Vampire Dreams

"Lenora your father left!" Those were the first words my mom said to me after my dad left our house for the last time.They were fighting for three hours about me, my older sister Cora, and the house.

"I can't do this anymore!" my mom screamed and the next thing I heard was the front door slam.

"Where are you going!" I heard my mom scream but my dad didn't answer. I went over to my room window watching as my dad got into our only car.

I thought he was leaving for a couple of days as he usually did after him and my mom fought. Then he would come back and take me and Cora out for ice cream. It was his way of apologizing, but when he got into the car that night he looked up at my window. Before he started the car, his eyes looked like they were saying,'A million ice creams couldn't say how much I'm sorry'. I knew then that he wasn't coming back.

After he sped off into the night my mom cried outside in our driveway. Then the next morning she came into my room, her eyes still red from the night before, she told me my dad left and he wasn't coming back.

The next day I started to where all black. My mom and my sister thought it was just a phase but the was six years ago.

Now I'm sixteen. I'm the only goth in my high school. I died my hair blood red with black highlights. I still remember the day my mom saw my new hairstyle. She screamed and yelled but I wasn't going back to be a brunette.

I wasn't the only one that changed after my dad left. My mom started to study to be a therapist. Now she works at this building downtown for crazy people. Cora said she was proud of her. I thought she was being a hypocrite. She was going to get a job that you help people get over there problems but she hasn't even gotten over hers.

Even though she acts all happy and smiley around me and Cora I know some nights she still cries herself to sleep.

My sister Cora is a prep. That's the only word to describe her except for stuck up, bossy, rude, show off, should I go on? Okay I know it was more then one word but that's pretty much the definition of prep. Oh yeah! To top it all off she's a cheerleader but not just any cheerleader. She's HEAD cheerleader. Yep she's like that really bitchy, really blond head cheerleader off of "Bring It On All or Nothing". It's harsh but so true.

My mom tries to figure me out by asking questions like, "Why don't you like to wear pink?" and stuff like that. I don't even bother to answer her questions because:

1. I like the way I dress.
&
2. I HATE PINK!!!

But enough about my crazy preppy, happy family. Let's talk about me.

I'm Lenora Benson. Ever since I was born I've been a little different from my mom and sister but not my dad. On some Saturday nights me and him would have horror movie marathons. The new scary movies were good but me and my dad loved the classics.

My favorite was Dracula. When my sister played with Barbies I played with my Dracula action figure. When my sister was playing house I was putting fake fangs in my mouth and pretending I was a vampires and Dracula was my Vampire Prince.

My mom says I started wearing all black because of my dad. It might be true. I really don't know why I started wearing black. I just did and after I did I started to lose friends. They said I was weird. By sixth grade I had no friends at all but in eighth grade a girl transferred from some fun school to ours. Her hair was red and she had jade green eyes. I thought she was crazy or she was a victim of being sucked into this black hole I call Prep City.

After her first day I figured out she was obviously a victim and one day when she was eating lunch alone some girls came over to her table and started teasing her for some stupid reason.

I figured she would defend herself but she just sat there letting them chew her up and spit her out. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do something. I walked over, my black boots clinking with each step, and as I got they started to notice me. The group of girls turned around to stare at me in disgust.

"What do you want Lenora? You want us to terrorize you to? Well don't worry your next." Christine Anderson said and at that second I knew I truly hated Christine Anderson. The girl that used to be my best friend. I can't see how though. She's nothing but a stuck up bitch.

As soon as she flipped her golden locks and smiled that, 'You can't so any thing to stop me' smile. I stopped her dead in her tracks as I punched her right in the eye. She fell with a bang and her flock of friends swarmed around her.

Some people in the cafeteria laughed, some people clapped, but that new girl, who's name I learned was Grace, smiled a huge smile. Ever since that day me and Grace have been best friends.

~*~

"The first day back to school is finally over." Grace said in relief. We were walking home from school. It was our first day back from summer vacation which was filled with late night movie marathons, star watching in the local cemetery, and lots of pizza. Me and Grace are now Juniors.

"Yeah, eight hours of stares, glares, and laughter behind our backs. Thank God that's over." I said in a gloomy voice.

