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  NINA

  The Friendly Vampire

  Book 2

  It’s Never Dull

  Katrina Kahler and John Zakour

  Copyright © KC Global Enterprises Pty Ltd

  All Rights Reserved

  Table of Contents

  PRELUDE: What Came Before

  Chapter 1: Day Dreaming?

  Chapter 2: Good Neighbor

  Chapter 3: The Wrath of Mom (Home Sweet Home)

  Chapter 4: We’ve Got Problems

  Chapter 5: Science Unfair

  Chapter 6: Lunch Break

  Chapter 7: Commute

  Chapter 8: Friendship has power

  Chapter 9: Home Chaos

  Chapter 10: The Letter

  Chapter 11: Being Prepared for the Fair

  Chapter 12: A Little Normal Before the Storm

  Chapter 13: The Big Day

  Chapter 14: Party Time

  Chapter 15: Battle Time

  Chapter 16: Some Things Change...Some Don’t

  PRELUDE: What Came Before

  I'm Nina, but my family and some close friends call me ‘Nixy’. I pretty much answer to either these days. I happen to be part vampire (with royal vampire blood) and part weretiger. My mom is a vampire queen, and my dad’s a weretiger. Sure, my family has some supernatural abilities. I am super strong, I can drain energy from things, and I can use my voice to make weak-willed people do what I want. That's from my mom's side. From my dad's side, I can pop out claws and transform (at will) to this part-girl, part-tiger creature, which makes me an amazing fighter with super duper agility. I admit it's cool.

  Luckily, my dad, besides being a weretiger, is also an amazing (and sometimes slightly mad) scientist. He’s made it so I don’t have any of the quirks that other vampires have. I can be in sunlight (I just need sunscreen). I drink tomato juice, not blood. I don’t transform during a full moon. I’m just a nice normal girl who happens to be supernatural.

  In fact, we are pretty much just a normal family. My dad designed my brother Frank in a lab, but Frank is the friendliest person I know. He’s big and strong, and always willing to help. He’s a great guy and that’s coming from me, his sister. He can be a little dense at times, but that’s fine, nobody is perfect.

  Mom has been around on Earth so long (even though she doesn’t look a day over 39ish) she has a Ph.D. in psychology and she runs a very popular advice blog. She is an amazing woman, just don’t make her mad.

  My dad's sister Mika lives with us, too. She's a world-class musician who also teachers at our school. She happens to be a zombie but she puts makeup on her green skin and uses one of dad's formulas to lead a perfectly normal life. And, she can't die. In many ways, she is like a big sister to me. Her close friend, Ms. Anna, is the dance teacher at our school. I think she might be a witch, but I can't be sure.

  Our butler is a mummy named Mumford, but he’s a friendly light mummy (meaning he has clean wrappings) and he is great at keeping the house neat.

  My grandma (on my dad’s side), used to be a gypsy leader and now she’s a ghost. Sure, it’s not totally normal, especially since only Mom and I can see her. (I’m so glad mom can see her too...so I know I’m not nuts.) It is nice having Grandma around.

  My BFF, Ruby is a completely normal girl. Ruby and I hit it off the moment I met her when we moved here to Lowville. Ruby may not have any supernatural powers, but she loves reading and learning and has been both a great friend and a confidant. She totally accepts the fact that I am different but still normal.

  Finally, I also like a boy who lives across the street. His name is Jimmy (or James) Chaser. He is smart, cute, and a great guy. And, he likes me too. You would think this would be a slam-dunk type of thing, except his mom is a vampire hunter. Technically, Jimmy is a vampire hunter also. Our moms really don’t like each other. They’ve learned to accept each other, but they would NOT be happy at all if they found out that Jimmy and I were still hanging out together. If you really like somebody, you find a way to make it work.

  Chapter 1: Day Dreaming?

  Do you know what it feels like to be totally happy, so much so that the air feels lighter, the sun shines brighter and you just want to soak in that moment? Well, that was me today. Standing around chatting with my new friends and gazing at Jimmy...when wham!!! I was suddenly in a weird looking room. Looking at the symbols on the tapestries lining the walls, I thought they were ancient Japanese. Of course, I am not expert in ancient Japanese.

  “This is weird,” I said to myself.

  “It is different, but not weird,” said a voice from above.

  Looking upwards, I saw a slightly transparent person dressed in a ninja outfit. The ninja lowered to the mat on the floor. Two other ninjas floated down to the floor as well. The leader bowed to me.

  I bowed back. There’s no reason not to be polite.

  “We are the phantom ninjas,” the first ninja told me. They all wore masks but I could still see their eyes. They seemed friendly enough.

  “We are here to test you, Nina.”

  “You know, I’m not a big fan of surprise tests,” I said with a bit of annoyance in my voice. After all, they had transported me from my “perfect day” to some weird room for a silly test!

  “We are phantom ninjas, we thrive on surprise, shock and awe,” another ninja said.

  I took a step back and kept my guard up. “I’m assuming this test means we’re going to do more than talk.”

  “We’re ninjas, we love action!”

