I wanted to find my friends. Trev and Sal were what mattered, not this stupid system, not this voice in my brain. Just. My. Friends. I had a bad temper I knew that, my mum used to tell me that I had been a hard kid to raise. I mean she loved me and took care of me but she found it hard at times when I had a bad mood.


    ¡®Nope. I¡¯m not interested. You can return my friends for me or I¡¯m going to have to do some damage to this little cinema experiment of yours.¡¯ I said.


    I grabbed hold of the cinema seat I had been sitting on, the seat itself was welded in but I managed to get it rocking from side to side a little. I opted for the easy option. The cushions. Gripping my fingers hard I managed to rip off a few of them and threw them at the screen.


    Right before they hit a man appeared on the screen and did the impossible. Some guy dressed in red sitting in a chair with a smart red suit, red shoes, red sunglasses and pointy ears with a bald head smiled and showed me his fangs.


    As the ripped off cinema seat cushions were about to hit the screens he flickered for a second before he was sitting back down in his chair holding them on his lap. For good measure I ripped off a few more cinema seat cushions from the seats next to me and threw them at the screen.


    My bad mood was going to get me in trouble if this wasn¡¯t a secret military government experiment. I mean, my stepdad and mum both worked in good jobs but this would give them stress.


    I tried to calm down a little standing there with both my fists clenched, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. The same calming exercises I had been told to practice in school when I¡¯d found someone trying to push Trev around.


    The man on the screen sighed and threw them back, faster than I could see. One of the cinema seat cushions smashed right into my stomach hard making me double over. The next hit my knee and the final one landed neatly on the seat next to me. Then he spoke.


    ¡®Usually, I¡¯d start off polite but with someone like you who likes to think with their fists young lady I think this is far. Do you want to go a few more rounds? Please, feel free to rip out a seat if you can and throw it at me. I mean, I may or may not throw it back with one hand. Does it scare you? No friends, nobody around you and then a strange man on the screen is talking to you.¡¯ said the red suited man.


    I glared at him before responding.


    ¡®Vampire. Worst, costume, ever. I mean my friend Sal loves vampire so much she could even tell me what story or fable you came from but I prefer the other stuff. Did you make that trailer? The one with the knight who got corrupted? That was sad. Genuinely sad that an old geezer like you has to resort to kidnapping a bunch of teenage kids. How about you tell me where Sal and Trev are and I won¡¯t smash the screen. After all, I¡¯ve got a lot more chairs to choose from and the project room should be right up there behind me.¡¯ I said as I jerked a thumb upwards and behind me.


    ¡®Sharon. You¡¯re not vampire material. None of the grace, the intelligence and...and...and¡­¡¯ said the man as he paused for a moment as though on repeat.


    The voice filled my brain once more but this time it was a mechanical style.


    [Wannabe Vampire. Please view the pre-recorded message on the screen. The system will be explained in necessary detail.]


    ¡®Rubbish. Pre-recorded doesn¡¯t throw cushions back at me.¡¯ I said as I placed a hand on my stomach.


    I had no idea how he could catch them inside a screen and throw them back unless this was all sonics and technological stuff designed to control and disorientate people.


    The man unpaused, picked up the cushions on his lap and placed them to the side of the red chair. Then he began to walk up and down inside the screen with his arms behind his back shaking his head.


    ¡®You interrupted the system. Annoying but not unexpected. Run again.¡¯ said the man as he waved a red nailed hand in my direction.


    Nothing happened. I stood there and he did and we both looked at each other before we laughed a little.


    ¡®Ah, not a vampire. Correction made then. Tell me...do you like to fight Sharon? Would you fight to keep your friends safe? I would think you would need power for that. All that strength and I simply threw a few cushions back. The world outside of this screening room isn¡¯t what you think it is. You don¡¯t care about questions. That¡¯s so not you. Sal has the knowledge, Trevor likes to work it all out but you¡­.you just like to take action don¡¯t you.¡¯ said the red suited man.


    I didn¡¯t like to be judged. Not by him, not by anyone. My bad mood was coming back again. I had an uncle, my mums brother who I only met a handful of times but I knew about him because my mum said that my temper was just like his.


    My Uncle Wolff. Johan Wolff. Worked in finance or spreadsheets or something. He¡¯d come around a few times for holidays but I hadn¡¯t seen or heard from him for a few months. Apparently, when he got angry he got really angry and intense and that was the emotion coursing through my body.


