The Emergence Of The Vampire

Memories: 14 My mother always told me not to wander into the woods, but I loved doing it when I could sneak away. After all, I was already fourteen years old. I would go to my favorite spot with the raspberry bushes and eat them until my mouth was sore. But one time I came in to see my bush was half bare. Someone must have found it. Was it animals? Next time I showed up, there was nothing left on it. I must find another one, I told myself. I didn’t want to wander into the woods even deeper, but my craving for the berries was too strong. Then I saw him. A boy was just clearing another bush at a speed I had never seen before. His clothes were similar to my village’s outfits, but were a bit torn up. His shirt and trousers also looked way too big for him. Was he the traveler’s child? “Hey, did you eat my berries too?” I yelled at him and approached him closer against my better judgement. He spun towards me. His face was dirty, covered in berries around his mouth, chin and cheeks, even his nose. “They are not yours, they don’t belong to you,” he smiled, showing his perfect set of blue teeth. “They were mine, I watched over them,” I got closer. “So, what are you going to do about?” he turned around, taking the last of the berries by handful and shoving it into his mouth. I tried to grab on to him, but I only got part of his short sleeve. He moved, and it got torn. “You tore my perfectly good shirt,” He yelled at me and snatched my dress and tore piece of it out. I grabbed his other sleeve and pulled it, ripping it out. He jumped on me, and we rolled into the mud, kicking and screaming. I tried getting on top of him and tried to scratch his face, but he grabbed me instead and rolled on top of me and tried to hold me down. I kicked him and we rolled again. It lasted awhile until we were both tired and existed and just lied next to each other. We were all soaked and muddy, covered in all shades of brown. I could feel the dirty taste in my mouth, maybe with some blood. I rolled my tongue over my teeth. Luckily, all were still in place. “What is your name?” I asked him, still panting. “Arkas. What is yours?” “Kala” “I see,” He replied. “What?” “You like berries?” “Do you?” I got up on my elbows. He did the same. We looked at each other. “I had to get home, wash and try to fix my clothes that you damaged. It’s all your fault!” “Hmm” he smirked. “Look what you did to my shirt,” he laughed. He didn’t seem to care too much. “It was already like this before I touched you,” I got up, trying to get dirt and grass off myself. He followed, watching me intently. “Bye, I guess,” I told him. “See you around!” “I hope not!” I ran home, still his eyes on my back, or was I imagining it. Present time 17 They came at night. I didn’t know at the time what the villagers did to protect us and what they didn’t do anymore. The village knew they were after girls this time. The rumors, the whispers. Some pointed at me when I thought I was not looking. My mother’s face was always worried. Every night, she would lock the doors and the windows. My brother and father slept in separate rooms, but she would sleep with me in the same bed. I didn’t know that the village used to set up guards, but they were always killed at night, so they gave up wasting young lads and stopped setting up the guard. I didn’t know that fathers that used to fight to protect their families in their own home were killed as well. I didn’t know that my mother was not supposed to be sleeping in the same bed as me, but she did it anyway. One night they came for me. Someone knocked on our door first, but my parents knew better than to answer the knocking after sunset. Then I heard them breaking through the window shutters. They used hatchets of some kind. There were only two of them. My mother pulled a big knife from under the bed. They wore dark clothes that I had never seen before; they had something shiny in them that sparkled in the dark even though it was black. Their faces showed no emotion. “Put it down and don’t dare raise an arm. Sit!” said the stranger, looking at my mother. She trembled but dropped the knife and sat on the floor that instant. “You are coming with us,” the other told me. “No, I am not going,” I grabbed at my mother's arms. She hugged me, her body shook, and tears were streaming out of her eyes. “Not my little girl! Please do not take her. Please take me instead! I beg you!” “You will only get up after we leave and keep quiet.” The intruder told her. My mother stopped pleading, but her tears kept falling. The strangers grabbed me and separated me from my mother’s embrace and pulled me towards the window. I tried to bite and scratch, but it was in vain. They held me tight. All I could do was scream. I heard my father banging on the door, but it was locked from inside with a metal bar. I remember mother locking it every night. I thought it was to protect me, but maybe it was to protect my father instead. One jumped through the window while the other threw me out into the other’s arms. One mounted the horse while the other threw me into his arms. They shoved me across the horse, face down, and raced in the night. Our horse was joined by other horses. All I could hear was more hooves beating next to us. But my face was shoved against and beating against the warm wet ribs of the horse.