Raven is a cute goth-girl who got the delight of her life when she fell in love with Alexander, a real vampire, who lives on top of the hill in the podunk town of Dullsville. (no joke, that's its real name) All the other kids in school think she's a freak, but Raven doesn't mind a nighttime-only romance or the fact that most of their clinches seem to happen in the town graveyard- she's used to people calling her names.
Her closest, and what seems like only friend is Becky, who isn't put off by Raven's all-black clothing, but when Raven goes to meet Alexander for a romantic moonlit supper on the Hill, they are disturbed by the smell of fresh blood. Well, actually Alexander smells it, but they soon track it down to four fresh graves in the cemetery. Alex tells Raven to leave, but when she goes back to find him, she thinks she sees him through the fog.
But it's not Alex at all, and all they find left behind is a small soldier figurine. Alex recognizes it as being the one given to his cousin, Claude Sterling, back when they were both young boys. It was originally pristine, but the sword was bent when Claude became jealous of the knight figurine that Alex was given and tried to fight him into giving up the knight. However, Alex sends Raven away. It is too dangerous if Claude might be around.
That doesn't prevent Raven from sneaking back the next day with her cameras to take pictures of the coffins, because no one has died in Dullsville in ages. But when the four vampires in the coffins emerge, she overhears their plans to steal vials of blood from Alexander's mansion. In fact, she barely escapes becoming their dinner! But when they show up at her school the next day and recognize her, will she be able to escape becoming embroiled in their plan to find the vials of blood? And can she and Alex somehow defeat Claude and his group, given that Claude is much more ruthless than Alex could ever be?
This was a very short book, but cute and sweet. It's not overly manga-ized despite being published by Tokyopop, and lacks the kind of chibis, SDs, pool-sized eyes and other manga conventions that you find in most japanese manga. In fact, the depictions of Claude and his friends are very American club-scene style rather than japanese, which is not a surprise given that the author is American. No information is given on the artist, though.
The story is good, clear and exciting despite the limited number of pages available. You're caught up on what's going on in only three pages, and the story unfolds naturally from there. Even though not much time passes, there's a lot going on, more than can be told in these few pages, although the story is set up for a long time to come.
I liked this very short manga, and apparently, it's based on full-sized novels, which this intro made me want to look up and read. I recommend it as a good, fast read that will speak to lots of girls, not just goth-girls. But it's definitely a "girl" story.
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