by D C Young
VAMPIRE VACATION
The Chronicles of the Immortal Council #5
by
D.C. Young
Other Books in The Chronicles of the Immortal Council
1. Vampire Abduction
2. Vampire Exodus
3. Vampire Sovereign
4. Vampire Magic
5. Vampire Vacation
6. Vampire Reflections
7. Vampire Enigma
8. Vampire Spirit
9. Vampire Regent
10. Vampire Intuition
Other Books in J.R. Rain’s Vampire for Hire World
Burning
Afterglow
Radiance
Dead Ahead
Dragon Lessons
Vampires She Wrote
Wolf Moon
Fire Warrior
Fang
I, Samantha Moon
Vampire Apocalypse
Vampire Vacation
Published by Rain Press
Copyright © 2019 by Rain Press
All rights reserved.
Ebook Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
(Vampire Vacation is based on the characters created by J.R. Rain; the use of story situations and supporting characters from the “Vampire for Hire” universe is authorized by J.R Rain.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreward
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Reading Sample
Foreward
by J.R. Rain
Hi there and welcome!
J.R. Rain here, and I’m so excited to introduce you to my “Vampire for Hire World”! As you might have guessed, these are written by writers other than me. Fair warning, these stories are non-canon (as in, unofficial) but they’re still a ton of fun. I’m excited to see the Samantha Moon world grow, and I’m equally excited to see all these wonderful writers exploring her world with me.
So, sit back and enjoy Vampire Vacation
—J.R.
Vampire Vacation
Chapter One
Sam
We haven’t even left yet and the drama’s already started.
As excited as I was to take a break from the day to day and get out of L.A., it was hard not to feel like Mary Lou had timed this vacation all wrong. It would be just my luck that the exact day we were supposed to depart for Georgia, there would be an epic marathon of the Judge Judy Show scheduled to air on TV.
No need to get worked up, I told myself. I’ll just need to remember to set the DVR. There’s no way I’m going to trust the ‘On Demand’ with that Judge Judy marathon on Thursday. It would be just my luck to find it isn’t available when we get back next week.
With a solution to my Judge Judy problems, I couldn’t help but be excited to be taking a great summer vacation with my family. Tammy and Anthony were growing up so fast, it was just a matter of time before they’d feel they were too grown up for time away with the family during the summer; they’d already scoffed at the suggestion of Disneyland with their Uncle and Aunt again. In their defense, they’d both been open to Universal Studios, but that was about it.
I’d been open to Orlando especially when I remembered all the amazing stories Rick and the kids had to tell after their trip to Disneyland a few years back. Mary Lou had only recalled the price of food and the nightmare lines to get on every ride. She swore the sun shone fifteen degrees hotter there too.
But the kids had come back with some awesome memories and now that I could go on holiday too, I wanted to make it as special a time as that trip had been. Mary Lou had agreed on that point one hundred percent but she also didn’t want my first vacation since the incident to be what she called a ‘secondhand vacation’.
So she’d made herself busy for a month, planning the greatest getaway in history. She’d promised us fun in the sun, exciting history and tours and most importantly a lot of rest and relaxation and I was totally down for the last part.
I love L.A., but I was looking forward to getting away from the hustle and bustle, the freeway traffic and the smog… and work, let’s not forget work. I was ready to be as far away from it all as I could get, so when Mary Lou had arrived with the brochures for Tybee Island, I was ecstatic. Three thousand miles away would suit me just fine. The thought alone made a huge smile spread across my face.
I heard footsteps rumbling down the hall and turned to see Anthony battling with a laundry basket looking like he was on a mission.
“What are you smiling so goofy at?” Anthony teased, as he came into the living room set the laundry basket down.
“Not the thought of doing your laundry, son. That’s for sure!” Anthony rolled his eyes at me. He’d heard just about every comment in the book about the general condition of his dirty clothes, particularly his underwear. “Where you going with that?”
“Laundry room,” he replied, then, he put on his best superhero voice and said, “There’s no need to fear, fair mother! This is just the top layer stuff. I think it’s time I started washing my own underwear.”
I think my face may have contorted into expressions I’d never made before as a look of horror mixed with shock and disbelief covered my face. “What?” I asked, rushing over to him to check his forehead for signs of fever. “Are you feeling okay, Anthony? I think you might have caught some dangerous virus… it’s affecting your brain function.”
“Very funny, Mom. I’m serious. Aunt Louie said I should try to be more responsible about stuff seeing as I’m the man of the house and all.”
“Man of the house, huh? I think I might have to have a talk with your aunt about putting ideas like that in your head.”
“I could just leave it if you want.”
“Oh, no! Go ahead, Anthony. Knock yourself out.”
