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  Nina

  The Friendly Vampire

  Book 3

  Rivals

  Katrina Kahler and John Zakour

  Copyright © KC Global Enterprises

  All Rights Reserved

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Surprise

  Chapter 2: Grandma Jasmine

  Chapter 3: Trolling

  Chapter 4: School

  Chapter 5: Meet Bear

  Chapter 6: A Long Lunch

  Chapter 7: North Pole???

  Chapter 8: Homework

  Chapter 9: More Schooling

  Chapter 10: Bad or Weird Day or Both

  Chapter 11: Time Out

  Chapter 12: Trolling

  Chapter 13: School Showdown

  Chapter 14: Jasmine

  Extra Chapter: Nina’s family history

  Another Extra Chapter: Wisdom from Jasmine

  Extra Chapter: More Bad Dad Jokes from Doctor Franklin

  Chapter 1: Surprise

  I laid in bed sound asleep. Sure, being part vampire and part weretiger, I never actually needed to sleep. Thing was...being a teenage girl, I did need to sleep. Sleep allows me to recharge my brain and my body for the coming day. Also, it's very Zen, a time to relax and let go. A time to dream. Not a time to worry. When you are a teenager you need quiet time now and then. Yes, sleep was my ‘me’ time. My time to turn off my brain and not worry about schoolwork, boys, mean girls, friends, embarrassing family members, or phantom ninjas or trolls. Yes, being who I am meant I not only had the standard teenage worries and phobias, but I had the extra supernatural ones too.

  Of course, being who I am, also means I'm way stronger and tougher than the average person. I have super reflexes and senses. I can use my voice to make people do what I want...and I have claws. My Grandma Thorn even tells me that if I work at it, I might be able to channel electricity and other types of energy. In other words, I am different; but mostly different in a good way. I usually like being different. After all, different is what makes me...me. But that doesn't mean I still don't LOVE my sleep.

  “WARNING! WARNING!” Our house’s intercom blurted. “WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! EMERGENCY SAFETY PROTOCOLS IN EFFECT.”

  The steel emergency doors and windows clamped shut, sealing me into my room, and sealing whatever the emergency was, out of my room.

  Of course, the warning bell clanged on: "WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT ESCAPED FROM LAB. PLEASE STAY PUT!"

  Yeah, that wouldn't be a problem for me. I pulled my pillow over my head to block out the warning alerts.

  My dad, who is a full-on weretiger, never needs to sleep. Also, since he's a brilliant inventor, he loves tinkering and creating in his lab at all hours of the night. He says working at night is better because it's quiet and he doesn't lose family time with us.

  I felt confident that whatever had escaped from Dad’s lab would soon be under control. If Dad couldn’t control it, his security gnomes would. Yes, we have security gnomes, they are small but feisty and they have magic. Most of the time they look like little gnome ornaments, but if needed, they animate and can take on a variety of situations. If they couldn’t handle the problem, then my mom could. Being a powerful vampire, there was not much my mom couldn’t handle. Mom could be a one-woman army if she wanted to be.

  I rolled over in bed, far more upset with the alert siren than whatever the siren was blaring about.

  I squeezed the pillow over my head even tighter.

  “WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!”

  Grabbing another pillow, I placed that over my head as well. It helped, but not much. I heard a crash followed by a crumbling sound. Looking up from my pillows I saw a huge hole in my wall; a hole that was twice the size of a man! There, standing in the hole, I saw a human-shaped creature. The creature had no face just one big red glowing eye that pulsated. The creature appeared to be formed out of sand.

  “Okay now, what are you?” I asked the creature.

  A mouth appeared under the eye. “I am a sand golem! My name is Sandy,” it said.

  Pointing to my door and then the hole in the wall, I said, “You could have used the door.”

  “The door was secured,” Sandy said. “This was easier. I could have turned to sand and slid under the door, but I kind of just figured that out. Pardon my mistake, I am only a few hours old.”

