Moonlightaholics

Danni Nicholls leaves her small town Texas home to seek independence and adventure in Los Angeles. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s been lured to L.A. to be recruited as a freshie for the vampire William Spence.

Hollywood, 1923, and rising actor William Spence keeps a date with petite, beautiful Serena Truxton in her mansion, where a curious party seems to be going on. Later, alone in her bedroom, she reveals a startling secret, and offers Will eternal youth…if she can turn him into a vampire like herself.

Danni settles in with her new room-mates, Emma and Hunter, girls she met online. They are anxious to introduce her to their good friend, Will. When he arrives, he takes the girls out for a drink, and a rather unusual club. At the club, Danni is introduced to Josef Kostan, and given the nickname of “Danger.” Later, a still clueless Danni has a rather mystifying conversation in the ladies lounge with Josef’s freshie, Lucky.

Danni has settled in to life in L.A., found a job , and developed quite a crush on Will Spence, who seems to be dating both of her room-mates. One night, Will comes over when her roomies are out, and tells her stories of Los Angeles in the old days, charming her further. Then, when the time is right, he reveals himself as a vampire, and she willingly accepts his bite.

After drinking from Danni, she lies asleep in Will’s arms, and as he holds her, he remembers another girl, in 1967, in San Francisco. In the beginning of the Summer of Love, Will met a girl named Firefly, a free spirit who captivated him with her personality.

Emma and Hunter begin to explain the facts of freshie life to Danger. The next day, Danger has lunch with Lucky at Josef’s house, and hears more about being a freshie.

Danger and Emma run into trouble in the freshie club, Pulse!, and Josef Kostan comes to their rescue. In payment for his aid, Danger agrees to have a drink with him, and accepts his bite on her wrist. When he returns her to an angry Will, he kisses her in front of the other vampire, enraging him further.

Angry at the turn of events, Will takes a walk, and eventually begins remembering his lost lover, Firefly. Unable to accept his vampirism, she had asked him to kill her, and he reluctantly complied, but the experience left him unwilling to ever become close to a human lover again. Will comes to a decision that changes need to be made in his life.

Three months later, Danni is waiting outside a freshie club, hoping to get in. Will had left, taking Emma, and Hunter had suffered a mental breakdown in his absence. She thinks back on the acrimonious tirades she suffered the night she let Josef bite her; other two girls had been at least as unhappy as Will. Things have been rough, since then, with Will gone. Tonight, though, she will be admitted to the club.

Danni comes to in a back hallway at the club, having been savagely bitten by two vamps, and left for dead. Mick St. John, investigating something else, runs across her, and assists her in getting home.

The next day, Lucky shows up, at Josef’s request, to see how Danni is doing. Hunter’s condition is revealed to be serious, and she is taken away to be hospitalized, while Danni slowly recuperates from blood loss.

Danni, lonely and wanting to get bitten again, asks to accompany Josef and his freshies the next time they go out to a club. While at Pulse!, Danni is accosted by Javier, who seems to think he has some hold on her. Josef stops him from taking her, but he can tell she will need further protection.

Mick, watching from the shadows, intercepts Javier and his friend outside Danni’s apartment. In the ensuing fight, while victorious, Mick is severely wounded. He makes his way to Danni’s door, and she offers him the blood he so badly needs.

Danni is a club, feeding a young vampire, when her phone rings. Will is back. They meet, and after an initial awkwardness, he takes her to his house to tell him all about their time apart, including Hunter’s breakdown. Will is unsettled by the information, and by his feelings about Danni.

After talking more to Will, and feeding him, Danni goes home to find Emma, and learns from her that Will took the other freshie along not because he liked her most, but because she meant the least to him.

Will visits Josef, who rips him a new one before telling him that Hunter is alive, if very damaged. Will reflects on his current situation, and that of the girls his actions have hurt.

As Danni gets ready to go out with Tyler, the young vamp first seen in chapter 14, Will drops by, ready to impart some news about Hunter. Complicating the situation, Mick St. John also chooses this time to show up, and the atmosphere is tense.

Tyler and Danni drive to a remote spot, and she allows him to drink from her throat…with near disastrous results.

