A Vampire Called Death

The Angel of Death

It was about midnight when they heard the scream.

Ursula had been about to turn in for the night. Her twin brother Autem already had dozed off and was sitting in the large chair by the fireplace that had once belonged to their father, the book he had been reading still lying open in his lap. The scream immediately rose him from his sleep and he jerked awake blue eyes opening wide in terror. They waited for a moment in silence anticipating another scream but no other sound came.

"I'm going to see what's wrong," Autem said slowly, beginning to stand up. His sister ran to him her voice quivering.

"Autem you can't. It's not safe. There could be something out there. Wolves or...something worse. I'll protect you from whatever it is, don't worry. There is no need to put yourself in danger I'll go see what it is-" but he had already brushed past her and was at the door, swinging it open. "Autem, please listen to me when I say-" her breath caught when her brother suddenly shrieked and she ran to the door beside him. Standing before them was a boy. He stood there, scratches covering his pale skin which were illuminated in the moonlight, his clothes ragged and his hair wild with sticks and leaves sticking out of it. Most notable was that he was grasping desperately at his throat, a long slender neck which blood appeared to be seeping from.

"Ursula," Autem said softly, pulling at her sleeve. "We need to get him inside. He's hurt...he's...really hurt..."

"Who are you," Ursula said looking straight at the boy. It took everything she had in her to keep her voice from shaking when she said it. The boy just stared at her, eyes wide. Then suddenly his hands fell limply from his neck to reveal a long slit across his throat before he collapsed to the ground with a thud. The siblings ran the boy's side kneeling beside him. Ursula flipped him over quickly while Autem leaned forward and checked for a pulse. He slowly turned to his sister now, his eyes wide and Ursula could see the glimmer of his tears in the moonlight.

"He-He's...dead."

Ursula sighed softly placing a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"It's alright Autem. Just take a deep breath. There's nothing we could of done. His throat...it was already..." She looked back to the gash on the boy's neck and couldn't help but shudder. Autem's shoulder quivered as he cried.

"Papa was....he was a doctor..." he whispered between sobs. "We could have...we could have done something if we had gotten here sooner..." Ursula wrapped her arm around her brother's shoulder pulling him into a hug.

"Autem it's...it's alright. You got a good look at the wound, right?"

"...yes." Autem finally said with a sniffle wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"So then you can see from the shallowness of the neck wound he...he did this to himself." Autem nodded slowly and Ursula continued. "Let's bring the body inside. We can take it to where papa's medical bed used to be for patients. Then...in the morning we'll bury him at first light. He'll get a nice proper burial, does that sound alright to you?" Again Autem nodded.

The dead boy was surprisingly light and the two siblings managed to pick up the body easily and carry it into the dark room that once had always been busy when their father had been alive. Ursula lowered the limp body of the boy onto the bed as Autem glanced around. The room was silent and dark, both children had tried to avoid going in here as much as possible. Viles still sat lined on shelves caked with dust and their father's books remained stacked on the tables they had last been opened. The old equipment still rested in it's place as if the dark room was suspended in time, still waiting and longing for their father to return. Autem's gaze fell to the dead boy now and when he spoke his voice was only a little more than a whisper.

"How old do you think he was?"

"I don't know..." Ursula said quietly. "A year or two older than us I think, maybe eighteen or nineteen." There was another beat of silence between them.

"What if he has family out looking for him? What will we tell them? Why do you think he wanted to die?"

"I don't know. Why does anybody-" That's when there was a knock on the door. Startled the two dashed through the house to reach it. Both siblings held the same thought...it was one of the boy's family members...a desperate mother or father or brother searching for him. When they finally pulled the door open they were met by a man. He was dressed like a nobleman, his long blond hair tied back with a thin royal blue ribbon.

"Do you mind if I come in dears?" He asked glancing at the two. "I promise you I mean you no harm. I'm simply looking for someone." Ursula swallowed hard before stepping aside.

"Ah, yes please come in." The man entered, the heels of his boots clicking on the floor as he stepped inside. Without skipping a beat the man plopped himself down in their father's chair as if he owned it and crossed one elegant leg over the other with more grace than either twin had seen in their lives. "Noooooow," said the man slowly, dragging out the o as if he was teasing them. "As I said before I'm looking for someone." Ursula stepped forward, about to tell him when he suddenly continued. "If you see anyone out here tonight you simply must tell me. You see we have a bit of a...well a bit of a danger on the loose." He rolled back his sleeve to reveal scratches that ran down the length of his arm. "I'll spare you children the details but I can assure you that no one is safe tonight until that thing is killed and after what I've seen it do with my own eyes I do hope I get the honor to be the one to kill it." The corners of his lips turned up into a small smile. "Please be careful children. If you've seen anything please tell me. Do not leave this sweet little hovel you're living in, alright?" He stood up now, making his way to Autem and patting the boy on the head. "That is...you haven't seen anything have you?" His hand brushed through Autem's hair as he spoke and as he continued his long fingers slowly tracing their way down the nape of his neck clearly making the boy shiver.

"I haven't...s-seen anything sir." Autem stammered which earned him a low chuckle from the man.

"Why of course not my sweet little lad. I assumed that was the case. You see, there was quite a bit of a clue... you're both still alive. I simply stopped by to warn you because I diiiiiiiiid sense he was close by. My name is Lancelin. But of course...you are both peasants so what would that be to you...lord Lancelin? Master Lancelin? Hell, I don't even keep track anymore." He chuckled again and this time the sound made Ursula's skin want to crawl. "Oh, and by the waaaaaay, there's some blood on your doorstep. You might want to clean that up my sweets, it could...attract predators." With that he turned on his heels and made his way to the door before disappearing back into the night. The two twins stared after him.

"Woah..." Ursula said slowly. The girl turned to look at her brother. "Why did you lie to him...about not having seen anything?" Autem shrugged, still looking visibly shaken.

"I...I don't know. He made me nervous and I couldn't think. He was so beautiful...l-like an angel yet me made me so uneasy..."

"Like an angel of death?"

"Yes." The boy let out a small sigh. "I'm going to check on the corpse. Those scratches on him looked a lot like the one on that man. I want to see if they match."

Ursula gave him a little shrug.

"Whatever you want. I for one want to go to bed, it's been a long night." Autem gave her a small nod before he slipped into the other room while Ursula made her way to her own. She sat down at the edge of her bed now, undoing her braids so that her long black curls were free to fall loosely to her shoulders, that's when she heard the third scream of the night, this time from her brother. It came from their father's old room and she rushed to him, arriving at his side in moments. He was breathing heavily his face ashen and she turned to look at the sight that had caused this reaction from him. When she saw it the girl's blood immediately ran cold.

"The body...it's...it's gone..." she whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief. That's when they heard the soft voice behind them.

"Hello."