“You don’t sound very sincere, Mom.”
I went to him and hugged him close… but not too close, cause you know how preteen boys can get when their Moms get too lovey dovey. “I’m proud of you Anthony. I want you to try new things. It’s important for you to learn how to do stuff and for you to grow up and be more mature. I support that one hundred percent. Just remember I’m here to give you any help if you need it.”
“Sure thing, Mom,” he said, letting go of me and taking up his laundry basket again. “But I think I’m good for now. I can figure out a washing machine.” He pointed into the basket and continued, “I need a few of these to finish packing for the beach anyway.”
I couldn’t help the feeling of extreme pride that rose in my chest as I watched my son walking confidently down the hallway. After everything we had been through over the last few years; he and his sister were turning out to be really awesome kids.
Just as I was reveling in how lucky I was to have those two, the door bell rang.
“Well, so much for having a moment,” I said under my breath and turned towards the front door.
Chapter Two
Anthony
Finally, a summer that might not be a complete fail.
I’ve never been so ready to go on a vacation before, I thought, as I
loaded the washing machine. I mean, let’s face it Aunt Mary plans the best trips. I’ll probably never forget Disneyland as long as I live. Too bad, Mom wasn’t able to come though. She’s always saying how weird her life is but in my opinion, her life is super cool.
That holiday had held special meaning to me. I’d had a hard year; spent a long time sick in hospital and almost died in fact. Mom had been so worried. Dad had been on the edge of hysterics but he’d just taken the opportunity to fight more with her than ever before. It had been hard to watch even though they’d tried to put on a brave face for me at the hospital. I’d known at that point that they’d split up for good. Somehow, I hadn’t been able to see his side of the argument after that; he just always seemed like he was going out of his way to be unfair to her.
Something had happened near the end though, and he’d relented a little. Tammy and I had never really found out what it was but he moved out and Mom moved back in and a few months later he’d been hurt and killed in an accident; at least that’s what Mom had said.
I missed my dad sometimes but losing him had been a long time coming. I loved him and I still did; he just made some bad choices and said some bad things along the way. He’d found out her secret and used it against her.
I’d processed and handled the whole thing a lot different from Tammy. For one, I’d been younger than her and two; I’d still been recovering from a long, terrible illness. I don’t know if my mom knew it at the time but I wasn’t so young back then that I couldn’t figure out what she was.
She might be a vampire, but my mom is no killer, in fact, she helps people every day; it’s her life’s work. She used her vampiric gift to save me from Kawasaki’s disease and then she found someone who knew more than she did to cure my vampirism. My dad thought it was horrific but when I was walking back to her from the brightness that had started to surround me at the end; I thought she’d performed a miracle.
That’s kinda what my mom is to me; a miracle. No one else I know has a mom that awesome and that makes me feel special.
But enough with the mushy stuff… Va-ca-tion! Va-ca-tion!
Sometime ago, my mom was lucky to find a cure for her sensitivity to sunlight. I’ll admit, watching her fight with the sun under all the coats of sunscreen, big floppy hats, sunglasses and tinted windows was painful. I never fussed when she picked us up late from school cause I knew what a challenge daylight was for her.
Now, she could be out in the daytime just like the rest for us and that had changed a lot of things for our family. She went out jogging with Aunt Mary and their friend Allison, she saw more clients and did more of her investigative work in the day, which meant more family time in the evenings for us. Of course, now this meant we could take our first trip together… all of us… and we were going to the beach!
The excitement was real! I mean look at me… I’m doing laundry for crying out loud! But I’d even wash my underwear if it meant that my bags could be packed faster and we could get this vacation bus on the road!
Aunt Mary had it all planned out, two weeks with a great mix of sightseeing, eating out and lounging on the sandy beach in Georgia. We were going to have a great time and for the first time in a long time, we might just have a summer that wasn’t a complete fail.
Chapter Three
Mary Lou
Why can’t we just ‘Stay calm and go on vacation’?
A week before our departure I sat down at my kitchen table and went over all the reservations I’d made for our first family trip to Georgia. It was the first trip we would take together as a family in almost ten years and I was determined that it would rock even harder than Disneyland had.
This trip was as much about Sam as it was about the kids and that’s why I had chosen Tybee. There was an abundance of history and beautiful places to see which Sam would love, plenty of restaurants and bars including old school barbecues joints and dive bars which would entice Rick and Anthony. The haunted culture of Savannah and the South, in general, would captivate our budding psychic, Tammy and then of course, there was the beach… Who didn’t love the beach?
Sam had been out of town plenty of times since becoming a vampire, even to a couple of exotic locales. I would know, I did all the babysitting… but she had never been able to do any recreational travel, not even since she’d become immune to the usual effects of the sun’s rays on vampires.
