A series of three short stories.
Child Under The Stairs, Shattered Recollection, Keeper of the Fordaken
Damien, a 14-year-old orphan, discovers he is a vampeal, born of vampire and human lineage. He grapples with romantic feelings for Brian, which leads to him being kicked out onto the street from a religious foster home. Brian, overwhelmed with guilt, tries to find Damien but falls victim to a vampire himself. Damien and his newly assigned caseworker, Patrick, must save Brian from impending danger.
In the second installment, after rescuing Brian from the vampire, Damien found a new home with Patrick and his twin brother, Matt. He and Brian develop a budding romantic relationship. But Brian struggles with memory loss and nightmares from that night. Damien fears revealing his true self to Brian. Can they both be honest with each other?
In the third installment, as Damien's past is unwilling to remain buried, rumors of a pair of ghosts prompt Damien, Pat, and Brian investigate some paranormal activity down by the river. They realize everything leads back to the warehouse and the vampire. Will they help the spirits find peace and uncover the secrets that lie ahead?
A series of three short stories.
Child Under The Stairs, Shattered Recollection, Keeper of the Fordaken
Damien, a 14-year-old orphan, discovers he is a vampeal, born of vampire and human lineage. He grapples with romantic feelings for Brian, which leads to him being kicked out onto the street from a religious foster home. Brian, overwhelmed with guilt, tries to find Damien but falls victim to a vampire himself. Damien and his newly assigned caseworker, Patrick, must save Brian from impending danger.
In the second installment, after rescuing Brian from the vampire, Damien found a new home with Patrick and his twin brother, Matt. He and Brian develop a budding romantic relationship. But Brian struggles with memory loss and nightmares from that night. Damien fears revealing his true self to Brian. Can they both be honest with each other?
In the third installment, as Damien's past is unwilling to remain buried, rumors of a pair of ghosts prompt Damien, Pat, and Brian investigate some paranormal activity down by the river. They realize everything leads back to the warehouse and the vampire. Will they help the spirits find peace and uncover the secrets that lie ahead?
Throughout most of my young life, I always knew that I was different from the other children at the foster home, although the reason always escaped me. Now that I am fourteen and soon to be fifteen, I cannot stop staring at myself in the mirror. I find myself engrossed not in the typical teenage activities, but rather fixated on my now pearly white, retractable fangs, rather than the typical adolescent preoccupations with their changing bodies, hair, or acne.
A few years ago, one of my caseworkers sat me down and explained about my family and what I was. I knew about my mother’s passing when I was born. Most of my life, I lived in foster care and had been bumped around from home to home. Periodically, I would have someone come to check on me, a so-called “guardian”. One such guardian came to visit me following an incident at one of my foster homes involving a pain in the ass boy named Tommy.
His bullying towards me and the other children eventually led to a confrontation where, after a physical altercation, prompted me to defend myself. He threw a couple of punches at me and missed. Getting tired of this, I grabbed his arm after he tried to land another punch. In the heat of the moment, something extraordinary happened. I felt this horrible pain in my hand, but it was quickly replaced by this overwhelming surge of energy. Before I knew it, my nails grew, digging into the side of Tommy's arm, penetrating his flesh. I let go of Tommy as he collapsed, his eyes rolling back into his head as he hit the floor. I found myself baffled by what had happened; all I knew is that I felt different after that. A surge of energy heightened all my senses to an extraordinary degree that enabled me with newfound abilities. My sensory perceptions were heightened significantly. Sounds reverberated with clarity, my sense of smell intensified, and even the distant reading of a newspaper became possible. One of the other kids came in and called for help.
As everyone rushed in, Tommy collapsed on the floor. One of the foster parents asked me what had happened.
I found myself at a loss for words when questioned about the incident.
They told me to go to my room, and someone would come up to talk to me later. I watched as they left the house, taking Tommy to the hospital for a doctor to examine him.
About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Mr. Osborne, my caseworker, entered my room. I could not look up at him; I knew that I was in trouble but was at a loss knowing exactly what I had done and why. Mr. Osborne approached me beside the bed.
Mr. Osborne asked, “How are you doing, William?”
I replied, “I am alright, I guess. Am I in trouble?”
He asked, “Why do you ask that, my boy?”
I told him what happened between Tommy and me, how he passed out when I touched him.
Mr. Osborne explained, “ The doctor said Tommy will be okay. He passed out from exhaustion and will be fine in a few days of bed rest. No one knows what truly happened or who you are.”
This caught me off guard, and I gave him a very curious look. “What the heck are you talking about?”
Mr. Osborne informed me that I was different from the other children in the house. He began to shed light on my true nature, revealing that I was a descendant of a vampire and a human, a halfling and that I was born of supernatural lineage known as a “Vampeal”. He also disclosed his affiliation with the Feral Society, an organization that guides individuals with special abilities like mine in navigating society. In his organization, he is what you would call a “Renfield”; it is their responsibility to keep an eye on other children like me until they come of age.
Despite my initial skepticism, my reality began to dawn upon me. Mr. Osborne’s story of my vampeal heritage, a hybrid offspring of a vampire mother and a human father, left me grappling with a tale that seemed lifted from some dusty old book. As I tried to process this information, doubts and disbelief clouded my mind, yet a growing sense of transformation stirred within me. But I still did not want to admit to myself that I was a freak or an abomination. I did not want the other children to treat me differently and think I was some kind of monster.