Tyler brings Danni home, unconscious, and Will, watching over her, comes to a decision. The next evening, he asks Emma, and Danni, to be his exclusives. Danni’s answer surprises him. She says “No.”

The aftermath of Danni’s rejection of Will sees them talking, and coming to a deeper understanding of each other’s motives and feelings. They end up with a kiss.

Danni goes to have lunch with Lucky over at Josef’s place, and finds them not as understanding of her situation as they might be. Later, as she, Emma and Will are settlng in for a nice evening, Josef calls and demands her attendance on him. They discuss Danni’s decision, and Josef offers her his protection, should she need it.

Tyler takes Danni out to one of the local freshie clubs, and she persuades him that his vamp reputation needs a bit of work. To that end, she convinces him to pick a second freshie out of the “buffet line.” He chooses a shy girl, Annie, who has never been bitten.

The doctor at the hospital where Hunter is being treated recommends euthanasia for her, but Will disagrees, vehemently. He will not consent to it.

Tyler, with Danni’s assistance, intiates Annie into full freshie-dom and re-names her “Cry.” In the midst of this, Danni receives a call from Will, requesting her to come to his house.

Will arrives at his home, distressed over his interactions with Hunter and her doctor, and discovers that his sire, Serena, has appeared. She seduces Will, not that it’s very difficult, and he conveniently forgets that Danni will be showing up at any minute.

Danni arrives at Will’s, and let herself in. She discovers Will and Serena having violent sex. Serena, hungry after lovemaking, insists on drinking from the available freshie, and while Will objects, since Danni is not exclusive to him, he cannot refuse Serena’s demands. Naked, he holds Danni on his lap for Serena to drink from her wrist, and after Serena leaves, continues to hold her through the night.

In the morning, Danni wakes in Will’s arms, and they discuss how he could have avoided the previous night’s problems. To help keep her out of Serena’s way, Will asks Danni to stay away from vamps for awhile.

Cry, doing laundry, meets a nice young man, and he strikes up an acquaintance with her. Later, returning home, she discovers a new cell phone, courtesy of Tyler, and a box of WFS business cards, have been delivered. She’s now officially a freshie.

Danni attends one of Josef’s business parties, as part of the catering. At the party, Danni encounters Serena, who insists on feeding from her. Josef does prevent the petite vampire from harming Danni, and later helps the freshie make contact with Will, who reluctantly agrees to pick her up.

Will takes Danni back to his house, but their talks only drive them further apart. As she is leaving, she stumbles, opening the wounds Serena had made, and Will is unable to resist drinking her blood. Afterwards, he learns that Hunter has attempted suicide, and blames his delay with Danni for keeping him away from the damaged freshie. He leaves Danni, who has collapsed on his floor, and goes to the hospital.

Unable to get a taxi, Danni calls Tyler, who agrees to pick her up at Will’s front gate. She makes her way there, but passes out, and when Tyler and Cry arrive, as he searches for her, he is attacked and staked by the mysterious young man from the Laundromat. This turns out to be Danni’s ex, Bradley, who has armed himself with misconceptions and come to “rescue” his girlfriend and drag her home. She escapes from him, and makes her way to Mick St. John’s office, to solicit his aid, as well as that of Josef, who happens to have come by.

After hearing Danni’s story, Mick and Josef realize that Tyler is still alive, but helpless and in danger. Taking Danni, they go to rescue him.

Bradley is terrified. He’s been kidnapped and blindfolded by three men he thinks are vampires, or are they? Mick, Josef, and Will work together to convince the young man that he’s made a horrible mistake.

Danni has been left at Mick’s to watch over Tyler while Bradley’s fate is settled. When Tyler wakes, she manages to get him some bagged blood, and bring him back to himself. When Josef and Will return, Will informs Danni that Hunter will survive, but he wants nothing further to do with Danni, and leaves her, as she finally admits her love for him.

Three months later. Danni and Will are still estranged, and she has gone to work for Josef. Tonight, she’s at Pulse to meet a business associate of Josef’s, a vamp from Denver. She’s become a sophisticated freshie, ready to charm this vamp…but she still longs for Will. Perhaps someday, they can re-connect, but not now. Not yet.