Dave N. Port - The Vampire Clan

THE VAMPIRE CLAN

BY

DAVE N. PORT

READER COMMENTS

Daves novel is both interesting and exciting as it pertains to the vampire genre. I heartily recommend reading this excellent book!

C.Granele

This book has a strong appeal for those who enjoy good storytelling. Its worth every penny spent because you will be unable to put it down!

R. Pettibone

Finally, someone has written a vampire novel for those over the age of 14. Great story with strong action! Way to go, Dave!

T.C. Walsh

A great book! Once I started reading I couldnt put it down. I cant wait for a follow-up novel about this clan!

P. Grote

Nicely done Dave! Love the setting in the city of Boston and the lead characters! I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good read.

S. Alves

Couldnt put it down! Expertly interwoven elements that kept me interested. Excellent book and Im telling everyone that I know to read it!

T. Sears

PREFACE

The story is set in the city of Boston in one of its most exclusive areas. It deals with a powerful vampire family that becomes involved with local mafia figures and the mayor who, it turns out, enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the main character.

The theme is a love story between a mortal and vampire that sometimes exposes a dark side within the relationship.

Treachery and duplicitous behavior prompts the elimination of several members within the clan and the question the book asks and answers, relates to future generations of this family and how they will move forward.

Reading the book you will undoubtedly discover some wickedness inside your own soul. You will be forced to choose which side you will take when the true nature of all the characters have been fleshed out.

Writing this novel has been a joy! It began as an exercise to entertain my granddaughters and grew into a love and respect for the genre. I discovered there is a segment of the population that believe themselves to be actual vampires and practice many of their beliefs. My purpose was to both entertain and expose this underbelly of society that exists in areas, whether urban, suburban or rural, and flourishes. All readers will gain some understanding of vampiric traits and enjoy a great read while doing so. Of course, the target area is for those who enjoy science fiction and the supernatural. In addition, it is a book best read by young adults and up.

This writer used a myriad of resources both written and websites based. Unbeknown to me, there was a plethora of good material in cyberspace upon which to draw inspiration. The book was a somewhat laborious process since this writer knew nothing about vampires and their behaviors.

The writing took approximately ten months of on and off writing and completed in October of 2013.

Special love and thanks to CGD!

Darcy Baron knew, as she rang the doorbell to 24 Louisburg Sq, Beacon Hill, Boston, that her job sucked! Late fall was a difficult time to find a respectable part-time job, but tuition would be due in late December for the Spring semester, and she was broke; maybe less than broke if $8.00 in her bank account was any measure.

She had turned to Great Jobs on the internet to find employment. Nobody used the newspapers classified section anymore as it has become passe; the best she could do was draw plus commission employment with the Boston Fireplace Company, going door to door to find those who needed their chimneys repaired and repointed as they said in the trade, and fireplaces that needed restoration and cleaning. She was promised $10.00 per hour plus 5% commission for every client.

Because she attended Massachusetts Architectural College in downtown Boston and was in her junior year, she was able to schedule her classes so that none ended later than 3PM and her work hours were generally 3:30 pm to 8pm, Monday through Friday.

Her territory of Beacon Hill was both easy and difficult. Easy because almost the entire area consisted of small apartment buildings or attached Federal style, brick, row houses; the vast majority having fireplaces.

The area was first developed in the late 16th and early 17th centuries and with no electricity available at the time, a number of the structures contained not one, but many working fireplaces. Since the area is a very desirable location in which to reside, most wealthy owners have restored them to their original condition.

The fact that the streets are narrow and the area is only one- half mile by one- quarter mile in dimensions, with 26,000 thousand residents, makes it an easy place to prospect for clients.

The downside is the many steep streets and alleyways to be negotiated, as well as the danger the area presents at night.

To keep the areas old world charm, the city of Boston installed fake gas lights on the streets powered by low electrical voltage; just not enough of them.

The ambience of the flowering varieties of trees, large ornamental doors with brass knockers that have a wonderful patina, bright vibrant window shutters and flower boxes, as well as brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets, belie the danger that can lurk behind every corner and within every alleyway.

Six months ago there had been a string of violent attacks upon those out late at night; mostly merchants and prostitutes that scamper along Cambridge street at the base of the Hill. The street serves as a conduit to the downtown Boston and Beacon Hill area. Its lined with various restaurants and bars, one university and several shopping centers with attending banking institutions. Beacon Hill presents a perfect area to commit assaults and thefts and then fade back into the dark recesses of this inner city labyrinth.

Whispers uttered by local residents speak to a number of mutilations committed over many decades and the police never finding the perpetrator or perpetrators as the case may be. The victims seemed to be of no specific gender, age or nationality. What is certain is the degree of absolute viciousness displayed. Darcy knew it was an issue to be working in the area, especially after dusk, but the need to earn an income overruled her common sense.

If Darcys older sister Jenny hadnt married young and given birth to a boy, James, when she was just nineteen years old, followed by the twins, Alice and Annie, when she was twenty-one years old, maybe everyones life wouldve been easier.

Her sisters marriage fell apart when her husband decided to go to the Connecticut casinos every weekend and gamble away their money. He subsequently lost his job at General Electric in Lynn, Massachusetts and disappeared when the oldest, James, was just two years old.

Forced to go on public assistance, she moved from a home on the outskirts of Boston to a public housing development in Dorchester . It contained three bedrooms, but the square footage was small at nine hundred and seventy feet. Her sister had been at this location for six years and although she attempted to go back to school, with state assistance , it was too difficult. She settled for a part time job and was paid under-the-table to augment her limited state income and benefits; even though she knew it was not allowed.

Jenny tried, over the last few years, to find her absentee husband and secure support payment but could never locate him. Desperate, Jenny had turned to her parents, John and Martha Baron, for help. Her father had worked 42 years in a Waltham, Massachusetts watch factory but retired with a meager pension. Her mother never worked until the girls were older, but being a waitress in the dining hall of Dudley House at Harvard University paid a paltry sum.

For all their billions in assets and endowments the school took advantage of their lower- level help with low wages, limited benefits and little chance for any serious advancement. Marthas retirement check, after 20 years of employment, was less than four hundred dollars per month.