  Two security gnomes rushed into my room through the opening Sandy had made. The gnomes barely came up to where Sandy’s knees would have been…if Sandy had knees.

  “Sorry, Ma’am,” one of the gnomes said. “We’ll handle this little…”

  Sandy smashed her arms down, squishing the two gnomes like they were accordions.

  “Okay, maybe we won't be handling this…" one of the gnomes said before he fell over.

  “Sandy, why are you here?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to hear the answer.

  “I am here to prove myself! I came to challenge the best fighter in the house.”

  “Ah, have you met my mom?" I asked. "I have seen herds of rhinos and squads of navy seals run from her."

  Sandy’s head nodded. “Sure, she currently has more experience than you and is more, how do I say this politely…uh, vicious than you are. But I can sense raw potential, and you have more than she does. You are a unique blend, one that probably should not exist. Yet, I am glad that you do.”

  A sandy hand stretched out towards me. I leaped up in the air avoiding the sandy hand’s grasp. The hand shattered on my bed, spraying sand all over my covers.

  Landing on my feet next to Sandy, I said, “That’s going to be a real pain to clean out of my sheets! Nothing worse than sand in the sheets!”

  Extending my claws, I ripped off Sandy's other sandy arm. Two new arms instantly grew back. The arms lashed out at me. Springing backward, I dodged them.

  “This is fun!” Sandy said. “I am glad I challenged you.”

  I leaped at Sandy again, swinging away at her midsection. My claws sent a good portion of sand flying.

  Sandy put her arms around my neck and clasped her hands together. Pulling me forward she smashed me into her body. It felt like I had hit a solid brick wall head-on. Actually, I guess I had.

  The sand from Sandy’s midsection shot out, smacking me in the face and knocking me to the ground.

  Sandy tried stomping on me with her right foot. I rolled to the left, barely dodging it.

  Sandy reached down and picked me up. Lifting me to her face, she said, “You know that a sand golem is made of sand, right? Sand is flexible but also very strong.” Her eye started flashing. “Oh, and I can fire heat rays from my eye!” Sandy said.

  “Please hold still,” she demanded. “I do not wish to harm you. Just cut off a lock of your hair and I’ll show you how I could have harmed you if I had wished.”

  What? Nope, not going to happen. No way this giant walking, talking, laser-shooting mound of sand was messing with my hair.

  My Grandma Thorn (who’s a ghost BTW), always tells me that I have a powerful mind; that I can do a lot of cool stuff with my mind if I just put my mind to it. Yeah, it didn’t make a lot of sense. Although like I said, she’s a ghost. Being dead can’t be great for the brain. But she was (and I guess still is) a gypsy, so she knows stuff. Like she says, “I’ve forgotten more stuff than mo
st people know. Let’s face it, I raised a genius son.” Right now, though, that genius son of hers had created a sand golem that really was getting on my nerves.

  My eyes searched the room, trying to spot something that could help me out of this perfectly nasty situation. There on my dresser, I saw my makeup mirror. That could save me. Reaching out with my hand, I stretched as far as I could. Even extending my fingers I was still a few inches short of grabbing the mirror. Since I knew the odds of a sudden growth spurt were slim, I knew I'd have to try something desperate. I took a deep breath and then concentrated on moving the mirror with my mind. Like I said, a desperate long shot. No! It was not desperate. I had to believe I could do this with my mind. Taking another breath, I concentrated on extending my fingers mentally. Wow, I had the mirror in my grasp.

  I popped the mirror open just as the sand golem blasted me with a red beam of heat. The beam hit my mirror, bouncing off the mirror back into the golem’s eye. The golem’s head melted. I dropped to the floor as the golem turned to dust.

  I heard clapping from outside my room. Dad and Grandma Thorn walked in through the hole created by the golem.

  “Nice job!” Dad said. “It was worth the repair bill for the gnomes and the wall to see you do that!” he gushed.

  “Wait, this was a test?” I shouted.

