The Bitten Assassin

The Memory

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The man in a long, dark cloak held a small bundle of blankets in his arms. His eyes were locked on the face of the newborn he was holding carefully. A woman was nearby, keeping distance yet watching intently.

The man stroked the baby's left cheek, the little boy reaching his tiny hand towards the one carrying him. His little fingers wrapped around the man's pointer finger and remained there despite the baby's eyes being closed.

"May I hold him?" The woman spoke up finally.

The silence holding afterwards made her heart stop. It rang in her ears and made her blood run cold.

The man turned around, meeting her eyes. She had known him so well, but now he seemed like a total stranger. Yet they each knew the boy he held was both of their's.

The wife gave birth hours before, but hadn't been allowed to see the boy since.

The man's stare pierced through the woman's desperate gaze.

"We shall name him Mykino."

"But we agreed-"

The man opened his mouth, allowing light to dance across his fangs. The white surface, long and sharp, flashing thoughts of a horrible demise through the mother's head.

Only after she gave birth she was allowed to discover her husband was a vampire the whole time. She cursed herself for being foolish, not drawing any attention to how he refused to go outside during the day, how he was awake all night, how pale he was, but never, ever had she seen his teeth so sharp. She swore they had never been like that before.

"Can I at least hold him, Vlad? He's ours after all," she requested, quiet and nervous.

There was a moment of silence before the father turned to face her completely, his eyes not lifting from the boy. He approached the woman who nearly fainted in fear.

Slowly, but surely, he handed the child over, expressionless yet dangerous.

The baby was placed in her arms, and she cradled him against her chest, taking calm breaths so he wouldn't cry.

"Vanessa, you do know what this means?" Vlad spoke, his voice deep and ominous as usual. Vanessa looked up from her son with an expression only read as: scared.

"I will give you time with your son. But once he says his first word, you must leave his sight and never return," he explained.

"What?! You never said this would happen! He's our son... What happened to us?" She asked, raising her voice at first, then lowering it when she realized what she said.

Yet Vlad was still.

Silent, appearing to be thinking.

"What I say, you must listen to. No matter what, after the first word, you must leave."

The woman met her husband's eyes, filled with a thick, unmistakable feeling from deep inside...

She recognized what he truly felt.

He felt remorse.

He felt bad for what was to come.

He was sorry.