Bloodlines

Chapter One-Alaris

In the beginning, God created the mother of all Monsters. She spread her creations all over, and they began to destroy his precious world. So, he created a realm and banished her to it. Then he created the leviathans. They fought off the monsters, but their hunger for blood was too great. They too began to tear apart his precious world. So, he banished them to the other realm as well.

He kept creating and creating the First Immortal, Alaris. Alaris walked the world alone and slaughtered every monster in his path. He made a home in the mountains and spent a century alone. Alaris prayed to any god that would hear him, that he was lonely and wanted someone by his side. A friend, a companion. God heard his prayer and made humans. He filled his precious world with them.

Alaris walked among them from time to time. He spoke with them, and they only viewed him as one of them. He never revealed who he was, in fear of spending eternity alone. He would often visit the markets that surrounded his home. That's where he met Lena. She sold fresh produce from her brother's farm. They talked about life and its meaning. He would look for her every night, excited to have another mind to explore. Their love story began and bore two beautiful children. Two twin boys, eyes as blue as the ocean, hair as black as charcoal. Their pale skin matched that of their Father, beauty from their mother. Almost unnatural. The Immortal family was created, and Alaris's heart was full.

His happiness was short-lived. Although he and his children were blessed with immortality, his wife Lena was not. Over the decades, they watched as time passed through her. Her once charcoal hair is now gray. Her beautiful olive skin was wrinkled and covered in age spots. Her blue ocean eyes still shined bright with love. She died surrounded by her beloved family, smiling up to the stars. Alaris looked at his boys and still saw his love in their eyes. Grief never took them, for they had each other.

"So, that's the story of our family so far," Mother sighed tiredly. She tucked the blankets tight around me and kissed my forehead. I'm not a child anymore, but that story reminds me that I have an eternity to grow up. Time is not so kind to her. I'll give her all the goodnight tuck-ins her heart desires.

"Mother, what about how Uncle became a beast and Father a" she put a finger to my lips, "We mustn't speak about such things, My Love. The Village already has suspicions, these hills have ears." She blew out the candle by my bedside. With a warm smile, she closed my door. I stared up at the ceiling, listening to the wind make the house creak. I can hear her cries most nights. 

Since Uncle's transformation, Father hasn't been home. I know the story of how my Uncle turned savage, but not how or what my Father turned into. "He's not the man I married," she'd mutter to herself when. Gathering what information I can, he's turned into some creature. Not like Uncle, but still far from what he was. My mind raced with possibilities. Wraith, ghoul, wendigo, or even inferi. I shuddered at the thought of him being anything more than what I remember. Remembering his words every day, yearning to hear them again. "Watch for me in the moonlight, for I can no longer walk under the sun's bright face." His words echoed in my mind as I drifted off to sleep.