I was determined to put an end to that streak after all a couple glasses of wine at Hero’s on a Saturday night, though relaxing as it may be, isn’t anything close to a vacation.
It’s why I’d thought long and hard about where we should go for our two week break. Rick was off from work and I had taken a six month hiatus from the office. I had found that with three kids of my own and needing to support Sam as much as I could with Anthony and Tammy, working from home and on the road was a much better option for me. My numbers were up and my sanity intact. I’d worked hard for my three weeks paid leave this year.
I’d booked us a villa by the sea in gorgeous Tybee Island. In the photographs it boasted all white woodwork and walls painted a sky blue; just looking at the brochure made me think of holiday homes on the Mediterranean coast. Vigorous vines of Mandeville in full bloom and all kinds of colors gracefully climbed latticework on the side of the house. The ground floor had a deep patio which ran the entire sea facing side of the house and above it, providing all the spectacular shade was a balcony of equal size.
It had five bedrooms and five bathrooms upstairs; every room, its own suite. The two which shared the balcony were slightly bigger and designed to be matching master suites. Downstairs was a fully equipped kitchen, spacious living and dining areas, a powder room and a modern entertainment room with a 60” high definition TV. Blu-Ray discs and On Demand broadcasting as well as high speed Wi-Fi internet access throughout the house would surely keep the kids occupied and well entertained. An attached garage housed the washer and dryer and two Ford Escapes, the use of which we would have for our entire two week stay.
Entertainment wasn’t high on my priority list for this trip. I needed to relax, but the more entertained the kids were the more likely the adults could get the opportunity to just veg out. I would be quite fine with a trashy novel, a stiff cocktail, a hammock and the shade from that balcony… Sam could wake me up when the two weeks were over.
In the interest of not completely wasting our time in the South, I’d gone ahead and made reservations for us to visit Old Fort Jackson for the firing of the cannons over the Savannah River, take a walking tour through Bonaventure Cemetery, tour the Mercer-Williams house, walk River Street and take a trolley tour of the city. Coupled with trying our best to eat at every restaurant in town, I thought that was about as much culture as could be expected from a bunch of off-season tourists.
Id collected travel information for the entire greater Savannah area as well as South Carolina which was a very short trek over the Talmadge Bridge and also had a lot to do, particularly shopping. I’d also put all that information into a nifty folder I would take with me. At the drop of a hat, we could get off the beaten path and freestyle this vacation if we wanted to. I thought it would be best to be prepared seeing as we had two teenagers in tow.
I was proud of the plans Id made, there was something in the mix for everybody involved and come Hell or high water, we were going to have fun and a whole lot of it too.
Chapter Four
Sam
Never been so ready to blow this joint!
Suddenly, I’m with Louie on the vacation thing one hundred percent.
When I answered the door, I’d been expecting a few of the packages of vacation clothes and other supplies Id order for our East Coast vacation. That was the only reason the doorbell hadn’t been an entirely unwelcome sound.
I turned the lock and pulled the front door open with confidence; a wall of warm tingly sunlight fell on me. Ahhh, no more burning or roasting in the sun for me. These are the things I live to celebrate every day.
/> Yeah, my life is just as weird as it’s ever been.
I’m actually still enjoying the fact that I no longer have to coat myself in layers of sunscreen, don a huge floppy hat, sunglasses and gloves just to get from the door to the car.
On the front step, a uniformed postal worker stood waiting to make her delivery but instead of the Amazon, Zulily and ThredUp boxes I was expecting, she had only a thick flat rate document envelope in her hand.
I didn’t order any gift cards, ma’am.
Still, I smiled and greeted her cheerfully. “Hi, there! What have we got?”
“Small package for you. Could you sign here please?”
She handed me the little digital device and I did my best to sign the screen legibly with the plastic stylus. I handed it back and she turned over the envelope, said goodbye and made her way back to the mail truck.
I closed the door behind me and took the package into my office, sat at the desk and opened it. It was from Kingsley’s more than familiar L.A. office and inside was a crisp manila folder with about a half inch thick stack of paper in it. I sighed softly and opened the folder to read its contents. Pausing, I thought back on whether Kingsley had said anything about a referral or needing my help on a case.
Nope, not that I recall.
In fact, I hadn’t even spoken to him in about two weeks. He’d been in Sacramento dealing with a particularly difficult client. A bright yellow sticky note had been carefully attached to the inside cover of the folder. It read: ‘Call me when you’ve had a chance to look these over. Kingsley.’
Okay, I guess he didn’t get the memo that we’re going on vacation. How would Tammy say this? Ummm, I just can’t with Kingsley Fulcrum right now. Hahaha! I think I absolutely nailed that.