Prologue
Shining softly in the night;
Cold and harsh is its light.
Creatures making promenade.
Pale moon serenade.
.
Quarter full, let's tip the scales
From depression, where thee hails,
To contentment. Make lemonade.
Pale moon serenade.
.
Half and waxing, happy night
Beneath the stars and all their light.
Sitting here, let's correlate.
Pale moon serenade.
.
Three quarters there, let's celebrate
Another day and deliberate
The meanings of love and hate.
Pale moon serenade.
.
Full moon, here and now.
Let us rise, and show me how
We join the creatures' promenade.
Pale moon serenade.
.
Waxing, waning, the moon's life
Shrinking down 'spite joy and strife.
New moon, grow, and light this range.
Pale moon serenade.
.
Shining softly in the night;
Cold and harsh is its light.
Creatures making promenade.
Pale moon serenade.
.
"Let's see." The thirteen-year-old girl bent over the manuscript paper with an intent expression. "First line: quarter note, B. But that can be changed to two eighth notes in verse four. Next three notes are quarter notes, also B. Verse five, we make the first two notes into half notes. Eighth note, B. Eighth note, A. Dotted half note, A. Second line, quarter note-G. Repeat note. Half note, G, but that will be split into two quarter notes and tied. Eighth note, G. Eighth note, F-sharp. Dotted half note, F-sharp. Third line: Quarter note, E, but make that two eighth notes in verse five. Quarter note, E. Repeat note. Quarter note, G. Eighth note, G. Eighth note, D. Dotted half note, D. Last line: quarter note, B. Dotted half note, A. Eighth note, G. Eighth note, F-sharp. Dotted half note, G."
A sharp pain rode through her middle as she finished the last stroke. She frowned, looking out at the moonlit night. Normally, she would be in bed at this hour, but tonight was a feeding night, and so she was waiting for everyone else to be in bed so they wouldn't come upon her . . . meal.
The wind picked up outside, as if in preparation for the horror that was about to take place. She stood, and made for the door. Her mother heard the purposely audible footsteps, and made sure to stay in her room with her husband. They were her adoptive parents, really. Human.
The grass bent beneath her bare feet as she crossed the yard, springing back up the next moment as if she had never trod upon it. The clearing that was her destination wasn't too far or too close to the house, so it didn't take her too long to reach it. Upon arrival, she stepped out of the trees and stood in the center, letting the wind tug at her brown tresses and white clothing as she summoned her meal.
That part done, she opened her glowing red eyes and began to chant a morbid ditty she made up one day, but kept her senses alert. Her meal could fight back.
"Level-E,/ One, two, three./ Who's the treat?/ Time to feast." Her hunger was almost unbearable tonight, as it had been more than three days since her last excursion. It was dangerous, doing that. She and her adoptive family were from completely different worlds, despite her own attempts to conform to theirs. They were human. And she was a monster.
Her meal arrived, also hungry for blood. It was a beast, driven insane by the darkness to which it had not been born, but had been forced into. She opened her mouth in anticipation, her white fangs glinting in the moonlight.
She was a . . .
Vampire..
