InsaneJournal

Raven was born on October 16, 1994 to Sarah and Paul Madison. Her parents were 'glassy-eyed flower children' that couldn't let go of the seventies, so she grew up with a fairly eccentric upbringing - including her unusual name. It was probably inspired by the Eagles. Somewhere along the line, she started watching old black and white horror movies and fell in love with the 1931 Dracula, starring the one and only Bela Lugosi. Raven herself isn't even sure what happened, but something sparked inside of her and once you go black, you never go back.

Around the time she turned five years old, she started asking her parents specifically for darker clothing, which at the moment, they were more than happy to give. Kids could be silly, after all. She'd probably outgrow this weird little phase of hers as she got older.

Except, she didn't.

Sarah gave birth to Raven's brother William when Raven was four years old. And then everything changed. They moved out of their little apartment filled with lava lamps and incense-soaked tapestries into a "suburbia heaven" house complete with a white picket fence. The walls were ecru-colored, the windows were made of white-painted steel and glass, and the curtains were made of a boring baby-blue cotton. Sarah and Paul Madison traded in bell bottoms and denim vests for cashmere sweaters and Nordstrom blazers, and got corporate jobs.

It was around this time that Raven finally started attending school, and despite the sudden changes in her home life, she still clung to everything macabre. It was her security blanket, and all she ever really knew. Her parents were still sure that it was just a phase. Give it time, she'll be wearing her mom's shoes and pearl necklaces before you know it.

Again, she didn't.

Fast-forward to her teenage years and she's traded innocent Halloween "You Drive Me Batty" t-shirts and striped black and white leggings in for black fishnet you-name-its, the occasional corset if she's feeling daring, artfully torn band t-shirts, pleated skirts, and skin-tight black or distressed light blue jeans with combat boots.

Her parents have realized by now she's quite serious about this, and try their hardest (and in vain) to "bring her back to the light". But in public, they avoid being seen with her in the grocery store if they can.

Her father says there's not many pictures of her he's willing to show the world yet his office is covered in pictures of her little brother (whom she quietly resents for it, but still loves him because he's young and innocent still, and shows in his own weird way that he thinks his sister is awesome).

Her mother is not quite as cruel but doesn't offer any real consolation when her daughter comes home upset because for the thousandth time, somebody has called her a slut or a skank, when she's never even really been with a guy.

The one guy that does pay attention to her, Trevor Mitchell (the most popular guy in school) only thinks she's good enough for him when nobody else is around, or if he's drunk. He's been an insufferable thorn in her side since they were five, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Possibly the only person keeping her grounded and sane is her best friend Becky - who couldn't be more 'opposite' to Raven. She gets bullied even more than Raven and for different reasons, but Raven is much more headstrong than her and will risk detention to protect her. She's not above petty revenge if she thinks it's justified - she breaks noses and accepts the consequences.

Some of the events in this book drive me absolutely crazy, but here's the gist of what went down. I guess... major spoilers ahead?

It all starts on Raven's sixteenth birthday, just a couple weeks from Halloween. News around the town is that there's a new family moving into the old mansion on top of Benson Hill, which has been deserted for years. Raven investigates the situation and finds that there is indeed a family moving in, and they have a son her age. Given the look of the house, and the look of the other civilians in her town, she's excited to see a new face in town. Alexander Sterling has moved into town from Romania and seems to be genuinely interested in her, which is a nice break from being harassed by Trevor Mitchell and his soccer cronies. Alexander is the exact opposite of Trevor, and she falls hard for him. However, she's a bit too nosy for her own good and in her quest to figure out whether Alexander's actually a vampire (and he is), she hurts his feelings because now he doesn't know if she likes him for him, or if she only likes him because she think's he's a vampire.

Unbeknownst to Raven, Alexander came to America after he failed to uphold his end of an arranged covenant ceremony. The Maxwells and Sterlings are two prominent vampire families from Romania. Vampires can be made or born and when the Maxwells' daughter Luna was born human, an arrangement was made when Luna and Alexander were born that on Luna's 18th birthday, Alexander would perform a covenant ceremony and make her a vampire. However, he didn't know Luna that well, didn't love her, and couldn't bring himself to go through the ceremony. He left her at the altar, heartbroken. Luna's brother, Jagger, was enraged by Alexander's refusal and swore to get revenge. When he learned Alexander had fled to America, he decided to tail after Alexander but didn't know where exactly to look.

