She started the engine and backed out of the driveway.

My best friend's remark was like a package of Pop Rocks blasting off in my brain. Why hadn't I thought of it sooner? I'd spent the last several days worrying how long I'd have to keep making excuses for Alexander's absence. Now I wouldn't be forced to wait an eternity in Dullsville wondering if he'd ever return. I didn't have to jump every time the telephone rang to find out it was for my mother.

I waved to Becky as she drove down the street. "You're right," I said to myself. "I have to find him!"

"I'm going to Alexander's. I won't be long—" I called to my mother as she sat devouring a J. Jill catalogue in the living room. I had a jolt of electricity coursing through my veins, which had been stagnant since my goth guy departed.

I grabbed my coat and ran back to the Mansion to find any clues of Alexander's whereabouts. I couldn't let my true love disappear without a full report from the RBI—Nancy Drew dipped in black.

Although becoming a vampire had always been a dream of mine, when faced with it, I didn't know what I'd do. Alexander already did what all great vampires do—he transformed me. I craved his presence every minute I was awake. I thirsted for his smile and hungered for his touch. So did I need to literally transform into a diva of darkness to be with my vampire boyfriend? Did I want to spend my life in greater isolation than I already did as an outcast goth? However, I had to let him know that I loved him no matter who or what he was.

I had spent a lifetime as a nocturnal-loving, rebellious, black-on-black-wearing outcast in the pearly white cliquey conservative town of Dullsville. I was relentlessly teased and bullied by soccer snob Trevor Mitchell. I was stared at like a circus freak by Dullsvillians, classmates, and teachers. The only friend I'd ever had was Becky, but we never shared the same taste in music or fashion, and our personalities were polar opposites.