A Living Nightmare

I don't like it, but my hands are tied. I just want you to know this: if I ever get the chance to betray you, I will. If the opportunity arises to pay you back, I'll take it. You'll never be able to trust me.

The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you. In books the heroes can make as many mistakes as they like. It doesn't matter what they do, because everything works out in the end. They'll beat the bad guys and put things right and everything ends up cool. In real life, vacuum cleaners kill spiders. If you cross a busy road without looking, you get whacked by a car. If you fall from a tree, you break some bones. Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins. I just wanted to make that clear before I begun.

A world of "if"s, but it would make no difference. If I could go back in time... but I couldn't. The past was behind me. The best thing now would be to stop looking over my shoulder. It was time to forget the past and look to the present and future.

What are you doing?" "Looking for my fangs." "We don't grow fangs you idiot!

Throw up whatever's making you sick, Darren," he said, "then get your behind back in here.

You stole from a member of the undead

I sucked blood from one of my best friends

If this were a made-up story, it would begin at night, with a storm blowing and owls hooting and rattling noises under the bed.

The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you.

He says every story has at least some truth in it, even if most are made up.

but you were a fool to bring that pider into this house

First of all," he said, with a sly smile, "we have to kill you!

That, of course, was when everything went wrong and the whole world crashed down around my ears.

But Steve will die if I do that!" I cried. "Yes," he agreed. "It is your assistance or his life." "That's not much of a choice," I grumbled. "No," he admitted, "it is not. But it is the only one I offer.

Do not be such a baby," he jeered, tugging my hands free. "It hurts!" I howled. "Of course it does." He laughed. "It hurt me too. Did you think becoming a vampire was easy? Get used to the pain. Much of it lies ahead.

Por lo menos estaba siendo honesto. Como ya he dicho, siempre prefiero la verdad –por desagradable que ésta pueda ser— a una mentira. Con la verdad, uno sabe el terreno que pisa.

Okay," I sighed. "I don't like it, but my hands are tied. I just want you to know this: if I ever get the chance to betray you, I will. If the opportunity arises to pay you back, I'll take it. You'll never be able to trust me." "Fair enough," he said.

The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you. In books, the heroes can make as many mistakes as they like. It doesn't matter what they do, because everything works out in the end. They'll beat the bad guys and put things right and everything ends up cool. In real life, vacuum cleaners kill spiders. If you cross a busy road without looking, you get whacked by a car. If you fall out of a tree, you break some bones. Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.

That depends," I said, whipping off the cloth. "If you think it's a deadly performing spider -- you're right!

You stole a vampire's spider@" Steve shouted. "You stole from a member of the undead!

No," I said softly. "You have to give it to me. You have to use it on Steve. He's dying. You can't let him die." "I most certainly can.

An assistant could be just what the witch doctor ordered.

I will not make you a vampire," Mr. Crepsley insisted. "You must forget about it. Go home and get on with your life." "No!" Steve screamed. "I won't forget!" He stumbled to his feet and pointed a shaking ringer at the tall, ugly vampire. "I'll get you for this," he promised. "I don't care how long it takes. One day, Vur Horston, I'll track you down and kill you for rejecting me!" Steve jumped from the stage and ran toward the exit. "One day!" he called back over his shoulder, and I could hear him laughing as he ran, a crazy kind of laugh.

I used to imagine the spider creeping down, crawling into my mouth, sliding down my throat, and laying loads of eggs in my belly. The Baby spiders would hatch after a while and eat me alive, from the inside out

Vampires are always saying good-bye. We never stop anywhere very long. We are forever picking up our roots and moving on to new pastures. It is our way.

Nos contamos historias de fantasmas mientras caminábamos. Fue Steve quien habló la mayor parte del tiempo, ya que él sabe mucho más que yo al respecto. Estaba en plena forma. A veces olvida los finales de las historias, o confunde los nombres, pero aquella noche no. ¡Aquello era mejor que estar con Stephen King!

Il fatto è che nella vita reale, quando commetti una sciocchezza, di solito la paghi. Nei libri, gli eroi possono fare tutti gli errori che vogliono. Qualunque cosa facciano, va a finire bene. I cattivi vengono sconfitti, i problemi si sistemano e tutto finisce in gloria. Nella vita reale [...] se attraversi una strada trafficata senza guardare, vieni investito da una macchina. Se cadi da un albero ti rompi qualcosa. La vita reale e dura, crudele. Non le importa nulla degli eroi, dei finali lieti e di come dovrebbero essere le cose. Nella vita reale succedono tante disgrazie. Le persone muoiono, le battaglie vengono perse. Il male spesso vince.

Why do you want to be a vampire?” he asked. “It is not much fun. We can only come out at night. Humans despise us. We have to sleep in dirty old places like this. We can never marry or have children or settle down. It is a horrible life.

Even in death, may you be triumphant