  “Yep,” Dad snickered. “My mom told your mom to tell me that she thought you could have telekinetic ability under stress! I’m so glad she was right.” Dad paused. “Is she here? Can she see this?” Dad asked.

  “Yes, Grandma is here,” I sighed. I know all families are weird but seriously, my family was extra weird! “Is Mom okay with this?” I asked.

  “I didn’t tell her,” Dad admitted.

  “Wait, why didn’t she hear the alarms?” I asked.

  “This was a test only for you!” Dad said. “I’m so happy you did it.”

  “Me too!” Grandma said. Grandma floated over to me. “See girl, you are one of a kind! I told your grandma Jasmine you could do it.”

  “Is my mom talking to you now?” Dad asked.

  “Yes,” I replied. “You know you’d think being a great scientist and all, you could invent something to allow you to see her.”

  Dad nodded his fur-filled head. “Yeah, that’s a great idea!” (Poor Dad had to shave and trim his hair every morning!)

  Grandma clapped her hand. “Oh, that would be so nice if my little Franklin could see me! See, honey, your brain is truly amazing!”

  Glancing at my clock I noticed it was 5:45 am. “I still have some sleep time to catch up on!” I told Dad and Grandma ushering them out of my room. “BTW, Dad, I am hoping my wall will be fixed by the time I get home from school,” I added.

  Dad examined the hole. “Yes, I guess it is a bit much. However, it did teach me that I need to reinforce the walls in this house.” He smiled. “I love learning things.” He leaned into me. “Did you think my sand golem was cool?”

  “Actually, I found it annoying,” I said. Yeah, that might have been a bit mean, but my dad had woken me up from a perfectly good sleep to test me by attacking me with a sand golem. “And, it could have burned me!”

  “I knew you loved your hair and would do whatever you could to stop it,” Dad said confidently. “Nice use of the makeup mirror,” he added. “I was hoping you’d do that.”

  “See, my love of makeup came in very handy,” I noted.

  Dad grinned. “Yes, I calculated it would.” Putting his hand on my shoulder he added, “Of course I think you are lovely without any makeup.”

  “Yes, you’re my dad, you have to say that,” I said leading him out of my room. “I’ll see you at breakfast. And no more tests or sneak attacks,” I said firmly.

  “Gotcha,” Dad said with a little smile.

  I crawled back into bed. I had a few minutes to grab some extra sleep and I felt determined to get it.

  “Have a good day, honey,” Grandma said, hovering over my bed.

  “I will!” Pointing to the exit I shouted. “Now out! Please!”

  Grandma kissed me on the forehead and disappeared.

  Nina Note: I have to say that my family is weird, but I love ‘em. And, I have to admit I found it cool that I could move objects with my mind. At least I could when I was worried. Well, at least worried about getting my hairstyle messed up. Truthfully, my life was bizarre but it was always interesting.

  Chapter 2: Grandma Jasmine

  I woke up to find my other grandmother, Grandma Jasmine sitting at my desk in my room. She was tapping her fingers impatiently waiting for me to open my eyes.

  Sitting up in bed, I said, “Grandma Jasmine, what a pleasant surprise…”

  Actually, it was a weird surprise. For the first fourteen years of my life, I could count on one hand the number of times I'd seen Grandma Jasmine. She was always venturing around the world doing this or that. She never had much time for my family or me...until this year. Then suddenly she began to pay more attention, to me especially.

  “First, darling, just call me Jasmine. Grandma makes me seem so old.”

  “Aren’t you like 300 years old?” I countered.

  “Truthfully, honey I stopped counting a long long time ago,” she smiled. “What matters is my looks, and you must admit I don’t look a second over 40.”

  Grandma Jasmine was right. She could easily pass as Mom’s sister. Part of the advantage of being a vampire was that after the thirtieth or fortieth year, aging effects happen very, very slowly.

  Grandma Jasmine shook her head. "I don't understand why you insist on sleeping. You waste so many useful hours every day doing it!"

