Born of Saint & Sin

The Turning Point

Part 2-

The Turning Point

"You will never be any better than the worthless farm girl you are! Keep your worthless produce and take it back to that WORTHLESS old mother of yours!" Who does this woman think she is? Although she WAS a possible trade, she seems disinterested so therefore there's no effect on business if I...

My fist collides with her nose, "NO ONE speaks of MY mother like that!" I turn on my heels and haul the years harvest over my shoulder.

* * *

"Mama," I holler from the door, "I'm home!" The house is eerily quiet, unusual for my -ageing yet still as lively as ever- mother "Mama?" I hesitantly stalk through the unseasonably cool entrance corridor, "mother?" I sense a dark presence -I'm sure it's not just the literal darkness from dim lighting, although that's not exactly a common occurrence either.

I freeze. Silence? Darkness? My head drops, hands fidgeting as I calculate the outcome of the combination. "No!" I cry out, leaping into action when I realise the result isn't a particularly positive one. Something... Something's terribly wrong.

Sprinting straight for the open back door; I stop -mid stride- just before I exit into the black abyss of the outside world. Do my eyes defy me or did the shadows just... MOVE? I swipe a lit candle from where it sits on the windowsill, "Mother?" As I step out the door -candle ahead of me- a chill runs down my spine and I quiver all over, "Ma." In the faint light of the flickering flame, my eyes adjust to the darkness ahead.

Straight ahead of me there's a strange lump on the ground, "Mama?" I close in on the shape and get stuck in my spot at recognition. "No!" I fall to my knees and scramble over, "No! Mummy!" Crouching over her cold pale body I begin to sob. There is no colour in her skin whatsoever; ON her skin however there is a line of red, trailing from her neck. I follow the scarlet path along her neck to find two small punctures, "A snake bite?" I choke out. It can't have been, he has been DRAINED. Foolishly, I cry for help; sure, I'm not thinking straight but when grief consumes your brain it leaves NO space for rationality. A responsing call finally reaches me from a distance, "Miss are you alright?" It is a male voice, a man's call from the shadow, but I see no one "Are you hurt?" I scan my surroundings frantically, "my mother," I take a deep jagged breath "she- SHE is hurt."

"Hurt?" The question sounds so clear, so close and... In the opposite direction to the one I'm looking in! I flick my head around to meet its source.

There, towering over me, I see the tall lean pale skinned man. A man enveloped in a dark mysterious ora, he looks genuinely shocked staring down at the body, "She looks worse than 'hurt'."

"Don't say that!" I deny to accept it as I pull my mother's -clearly dead- corpse in close to me.

"Dear dear," he crouches by me and rests a comforting hand on my shoulder, "She is gone. You'll have to let her go now."

"How could you say that?!" I snap at him "It's not as simple as 'letting go'."

"Look miss, there is no point in you staying out in the cold too and catching your certain death."

I understand what he means: if I were to stay out here it is likely I'd get cold and I too would die. But what is the point of living if you have nothing, no ONE to live for, "I couldn't care less! My mum is gone, I may as well be!"

The man's jet black hair sits firm against his forehead where it pokes out beneath his tall hat, "You know you have quite a lot of bite missy." He smiles a sinister and unwelcome smirk, "I too can get," he licks his lips and bares his incisors "Snappy." His top canine teeth are two thick blood stained needles staring me in the face.

"Vampire." I gasp in realisation, "Of course! The bite, dried of blood, 'catching my death', your inhuman charm? Of course your a vampire!"

"Bravo child," he quietly applauds, "you figured it out in the end."

"YOU did this!"

"No no. THIS," he points in my mother's direction, "this is NOT my fault. I haven't fed tonight."

"Bullshit!" I place my mother down and rise up. "What are you waiting for just kill me already! Can't you see I long to die?!"

He shrugs and steps closer, "As you wish."

I squeeze my eyes shut, and feel a pinch on my neck; before I know it, I feel nothing at all.

* * *

She's out cold. That's what happens to all victims -whether it be from the pain or the blood loss or their death. I take it as a sign that I've drained enough, I'm not going to KILL her for good. I'm not going to kill her because she WANTS me to.

I prick my thumb with my top canine tooth and a drop of blood forms on my skin, "drink up precious." I can feel my grin as I drip my blood on her tongue and wipe a little along her lip. Her eyes flutter open and her irises lose colour. She licks her lip manically, "What have you done to me?!"

"I killed you," I chuckle "Is that not what you asked for?"

"I am not dead!" She is quite hostile, "do I look dead to you?"

"Well technically, yes. You see child, your a vampire now. You are the living dead."

"No!" She is horrified "No I can't be!"

"Hey, it's not so bad!" I stare straight into her colourless eyes, "You'll learn to love it, kid, you'll learn to love it."

"Look I'm not 'kid' ok?! The name is Kitty," she looks me up and down and I reach out my hand to pull her up, "I hate you so much right now but your the only chance I got at understanding this new 'lifestyle'."

"Well I'm glad you are accepting Kitty."

"Accepting?" She scoffs "You should know that's one thing I'm NOT, but I'd like to know my death options before I choose the best one for me." Before I can respond she cuts me off, "Now will you be so kind a gentlemen as to help me bury my mother....?" The pronunciation of her final word drags out as if she were waiting for me to fill in the gap, "Hunter, my name is Hunter."

"Right Hunter, so?" She gestures to her mother's body.

"Why was of course I will," I nod once "I specialise in the dead." With a wink I move in making a reference to both her AND her mum's 'death'.