Vampiru
Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, 2012.
Dani Tamari's life is ordinary enough. But when she makes a simple decision - to skip school so she can go bird watching - things begin to change. New people, secrets, accidents, and mysteries come pouring into her life.
The so-called David Cross doesn't regret killing his abusive father. Instead, he's happy he rid the world of such a man. But the authorities on his home planet don't see it that way, and now he's on the run. He chooses Earth to hide, and lands in Enniskillen. He doesn't realise there are unpleasant surprises waiting for him there.
Dani and David find their lives a mess as their worlds collide, with disastrous consequences for some people. Dani doesn't know what she's getting into, and she wouldn't want anything to do with it if she did. But she's in too deep, she knows too much, and there's no way out. Will she survive?
Interview
1. Please tell the readers a bit about yourself.
I'm fourteen going on fifteen, I've been to two schools but now I'm homeschooled, and I love writing, reading and drawing.
2. What types of books do you write?
Science fiction, vampire, historical, horror, and mystery.
3. How many books have you written?
I haven't finished a book, yet, but at the moment I'm writing Vampiru and hope to finish it sometime this year, I've put Space Family Robinson on hiatus until I finish Vampiru (and I may never get back to writing it), and I have three stories planned, one of which I've started writing but haven't published on Wattpad yet.
4. What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?
I don't even know what books/movies are coming out this year...
5. What type of books do you enjoy reading?
Science fiction, vampire (but not the Twilight sort of vampire, the Dracula sort of vampire), horror, mystery, crime, fantasy, anything that isn't romance or badly-written, really.
6. If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?
1. My computer
2. My sketchbook
3. My notebook.
7. Are you considering a sequel?
Yes, I intend to make Vampiru the first of a series and I've got a sequel planned.
8. What inspired you to become a writer?
A writing exercise at my first school, where we had to imagine backstories for characters in a book we were reading. That got me interested in creating characters and eventually stories.
Excerpt
The man sat up, suddenly wide awake. But what had woken him?
He rubbed his eyes and looked around, and then he knew. His son was leaning against the door, holding something behind his back, a look of hate on his face.
"Wha' y' doin' 'ere?"
"Getting rid of you."
His son lunged at him with a knife before that fully registered with his hung-over brain.
"Oi! Jis' a momen'!" he slurred, dodging more through luck than anything else. "Wha' all this 'bout?"
The only answer he received was the knife through his heart.
~~~~
He hadn't done anything wrong. He had done the planet a favour, in fact. But the Intergalactic Police Service didn't see it that way. So now he was on the run, hiding on first one planet, then another, trying to get to a planet that was not under their jurisdiction.
As he ran his eyes down the list the computer had generated, one name, for some reason, caught his attention.
Earth
Native Species: Human
Similar To Vampiruans: In appearance
Language: Several hundred, depending on region
On InGEN's List: Yes
Acknowledgement Of Existence Of Other Life-Forms: No (majority)
Planet Can Sustain Vampiruan Life: Yes, in some regions
Obviously, humans (why were they not called Earthians?) were not advanced enough to realize how much easier it was for everyone to learn one language, but were advanced enough to have those meddling nuisances on their planet. And, if they refused to believe in other life-forms, it was likely there were a good deal of those other life-forms hiding on Earth and passing themselves off as human.
After a moment's thought, he set the controls on his starship for the planet known as Earth.
There was no one around when he crashed. That was a good thing, of course, but it meant that InGEN had tracked him and warned everyone to get out of there. Unless Earth settlements were always so deserted.
The first thing he noticed about the new planet was how warm it was. Well, there was snow on the ground, but it was much warmer than Vampiru. There was a strange, metallic smell in the air (possibly the fuel humans used for their vehicles) and a strange bird was singing somewhere overhead. There was a forest to one side, and not far away, running water could be heard. That was a most unwelcome sound. He didn't know if water on Earth was poisonous, but fear of the deadly water on their own planet was too deeply ingrained in every Vampiruan for them to see it as anything but an enemy.
As he looked around, he saw something that until now had escaped his notice - a human. It was asleep, or at least it seemed to be. And it was lying on the snow!
Very strange creatures, he thought with a frown.
Vampiruans might like cold, but very few would choose to sleep in the snow unless they wanted to catch a nasty chill.
He took a step toward it, then another, watching it warily all the time in case this was a ruse. It never moved.
It looked like a female, but then he knew nothing of humans and it could be almost anything. It/she was still alive - he could hear its heart beating and its blood rushing through its veins. For a moment he entertained the thought of drinking her blood, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. A dead body was just the thing to set people of any species on edge.
He thought quickly. InGEN would soon be here, and they'd take his starship and him too if they found him. However, they couldn't take him if he wasn't here. And if he scanned this girl's mind, he could learn the language spoken here and the social customs and he'd be able to fit in.
Now that he'd decided what he would do, he picked the girl up and headed towards the forest. There was no way he could move the starship - it needed repairs. He could only hope that the forcefield preventing anyone else from entering was still in place.
~~~~
Dani woke with a start. Oh, no. Professor Avalon warned me what would happen if I fell asleep in class again, and I have. Wonder --
Her thoughts broke off mid-sentence as she took in her surroundings. She wasn't in school. She wasn't at home. She was lying under a tree in the forest.
She stared. Since when did someone fall asleep under a tree in the middle of winter? And why did her ankle hurt when she stood up?
How very odd.
How very stupid, you mean, her inner critic snickered.
Dani scowled, wishing there was some way she could shut him up.
I must have tripped and hurt my ankle, and then sat down here to rest, or something. Yes, that's it. And then I fell asleep and dreamed all that stuff about the street being empty.
After consulting her watch and realizing it was almost teatime, and long after school ended, she decided it was high time to return home. If her parents were arguing she could always make herself a sandwich and go over to Steven and Gareth's (her friends from school) house.
She limped (she tried to skip, but her ankle protested and put an end to that idea) through the forest until she reached the path along the river, down the path, out the gates, down the street and towards home, oblivious to the fact that the street was still empty.
~ Excerpt from Vampiru Book 1 Chapter II - In Trouble ~
