Chapter One Roderick said he had been asleep for five centuries, that he had been tired of the great adventure called life, but, cursed with immortality, he had grown restless. Somehow, he found himself clawing his way from the depths of the earth, back to the mortal universe and a thing called society. Suddenly, he found himself staring in a mirror, shaving part of the hair on his head, and putting on the grunge dress of a teen at the end of the twentieth century. In the 1400s, he would confide, Roderick had known the power and privilege of the aristocracy in France. Naturally, the idea of living among the bourgeoisie disgusted him; Roderick had the strongest dislike for peasants. He wondered if he had made the right choice, allowing himself to dwell among the lower classes in a strange, transient place known as Florida, where people wore white and played games in the sun.During the five hundred years of his slumber, Roderick claimed, he had become accustomed to being a spirit, to calling on "the Elders" in a vast darkness. Roderick loved to roam his phantom cities, the ancient worlds of the Arabians, the Egyptians, the Greeks.

But now, Roderick had decided to rematerialize in the flesh. He had decided it was time for Rod to emerge. Guised as the ultimate rebel, he would cloak himself as an American teen. Roderick, used to being one of the most idolized entities in the world, regarded himself as an equal to God and felt it was fitting for him to choose America. Because of their sins, their greed and corruption, ugly Americans threatened to destroy the planet. Called upon by Lucifer, Rod decided he had to take matters into his own hands. He decided to collect himself an army of American youth.At first, Heather Wendorf didn't know what to make of him, this Rod Ferrell character.

Before they were introduced, she had heard stories around Eustis that Roderick was supposedly a vampire -- some of her girlfriends had talked about that. Of course, Heather was curious, but she was too busy with her artwork and piano lessons; besides, she was interested in the boys who played on the football team. When Rod first approached her, the guy seemed odd. Even though he was only sixteen, he was some kind of egomaniac. He seemed to have a need to conquer the universe. Rod had an arrogant way about him that never made sense, especially to Heather. She was the type who enjoyed a rather upscale existence without ever having to brag about it. She was without an ego.

Heather didn't know when she started to become attracted to him, but Rod seemed more sensitive than other guys. She found his voice appealing. She thought she understood his talk about the end of the world. He spoke of mass destruction and was well versed about people like Saddam Hussein, who he claimed was the fourth Anti-christ. The guy seemed to be light-years ahead of her. She was becoming smitten.Physically, Heather found Rod unappealing. He had a long, narrow nose and pale skin, but there was something very sensual about him.

In part, it was his flowing black hair, shoulder-length and silky, which was usually tied back into a ponytail. And there was something about the way he expressed his emotions that grabbed her. Rod was enchanting, with his wisdom about good and evil, with his proclamations that he was a fallen angel .Rod was, without a doubt, the embodiment of insanity, but yet, there was something vampiric about him. Perhaps it was his piercing eyes, his long nails, his paper-thin body; whatever the reason, Heather felt he cast off some kind of mystical eroticism. At first, Heather thought it was because she had been reading too much Anne Rice; she didn't really know why she found herself becoming attracted to the idea of drinking human blood.Rod had turned her on to The Big Book of Death, a tome that explored different ways of dying, which Heather needed because she intended to wipe.