    I forced myself to calm down. Even though the red suited man was right it didn¡¯t mean that I was stupid. People tended to think that. Big strong tall girl must have a trade-off for brains.


    ¡®What do you want from me?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I want to protect my friends. I¡¯d fight anyone and anything to keep them safe. Even you. Old red suited vampire geezer. What deal do we have to make to give me enough power to survive? No. You want me to fight don¡¯t you. All those kids inside this cinema have been taken for a war, or as soldiers or something. A vampire war and you¡¯re looking for new recruits? I¡¯m not stupid. Not as clever as Trevor or as knowledgable and wise and Sal but I¡¯m not stupid.¡¯


    I took in the entire cinema around me, there was a single sound, not a movement of any kind. Even the projector had stopped running but the man on the screen continued to work. My Uncle Wolff had told me that he had gone on a trip once when he¡¯d been younger to a place like a dungeon but with dangerous things.


    He survived and escaped somehow but he¡¯d told me that if I was ever inside a place like that I needed to do whatever it took to survive. Well, I wasn¡¯t only looking out for myself, I wanted to find Trev and Sal and keep them safe.


    The red suited man in the screen just smiled at me.


    ¡®All you have to do Sharon, is tell me exactly what you saw in the film trailer and the system will do the rest. Of course, I can¡¯t promise that you¡¯ll be exactly next to your friends when you leave here as we need to randomise our movements but you¡¯ll meet them soon enough. I promise you power, strength and ability to protect those you care about. All you have to do is tell me. Do we have a deal?¡¯ said the man as he flickered and appeared sitting back in the red chair.


    Without waiting for an answer I leapt over the cinema seats in front of me and ran to the cinema screen staring directly at the red suited vampire as he looked down on me.


    ¡®Deal. But you need to make sure that you give me a weapon first.¡¯ I said.

 Book 1 Ch 5: Necro-Grandad

    I knew that I should have told Sal and Shar that I had family plans for this Friday night. The fact that the film trilogy was about vampires was fun, I wanted to enjoy the fun, the experience, the chance to go out with my two best friends in Secondary.


    I really did want to enjoy the moment and let everything go but my parents were giving me a hard time about not consistently getting the top grades in my entire class. They had this whole usual argument about how hard they had worked when they were young and then dumped all this ambition and desire for success onto the next generation. Me.


    But when Sal told me that she had these tickets specially for this event I flared up and shouted back at my own Mum and Dad and regretted when I had slammed the front door behind me.


    My parents loved me and wanted me to do so well academically to become one of the best students, even land a scholarship at a major company like Strikker Imperial or go and work as a scientist in the Acqua Foundation started by Liam Acqua. Even working at one of the MMO Video game companies dominating the markets presently with their talk of developing cutting edge NPCs was an option.


    There were various chances for a young hard working individual like myself to work hard and gain a good job but that was mostly what my parents wanted. I wanted more. To experience more, to see more of the world fist. To have an actual adventure.


    Opportunity in their eyes came from hard effort, work ethic and academic results. I knew that but I was so tired of all of it. I wanted to find a girl, go on some dates without it being arranged by my parents through friends of theirs and just live life a little.


    Out of the three of us I was the shy one, the one who got pushed around and gave in a little too easily but I knew that Sharon and Sal were good friends. Genuine friends who cared for me as I cared for them. Sure, Sal¡¯s mum and dad were a little odd for being so focused on rakkhasa but in my mind they were good caring people who just loved myth and ancient stories.


    They had freedom of expression and had always been nice to me and I respected that. At least I wanted to stay friends with them a little longer before we all grew up and I had to take on a boring, more serious job, become married according to the wishes of my parents and work and raise a family of my own.


    I just wanted to live a little, not become wild but a little bit of alcohol shared between friends on a Friday night after a trip to the cinema was a good thing. My parents weren¡¯t anti-vampire or anti-cinema or anything like that. They just considered it from a different angle, business and opportunity.


    Even if my grades had only been close to one hundred percent they had promised me that I could go and spend a little time with my friends after drowning myself in study the rest of the week. I arrived at the cinema later than Sharon but earlier than Sal.


    There were some girls there from our year group at school who likely preferred the more sporty and socially active boys in our school, in other words not me.


    I¡¯d explained all this to Sharon and she gave me a hug and her usual squeeze and told me not to worry. She told me that I¡¯d find the right person in time. A shame that life doesn¡¯t usually work that way, not with my family culture at least.


    Yeah. Likely an arranged relationship with a friend of my parents, someone from a good quality family with sufficient resources. I¡¯d have a choice though but it¡¯d make sense to meet someone from the same background and identity as me.