Raven finds a note in Alexander's bedroom with the words 'HE IS COMING'. Alexander and Jameson have skipped town, but she doesn't know it's for her own protection and in her mission to find out where Alexander went, she stumbles right into the clutches of the one person Alexander was trying to keep her from - Jagger Maxwell. Jagger has an insatiable taste for revenge and is willing to go to extremes in the name of his sister. When Raven flees back to her hometown, Jagger follows her and knocks her unconscious before taking her to the local cemetery so he can force her into a covenant ceremony with him - effectively bonding her to him for eternity. When Raven wakes up to find Jagger standing over her, she fights back against him before he can turn her and Alexander shows up to get her to safety. Alexander forces Jagger out of town and away from Raven, but that's hardly the last of it.

Raven and Alexander stage a way to make Jagger think Raven's bonded to Alexander, now, and at first the plan actually sort of works. But then, Jagger's sister Luna (now a vampire), has made her way to Dullsville and she's got her sights set on winning Alexander back. She tries her damnedest to make Alexander jealous by getting with Trevor - Raven's longtime nemesis, which means now not only does Raven have to worry about Jagger trying to snag her (again), she also has to deal with keeping Luna away from Trevor so he doesn't get fanged up (which is a nightmare on its own) - the last thing that cretin needs is a pair of fangs and hypnosis. There's a carnival in town and Raven's cover is thrown when Luna and Jagger see her reflection in the hall of mirrors. Alexander again manages to drive the Maxwell twins out of town and forces them to go back to Jagger's dance club/underground apartment.

With Jagger and Luna seemingly out of the way, a new problem rises - their younger brother Valentine, who's come all this way to find his siblings. He starts to befriend Raven's younger brother Billy, and Raven doesn't trust the situation because she knows now how the Maxwells can be. The situation gets increasingly more dangerous until Alexander delivers Valentine to his siblings, effectively causing a truce between the Sterlings and the Maxwells - Jagger hasn't forgotten yet what Alexander did, but receiving Valentine makes him back off from trying to take Raven from Alexander - for now.

Alexander hasn't returned yet from taking Valentine back to the Maxwells and Raven is getting impatient again. She goes back to Jagger's club in the town two hours away and finds out that Jagger seems to be gone, but there's a new purple-haired guy named "Phoenix Slater" running the show. Raven finds out there's a vampire-exclusive club below the Coffin Club, (called the Crypt), and manages to MacGyver herself in. There's a close shave with Jagger again when he tries to turn Raven once more, but Phoenix steps in and gets her out to safety. Raven finds out shortly after that Phoenix was actually Alex in disguise.

Now that Alexander's secret identity is out of the bag and a truce has been made, Alexander can return to Dullsville and relax - or, so he thinks. Now his parents have come all the way to America from Romania to see why their son hasn't returned to them now that the feud has gone cold. Cassandra and Constantine Sterling meet Raven and seem to already accept her as part of their family, and Alex tries to reason with his parents so he can stay with Raven.

After Cassandra and Constantine go back to Romania, Alexander's best friend Sebastian shows up to see who's caught Alexander's eye and kept him held back in America. He develops a small crush on Raven's best friend Becky first, but then Luna decides Sebastian is the next best thing to Alexander and maybe she'll even make Alexander jealous enough to win him back. The plan falls through when Luna and Jagger try to trick Sebastian into biting Luna on sacred ground, which would bind her to him forever. Sebastian breaks up with Luna and she's alone, again.

Now that Alexander's got his feet firmly planted in America for Raven, Sebastian decides he wants to stick around and get some new friends. Jagger decides he wants to start a new club near Dullsville, and decides on an old abandoned factory. Raven, having been the only Goth girl in her town for years, has conflicted feelings. Everybody, even the popular folks at her school, loves Jagger's club. Raven is annoyed at this because for the longest time, those same people ostracized her for the way she looked, and now that's all they can talk about - the hot new club owner in town with the mis-matched eyes.

In the last installment of the series, Alexander's younger sister Athena (Stormy) decides to come and see her brother. Raven learns what really happened when Alexander left Luna at the altar, but still knows Alexander did the right thing for himself and his own happiness. She and Alexander get into a brief fight but a couple days later they make up and he reveals that he finally wants to turn her. They intended to have a private ceremony just between the two of them and Stormy but word gets out and they end up with more company than they expected. Trevor is present, has given himself a complete makeover trying to win Raven over one last time, but she doesn't give in to him and is finally made a vampire by Alexander.

TBA

TBA