My Zombie Family (MZF) BL

'Zombies'

"Papa, look! There's someone in there!"

With a rush, Noah quickly joined Noelle, peering closely through the glass of the coffin. Indeed, a figure lay inside, seemingly asleep resembling a corpse. The first striking feature Noah noticed was the man's hair, which was a pale green similar to Noelle's. For a brief moment, Noah wondered if this could be Noelle's real father, but he dismissed the thought due to her lack of response. Looking at the girl, Noelle was just as clueless as he was about who the figure was. 

The man was fairly young, pale, and thin. He had no blemishes on his skin and looked strikingly beautiful in the coffin. Noah could feel his heart thump as if he weren't dead. He wore a white ruffled collar shirt, black pants, and well-kept shoes, exuding an air of nobility and ethereal beauty. To Noah, he was simply mesmerizing.

But as reality set in, Noah snapped upon the realization of something horrid. The figure looked incredibly starved. His eyes and mouth were both dry, and his nails had been roughly chipped as if they'd been desperately scratching against something. Evidently, to Noah the body did look like a corpse, but it didn't smell it. Noah knew the scent of a rotting corpse had to be strong enough to at least leak out of the coffin. But nothing. And from the amount of dirt and vines that consumed the coffin, a large amount of time must've passed. Why wasn't the corpse rotting? That's when Noah noticed it—the cause of his panic.

Near the man's collarbone lay two mysterious bite marks.

A vampire bite.

Scooping Noelle into his arms, Noah ran far, instantly gaining distance from the coffin. "Papa! What about the person inside?! Won't he suffocate or die if he stays in there?!" Noelle's voice was full of concern, but Noah remained unfettered.

He didn't have a clue about where he was going, nor how he could look Noelle in the eyes without showing a semblance of fear. Noelle had always been kind-hearted, but her kindness often led to recklessness. She had childlike innocence that was naive in a way that frequently resulted in dangerous situations and terrible outcomes. How could he convince her to stay away from that place without ruining her childlike nature? How would he explain the horrors of vampires when she hasn't been exposed to such things yet? And would she even understand? 

Worried for her Papa, Noelle reached to touch his cheeks and forced him to look straight into her eyes. Noelle couldn't understand why Noah was afraid, but she always knew that there was a reason behind his fear. Looking up at her Papa, she saw his pained expression and simply asked out of her worry for him, "Papa, what's wrong?" Noah looked at Noelle, breathing hard from exhaustion, unsure of how to answer her.

Though he looked away swiftly, he caught a glimpse of the man's fangs. There was no time to lose; he had to get Noelle away from the coffin. If only they hadn't seen it, disaster could have been avoided—or better yet, remained unknown. Vampires were truly dreadful beings.

Subjugators of the monster realm, vampires were prideful and merciless. They betrayed, conquered, and killed without remorse, driven solely by selfishness. Noah had never encountered a vampire, but he had heard the stories and had seen the horrors left behind when he was once a human. Villages were often wiped out, and people were said to be enslaved and treated as mere blood bags. Influential and dangerous, they spread their vile influence across the land. Compassion was foreign to them; they knew only how to instill fear and conquer. 

Without thinking, Noah had created a lie. A small lie that he hoped Noelle would believe. "Noelle, I think that person is gone. I don't think he'll be waking up anytime soon," Noah lied, hoping to quell her curiosity.

Noelle brooded understandably. She didn't know why, but losing someone close to you resonated a lot with Noelle. "I understand, Papa. Whoever buried him must've loved him a lot..." she sulked, tears welling in her eyes. Noah mustered a smile, patting her head comfortingly. "Come now, don't cry. I'm sure the man wouldn't want you to be sad for him. The man's in a better place now Noelle."