Forsaken Blood

- BROKEN -

Layla skipped to the front door with a full heart of excitement. Her smile drew a line from ear to ear as she remembered the embrace of Marco. Her Mom had been asking forever about when she would finally meet a nice boy. She'd have to skip the part about him being a vampire but Layla didn't care. There was something so honest and pure in Marco's eyes that she had never felt from a man before, it spelt loyalty to her.

"Mom, I'm back!" Layla called out as she walked in, "and I have the best news for you."

All the lights were on, but the house was dead silent.

"Mommm?" Layla yelled, "Mom, I'm home. Where are you?"

The foul smell of rotting eggs had permeated through the house again and Layla screwed her nose up.

What is she up to now...

Layla's foot suddenly slipped out from under her and she crashed to the ground with a crunch from her ankle.

What the hell?...

There was spilt wine across the floor. Her blood began to boil.

"Aaarghhhh... Damn it... Mom, you spilt your wine! I've twisted my ankle, can you come help please?"

There was no answer. It was dead quiet and a heaviness lingered in the air.

"Mom?" she called again while her ankle throbbed.

Layla helped herself up through the pain and hopped toward the staircase. Broken glass shimmered on the stairs, where tiny shards had cascaded right down to the bottom step. Layla's breath quickened, and panic set in.

" Mom," she called with a shaky voice.

She put her weight against the handrail and struggled up the steps one at a time with her ankle screaming out in pain. Carefully she picked her way up between broken glass and the odd droplet of blood.

The crimson drops multiplied with each hop of the stairs.

Mom... she panicked and tried to hurry the pace.

She got to the top and nearly fainted from shock. Her whole world reeled back and her face flushed as terror seized her. Vermillion smears of hands dragged against the white paint of the hallway's walls. Her Mom's door was smeared in dark dried blood. Layla couldn't look away, her heart beat so hard, that it felt like it was trying to rip itself out from her chest. She limped toward the bloody scene and cautiously pushed the door wide open.

"Oh my God!" She shrieked.

Her Mother's limp and lifeless body lay face up, sprawled across the bed. Blood was everywhere, the sheets were soaked black underneath her and the walls were painted in horrific sprays of bright crimson.

Layla couldn't move, her breath had caught itself in her throat and she felt the room spin out of control. Her Mom was wearing her favourite shirt and it had been ripped to shreds. Deep gashes ran up her arms from the wrist all the way to the shoulders, leaving open wounds that were caked in dry blood. Her hair was matted and clung to her face in the thick coagulation. Layla took a tentative step forward and gasped. There were bruised puncture marks all across her neck - they looked like bites.

"Mom..." Layla whispered as the room came back to her all of a sudden.

She looked up at the smashed window and caught the signs of a struggle. A chair was lying toppled on its side. It looked like she had been tortured before killed.

Maybe she's still alive... Layla dashed to her mother's side.

She wiped back her Mom's sticky hair and fumbled around her neck to find a pulse. Her skin was ice cold underneath the thick blood, but she couldn't find any sign of life. Her Mother was dead.

"No, no, no, no, mom wake up, please don't leave me," Layla screamed.

She dialed 911 and prayed that they might still be able to bring her back. She shook and shook her mother's limp body, but there was still no pulse.

"Wake up," she yelled.

She jumped on top of her mother and tried pumping her heart up and down, up and down. Nothing. She gently climbed off and stood on the side of the bed staring at her lifeless body.

"Mom, come back, come back," she cried. "Please, don't leave me."

The realization dawned on her that there was nothing she could do. Her trembling legs and sore ankle gave way under her and she crashed to her knees. Her head fell onto her mother's lap and she could barely find her breath.

"Please Mommy, don't leave me, I need you," she whimpered as tears streamed uncontrollably.

She took her Mom's hand and noticed it had been clutching onto something. Layla pried her fingers delicately apart revealing a tarnished silver pendant. She had been grasping onto it with the last of her dying strength. It looked ancient and her palm was white with the indentations of the scrolling it held. She took it from her mother's hand and placed it safely in her pocket.

Layla hadn't noticed the screaming sirens or the red and blue flashing of lights outside the broken window. When the paramedics came bursting in she was huddled in the corner silently weeping. She watched them try and revive her mother and she watched them fail. They took her body and dumped it into a black body bag and carried it out the house before anyone even noticed her.

Layla sat for hours in a state of oblivion. Staring into nothingness, feeling as though she was losing the last grip of her sanity. Hey eyes were swollen and drained, and her heart tortured - she had nothing left inside. Not even enough to call her father.

I came into this world innocent, wide-eyed and vulnerable. It was my parent's job to protect and nurture me. But my mom can't do that for me now... and my father failed miserably... I am not holding onto the past they created for me anymore. Tonight, my new future awaits...

Dark thoughts raced through her mind as she came to a life altering decision. She stood to her feet, called a taxi and headed straight for the forbidden docks.