The Darkness Within: The War of Myths

The sun was slowly setting, cascading a beautiful wild fire through the cotton clouds that cluttered the sky. Pitter-patter of feet shuffling across the sidewalks could be heard throughout the world as humans rushed to get into their homes. The humans liked to call large boxes of wood and stone their safe-havens. That made most of the creatures laugh, but it sickened me. I hated seeing them cower in fear of us.

The humans must not have realized that most of our kind lives among them. Wizards and witches often posed as mystics and gypsies. Werewolves got lots of jobs doing manual labor on farms, or jobs as blacksmiths. Vampires, like me, were usually easier to notice because we mostly run the local night scenes. Vampires tend to take jobs as bartenders and taxi drivers. The women vampires loved to show off their perfectly sculpted bodies that were more like stone than flesh, and the human men loved it until the women got hungry or angry.

We honestly tried to not harm the humans, but once a man puts his hands on a woman she has a right to defend herself using whatever ‘weapon’ she may have. Wolves controlled their anger pretty well unless provoked, and witches never really harmed anyone. A few love spells may have gone awry, but that didn’t mean anyone had to die.

I watched the people of Transylvania put wooden stakes through the hearts of their dead because they were afraid they would rise against them. People began to hunt anything that held a wolf-like appearance for fear of their lives even though the only attack on a human by a wolf was made by an actual woodland animal. The witches, they had it the worst yet. I saw my friends burned at the stake because they were supposedly witches, but they were simple humans. I drew the line when I saw a human hunter kill a child simply because he thought that beautiful little girl was a woodland fairy.

She was just a child. Her short blond hair was pinned up messily as if she wouldn’t sit quite still for her mother. Her pink dress was faded from wear, and her feet were dirty because she didn’t have any shoes. Her mother more than likely couldn’t afford new shoes just yet, so the poor girl would have to wait. She didn't seem to mind the wait though; I could tell because she had a bright smile covering her face and that childish glow of happiness surrounded her perfectly. She was sitting by a tree, playing with a lightening bug which must have come out early just for the precious child.

The man was rather tall. He wore black head-to-toe. The sickening thing about him though was the silver dagger tied to his belt. He reeked of death and disappointment though I could think of no reason for his disappointment. I watched him as he took the dagger out and slowly crept up to the unsuspecting child. She didn’t have time to scream as he plunged the dagger into her left shoulder blade and ripped it downward. I gasped quietly as he did the same to her right shoulder blade. He then stuck his hands inside her deep lacerations as he began to dig for whatever he was searching for. As I watched him, I realized he was looking for wings. He thought she was a fairy. He killed her because he thought she could do magic or something awful to him.

I was a lowly vampire. There was nothing I could do at the moment, or he would have tried to kill me with the same silver dagger. I tried to think of the things I could do for her. I didn’t know her family nor was I any relation to the girl. The only thing I could think to do was report the man, but I couldn’t report him to the humans without risk of being harmed myself. I would have to report the human murder to my people.

I was nothing in the ranks of my society. My father got a night job as a blacksmith working for the human soldiers. They thought he was brave for only working at night, but what they didn’t realize was he wasn’t human like them. My uncle, however, he was powerful amongst the High Council, which is much like Parliament. They convene once a year to solve vampire problems and to take care of radicals.

I went to visit my uncle straight away after I saw this man kill an innocent at dusk dark with a hand made silver dagger. I couldn’t see anything but that little girl’s face as she bled. I couldn’t do anything for her of course because what was there to do. How could I possibly fix her small back after the hunter sliced into her soft skin as he tried to cut the nonexistent wings out of her back? I couldn’t do a thing, and I wanted nothing more than to see that hunters head on a pike; however, that was not my decision to make… Unfortunately!

I reached a small cottage. There were thick sheets covering the windows to keep the sunlight from entering the cottage. The sun reached its peak and sank below the horizon as I banged like a madman on my uncle’s door. “Uncle Fredrick! Open up,” I yelled as I banged.

