I’ve had the excited pleasure of working hard on a new fiction project over the last month or so. My story, a YA fantasy fiction, is based around the two weeks prior to the 16th birthday of Chelsea Markham. Turns out, Chelsea’s a fairy (something she didn’t even know existed) and the new guy in her life, well, of course, is a vampire on the run from his own kind. So what’s a girl to do when her fairy Aunt and team of teachers show up in town to train her in all things Supernatural? And rule number one is to stay out of the affairs of the other Supe communities? We’ll just have to find out! Find an excerpt below, I’m hoping to post more as I edit, as well.

I stayed in my room all of Sunday, ignoring Demp’s texts, asking if we were in the clear for Friday night. By Monday morning, I had basically decided to pretend that nothing had happened and gave my mom and Aunt Ren both a kiss on the cheek in greeting and big smile before racing out the door to meet Demp for the ride to school. I wore my usual – loose fitting, dark jeans, a long black tank-top, black zip up hoddie, and black and white Chuck Taylors. With my hood up, you probably couldn’t even tell I was a girl. My battered backpack held my Trig homework, an essay for English 12, and the most portable camera equipment I had, all digital for school days. “She rises! How you doing, Dracula?” I sputtered at his greeting and looked to him with wide eyes, subconsciously relieved to find them the same shade of blue they’d always been, with whites and pupils and all.

“I’m fine, slept all weekend, Aunt Ren showed up and chaos reigned,” I mumbled, trying to come off as casual.

“So all is quiet on the home front? I figured when I didn’t hear from you your parents had found us out, how’s the grounding going?” Demp looked restless; well, more restless than usual. I grinned at him, feeling more comfortable than I had since Saturday morning, “You were worried about me!” I squealed, taking advantage of the chance to embarrass him. “You were worried I got in trouble, admit it.” I poked him in his rib and watched him yelp and turn around to protect his ticklish sides. “Very funny, Markham, very funny. I was just worried they’d call my parents.”

It was the truth but I knew he was just covering up his concern. Demp’s Dad was absent, he worked for an international group that did most of their work in very little towns that don’t have cell service; most of their relationship was conducted via email. His mom functioned by over compensating – buying the horrible little rat trap of a car for his sweet 16, hovering over teachers and staff at the high school, trying to help buy his popularity with expensive clothes he couldn’t care less about. But if she’d found out he was being a bad in influence in my life – the light in his otherwise dim social existence – she would come down hard on him.

I took out my camera, before he could protest too hard, and snapped a shot of him, all goofy looks and bright smile. “They never even knew I was gone, but like I said – Aunt Ren.” And my best friend nodded in understanding. Ren had the bad habit of showing up at the worst times in my life. When my grandmother died. When my crush broke my heart in 7th grade. When my dad had gotten sick freshman year, when they didn’t think he’d beat the Castleman Disease, when he had to have tumors removed from his lymph nodes, we’d worried it was cancer. “So what is it this time? Did she come all this way to buy you a puppy just so she could kill your puppy?” We’d always thought she was cursed.

Turns out, I was, too.