  “Oh please...can we just get this over with? You are interrupting my social life.”

  “So are you Samurai or Ninjas?”

  The first ninja scoffed, “Samurai are wimps. They are not worthy to test you, Nina. You are unique in this world and very powerful. It is our destiny to see if we can win a fight against you.”

  Tapping my foot I asked. “Then all you want is a win? Okay, go back to wherever you came from and send me back and everybody wins.”

  The ninja waved a finger at me. “No no. We are all about winning, not draws.”

  “I’m not an artist. I have no interest in drawing anything,” I said, watching their reactions.

  The first ninja looked at the other two. “She can’t be that dense. Can she?”

  The other two shook their head. “Nope, she’s playing with us. Testing us.”

  The first ninja turned to me. “You are testing the testers. I like it.”

  “That means I can go back now?” I prompted.

  “If you say ninja’s rule and I drool you may go back,” the first ninja said.

  The other two snickered. I didn’t feel that was a good sign.

  “Fine, I’m not proud. Ninja’s rule and I drool.”

  The three ninjas bent over laughing. One of them pointed at me. “I can’t believe you…”

  That ninja never got to finish. Leaping across the room, I hit the pointing ninja with a quick kick to the head. His head snapped back. He staggered backward and spat out a bloody transparent tooth.

  “Well played,” he said. “But now we have you between us.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the other two ninjas closing in on me. Leaping backward I did an air flip and came down in a fighting position. I motioned for the ninjas to come at me.


  Holding out their hands, throwing stars appeared in their hands.

  They flung the stars at me. If I had been a normal human I would have been doomed, but my tiger reflexes kicked in allowing me to easily snatch their throwing stars from the air. I dropped the stars to the ground. “Throwing stars are so cliché…” I popped my claws out. Showing them to the ninjas I said, “I don’t need silly toys.”

  The three reached back and drew long swords.

  “Hope you are ready, Nina,” the first ninja said as they all crept towards me.

  My grandma appeared beside me. “Hi, honey.”

  When your grandma is a ghost; she can pretty much pop-up anywhere. It can be distracting or handy. I wasn’t sure what it was in this case.

  “Kind of busy here, Grandma,” I said, pointing out the three approaching ninjas.

  Grandma leaned forward, her eyes popped out of her head so she could get a closer look. “Oh yeah, I know these three. They are good. I guess it’s true that phantom ninjas are trying to work their way back into this world. Some beings just don’t accept being dead. I, myself, find it quite relaxing and quiet.”

  “I take you know them then?” I asked.

  “I know of them.” Leaning forward she whispered, “I may have dated the one in the middle. I can’t really be certain. Ninjas are so private. Never really saw his face. He walks like the ninja I dated though.”

  Grandma waved at the ninjas. “Hey ninjas! What do you think of my little granddaughter?”

  “Grandma, please don’t call me ‘little’!” I said. “I’m trying to impress the ninjas!” I stomped down my foot.

  The ninjas actually stopped their approach. “Young lady, respect your elders!” the lead ninja scolded.

  “Yes, elders have great wisdom,” the second ninja said.

  “They are a treasure,” the third added. He lowered his head. “It's a shame my grandma failed her test.” He shrugged. “Well, life goes on… Well, not for her but for everybody else.”

  “You ninjas do comprehend that you are dead now. Right?” Grandma asked.

  “We prefer to think of ourselves as stubbornly alive,” the lead one said. “That’s why we are testing Nina here...to see if she is worthy to join us. Her name even sounds like Ninja!”

  “What if I don’t want to join you?” I asked.

  The three shook their heads. “It’s never a choice. It’s a calling. You become one of us by losing but at the same time putting up a worthy struggle.”

  “What if I just lose?” I asked. I didn’t really care about protecting my honor and reputation with these pesky ninjas; I just wanted to get back to my group at school. Time with Jimmy was pretty precious.

  They all grinned. “Then you lose everything,” the lead one said. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  The three ninjas picked up their pace towards me.

  “I see you three are anxious,” I said puffing out my chest to let them know I wasn’t in the least bit worried.

  I noticed that their pace actually slowed down a bit.

  “We have been fighting together for centuries,” one said.

  “We know each other so well we even finish each other's…” the second one said.

  “…sandwiches!” the third one said.

  The second one looked at the third. “Not really what I meant, but it works.”

  I decided to show these phantom ninjas what's what. Taking the offensive, I ran at them. Just as I reached striking distance, I leaped over them, knocking them each in the noggin as I passed by. Each the ninjas flinched but spun towards me. They swung at me as one unit. One sword high, one sword went low, the other aimed for my midsection. I pulled my body away from the razor-sharp blades. My pants were now ripped in three places and they were brand new...Mom would kill me!

  The lead ninja lunged at me. “Cobra strike!” he yelled.

  “Mongoose counter!” I said, blocking his sword strike with my left arm and hammering my elbow into his nose.

  The other two ninjas went low, swiping at my feet with their sword. Leaping over their swords, I hit them each with a snap kick to their heads. Their heads shot backward. They smiled.