    At least I got to choose my friends. Sharon was a good person. The older sister which I had always begged my parents for but they had insisted that they needed to devote their love, energy and attention to a single child. Not that they¡¯d be able to have stepped in school and stopped others from bullying the bright kid, the academic one who kept scoring top of the class time after time.


    No, Sharon did that and Sal welcome me as a friend into their group. Both of them were cute but odd in their own way. I was the one who didn¡¯t have an interest in cricket, who turned down the functions which my family constantly wanted me to drag me to. In truth, I was an odd one as well.


    On my mothers side my family were known according to myths and legends to have met and even entered into relationships with various Rakshasa. My father didn¡¯t want to accept it as truth and constantly told my grandmother to stop telling me stories of creatures that didn¡¯t exist or had never existed in the first place.


    When I had been introduced to Sal by Sharon and she had all these weird and wonderful stories of vampires, undead and supernatural creatures there was an innate familiarity that resonated deep within me. I didn¡¯t have an interest in them, not like she did, nor did I want to emulate them and pretend to me something I wasn¡¯t but her stories, I wanted to hear them over and over.


    When I was invited to her parents house along with Sharon I understood the source of the stories that she had come up with. Here was someone who was exposed to all manner of stories, myths, legends and histories as I had been with my grandmother.


    All I knew was that when my grandmother had been young, barely out of her teens she had worked in a place on Belphus which she described as a dangerous but fulfilling place. They would try and limit the influence of Rakshasa and other creatures long forgotten on our world. She told me of a woman called Professor Alexa with a man who was her adopted son who simply did not age and knew magic.


    When I entered Secondary school my father had made it clear to my mother that while he respected my grandmother I needed to refocus my attentions on my academic studies to try and make something out of my life. To make my family and ancestors proud.


    This was why I am sitting alone in a cinema screening room with a skeleton watching me. He holds a staff and wears a robe with patterns and bright colours and wears silver jewellery. I entered the cinema with Sal and Sharon because there was meant to be a popular vampire trilogy.


    Not that my parents would have approved but not because of the content but because they would have told me to take a note of all the costs of the snacks and numbers in the cinema and try and work out the cost-ratio and profit. Wait. Did I say that already?


    Time is strange here. I can sense it. There was meant to be a trailer before the main film, we watched those then the entire cinema screen room turned into pure darkness and the robed skeleton figure had appeared.


    I¡¯m not sure why he would be there instead of a vampire but he acknowledged me with a nod of his skull and simply stood and watched. Tilting his head from side to side as he drummed finger bones onto his staff without talking.


    The stories my grandmother had told me made me aware that there was nothing to fear of the supernatural, not truly. She told me that I had inherited the blood of my grandfather who had died before I was born. Once she told me that he would watch over me but to watch out because he had a sour personality. Not a bad man, not a violent one but he was forceful and pushy in his own way.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I sat in my cinema seat and reached for the pack of sweets I had purchased to share with Sal and Sharon, the bag of pick¡¯n¡¯mix which was no longer there. I still had a large cup of popcorn so I threw a few pieces into my mouth and wondered how long this was going to go on for.


    The skeleton began to pace along the screen and shake his head as one hand held onto the staff and another made gestures. The teeth and jaw on his skull opened and closed as I heard visible clacking noises but he never spoke to me.


    Then a voice came into my brain, almost making me drop my tub of popcorn before I grabbed it tightly.


    [Welcome Trainee Necromancer. Wannabe Vampire. System tutorial initiating¡­]


    I found the courage to speak aloud. I wanted to find my friends and repay the kindness they had offered me. Also, I cared for them. My older and younger sister would need help and perhaps the three of us could leave this place. Back to the cinema and then home.


    I would not talk of this night of these events. A part of me sensed unknown familiarity. I knew the skeleton, despite the lack of skin, muscles, eyes or flesh.


    ¡®Hello, I would ask for your forgiveness but I would like to leave. Or you can point me in the direction of my two friends. One had dark hair and is a little shorter then me, one is taller, stronger with a short temper. Names of Sal and Sharon. If you can¡¯t help me then I¡¯m going to have to leave this cinema. I will not contact the police as long as the three of us are returned.¡¯ I spoke.


    [Initial Character Choice automatically...automa...error. System Override Engaged.  Searching host memories¡­locked phenotype detected. Corrections are being made to the current host¡­.corrections halted.]


