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Chapter 1 Buried

I awoke from a deadly slumber entombed in Alexander's coffin

Since arriving at the Mansion shortly before Sundaynext to , as he slept the weekend sunlit hours away, hidden in the closet of his attic room

This was a dream come true My first real taste--or in this case, bite--of the vampire lifestyle

We nestled in my true love's bed--a claustrophobic black wooden casket I was as blind as any bat; we could have been buried in the deepest recesses of a long-forgotten cemetery Encased in our compacted quarters, I could easily touch the closed lid above ainst the side wall The sweet scents of pine and cedar floated around , not even ernailed hand No sounds were audible fro wind I even lost track of time I felt like ere the only two people in the world-- that nothing existed outside these confining coffin walls

Blanketed by darkness and a soft-as-a-spider's-web goose- feathered duvet, I was enveloped in Alexander's arctic white arainst his chest I felt his warined his deadly pale lids covering his chocolate brown eyes I playfully fingered his velvet lips and brushed ertips over his perfect teeth until I felt one as sharp as a knife

I tasted er for blood Unfortunately, there was none

I was so close to being part of Alexander's world-- forever

Or was I?

Though it was Sunday and I was exhausted fro s of twin vaer and Luna Maxwell, I was restless I couldn't change ht to day

Cuddling close to Alexander and sharing his world, I wanted nothing

But as he slept tranquilly, I could only think of one thing: A preteen vampire had descended upon Dullsville And his name was Valentine

The younger brother of the nefarious Nosferatu twins had arisen from his own petite coffin a few days before from somewhere in the vampire world and had been spotted in Dullsville by my brother and his nerd-mate, Henry I could only presume what Valentine looked like based on ernails I ihastly How cruel it was that Jagger's sibling was just like him, and mine the polar opposite of houlish little brother We'd have spent our childhood chasing ghosts in Dullsville's ce hide-and-shriek in our basereith a brother who'd prefer to dissect square roots alone rather than dissect guether

I wondered why Valentine suddenly showed up in the conservative town of Dullsville, far away from his Romanian homeland Now that Alexander and I were free fros, I'd set forth on a newout the eleven-year-old Valentine's whereabouts andhiht hours, er, so my mind strayed back to the only vampire I felt secure with

As Alexander and I lay in the dark, entombed and entwined, I stroked his silky black hair

There was no place for ers Alexander had so warnedsun minus my true love Didn't Alexander kno easily I could adapt to his world, sleeping together in our cozy casket, flying together in the night sky, living in the dusty old Mansion? I wondered what type of vaentle dreaer? Either way, since Jagger and Luna had departed from Dullsville, Alexander and I finally had a chance to share our mortal and immortal worlds However, there could be an obstacle in my way, now that Valentine was in town

Alexander stirred He, too, couldn't sleep

"You're awake," he whispered sweetly "I'm sure it must be hard for you to adjust your sleep schedule" I didn't want to admit that I couldn't be the perfect vampiress

"I can't rest with you so close to me I feel more alive than ever," I said

My fingers felt around his smooth face and found his soft lips I leaned in to kiss him, but my nose accidentally bumped into his

"I'le