The Darkness Within: The War of Myths

I have always been impatient, and unfortunately that flaw was killing me. Waiting for the High Council to receive the message and to contact me was pure torture. I had nothing to do but wait until my uncle sent for me. The thought of him brought back the memory of that sight of that blood in a bowl as if it were soup.

I was angered by the stupidity of the humans, but I was even more angered by the cruelness of my people. How could they be so cold as to take blood from a growing child? There were blood bars where women were paid to stay healthy enough so vampires could drink from them, and there were other bars that men went into because the biting gave them some sort of pleasure. It was a sick and twisted world.

I understood the need for food, but I never wanted to have a human child’s blood brought to me as if it were a dish meant to be eaten normally. I knew I wasn’t human, and I knew I never would be thanks to that… One shouldn’t talk badly about their mother, but my mother…

I slammed my fist into a wall close to me. Luckily it was an abandoned building; I wouldn’t get into any sort of trouble for hitting it, and the building was set for demolition so it was already falling to the ground. The chunk that fell wouldn’t be noticeable, or if it was no one would care.

Something felt odd in my chest. As a vampire, I knew I needed blood to survive. Human blood tended to last longer than other types of blood I could get. As long as I kept myself nourished correctly, I could feel a faint heart beat where the blood was forced through my veins. Most vampires had faint heart beats like mine. We could also walk in the sunlight if we wanted, but we would be weakened greatly because the heart had to work twice has hard to keep the blood from thickening in the heat. This wasn’t my heart beating, and it certainly wasn’t blood thickening in my veins. It felt as if my heart was hardening or turning into stone inside my chest.

I shook off the feeling of dread as I continued to walk down the streets. I saw blacksmiths just coming into work; they were mostly werewolves, but I noticed a few humans. I was proud that humans could work along side the werewolves, but it made me a little sadder because I knew humans could never work with vampires unless something was settled.

I continued to walk, and as I walked I heard a loud noise. I sped up a little to catch a glimpse of what could have caused the noise. In an ally-way I saw the most hideously horrid things. A female vampire had knocked over a trashcan while pinning a man to the wall. The pale skin around her painted black lips was stained with the man’s blood. She gave me the most sickening animalistic grin. It took all I had not to lose the contents of my stomach as I ran from the sight.

Maybe the humans were right to hunt down the mythical creatures. Maybe they were simply protecting their lives, but at the same time how could they not know the difference between their own children and a mythical being? It was grotesque to even think what indecencies that could be done to innocent beings. It made my blood boil with anger.

My heart wouldn't beat the same way it used too after the things I witnessed. After the things I've seen I don't think it'll ever beat the same way again. I just prayed that something good would come from the High Council meeting.

I sighed heavily with thoughts of the High Council, the little girl, and the sickening grin of that vampire in the ally. How could the world have changed so much? You would think with the fall of the Romans who had a bloodlust that went beyond the creatures’ wildest imagination that we wouldn’t be such monstrosities. I shook my head back and forth as I tried to put the horrible things out of my mind as I found my father’s blacksmith shop.

“Father,” I called into the darkness of the shop.

“Yes, boy,” he answered from the back. I heard a crackling noise, and I assumed he’d just lit the fire to forge the weapons.

“Today has been terribly gruesome,” I stated as I walked towards the back where he was picking out iron for his newest project.

He stopped to take a long look at me before he smiled one of his famous bright grins. He didn’t show off his fangs, and his dark hair was cut short. He must have just gotten it cut prior to coming into work. His grey eyes reflected the angry red flames, but somehow his countenance remained peaceful. “Would you like to tell me about it as we work, son,” he asked as he threw me a pair of gloves. I smiled as I nodded in agreement.

“I saw something incredibly sickening today,” I began as I started to pump the foot peddle that caused the sander to being turning.

“What could be sickening to a vampire,” my father laughed for a moment before he glanced around to make sure no one heard him.

“I saw a human hunter kill a small human child,” I answered.

“That is horrid,” he agreed in a repulsed tone.

“The way he killed her father was so gruesome. He slit her from her shoulder blade to the bottom of her spine. After she was dead he started searching underneath her skin,” I began explaining in a sickened tone.

“He was looking for wings,” Father asked in a confused tone.

“I believe he thought she was a fairy child. He was killing her before she could do magic,” I answered in a slightly angered tone.

“Did you let the hunter see you, boy?”

“No, Father, I ran straight to Uncle Fredrick’s cottage. I was so angry, and I felt I had to do something about it.” I looked to the floor as I stopped pumping the sander. The metal had reached the right shape for the sword blade.

“What did you do about it then?” He asked as he took the metal to the fire.

“I told Uncle. He laughed, and it made me angrier, so I think I did something even stupider,” I answered honestly as I handed him his hammer.

“What did you do,” he asked as he moved the hot sword over to a table and started banging the shape he wanted into it.

“I talked him into calling the High Council.”

“You WHAT?” My father yelled as he slammed the hammer down. He dropped the sword and gave me his full attention but instead of being calm and collected, he looked murderous.

“I called the High Council,” I answered with little confidence.

“You’re right, son, you did do something stupider,” father hissed as he picked his work back up.

“I should hear from them by morning,” I explained.

“I don’t care to hear what is going to come of this. That is human business. You shouldn’t have gotten involved unless you thought you could have found a human officer,” he scolded.

“I couldn’t think straight after I witnessed that. I was angry, sir,” I tried to explain but he cut me off.

“Go home, Vincent. Go home, and stay there. Do not leave that cottage until I get home in the morning,” he hissed. I took off the work gloves and laid them on a table away from the fire.

“Yes, sir,” I answered as I did what I was told.