Blooded

Chapter 3

By morning, everybody that was still alive had come out of their homes. Mr. Prince did a head count, even though it was obvious he didn't feel like it. My mother stood behind me, gripping my shoulders tightly.

I told nobody about the vampire attack from last night. Mr. Prince assumed it was a wild animal, and didn't bother offering me condolences.

"So, we lost three," Mr. Prince said, "Mr. Pearson," my skin chilled at my father's name. The experience was still so shocking, "Mr. Downes, and Mrs. Downes. Let us take a moment of silence to honor their memory."

Everybody silenced themselves, most of them mourning sincerely for those that died last night. Mr. Prince's foot was tapping impatiently.

Then, after a short moment, Mr. Prince put his head up, and said, "Let us all get back to work." Everybody started to disperse, but Mr. Prince started to walk in my direction.

"Mrs. Pearson, I believe your husband's death puts you out of business, does it not?" Mr. Prince asked, smirking. How did he find this funny?

"Yes, Mr. Prince. I suppose it does." My mother said, gripping my shoulders from behind me. I could tell she was holding back tears.

"The Downes boy will need relocating. How about you bring him into the city while I figure something out for the boy here to do," he said, looking down at me, the smirk still evident on his face.

"Understood," My mother said, her grip tightening. She bent down, then put her mouth near my ear, "Be a good boy, okay?" She whispered. Mr. Prince looked at us, curiously, "Be back soon." My mother said, patting me on the shoulder before walking to the Downes house.

"and Mary?" Mr. Prince called. My mother turned around, annoyed.

"give Abigail my best regards," Mr. Prince said, smiling wickedly. My mother nodded, her eyes empty, then continued walking to the Downes house. Abigail was the woman in charge of the orphanage down in the city. She was a horrible, crooked woman. and my aunt.

Mr. Prince turned to me, "now for you."

For the next hour, I found myself cleaning the ground of the inn down the road. All things considered, my new job was fortunate. Mrs. Green, the innkeeper, needed work. So I volunteered before Mr. Prince could give me something worse to do.

The alternative was starving.

Mrs. Green was a kind, old woman. I hadn't really talked to her much, but she was peaceful and was nice to everybody.

My mother arrived soon after an hour and a half, then found me in an inn. Luckily, Mrs. Green gave me a small break, and I managed to eat lunch with my mom.

"I'm sorry." my mom said, "I'm sorry this whole thing happened. Are you going to be okay?" Even I could tell she was hurting. I nodded my head, snapping myself back to my senses. This was going to require some getting used to.

"I guess it's okay," I answered, "I'll have to live through the change."

"it was okay." my mother answered.

"really?" I asked, playing along. Something about my aunt made me doubt that. I felt bad for the Downes boy.

"yeah. The Downes kid, Jack? He's in an orphanage now. I think he took the vampire attack too hard. Anyway, good job on killing it!" My mother said, smiling and rubbing my hair like she did when I was little.

I looked at her, confused. It ran off, I never killed it.

"you heard about that?" I asked.

"The town guards found it in the forest this morning. Who knew the old woodcutter was responsible?" My mother said.

I looked at her again, the vampire was a woman, wasn't she? And the old woodcutter disappeared last year. Something was strange.

"I guess," I said.

My mother didn't say anything else, just sat there, smiling as I continued eating.

That night, my curiosity got the better of me and I snuck out. I told nobody where I was going, and especially that I was secretly going to meet a vampire. Just in case, I brought a wooden stake, though I didn't know how useful it would be. The last one didn't exactly finish the job.

Dodging the guards was easy, I just snuck underneath the bridge to avoid their gaze. The water was cold, but it also pretty shallow. Luckily, the entire village only had one side protected by walls, so I was able to ignore the front gate guards entirely.

Once I was clear of the guards, I emerged from the river and made my way through the forest.

Getting to our meeting place wasn't hard. I had been on the route dozens of times for my father. A pain throbbed in my heart as I thought about him. The strangest thing was that I wasn't mad at the vampire for killing him.

If anything, I was curious about the vampire. Legends described vampires as unintelligent beasts that knew nothing but hunger. Yet the one I met didn't give off that impression at all. After a few more minutes of walking, I found myself in front of the woodstump mentioned earlier.

Surprised, I lifted my head and found the vampire woman waiting for me there. She was sitting on the stump, faced toward the giant castle in the distance. She must've heard me coming, because the next moment she turned toward me. In the full moon's light, it was easy to see her pale skin and glowing eyes.

I lifted the wooden stake, my hands trembling with fear. Now that I was calm, her existence seemed so much more real. I couldn't help but be afraid. After all, my father's murderer was standing right in front of me.

"Who are you?" I screamed. The woman chuckled.

"Now, now. That won't be necessary. Please, sit," The woman said, "We have much to talk about."

As I walked over to her, still keeping the stake pointed in her direction, I slowly sat on the grass a few yards away from her.

She sighed, her eyes pointed toward the stake, "Fine," She said, "Keep that up all you want, but you must listen to what I have to say."

Then she started to tell a story. Her eyes glistened red as she did so. My body seemed to calm as she spoke, as if her words were taking control of my nerves right then and there.

"My name is Lilah," She said, "And i'm your mother."