Blooded

Chapter 4

I stuttered, coughing a bit. I wasn't sure how to process the woman's words. At first, I was in disbelief. This woman was lying, and she was doing it right to my face.

"Sorry," I laughed, "I already have a mother. You must be confusing me with somebody else."

"No," The woman laughed back. She smiled, her eyes glowing brighter, "I'm sure. Your current mother, her name is Mary Pearson, correct? She's my great great niece. Your father, Arthur Pearson? He's just a blacksmith who happened to be married to her."

"W-What?" I stuttered.

"When you were born, I put you at her doorstep," Lilah said.

"No," I gasped. I looked at the woman, Lilah, and realized something about her eyes was telling the truth. There was no deceit in the way she looked at me.

"It's true, Ethan," Lilah said, "Just look in the mirror. Who do you look more like? Her? or Me?"

Suddenly, Lilah disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. As the smoke dissipated into the air, I heard a last echo of her voice.

"Your 17th birthday is in three days, Ethan," Her voice echoed, "Within that time, you must choose. Her, or me."

When she was gone, I stood alone in a dark forest, the stake shaking at my side.

My mother was the one that woke me up the next morning. When I opened my eyes, she was hovering over my bed, watching me sleep. Her green eyes and brown hair were the first noticeable features I saw.

"You awake?" She asked as I sat up. I rubbed my eyes, images of yesterday coming up in my mind. I looked toward my mom, Mary, then to my own hands. Now that I was looking at it, she was considerably tanner than me. I moved my feet from my bed to the ground, then launched myself into a standing position. My mother looked at me, somewhat surprised, "Whoa, whoa! You came home at midnight! Get back, you've barely had any time to rest!"

"What time is it?" I asked as I walked across the room. I looked at the clock. It read four o'clock. I sighed, then walked to the restroom. For a moment, I was able to feel the exhaustion. She was right, barely four hours of sleep wasn't good for me. The exhaustion passed as I opened the door.

"hey!" She yelled back. I ignored her, choosing to look in the dirty mirror instead. The only mirror we had in the house, and we were one of the wealthiest because of my dad's job. Well, what used to be his job.

I took a look at myself. My dark black hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. I was used to this image. I looked back to my mother. Light brown hair, green eyes, and tan skin. My father was the same.

"Hey," She said as she stood up from the bed, "Are you okay? Let's get you back to bed, yeah? You want to be in tip top condition for work today, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed, returning to bed.

I spent the next few hours getting more sleep, then the next few after that working at the inn. Mrs. Green was nice as always, but her nice words were drowned out by my own thoughts. I was racing with memories and ideas from yesterday as I scrubbed the floors.

One hour, a few soldiers walked through the door. They carried unfamiliar weapons and had unfamiliar armor. I rose from the floor and walked toward them.

"Hello," I started, "How can I help you today?"

"We need to talk to the village chief," One of the soldiers said. His voice echoed through his helmet. I turned, then found Mr. Prince. He was sitting at the bar, talking to Mrs. Green.

I turned back to the soldiers, glad to have found Mr. Prince, "follow me, please." The soldiers did as I requested, following me closely as I walked toward Mr. Prince. I tapped his shoulder a few times, grabbing his attention. He looked at me with a drunken face, his eyes barely open.

"What?" He blurted, his voice slurred.

"Sir," I said, gesturing to the soldiers, "A few soldiers are here to see you."

"Soldiers?" Mr. Prince burped. One of the soldiers walked forward, then sat down next to Mr. Prince. Another thanked me, secretly shooing me away. As I walked back to the area I was cleaning, I heard one of the soldiers speak to Mr. Prince.

"Sir, we've come here pursuing rumors of a vampire," the soldiers said, "Have you seen it?"

I looked at the clock, eager to be allowed to leave.

A few hours later, after what felt like twenty minutes, Mrs. Green approached me.

"Ethan," She said in her old, kind voice, "It's time to leave. Thank you again," She said as she grabbed my towel. She took the water bucket with her other hand, "I'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded, rushing to leave the inn. The door opened before my hand reached the handle, startling me.

"Sorry!" I yelled as I rushed passed whoever opened the door.

"Hey!" I heard a familiar voice yelp as I squeezed between their large figure and the door frame, "Get back here! You nearly ran into me!"

I ignored them as I ran through the town. I quickly crossed the bridge next to my house. As I ran, I looked up to the sun as it was nearing the horizon.

Not much time until midnight, hopefully.

I waited at the tree stump for several hours, waiting for Lilah to appear. As I sat there, I pondered what Lilah had said to me just yesterday. My mind went to the differences between my mother and myself, then between Lilah and myself. I realized that to the untrained eye, Lilah was my mother. Not Mary.

I watched as the sun finally set, disappearing behind the black mountains in the distance. A moment later, black smoke appeared before me and Lilah emerged from its surface.

"You've been here for awhile," Lilah said, "Haven't you?"