    The screen changed. The skeleton reappeared on top of a mountain, standing like it was in a huge storm as energy swirled around and with staff raised to the skies creatures clawed their way from the ground. Zombies and skeletons mostly. Vast numbers, and then they all bowed, they knelt on their knees and supplicated themselves to the robed skeleton on the mountain.


    More words forced themselves into my brain. I continued to eat the popcorn, half-realising that I had eaten most of the tub already.


    [Initial Tutorial Mode has begun. Scanning phenotype of host body suitability for¡­Correction. Direct Override of Blood System.]


    ¡®No. We¡¯re done here.¡¯ I said as I dropped the empty tub of popcorn onto the floor. For a second I experienced guilt for leaving rubbish on the floor but I wanted to find my friends as absolute darkness filled the cinema screening room and I lost all vision.


    The lights came on as I saw two figures on the screen this time. One was a man sitting on a red chair entirely dressed in red clothing, bald but with red sunglasses and an angry expression on his face. The other was the robed skeleton standing opposite, it was holding the staff with two hands this time.


    He had sharpened elongated fangs inside his mouth as his attention drew to me before the robed skeleton raised a staff and struck at the man. There was a flicker as the man vanished from sight and reappeared behind the skeleton who caught a fist and wrapped it in bone fingers before the staff was dropped.


    The skeleton simply pointed at me and then at itself before the man in red appeared even angrier and the nails on his hands elongated before he shook his head and waved a hand and abruptly vanished leaving behind the red chair.


    My family were reasonably wealthy, they largely came from older money on Belphus and I recognised that the red leather chair was an expensive item. The skeleton waved a hand and flew over to the red chair before stretching out and sitting down.


    The staff remained on the floor but also flew over and hovered vertically just next to the seated robed skeleton.


    [Welcome new participant. A full blood scan has been cancelled. Your genes are currently being scanned. The tutorial will be beginning shortly. Please take your seat and a pre-recorded...pre-recorded...Cancelled. Please take your seat.]


    A pressure made me sit down and the same sense of familiarity relaxed me a little. I was comfortable in a way, even peaceful despite my previous urge and wanting to leave this place and find my friends. I would do at the next available opportunity but my curiosity was getting the better of me.


    I spoke aloud, to the robed skeleton in the screen sitting on the chair. This was either an elaborate video game NPC which I was aware from my Dad and his work on cutting next level artificial intelligences. He had mentioned something called CAMPIN several times but had strictly encouraged me not to go and work there nor to show any genuine interest in that particular company. As for why, I had no clue. Likely they had a bad reputation for keeping employees or some other minor complications.


    ¡®Hello there esteemed grandfather. I think we have a bond between us. Tell me, did you bring me to this place?¡¯ I said.


    The robed sitting on the leather red chair simply steepled his fingers together and bent his skull as a cowl formed over it and the staff began twirling around as green flickering lights appeared.


    Then the robed skeleton did something I didn¡¯t expect. Standing up and grabbing the hovering staff it slammed it onto the floor of the screen it was inside and raised a hand before extending a finger bone and began wagging it at me.


    ¡®What kind of name is Trevor? I told your Mother and Father to call you Deepak. Deepak! Named after me! I tell you boy, you ever tried entering the dreams of your ancestors to coopt their will and make your own known? In my day we raised the dead and were thankful for their labour. Why I saved so much money in my lifetime before my dead and rebirth. Trevor¡­.huh. Deepak. Your name is Deepak now. We have much to discuss boy, you have any of that popcorn left?¡¯ said the skeleton as it adopted the pose of an old stern man with a bent back and a sharp tone.


    My eyes glanced downwards at the empty tub of popcorn before I swallowed and shook my head. I had lived my life as Trevor, my parents had given me that name and I was taken from my friends, left inside an empty cinema and then watched a vampire and a skeleton magic user fight inside a cinema screen.


    Anger boiled up in me. There was a familiarity yes, but I also wanted to live my own life. To choose for myself my own path. I had slammed my front door and shouted at my parents when I left yes but I was fifteen years old and they needed to listen to me at least once.


    There was no way I was going to accept the same from an old man skeleton who had just insulted my parents and told me to change my name.


    I stood up and cupped my hands before shouting back.


    ¡®MY NAME IS TREVOR YOU OLD BAG OF BONES! TELL ME WHERE MY FRIENDS ARE OR I¡¯LL¡­.I¡¯LL LEAVE THIS PLACE AND NEVER HEAR YOUR STORIES!¡¯