Demon in My View
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Demon in My View is a vampire novel written by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, and published in 2000. Originally entitled Bitter Life, it was published when the author was 16. It is the follow-up to In the Forests of the Night, which she wrote at the age of 13. The title refers Edgar Allan Poe’s poem "Alone", which appears in the beginning of the book.
The novel was an ALA Quick Pick. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books remarked that it is “A fast-paced vampire novel”, while Publishers Weekly has said that “readers will drain… in one big gulp". The Bulletin calls it "a fast-paced vampire novel with studly characters who aren't going to let a little thing like death stand between them."
[edit] Plot summary
The book is set in the fictional town of Ramsa, New York and follows the story of teenage Jessica Allodola. Jessica is beautiful, green-eyed with black hair, pale skin and a perfect body that does not seem to realize that adolescence ought to come with some physical imperfection. Nevertheless, the people in her town avoid her like she is a leper. Jessica has no problem with this, she never gets along with anyone anyway. The bond between her and her adopted mother, Anne, can barely be called a relationship. So instead of trying to bond to people Jessica writes books about vampires, shapeshifters, and witches. She publishes under the pen name of Ash Night and her first book is already on the shelves under the title "Tiger, Tiger." Jessica has always had a fascination with the vampire world, which suits her so much better than the human one she lives in. It is only on the first day of her senior year that she begins to realize that there might be more going on than just her creative imagination.
On the first day of school, a boy called Alex arrives. Jessica is instantly stunned by the fact that he is an almost exact copy of one of the main characters in "Tiger, Tiger". The only difference between Alex and Aubrey is that Alex is human, whereas Aubrey is one of the most powerful vampires alive in the world of Jessica's books. Alex instantly shows a certain fascination with Jessica, and so does another new person, Caryn. Caryn is, in Jessica's eyes, a complete nuisance who is trying desperately to become friends with her out of pity.
Jessica finds out after a while that the resemblance between Alex and Aubrey is not accidental, nor is Caryn's interest in her. She is slowly forced to accept that every single scene she has ever written is completely true. And now "Tiger, Tiger" has drawn her to the attention of all the creatures she thought she'd made up.
The attention is hardly positive, none of Jessica's characters appreciate having their pasts and secrets exposed and quite a few of them are willing to kill her for what she writes. This is what Aubrey intends to do. "Tiger, Tiger" let the entire world know how Risika defeated him and that is a memory he has done his best to suppress for several years. Caryn, on the other hand, does not have harmful intentions but she is controlled by someone who might. Caryn is a Smoke witch, a daughter of Macht. She has powerful healing skills and an immense desire to help people, but like all Smoke witches she is under the control of Dominique Vida. Dominique is the head of the powerful Vida line and she has no problems with eliminating Jessica if she turns out to be a threat.
In between all these powerful players is Jessica herself, trying to figure out what in the world is going on. She soon learns that the secret is connected to her real mother. After her adopted mother is killed by a vampire in the service of Fala (one of her characters in "Tiger, Tiger" and arguably one of the most cruel vampires alive) Jessica goes to Caryn's house for answers. She soon learns the truth behind the dream she's been having all her life. The story of Jazlyn, a woman who was close to Siete, the creator of the vampires, and who had been offered immortality numerous times. After her husband died, Jazlyn accepted the offer in a moment of desperation and Siete changed her. However, after years of life as a vampire, her regret became too strong. A Smoke witch, Monica, offered to give her back her humanity. Monica died in the process, but she succeeded. Along with Jazlyn, someone else also came back to life. Before she was changed, Jazlyn carried her husband's child and a few months after she became human again her daughter was born.
Jazlyn was forced give her child up for adoption. For her, Jessica was a painful memory of Siete and the vampiric life she had led. Jessica did not resemble either of her biological parents, almost two decades in an undead's womb had left her as Siete's child. Her green eyes, black hair, pale skin, and vampiric traces in her aura were his heritage and Jazlyn could not look at her child without shuddering. So though she loved Jessica she gave her up so Jessica could have a normal life
For Jessica, this heritage makes perfect sense. She favours the night and virtually her entire room is covered in black. When confronted by Aubrey and Fala she reacts not as human prey but as a true predator. This draws Aubrey to her and he ends up falling in love. After Jessica is attacked by Fala and nearly dies after having drawn blood from the vampire, (which would have given her blood claim if Fala had chosen to admit she'd been cut by a human), Aubrey agrees to change her.
Jessica fits into her new life almost instantly, having dreamt and written about it for her entire human life, and she becomes an exceptionally powerful vampire.
