Didn't Think This Would Ever Happen...

Chapter 10: A Midnight Snack

  He sniffed the air, picking up the scent he craved for most.
  He couldn't help but lick his teeth as he sprinted through the woods, pushing off of trees, following the smell.
  It wasn't long before the sound of wagon wheels was loud in his ears. He had caught a whole group of travelers who were completely unsuspecting.
  There were an estimated eight to ten people in all, along with three horses and two wagons.
  Lilia stared at them from his place in the brush, waiting for the optimal moment to strike. He would take out the horses first to ensure no one could try to escape. That would be easy enough.
  Some call it bad manners, but he always liked to play with his food. It felt more fulfilling that way.
  First, the humans heard rustling from all around them, causing them to halt in their traveling. It was dark, so of course they were terrified.
  The men in front put on a brave face as they looked around. After a long moment of silence, one of them said that it was probably nothing and motioned to move on.
  But his horse wouldn't move. He gently flicked the reigns again. This time he and his horse began listing to the side, suddenly falling onto the trail.
  The others' horses dropped as well, thudding hollowly against the ground.
  The man barely managed not to get crushed by his animal and saw that the other two men weren't moving either.
  He held the lantern high as he slowly approached. He stopped when he saw the gigantic pools of blood spreading across the gravel.
  He almost gasped, seeing the beheaded corpses of his companions. He quickly turned to the wagons. One of them had an alarming amount of blood spilling out of it.
  The man quickly climbed up and threw open the door. As he did, blood gushed out and splattered his clothes. Inside were three slumped over figures. His wife and their two children.
  The man lifted his lamp, terrified of what he would see.
  There was a forth figure. One with bright pink accents in their hair, leaning over his wife.
  The man drew his dagger, fury building up inside him. But he didn't get the chance to avenge his family. He didn't get the chance to do anything.
  Lilia was on him in an instant, his claws already sunken into his throat and blood dripping from his fangs.
  Lilia suddenly looked up at the other wagon, which had been completely silent this entire time.
  He sniffed the air. There was a woman inside. She hadn't left or tried to flee.
  Lilia stood, wiping his mouth on his arm. He would get to her later.
  Lilia went about devouring the insides of these corpses, particularly their hearts. Hearts belonging to uncorrupted individuals tasted the best and Lilia had not feasted like this in a very long time. Humans had always tasted better than animals to him, despite their malicious tendencies. Common folk like these were hardly sinister, so they were sweet to the taste.
  After picking apart each of the cadavers for his favorite bits, he decided to put the poor, lone survivor out of her misery.
  Lilia slowly opened the door to the wagon.
  The woman's eyes were closed tightly and she was shaking. Still, she held her hand over her mouth, leaning away from the door.
  Lilia reached out to her, pressing his cold fingers against the hand over her mouth. She made a muffled sound of terror and her eyes flew open before Lilia plunged his hand into her neck and she stopped making noise.
  Lilia pulled her apart until he was content. He sat back, licking the excess blood off his face and fingers.
  Then, the woman's corpse shifted as it began sliding off the seat. There seemed to be something keeping her from falling completely off. Was she laying on something?
  Lilia unceremoniously pushed her off, her body limply hitting the floor.
  There was a basket full of cloth behind where she had been sitting. Was a bunch of cloth really worth protecting?
  It was covered in blood and useless now.
  Suddenly, the cloth moved.
  Lilia jolted backwards onto his hands and knees, staring intently at the basket.
  The contents of the basket moved again, a muffled sound coming from inside.
  Like a curious animal, Lilia slowly approached, staring down at it. He snapped the handle off of the basket and waited for it to move again.
  The cloth was lifted up but quickly fell back down.
  Lilia slowly took one of the cloths off of the pile, before violently throwing it across the wagon. The cloth harmlessly flitted onto the floor.
  Lilia narrowed his eyes at the basket. It moved again, making another small sound. This time, something emerged from within the pile.
  Was that a tiny hand?
  Lilia leaned over the basket and carefully unfolded the linens, revealing something he hadn't smelled. A child.
  A very small, human child. It seemed only a half a year old, from what Lilia knew.
  Was this little thing really worth that woman's life?...
  The baby opened its eyes, struggling against the nearby light of a lantern above.
  Had it really slept through all that had happened?...
  The child stared up at Lilia, unblinkingly. It didn't seem the slighted bit alarmed that a blood-covered stranger was looking down at it. The baby yawned and seemed ready to take another nap.
  Lilia couldn't take his eyes off of it. How could it be so calm? Didn't it know that its mother was...
  The baby blinked wildly as something dipped onto its face.
  It wasn't blood.
  It seemed to be only water.
  Lilia pressed his bloody hands into his eyes, coming back to himself.
  He shook as he bit down harshly on his tongue. He hadn't cried in so long... but after his curse taking over for the first time in at least a century, and on this scale, it was all too much for him to bear.
  Lilia pressed against his eyes as hard as he could, begging his body to stop making him cry. He didn't want this. He needed to go back to the castle.
  ... but how could he? Again, he had mindlessly slaughtered not one, but two families.
  Lilia looked over at the baby, hearing it move again.
  It was sitting up, still staring at him.
  Lilia glared, "stop looking at me like that. I murdered your mother."
  The baby continued to stare with its big, purple-ish, blue-ish eyes.
  Lilia looked down at the floor, tears falling, "look at what I've done... you should be screaming in horror..."
  The child's eyelids were falling and it let out another yawn.
  Lilia whipped around and bared his fangs at the tiny human, "why aren't you-?!"
  The baby put it's stubby little hand on Lilia's face.
  He froze, his eyes still wide and leaking.
  The baby stuck it's other hand in Lilia's mouth, smiling as it grabbed onto his large teeth.
  "Stop that!" Lilia batted its hands away, "you're going to cut yourself!"
  No matter how hard he tried, the tears wouldn't stop coming as he looked at this baby. This baby who seemed to have no logic in its tiny little brain.