“Yes, yes child. What is it that you want,” his wife Maryellen answered as she came to the door in her night dressings. She was a chubby woman, which was normal for a woman of her apparent age. She appeared to be in her early thirties. Her plain mousey brown hair was tied in a loose bun, as tendrils scattered across her forehead. Her brown eyes looked wary as if she had something to worry about.

“I must speak with Uncle now, ma’am. It is very urgent,” I stated boldly as I stood straight. My eyes locked onto hers, and I made sure my countenance appeared strong and sturdy.

“He’s just awakening, child. Do come in and let me fetch him for you,” she answered as she moved to the side of her door frame. I entered the room and stood by the small table as she went to the back of the cottage. I could hear muffled whispers, but I didn’t care. I heard shuffling, and drawers opening and closing.

Within ten minutes my uncle stood before me. His dark hair was disheveled, and his shirt hung unprofessionally over his pants. He wiggled his pale toes against the hard wood floor a few times as he marched towards me. His countenance was stern as his gray eyes bore into my own.

“What do you want at this unearthly hour,” he half hissed at me.

“I want justice for the innocent suffering due to the humans’ stupidity,” I stated bluntly as I met his stern gaze with one of my own. His features suddenly rearranged themselves from a stern look of anger to a look of agitation.

“Why in God’s name would you want justice for the humans,” he half scowled.

“Because I saw a child get her back slit from neck to bottom. The hunter was trying to pull out her wings because he had the mind set that she was a fairy. She was human,” I stated angrily. “I will not stand for such injustice. If you will not do anything about it…”

“What are you suggesting I do about your injustice then, Vincent? Surely, you don’t expect me to…” he trailed off as he watched my hardened features.

“I expect you to do exactly that, Uncle. Call the High Council to a meeting, and I will state my peace amongst them. These despicable humans must be stopped before they start killing off everything good in this world,” I stated angrily.

My uncle stared at me for a few moments. I assumed he was assessing how far I would take the matter, and I would take it as far as I possibly could. I must convene with the High Council, and if they refuse to help me I will take my worries to the human hierarchy. Before long someone will have to listen to me.

“Fine, I’ll make some calls and see if I can get you an appointment, but don’t expect it to amount to much. The High Council doesn’t convene for any little thing,” my uncle agreed as he called his messenger forth.

“Messenger,” Uncle said, “I want you to deliver a message for me. I want it to be there by morning, and do not leave without a reply. Do you understand,” he explained as he scribbled on a piece of paper.

After he was finished he handed me the scrap of paper to look over. It read:



I nodded in agreement with the letter and handed it to the messenger.

“Yes, sire, I will deliver it promptly to Mr. Draven and wait for his reply,” the short scruffy boy answered. He had dirty, messy yellow hair, and he didn’t appear to bath regularly. He was scrawny, and underneath all of that dirt he appeared paler than the average human.

“We need to fatten him up again dear,” Uncle said to Maryellen absently as he sat at his table. I looked at him quizzically.

“I do try to keep him fed, sire, but you run him so much,” she answered in almost a shameful tone.

“We may have to find another to feed on,” he said absently.

“He’s just a boy,” I thought aloud.

“His mother couldn’t afford her gambling debt without help. I needed a new messenger. The old one grew too weak because she thought she could give us regular feedings on her own,” Uncle explained as he waited for Maryellen to put a bowl in front of him. A thick crimson liquid sloshed around inside the bowl, and I could smell it from across the room. Blood.

I ran my pale fingers through my dark brown hair. Some of the natural red was beginning to show up again, and I hated it. It reminded me of what my mother really was because I had her natural hair coloring. My grey-green eyes were sort of a family trait of the Vaara family. I was just happy they were slightly greyer due to my father having grey eyes.

“I must go uncle. Father will be wondering where I am,” I said quickly as I rushed from the house.

How could I expect the High Council to help me defend the innocent humans when they feed off of the same innocent humans as the hunters who killed because they had the wrong idea? Something had to be done about the injustice of the world. If I had to be the one to bring justice to the world, I would happily take on my duty. Innocence would not be lost in this world of monsters.