  “Very nice, if we were alive, those kicks would have killed us.”

  “Lucky for us, we’re dead…well deadish,” another said.

  I dropped back a few steps. The ninjas seemed to be enjoying this. They apparently believed I couldn’t really hurt them.

  “We never tire either,” one of them said. “We understand your stamina is awesome, but still never-tired beats awesome.”

  The third smiled at me. “The great news for you is, once we defeat you then you will be able to become one of us.”

  “What if I don’t wish to be one of you,” I asked.

  Taking another step backward, I bumped into Grandma. For a ghost, she was pretty solid.

  “Grandma I’m trying to fight here!”

  “How’s that working out for you, Nixy?”

  “Not well,” I admitted.

  “You know, Nixy, sometimes you beat things through hard work. Other times you need a trick.”

  “I’m hopeful that you have a trick I can use on these ninjas!” I said.

  “Actually, it’s more of a technique. You have to kick them in the butt.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “The butt! Give them a good swift kick, it’ll do the trick!” Grandma grinned.

  I looked at her. “That makes no sense.”

  “They are phantom ninjas? What about them makes any sense?” Grandma insisted. She leaned in and whispered to me. “The really odd thing is they have no idea that’s their weakness.”

  The three ninjas lashed at me with their swords. The swords sliced through Grandma and came towards me. I blocked one sword with my right arm, another with my left, and the third with my leg kicking the sword out of the ninja’s hand. The sword shot spinning upward. He spun towards the sword to grab it. I kicked him with a short sharp kick to his behind.

  The ninja disappeared in a puff of dust.

  The other two ninjas saw what happened. They put their backs (and butts) against each other. It may have looked silly but it made it almost impossible for me to kick them in their behinds. (Or so they thought.)

  I lunged forward grabbing one of their swords. Pulling him forward, I created space between him and his partner. Quickly moving into the opening I jumped upwards extending both of my legs and kicking the remaining two ninjas in their butts.

  They both disappeared in a puff of dust.

  “Now that’s literally kicking butt,” Grandma said.

  “Oh, Grandma, I can’t believe you said that!”

  Ruby, Frank, and Jimmy looked at me. “Ah. None of us are called Grandma,” Frank said stating the obvious like he liked to.

  “Yeah, I know. I just left her,” I said.

  “But you were here with us all the time,” Jimmy gave me his puzzled look.

  I showed him the rips in my pants. “Apparently I got summoned somewhere else where time moves differently. I battled three phantom ninjas.”

  “Did you win?” Frank asked.

  I raised an eyebrow and put my hand on my hip.

  Ruby patted me on the shoulder. “Of course she won, she’s Nina the cool vampire and weretiger. It would take way more than three ninjas to beat her.”

  I pointed at Ruby. “What she said.”

  “Sorry I doubted you, big sis,” Frank told me.

  Jimmy smiled. “Nina, you are so awesome!”

  Nina Note: Not sure what it meant that I had just run into phantom ninjas and they wanted to test me out. I guess I could look at it as a compliment. I had to hope that this was just a one-time event. I had too much regular stuff on my plate to be worried about ninjas, especially phantom ones.

  Chapter 2: Good Neighbor

  We walked home as if nothing happened. My friends were so cool...me fighting phantom ninjas didn't faze them at all.

  “Now, Nina you will b
e my partner for the Science Fair. Right?” Ruby asked me.

  “Sure, “I answered. “What do you want to do for our project?”

  “I was thinking wind power,” Ruby said.

  “Sounds super cool, I bet my dad can help,” I said.

  Frank looked at Jimmy. “You want to do the Science Fair with me?”

  Jimmy grinned meekly. “Dude, I’d love to but I don’t think my mom would approve. She’s accepted that maybe you guys aren’t evil...but she still doesn’t want us hanging out any more than the minimum. She’d have a fit if she knew I was walking home with you guys.”

  “Right,” Frank said. His eyes crinkled up and he looked sad.

  I shoved my bro a little. “Hey bro, you are a science project.”

  Franks snickered. “Good point.”

  “You can be part of our team if you like Frank,” Ruby suggested. “After all, the rules say you can have three people on a team.”

  “Hey, I’m a people!” Frank said.

  “Yes,” Ruby smiled. “Hence the reason you could be part of our team. Your height could be a big advantage when building a windmill.”

  “Neat,” Frank gushed. “I’ve always wanted to see a windmill!”

  “Dude you’re so tall you could be a windmill,” Jimmy joked.

  “I think we'll have a pretty solid shot at winning,” Ruby said. “Our biggest competition will be Barb. For some reason, she's teaming with Sasha!”

  “Who’s she?” I asked.

  Jimmy answered quickly. “She’s an upperclassman, very pretty and smart.” He looked at me with his beautiful green eyes. “Of course, nowhere as smart or pretty or strong as you.”

  I grinned. “No need to flatter me, Jimmy. I know I don’t have a monopoly on being smart and pretty.”

  “Monopoly is such a great game!” Frank said. “It's not checkers, but it's still fun. I love playing with the money!”

  “Help! Help!” we heard from across the street.