Friday Night Bites

VAMPIRES IN CHICAGO!

You''d think a headline like that would have made the fine citizens of the Windy City to take up arms against us bloodsucking fiends. Instead, ten months later, we''re enjoying celebrity statue and fending off the paparazzi, who are only slightly less dangerous than angry stake-wielding slayers. Don''t get me wrong - Joe Public isn''t exactly thrilled to be living side by side with the undead, but at least they haven''t stormed the castle ... not yet ...

But it could be a matter of time. There''s a first-time reporter sniffing around vampire society, and if he uncovers the Raves - mass feeding parties, where vampires round humans up like cattle and drink themselves silly. The fact that it''s majorly frowned upon by vamp society won''t make a difference to that kind of a headline, or a new reporter who''s out to impress his family.

So now my ''master'' - the centuries-old yet gorgeously well-preserved Ethan Sullivan - wants me to reconnect with my own upper-class family and act as liaison between humans and vampire ... and use the opportunity to keep the less savoury aspects of vamp existence out of the media spotlight. Tough job, when it seems someone doesn''t want vamps and humans to play nicely - someone with a serious, ancient grudge ...