WitchBite

The Friendly...

 I immediately felt regret within twenty minutes of leaving Tithe Manor. Not because I was left to my own thoughts and nerves had crept in. They certainly didn't help, and added gratuitously to the sweat that was already moistening the shirt that now clung to my back. No, rather selfishly, the regret was mostly because of the distance I had to walk. I'm falsely blaming the fact that I nearly died just yesterday, and my body is still recovering.

It was a thin excuse, even if it did hold some validity to it.

The Vampire clan lived a fair distance from the manor. The manor itself was seated almost exactly in the middle of the massive, dense forest that sat on the outskirts of town. A verdant ocean, that bridged the town to the open road that led to the next one, almost granting it an "island-like" kind of isolation. As stereotypical as it may sound, I had always loved the forest. Our forest. All the witches did. Although some more than others. Victoria for example, was very fond of it, but only really interacted with it when she had need to.

I, however, adored it. As familiar as it was to me, it seemed like it satiated a new thread of wanderlust each time I was alone among it's mossy boughs. It's bodies greeted me like family or old friends that I didn't know how much I missed each time. The shadows the leaves cast spoke of tales and whispered memories that held my attention longer than any jaw-clenching television drama ever had. I talked to them often. Of course they didn't talk back, they're trees. But each gentle breath of wind that shuffled it's way through their branches, was like a voice of comfort whenever I needed it most.

Right now they encouraged me further. Tickling at my heels, as if pushing me onward, and despite my fatigue; I felt an urge to run, and hurry on the way to my goal. I didn't, but I did pick up my pace a little.

I stopped when I spotted something. Atop a very old, and overgrown wall, that had once been built to try and push back the forest from the road, was a young boy. Couldn't of been older than ten, maybe younger.

He was sat cross legged, muddy knees peeking proudly from bright blue shorts, as he watched me while prodding at a stone with a stick he had found. He wore a bright red shirt, with some exciting caption I couldn't make out from here. His skin was white, but pinked out around his cheeks and lanky elbows. Freckles dotted his cheeks and nose, perfectly framing a mischievous little grin that was offset by two glittering eyes that were a deep ocean-blue. His hair was short and black, sticking up in odd angles. In the same vein of sticking out, his ears stuck out awkwardly from the sides of his head and you could tell he probably has been reassured a number of times that he'd "grow into them."

A certain chord of victory rung within my chest when I blinked, and this child was no longer there. It was immediately replaced with a highly-strung nervousness, and uncertainty, when I couldn't find him. There was a vampire child somewhere nearby, stalking me, and while normally I would feel pretty confident in my ability to fight off a small child, as weird as that sounds to admit, that confidence started to plummet when he can quite obviously move faster than I could see.

"I found a stick!" A small voice chirped triumphantly behind me, causing me to jump forward clutching my chest with a squeak. I whipped around to find the same small child, wielding the stick victoriously, pointing it skyward like a fabled sword of legend. I couldn't help but smile, even as I was still trying to catch my breath.

"And it's a very cool stick, but you really shouldn't jump out at people like that. You made me jump" I said, straightening my clothes as the boy stared at me inquisitively, flexing the stick with both his hands.

"Oh... Aramis said it was okay... He said you were a Witch and stuff!" His eyes immediately widened towards the end of the sentence, glittering with awe as his jaw dropped slightly, revealing a gappy set of teeth.

"Did he now? Is he by any chance around?" I asked, smirking with my arms folded in front of my chest.

"No... He hasn't come out of his room all day... Wanna see my teeth!? Don't worry, I won't scare you again!" He proclaimed excitedly. Apart of me lingered on what he said about Aramis, but I found myself unable to stop smiling at the boy.

I nod, immediately bracing myself for what was about to come. I watched as he took a second to compose and focus himself, placing the stick amusingly delicately against a nearby tree. When he scrunched up his face and let out a loud

"Arrrrhhh—hsssss!" baring his teeth in my direction with his arms stretched behind him and his hands curled into open claw-like poses. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to will myself not to laugh at his effort. "Did I do it!? Did I?" He asked as he relaxed, pure, unbridled hope pouring from his eyes as his hands clasped together.

"You know: I think I did see some fangs there. They look super sharp, and they scared me a little" I replied, smiling proudly as he did a little happy jig. Snatching his sword-stick and waving it victoriously in the air.

"Yes!" He roared "My mom said I'll grow into them, but I knew I was getting sharper. I knew it!"

"What's your name? I take it you live with Aramis then?" I laughed, suddenly remembering why I was outside in the first place.

"Oh! I'm Casper! Like the ghost? It's Mom's favourite. She made me watch it. It's okay I guess"

"I was gonna say that's a bit passed your time" Boy I felt old talking to this kid. It also highlighted how little I knew about Vampires. Here stands before me, a kid who probably never has to worry about skinned knees, who can move faster than any human eye could follow; and yet he sounds and act like you'd expect a kid of his age to. Do they age? I thought Vampires could only be made by being 'turned' or something of the like? Is that culturally insensitive of me?

"Aramis is my big brother. He talks a lot about you. He talks a lot about you to everyone really, I don't really know why. Ellie likes listening to him about it though, which is good, because then he's not watching me and I can run around the woods. I'm super fast!" He grins proudly, puffing out his chest. I couldn't help but blush a little, although did my best to hide it with a laugh.

Eventually we started walking towards the house. Casper did great things for my anti-Vampire nerves, considering amidst ramblings about nonsensical things to do with cars and movies, he'd randomly appear on the other side of the road. Only for me to then find him practically skipping around the trees to my left whenever I tried to look at him. He reminded me more of a playful spirit than a scary creature of the dark. I guess his namesake held true in some regard.

Time passed surprisingly quickly, as it was only when Casper was in the midst of showing me how he could walk on his hands, he couldn't, that I realised that we were outside the house where they all lived. It was a beautiful house, just as beautiful as when I first saw it on the night of the party, only this time there was a number of creeping plants that spilled out of numerous pots that hung on the various ledges of the house.

The door looked somehow intimidating to me now. The last time I was here, it repelled me because I simply didn't want to go to some noisy party with a pushy guy that was there. Now it seemed to almost grow before me, defiant and strong. The red of it's paint, a warning signal, telling me to back off or face it's wrath. It was strange to think I was suddenly afraid of a door. But my focus was brought back to Casper who was trotting off happily towards the door, kicking up gravel behind him. I picked up the pace to follow after him somewhat as he entered leaving the door slightly ajar invitingly. I debated just entering after for a time, and use him as an excuse to go onwards, but decided to just wait, and knock loudly. My chest was beginning to thump almost painfully. But with my fists clenched in determination, I wasn't going back now.

A/N: Holy shit the big Two-Oh! Chapter 20 baby. Worry not, there's still more to come. This ain't over yet!
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