The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) by Sandrine Genier

not even in his field. He expanded his job search to include all of Minnesota, as well as most of the East Coast as far away as Atlanta.
    He was willing to relocate. The decision depended on where the jobs were. He felt he was not in a position now to be too picky.
    In the meantime, he excitedly shared his New Orleans experiences with his fifteen-year-old sister, Carrie, leaving out the whole weird stranger part. Their brother, Evan, the middle child of the family, did not share their close bond, nor it seemed did he even begin to understand the allure of the darker aesthetic Jason and Carrie shared. But somehow it was Carrie and Jason who always felt like the black sheep of the family.
    Jason had moved back home with his parents. His roommate had moved in with a new girlfriend, so the arrangement had actually worked out for both of them.
    Jason dedicated several hours a day to the job search, without much luck. He was beginning to see it could take weeks, if not months, of uncertainty until he could find something. He hated the feeling of being unsettled. Sitting around waiting was not something he was good at; he needed to be actively engaged, always focused, needing some plan in order to keep anxiety in check.
    There was no extra money as far as entertainment went. He spent one afternoon going over all of the photos he had taken in New Orleans. He had so many good memories of his time there. He found himself thinking about the stranger—whom he now knew had a name: Augere, and recalled the words he’d said: “I think you will find this the better of several offers.” Yeah, well. He had been home two weeks already and had heard nothing from New Orleans. Not that he expected to. Not that he was really that interested in that job.
    Jason responded to two job openings in Boston. He learned one had already been filled; the other, the more promising one, was still available. It paid almost what he’d made at his last job and the benefits were comparable. He did a phone interview and they seemed interested in having him fly there to meet in person.
    Jason tried to line up a few other prospects, to make the trip to Boston as worthwhile and productive as possible to increase his chances of success. It took diligence to find a few other possibilities in the Boston area, but he was able to do so. Then it just became a matter of setting up and coordinating the appointments. He would have to be in Boston for several days, with the expense of hotels, meals, etc. as well as the flight.
    In the meantime he got a tentative offer from a firm in Minneapolis and inquiries from as far away as Utah and Seattle. None of these really appealed to him; some were not even close to his level of experience, much less his interest, and the pay and benefits were quite a bit less.
    Jason did some salary searches for the Boston area. There was some, but not much, room for negotiating upward. When he looked into apartment rentals, utilities, cost of food and public transportation—he would be leaving his car in Minnesota—he would have to be making more than what his current prospects were offering. Two of the jobs he was considering would require a lot of commuting. He would need to have a roommate. When he projected his cost of living expenses against his projected salary, it was kind of bleak. He would be living in Boston, but wouldn’t be able to afford much of the cultural advantages of living there. It would be very difficult to budget for travel and vacations. It would be doable, just, if he landed the higher paying job. Even then he would probably have to live on Ramen for five days a week. And the other two days probably just starve.
    He might even have to have two jobs, just for money to have anything extra he wanted or needed. The cold reality of his situation was starting to depress him.
    That assistant position was probably already filled. That’s why Mr. Genier hadn’t called him. Maybe his gothic appearance had done him in. Or that