The Expectation

Preface

Underneath the dark, clouded skies of a small, timid little village, the wind sings a sad song while gliding between the precious houses.

The occupants quiver in fear, shivers running down their spines like a bucket of icy water. As they see his shadow drift past their window, goosebumps erupt on their skin and their lungs refuse to allow air to be inhaled.

One unfortunate, young girl was sent out, prior to his arrival, to buy bread from the nearby bakery so her family would have a little more to accompany the vegetables on their plate.

Humming a soft melody, she pays no attention to the locked doors of usually open homes, or the faint whimpers of terrified children.

He suddenly appears out of nowhere and the girl stops dead in her tracks, her song fading away on the breeze and uncertainty swimming into her green eyes.

When his lips tug up slightly in the corners, however, uncertainty is replaced by relief. Yet even that - the feeling of relief and fading dread - is quite ephemeral, because as soon as he starts stalking towards her with a maliciously sadistic smirk plastered on his handsome face, her heart begins to hammer harshly in her frail chest.

She slowly stumbles backwards, hands clutching the basket of freshly baked bread, tighter. Her breathing speeds up and her bottom lip starts to tremble, with the beginnings of fearful panic rising in her chest. His strong strides become longer and soon the girl, unknowingly, backs into an alleyway.

"Please. Please, don't do this. I'm only sixteen. I'm... I'm too young to lose it..," she begs.

A dry chuckle leaves his mouth. She actually thinks he's going to take her virginity. No, that's the last thing he wants right now. He's after something, more. Something, richer.

Without a word, he raises his large hand and runs the back of it down her rosy cheek. Letting it trail down, towards her pale throat, he places his hand flat against her pulsing jugular.

Inhaling deeply, he could literally smell her fear and slight fascination. He could feel the adrenaline buzzing in her body, causing her pulse to quicken, and her heart to speed up blood flow in her awaiting arteries.

After opening his eyes after a slight prick at his lip, he refocuses his attention on the weeping girl before him.

Having had enough of her high pitched cries and useless whimpers, he quickly pulls back his lips in anger and releases a bone chilling hiss.

Immediately the girl shuts her mouth, silences her useless screams, and stares at the sight before her. He... He has... fangs.

Terrible, horrible, sharp fangs, extending from his otherwise normal looking mouth.

As she was assessing him, checking for any other abnormalities and secretly admiring his amazing figure, she didn't realise how he was lowering his open mouth to the side of her throat. She snapped back to her horrid reality when she felt an excruciating, stab-like pain where he latched his mouth onto.

Pleas for mercy and help fell from her thin lips, slightly wavering the longer and deeper he drank. It hurt more than anything that she's ever experienced before, including the one time she broke her arm after falling out of a tree. It was as though he was draining her life force, tapping into her soul with those pointy canines.

Eventually her shrieks turned into fading moans of pain and displeasure. Too soon, her body slumped into his arms, dead. He straightens up, letting the previously beautiful girl drop to the filthy ground with a sickeningly lifeless thud.

Strolling away past the long forgotten basket of wasted bread, his eyes trail up to the sky and focus on the moon. He never really liked it much. To him, the moon was a constant reminder of his unchosen lifestyle, that was so suddenly thrust upon him, from which he can never escape.

Frowning deeply he walked on into the night. The glorious sounds of mourning cries from the town drifting into his ears. He couldn't understand why he didn't even feel a speck of remorse for causing them heartbreak by killing an innocent maiden while they couldn't do a thing. But he knew he loved the fact that he could make people hide away inside their holes, quaking in fear of him.

With a sick, joyous smile replacing the frown on his face, and freshly consumed blood coursing through his veins, he went on a search for his next victim. His next prey...

The next innocent soul to meet its eternal doom.