Excerpt: Meet me at Darkness' Edge

It was a dark night as Nomia walked up the foggy road towards the cemetery. She had stolen some roses from someone’s garden but she felt that it was justified because of the reason. It had been fifty years since her parents had died and it felt just like it was yesterday to her. The horror of that night still hung around her like the fog on this muggy Louisianian night.
Nomia walked through the rusted gate of the cemetery and the moon made the shadows dance across the tome stones. She was drawing close to her parents grave when she heard a twig snap somewhere in the darkness. She quickly hid behind a mausoleum and peeked around it. She could see a small ball of light growing brighter and dimmer, then going down and back up before repeating the process yet again. She followed the mausoleum wall around and tried to sneak closer to the light and see what it was.
As she was walking she didn’t notice a small hole in the ground and she tripped, but instead of hitting the ground she was caught mid-fall. The light she saw before was now attached to a hand rolled cigarette and holding it was a handsome man.
“You should really watch where you are walking, you never know who you will fall upon.” The mysterious man said as he helped Nomia back up and noticing the flowers in her hand.“What would a girl like you be in a place like this at this hour?”
“If you excuse me I don’t know if it is safe for you. I must leave before you get hurt.” Nomia said as she quickly placed the flowers on her parents’ grave, kissed the top of the stone, and went on her way.
She was about a mile down the road when she felt as if there was someone following her. Her senses were heightened and she looked around trying to see who it might be.
She smelled something quite familiar as she walked. It reminded her of her now deceased father, and the tobacco that he used to smoke. It was a welcomed smell. No matter how poor they were her father always seemed to have this tobacco.
Suddenly she heard a twig snap and she spun around to see the man from earlier standing further back on the path.
“It isn’t safe for a woman such as yourself to be walking alone at this time of night.” The mysterious man said as he took another drag of the cigarette.
Nomia walked towards him and grabbed his cigarette and looked at it.
“Where did you get this?”
She demanded and want to know.
“I used to grow it and roll it myself. I have many a century to perfect the formula.”
He smiled as he took the cigarette back from her.
“How is that possible? Unless you are..”
She said letting her voice fading away.
“Unless I am what?”
He said drawing closer.
“Vampire.”
She said breathlessly.
“I knew you were one the minute I set eyes on you.”
He said taking a long drag on his cigarette.
“You act a lot like your father when you get defensive!”
He chortled and the statement he made stopped Nomia dead in her tracks.
“How do you, did you know my father?”
She said becoming suddenly curious of the mystery man.
The Man lifted up the cigarette and showed it to Nomia.
“I was the man who taught your father my special formula. My name is Leopold Degraff but you may call me Leo. You Are Nomia McCormack if my memory suits me.”
Nomia was in awe she had no clue that anyone was still around that knew her or her parents let alone anything to do with them. She began to well up just a little at the thought of her parents. Her tears were really blood and they formed and began to spill out of her eye.
“Would you please tell me about my father, and did you know my mother?” Nomia asked, “You are my own personal puck, in my own midsummer’s night dream, right?”
"I wouldn't say that, daughter of a sometimes god man, at least. Though I don't particularly know your mother,she was after my time in knowing your father..."

He reassured her softly as she wiped her tears away. Carefully he tucked his handkerchief back into his coat pocket to rest with his cigarette case where it belonged.

"Perhaps, if I am feeling puckish, your life will change..."

He was neither going to confirm nor deny her fate, she would have to wait and see.
"Well you delightful sprite of the night, I guess it is about time I come out of the vampire closet anyways and face the music."

She grinned again, the blood had stained the white part of her eye.

"God Man? What do you mean by that? I thought my dad was a salesman?"

She had always thought of her father as a normal man, nothing out of the ordinary, let alone hanging around vampires.
Suddenly Nomia was struck with thirst, she had forgotten that she hadn't fed in a while.

"Do you know anywhere we can grab a bite?"

She said popping her hip out to one side and winking her white teeth peeking behind her rose colored lips.