Prince of The Night

32

This chapter contains cruel language and gruesome scenes, read at your own advice.

Rue

"Mommy, are you sure no vampires would come at night and kill us because they smell my blood?" The blonde little boy asked his mother.

"Ashton, I told you multiple times already, vampires aren't real. Besides, your wound is fine, we cleaned it and covered it." She assured him.

"Are you sure? Bennett and I watched a movie in the car on the way here about a vampire slaughtering a whole town and it seemed pretty real to me."

Guessing the height and naivety of this boy, I'd say he's in between the ages of 9 or 12.

"Ashton." An old man with a cane came into view as he began walking towards them. "For the 78 years I've lived, and the dozens of times I went camping, I can assure you, there is no such thing as vampires. Besides, your grandma and I used to camp over here when we were young, and took your aunts and uncles and mom over here as well."

"And nothing bad ever happened?" The little boy tilted his head down but continued looking at his grandfather.

"I mean, your father did fall into a stream once, but that was his fault. We told him it wasn't a good idea to try to navigate the woods in the dark, but he did anyway." The woman began laughing at the memories.

Not too long after another little boy came into view with two women. One looked in her early 30s while the other looked to be in her late to mid 20s.

"It's very beautiful out here tonight." The shorter one said as she placed firewood next to the fire that was lit.

"I agree, it's not too cold, but it's not too warm either considering we are out here in the winter." The taller one said.

When I looked to my left, I noticed 2 other guys who were building the tents chatting and laughing it up with each other. I assumed all 8 of the people camping here were friends and families. That made my heart sink.

"Hey dad, do you think we should carve our name: and age on that tree over there before we head to bed?" The taller woman asked.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot to tell you boys— Ashton and Bennett— it is a family tradition that your grandmother made up to carve our names and ages on a different tree each time we come over here." A gloss came across grandpa's eyes as he recalled that memory. "Your grandmother was always a sucker for memories."

"Carve our names and ages on a tree..." Bennett said, confused.

It became clear to me that this was the younger boy's first time camping out with family.

"What if someone searches us up on the internet and stalks us." He scrunched his nose up and itched his chin.

"Boys, you two really need to stop with the questions and loosen up. I understand it's your first time camping but come on." Ashtons mom complained.

"Exactly boys, listen to your mother, let's go." A guy in a blue shirt took a blade out of his bag and stood up initiating the walk to the tree.

Soon after, everyone followed him

"This is weird considering the day and age we are in." Bennett muttered referring to the advancement of technology.

The names that were carved on the tree were:

Franklin Jones- 78 years

Cassie Hinds- 32 years

Marcus Hinds- 32 years

Mary Jones- 30 years

Carlos Martinez-30 years

Bonnie Martinez- 27 years