"Nora it wasn't that bad." Grace said enthusiastically.

"Well I don't know about you but I would have gladly given Christine Anderson a reenactment of that incident in eighth grade." I said with one fist in the air.

"Yeah I would pay to see that again." Grace said with a laugh.

"Hey let's go see Scott." I said with a smile.

Scott is Grace's big brother. He graduated high school a few years ago and as soon as he had enough money he opened his own pizza joint called, 'Franscotty's Pizzeria' in town square.

"Yeah, I'm starved." Grace said holding her stomach. We hurried over to Scott's and as we walked into the old school inspired pizza place Val, Scott's girlfriend greeted us.

"Hey gals! Two slices of pep-pizza extra cheese." Val said as we walked in.

"Yeah, Val and two sprites." I said taking a seat at the counter.

"Hey Val where's Scott?" Grace asked while sitting down.

"He's across the street helping Mrs.Seed move a couple of stuff." Val said handing us our sprites.

"You mean that old lady that owns that antique store?" Grace asked sipping on her sprite.

"Yeah. She's selling her store to the bank." Val said with a sigh.

"Why? She's had that place for years. Its almost a city landmark." I said surely, now staring at the store.

"She's been behind on the payment and there haven't been enough customers to keep it going. The only option was to sell so she could get a prophet for retirement." Val said sadly, giving us our pizza.

"Hey Grace wasn't to go over there after we eat?" I asked taking a bite of my pizza.

"Sure. Maybe we can help out a bit." she said with a smile, pizza in hand. We ate our pizza, drank our sprite, gave Val ten dollars, and told her to keep the change.

"Have you ever been inside the store, Nora?" Grace asked as we crossed the street.

"Yeah, some of the stuff in their isn't half bad." I said opening the door. Inside every lamp was lit. Wooden dressers were on the right wall. Old chairs were in the back and everything from old garden gnomes to a dusty grand piano was in the front. With the cash register on the left wall surrounded by glass cases with jewelry inside.

To some people this would seem like another old dusty antique shop but to me it was a treasure chest filled with treasures from the past. In teen-term it looked cool.

We started to look around. Grace went straight to the garden gnomes. (She's been intrigues with them since she was little. Almost like my fetish with vampires.) Well while she was looking at the garden gnomes I was looking at jewelry.

I was thinking about getting a nose ring just to see my moms reaction. Then I looked at the next glass case and something caught my eye.

It was a black chained bracelet with a black bat on it with blood red fangs. I looked closer to it and realized the fangs were actually rubies.

"Oh my God! Grace get your butt over here!" I said frantically.

"What?! What is it?!" Grace asked running over.

"Isn't that the coolest bracelet you've ever seen!" I said pointing at the bracelet frantically tapping the glass.

"Whoa! Its almost like it was made for you!" Grace said shocked.

"I have to have that bracelet." I said surely.

"It's two hundred dollars." Mrs.Seed said walking from behind a filing cabinet, her gray hair pulled up into a bun. Her brown eyes matched perfectly with her wrinkled cream skin. She looked like a nice grandma.

"Two hundred dollars! Mrs.Seed isn't it on sale?" I asked shocked.

"Yes it is on sale. It was five hundred dollars." she said nonchalantly.

"Are you serious? My mom's not gonna give me two hundred dollars." I said sadly.

"Do you want the bracelet?" she asked walking over to the cash register.

"Yes I do." I said surely.

"Then you can work for it since you don't have the money." she said putting money in the register.

"Work?" I said confused.

"Yes. Work. You can work here for a week and at the end of the week I'll give you the bracelet no charge." She said now looking straight at me.

"Do we have a deal?" she said putting out her right hand. I had to think for a second. It was a really cool bracelet and it's just a week so...

"Deal." I said shaking her hand.

"Good you'll start tomorrow at six o clock and you'll go home at nine." she said now heading out to the back.

"Okay..." I said but she was already gone.

"How did you get a job in less than five minutes?" Grace asked still taking it all in.

"I don't know." I said just as shocked as she was and in the corner of my eye I could see the red shimmer of my soon to be bracelet