The Angel, the Vampire, and the Demon

Chapter One- Vampire

Heavy rain beat the hard and cracked concrete path that snaked by the forest. Occasionally a car would go by on the hard black road, headlights cutting through the downpour like bright knives. The vehicle itself moved slowly on the wet road, throwing water onto the path. Bare feet splashed through the puddles; the skin was unnaturally pale, almost as pale as death.

They belonged to a boy, no older than sixteen. He had short, wavy black hair that sat atop his head neatly and ice-blue eyes. He was drenched from the heavy rain, his ragged black shirt and track pants sticking to his skinny body. A briefcase was held tight in his hand. In the briefcase? Blood.

Abrariel looked around at his surroundings, he knew it must be cold, but he couldn't feel it. That was one of the advantages of being dead. Well, somewhat dead. He didn't have a heartbeat or breath. Walking around at night was one of the disadvantages. He was a Vampire; he had been since he was six. Another disadvantage? His only food source was blood, he couldn't have anything else, and he needed it to survive.

At the thought of blood, he felt his needlepoint fangs prick his bottom lip, leaving where they were sheathed in his upper gum. He felt his stomach rumble with hunger and looked down at the tattered briefcase he held in his hand, watching it thump lightly against his right leg. He knew the people he once called Mother and Father had at least had the care to give him some food, but he knew there wouldn't be enough to make it through the night.

He stopped walking and placed the case on the ground, careful not to put it directly in a puddle of rainwater. He flipped the locks on the briefcase up and opened the lid. Inside the case were three, small bottles of blood. The bottles were no larger than the small olden-day milk bottles, definitely not enough to make it through the night. Sighing, Abrariel took one of the bottles out, eyeing the deep, crimson-coloured blood with hungry eyes. He took the cap off the bottle, and took a sip, he gagged but forced the blood down. Lamb's blood. His parents knew he hated lamb's blood, it seems they wanted to spite him more. But still, food is food and Abrariel was famished. He started drinking, he knew he should run on rations, if he did, he might make it through the night without having to kill anything or anyone. As these thoughts went through his head, he realized he was halfway through the second bottle, the first lying empty at his side.

Normally, three bottles of this size were a meal for him, enough to fill him up for a few hours. He finished the bottle and looked hungrily at the last. He tried to fight the urge and failed, snatching the bottle from the case. As he drank, he thought of his parents, his tribe, and how he had been abandoned.

***

"Where are we going, Mother? Father?" Abrariel asked as he looked out the car window, watching the trees grow in numbers around them as twilight set in.

"We're just going out for the night," his father answered slowly, seeming to have searched for the right words.

Abrariel looked at the briefcase next to him. Why did they bring such a small bag if they were going out for the night? And why hadn't he been tagged, like his parents?

When a Vampire left the lair, they were tagged with a shiny bronze clip to track where they went, if a family left, they were all tagged, no matter what. So, where was his tag? He knew their leader wouldn't be happy when he found out.

Abrariel looked back out the car window, there were trees on all sides now, black against the darkening sky. They had never travelled this far out of the city, Abrariel wasn't even sure of what way they went to get here. Their leader didn't let any Vampire of his tribe leave the city unless he gave permission at the doors. Suddenly scared, Abrariel looked at his parents.

They were white like ghosts, his mother had short brown hair, and his father had ginger hair, nearly shoulder length. They were not his birth parents, Abrariel knew this. His leader had killed him and put him in the ground to be reborn, but his parents had given him his first feed of blood.