  “I find it regenerating,” I said. “I love dreaming. It’s very Zen-like,” I stopped talking. “I don’t need to explain myself to you. After all, you’ve barely been a part of my life!”

  Grandma Jasmine nodded. “Good point. I mean to amend that.”

  Sitting up in bed I asked, “Why now?”

  “You are blossoming into quite a woman!” she said.

  “Oh gross!” I said. “Come on, Grandma Jasmine. Tell me the truth?”

  Grandma Jasmine smiled. “I’ve always liked you. You have good instincts.”

  “Ah, thanks,” I said. “Nice to know my mom’s mom likes me.”

  “Believe me, young lady, you want me on your side," Grandma Jasmine said in a way that was a statement...yet somehow seemed a bit like a warning.

  Never being one to back down, I countered with, “What gives here Grandma Jasmine? For the first years of my life I see you maybe twice, but now suddenly you take an interest in me.”

  Grandma Jasmine crossed her arms and huffed, “That’s because I finally find you to be of interest.”

  It may have been a cold answer, but I appreciated the honesty. I thought Grandma Jasmine would be more into playing mental games. “Why am I so interesting all of a sudden?”

  Grandma Jasmine walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Dear, you are a one of a kind being.”

  “Everybody is different,” I said.

  “True,” Grandma Jasmine grinned. “But you are the only creature who is part vampire and part werewolf. Yet you blend in perfectly with these normal simple humans.” She snickered. “You even want to date one who hunts vampires. How would your mom feel about that?”

  I had to give Grandma Jasmine credit; she really tried to push all my buttons. I had to stay calm and not let her get to me. “Jimmy and I are just friends,” I said.

  Grandma Jasmine grinned. "But you want to be more than that. Don't you?" She stroked my shoulder, "Believe me, honey, you can trust me.”

  I’ve learned that when somebody says - trust me, you usually can’t trust them.

  “Like I said...we’re just friends,” I insisted. “After all there are like 7 billion humans on Earth. Right?”

  “Your point?” Grandma asked.

  “How many vampires are there?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. We don’t have a club or hang out m
uch. Maybe a thousand of us,” Grandma admitted.

  “Therefore, Grandma Jasmine, doesn’t it makes sense that I try to fit in and get along with humans?” I called her Grandma Jasmine just to bug her a bit.

  “Getting along and dating are two different things. I think it’s fine for you to keep that pet human. What’s her name...Ruby.”

  Thrusting my finger at Grandma, I snapped, “Ruby is not a pet! She’s my best friend!”

  Grandma Jasmine crossed her arms and snickered. “See girl, you become so emotional about a friend. How do you think you’d react to somebody with whom you want to be more than friends? No matter what your words say, your actions and your emotions betray you. That’s from your tiger side, by the way.”

  Yeah, Grandma Jasmine was good at this. After all, she did have hundreds of years of experience on her side. Still, I had spunk and the feeling of knowing I was in the right. No way I would back down here. "Come on, Grandma, you've been around a LONG time; interacting with all sorts of humans. Wasn't my mom's dad a human?"

  Grandma Jasmine nodded. “That was for practical reasons. Our line has always thought that if we want to blend in with humans we should add human blood to our line. But I never ever had feelings for one!”

  “That’s what separates us, Grandma Jasmine. I have feelings.”

  Grandma Jasmine took a step back and put a hand over her heart. "Oh, well struck, girl, well struck. You have courage and brains. I like that. I like that a lot."

  “Then we are on the same side here. Right?” I coaxed.

  Grandma Jasmine nodded. “I just want to help you be all that you can be. For instance, honey, your ghost grandma told me that you moved the mirror with your mind!” Her eyes glowed with pride. “I was so impressed. I now understand that you can be so much more! Like I said at the start of this rather long-winded conversation, you are special. I believe that with my help you can be more special.”

  Crossing my arms, I frowned. “What if I don’t want to be more special?” Pointing to myself I added. “I like myself just as I am.”