Blank Love

Somewhere along the line, Mika found himself impatiently waiting for the boy to pay him a visit. The forest was lonely and the boy helped him pass time. Unfortunately, his visits were rather sporadic. He never knew for certain if the boy was going to be there or not.

Since he had nothing to do, he decided to teach the boy how to read. Though reluctant to admit it to himself, Mika did enjoy doing so. In turn, the boy would teach him human games and traditions, which Mika found intriguing.

Sometimes he came covered in bruises. Mika was concerned, but they never talked about it. He was always reticent when his bruises were brought up in a conversation. Mika always wondered if this was the case because his parents were inflicting them on him, or perhaps his siblings? Since he turned laconic when the subject was addressed, Mika had decided not to pry any further.

“What book did you bring today?” Mika asked and the boy’s face lit up.

“It’s a tourist guide from the Purple Zone,” He glowed whilst opening the book, “Mrs. Fitzpatrick told me all about it too.”

She was the elderly woman who owned the orphanage with her husband.

“She said the Purple Zone is actually called Arcadia because humans and vampires are able to live peacefully there,” He exclaimed, showing Mika a picture, “Look! It’s a zoo. Mrs. Fitzpatrick said it’s if you go there, you get to see all kinds of animals. Isn’t that amazing!?”

“And the buildings are bigger than the trees here in this forest..." He continued.

Quietly he watched the boy speak. He was flaring his hands around as he talked about how great Arcadia was. His speech was earnest and innocuous. Mika found it somewhat refreshing.

“I can take you there if you would like,” Mika suggested.

With twinkling eyes, the boy looked up at him, “Me? Y-you would take me there? Someone like me?”

“Yes, I would take someone like you there,” Mika lied.

He did not have such intentions. All he wanted was to taste his blood once more; the thought of it alone made his mouth water.

"I'm sorry," The boy said, trying to hold back the floodgates but failed, "It's just that...I'm just so happy. No one has ever-"

Mika watched him sniffle back his tears. He had gotten over it pretty quickly. Shortly after, he was stretching his little hand towards the sky, "I want to see shooting stars with you, and rainbows too. They say if you make a wish in Arcadia, your dreams will come true. My dream is to one day become a teacher that helps orphans. Do you have a dream too?"

Mika stared in an utter stupor. He had never thought about that. Growing up he had been given everything. He could speak dreams into reality. His eyebrows furrowed. Surely there was something he wanted in life that he did not already have.

When the boy noticed that Mika was deep in thought, he frantically waving his hands about, “Ah! Sorry. I didn’t mean to trouble you.”

Mika's eyes narrowed at the scent of blood.

“Ouch! I scraped my hand,” The boy turned his hand around, trying to see the place he had hurt. He had scraped a fair amount of skin since he had waved his hands whilst he was so close to the tree.

Instinctively, Mika grabbed his hand and licked the wound. He looked up to find a petrified expression on the boy's pale face. It was the first time he had shown fear towards him. Mika wondered if it was because he finally understood the nature of their relationship? Mika was the predator and he was the prey. Not even time could change Mika's black heart. If he wanted a pet he would have domesticated a jaguar. What he wanted was food, and that is what the boy was to him.

Mika released his hand and stood up, “Go home.”

He, in turn, began to walk away as he realized exactly what he had just done. With just a lick, all of his hard work until now had been rendered useless. As he walked deeper into the forest, he heard the little boy running in the opposite direction. After what had happened, he doubted that he was going to come back.