Companions of the Night is a Young Adult Vampire Fiction written by Vivian Vande Velde, first published in 1995.
When 16-year-old Kerry Nowicki goes out late at night to get her baby brother's stuffed bear back from the laundry store, she becomes the unwilling witness of a crime as three men come in dragging with them a bleeding and bound handsome young man. The men appear to be dangerous and violent lunatics, as they claim that their hostage is actually a vampire whom they plan to torture and kill. Kerry doesn’t believe them and decides to help Ethan, the hostage, escape. However, as she soon finds out, those men may not have been as crazy as she thought…
Companions of the Night contains examples of:
- Bitch Alert: Regina doesn’t hide her true colors when she first meets Kerry, Ethan on the other hand…
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Ethan seems like a very nice guy when Kerry first meets him. It doesn’t last. By the end of the story, he does eventually become nicer to her though, and a tad more honest.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Ethan, being a vampire and all...
- The Gadfly: Ethan seems to find making Kerry squirm really amusing.
- I Lied: Ethan does it so much that Kerry has a really hard time to spot when he’s actually telling the truth.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Subverted. Ethan seems to have those at first , but then Kerry finds out that he’s all but innocent.
- Kiss of the Vampire: When Kerry asks Ethan about vampire feeding habits, he tells her that being bitten by one is actually quite enjoyable for both parties, and that mixing it with sex is beyond pleasurable. There are exceptions, since, according to him, some vampires get off on their victim’s pain and therefore willingly choose to make their bite painful.
- Manipulative Bastard: Ethan, being immortal, has had a fairly long time to practice his acting skills and learn to efficiently have people act the exact way he wants to.
- Nice Girl: Kerry often has concern and sympathy for people, even those who haven’t been nice to her at all. Ethan, being a Manipulative Bastard, notices it right away knows exactly how to take advantage of this.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampires can feed off human blood only, and they also have to kill on a regular basis (how frequent they must kill isn’t mentioned, but considering what Ethan says about vampires needing to keep a low profile, one assumes that it must not be enough to attract attention). According to Ethan, during the feeding a certain kind of mental bond takes place between the vampire and the victim, that’s why feeding off animal blood or blood bags is impossible. Sunlight burns and kills them, they don’t age, and if they cut their hair it grows back to how long it was over the course of a few nights.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Don’t kill children is one of the first rules vampires learn. Because of moral reasons? No. It’s because missing or murdered children always attract more attention than missing or murdered adults.Ethan: One thing we’ve learned over the years, the number one rule – after You can never have too many covers on a window – is Don’t mess with kids.
- Vampires Are Rich: Ethan and Regina sure seem well off.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Ethan and Regina may be bloodsucking monsters, but they are both really attractive and seductive.
- Vampire Hunter: The people from the Laundry store and Gilbert Marsala.
- Weakened by the Light: Sunlight kills vampires in an extremely painful manner, and it is not instantaneous. This kind of death is so excruciating that when Ethan thinks he’s about to die that way, he begs Kerry to shoot him before he starts frying.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: How Ethan gets Kerry to help him at the laundry store. He is hurt, but considering he's a vampire, it's not serious injuries for him.