  The queen was pacing the front room and Malleus held out an arm to stop her.
  "Mother, you can't just wait here all night. It might be a while before he comes back..."
  "I know," she held onto his hand tightly, "but I worry... You said you sent someone to keep an eye on him?"
  Malleus let out a sigh, "they lost him..."
  The queen began nervously chewing on her fingernails, "what should we do? What if he gets caught or captured? What if he's-?!"
  "Mom." Malleus took her shoulders, "please. Remember who we're taking about."
  The queen closed her eyes tightly, "I know... but I can't help but worry about him... he never lets anyone help him with anything... What if he needs help, Malleus?"
  "He'll only refuse it," Malleus said quietly, his eyes drifting up to the ceiling.
  The large doors clicked and creaked as they were pushed open.
  Malleus and his mother turned abruptly, smelling the stench of blood and rotting flesh fill the room.
  Lilia haggardly stepped inside backwards, using his back to push the doors open. Then, he turned to face the queen and her heir.
  He looked like a mess. His clothes were covered in blood, and his silky hair was tied back haphazardly as if done in a rush.
  The queen rushed forward, "Lilia, you're-!" She halted in front of him as he turned around.
  He held a bloodstained and tearstained bundle in his arms. His eyes were spilling out water profusely.
  The queen could only blink. What in the world was happening? Lilia was crying? What was he holding?
  She reached out to him, "are you-"
  Lilia stepped back, clutching the bundle tightly to his chest. He shook his head and wiped his eyes on his dirty sleeve, only spreading the blood around his face more. He blinked repeatedly, saying nothing as he sniffled.
  Malleus spoke quietly with a few guards.
  The bundle in Lilia's arms moved.
  The queen almost jumped in surprise. What was in there?! Had Lilia... brought back... leftovers?...
  She covered her mouth and nose, was that where the smell was coming from?!
  Lilia seemed to panic as he fell onto his knees and opened the bundle, shushing it as he started sobbing.
  The queen stared down with wide eyes. Lilia had brought back... a human child?!
  Malleus stood next to his mother, speaking quietly, "this is the last thing I expected..."
  Lilia looked up, the whites of his eyes almost as red as his irises. He must have been crying for a long time. The child in his arms seemed to be asleep.
  The queen knelt down beside him, "Lilia... what happened?..."
  "I'm a monster," he said between breaths, "I shouldn't be here."
  She held her hands out, "you're not a monster."
  "Why- why do you pretend like this isn't horrible?! Like I haven't done anything wrong?! I've-"
  "Lilia, stop." Malleus got to his knees as well. "We don't even know what's going on. You won't tell us. How are we to know if what you're doing is right or wrong if we don't even understand what's happening? You're the oldest and the smartest of us all, but you choose to keep us in the dark. We aren't children anymore. We can handle whatever you are going through."
  Lilia stared at him blankly, tears endlessly streaming out of his eyes.
  "Don't carry this alone," Malleus placed his hand firmly on Lilia's arm.
  Lilia shook his head in disbelief, "stop growing up..."
  Malleus and the queen both smiled.
  "But before anything else," the queen stood, "we should get you cleaned up and get our newest member of the family to bed."
  Lilia looked up at her and even more tears seemed to flow from his eyes, "you mean I can keep it?..."
  "Of course you can keep it," she laughed, "why would I say no?!"
  "Well, it's... it's human..." Lilia looked down at the sleeping baby. It seemed this child could sleep through anything.
  "And what of it?"
  "It could grow up to be ugly and hatch a plan to destroy us from the inside?"
  The queen laughed, "it's a baby! It probably can't even walk or talk yet! Let alone, be evil and plan to hurt anyone!"
  Lilia blinked, "what?"
  The queen hesitated, realizing that Lilia only raised children after they could sort of read... Did he really not know how babies worked?
  Malleus chuckled, "there is a lot we need to talk about."