I confronted Mr. Osborne with a sharp tone. “ Are you out of your mind? I am not different from any of the other kids.”
“William, we are both aware that is not true. How did you feel after you injured Tommy’s arm downstairs? There are small puncture marks on his arm that are barely visible because they heal almost instantly unless you know what you are looking for. Do not worry, no one else suspects anything, it is our little secret.”
Feeling uneasy and agitated, I shook my head and moved to the other side of the room. I apologize for hurting him. “ But what am I exactly?”
He explained, “As I told you before, you are what we refer to as a vampeal, yes you heard correctly. You are not a vampire, the so-called living-dead, but a blend of both. You were born, not turned. Your mother was a vampire who passed away giving birth to you. It is hard for a vampire to conceive a child let alone give birth to one, the Legends are true, but the folklore is not entirely accurate. "There are vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, and many other mystical beings hidden in the shadows of this world.”
I could not help but fidget as he told this story. It was overwhelming to process. Just over an hour ago, I thought these things were mere fairy tales, and now I was expected to believe they were true.
In a sarcastic tone, I inquired, “Will I start craving blood or burst into flames if I step out into the sunlight?”
Mr. Osborne began to laugh. “No, nothing of the sort. You possess a soul with a beating heart and a digestive system, allowing you to consume regular food. You can withstand sunlight, but I suspect that prolonged exposure may result in a severe sunburn. Your fangs will likely emerge around puberty, I think. However, you do not need to drink blood to survive. The fibers in your fingers under your nails absorb a person's life energy, granting you vampire-like abilities. Most individuals pass out long before any real harm is done. But you do have to be careful so no one finds out your true nature, as they may mistake you for a real vampire and attempt to harm you. You are still mortal and can die just like the rest of us, even though I think you can heal remarkably fast.”
Trying to compose myself, I listened intently to Mr. Osborne’s words and moved to sit on the adjacent bed, although I was still skeptical.
“How can I be certain that you are telling me the truth and not merely fabricating some story like some deranged old man?”
Once again, he just laughs “ You should still have some residual life energy from the boy downstairs for a few hours, granting you enhanced speed, strength, and heightened senses. Feel free to test it out.”
I reached for the brass bars on the headboard, astonished by how easily they bent. I sprinted across the room in the blink of an eye but failed to stop, crashing right into the wall and tumbling to the floor, Where I burst into laughter.
A voice called from downstairs, “IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT UP THERE?”
Mr. Osborne reassured them, “YES, EVERYTHING IS FINE, WILLIAM SIMPLY STUMBLED.”
“Are you convinced now, William? As you mature, your powers will strengthen. We will need to meet now that you are coming into your gifts. we will have to meet regularly to work on controlling your abilities.”
That moment happened four years ago, spanning several foster homes. Following that, I adopted the nickname “Damien the Devil” from Tommy after he learned my middle name is Damien. I embraced it and then went by the name Damien Lampir. Despite the disapproval of my foster families, especially this religious one. I wondered why they would place me in such an environment, knowing my true nature. Rumor has it a new boy will be arriving tomorrow. As if being a vampeal was not challenging enough, I am now dealing with having new emotions towards other boys.
They scrutinize us incessantly, subjecting us to daily Bible readings. I am not sure how much more I can take from their discipline. Now with Mr. Osborne retiring, I must talk to the new Renfield to explore a more suitable solution.
I love vampires. I especially love unique takes on the traditional lore. So when this came up as a possible read, this new (and inclusive!) offering piqued my interest.
However, as I opened the ebook, I was sorely disappointed. I pushed through in a desperate hope that it would get better. It did not.
While RD Noland clearly holds a deep and personal investment in this story, I'm rather certain that he didn't have anyone else beta read, review or edit before taking the three stories he self-published in the early 2020s and combining them into essentially a mini omnibus. His inability to pick a tense—sometimes in the same chapter—is just one of the issues with this book.
He doesn't use contractions. Not in the dialogue. And given that the main character is a teenage boy, this took me right out of the story. It felt like reading a Nanowrimo novel, where he was trying to reach a word count. Please, please, read your dialogue outloud!
He didn't use them in the prose either, which made the story plod along, reading like a book report.
Mr. Noland's writing didn't draw me in, and allowed zero investment in the characters or the story, despite the great potential of said storyline to give a nice and interesting look into what it would be like to have a half-vampire teenaged orphan in the foster system (which felt more like a plot device/prop or trope than anything else).
His main character, Damien, is boring, even though his backstory--losing his mom and being a foster kid while dealing with the puberty shenanigans about not being wholly human--had, again, so much potential. There was no real angst to him. Or passion. Or any emotion really. Why? Because the author spent so much time telling us what was going on in the blandest way (think someone reading a Powerpoint presentation).
Let me repeat: I really wanted to like this!
Here's what was good about this set of stories:
- The idea of a Renfield acting like a Watcher from Buffy or Gillermo from What We Do in the Shadows versus a mentally bereft insect eater was soooo intriguing. Did he eat insects at all? Who knows.
- Damien's journey from the foster home to a life in the care of his new Renfield, Patrick, had so much potential! Why didn't his first Renfield take him out of foster care? Why does Patrick travel with his twin?
- The whole 'bad vampire on the loose' mystery in chapter three deserved so much better movement, suspense and anticipation.
Overall, I don't believe that Mr. Nolan's universe is hopeless. He just needs some direction. All the pieces are there!
And if he does a rewrite/revamp, I would love to reread it.