Of Monsters and Legends

When Maria turned to leave Josethero’s room, the strange man was already there, blood on his face around his mouth. Maria screamed. She could hardly even process the fangs protruding from his mouth. She saw the blood, but didn’t have time to think about whose blood it was. “Who—what are you?” She asked when the fear had dulled enough for her to speak. “I do suppose this is confusing for a mortal like you,” the man said, laughing as though greatly amused by her ignorance, “As you appear to suspect, I’m not human anymore. I haven’t been for centuries.” When Maria didn’t jump to any conclusions, he grinned. The stranger was thoroughly enjoying toying with this victim, “Should I give you a few hints? I drink blood. I have fangs. I don’t tend to come out in sunlight—though, contrary to popular belief, I can. Come now, surely you know by now? Or do I have to make a joke about glitter and silver stakes?” Maria could hardly breathe. If she hadn’t seen him with her own two eyes, she’d have thought the man was mad. Now she wondered if she was. “A vampire? Then you don’t have a child here.” Maria said. “On the contrary,” the man replied, “I do. His name is Josethero. He was born to seal a truce between my people and the witches. That truce is no longer desired, and he’s near the age when his powers will awaken, so it’s best for everyone if he just dies now.” Maria mustered all her courage. If a lie would save one child, wasn’t it her duty to do so? “There is no child of a witch here.” “Really?” The vampire laughed, “No exceptional child whose mind matured far faster than his peers’? And no boy who saw colors to clue him in on personalities and dangers? I am no fool.” “Perhaps not, but you will not find him here.” Maria assured the vampire. “I will find him. You will help me.” He said, and Maria felt her feet start to move. This time, she had time to regain control of herself. She would not help this man. She would lead him somewhere, but not to the closet where his son was hiding. Maria walked down the hall, and the vampire followed, not considering that his words had not affected her this time. She led him past the kitchen and considered hurrying in to get her phone and call 911. But there was really no time. He would be on her before she’d dialed a single number, and then who would protect the boy? Instead, she walked him to the back door. As she walked past the other children’s rooms, she was horrified to see that each one of them had fallen prey to the vampire. A pool of blood seeped under each door, as if the vampire had decided to save his appetite for a greater prize. “You will keep walking,” the vampire told her, and Maria let her feet obey, not knowing what else she could do, “You will show me my son.” Maria had led him all the way to the back door. She opened it. “What is this?” The vampire asked, “You will tell me where my son is.” “Up…” Maria tamed her tongue before she could say that he was upstairs in the closet in his room, “Up a tree in the yard. He enjoys climbing. It breaks my heart to make him come in when it gets late, but he wasn’t in his room. This is the only other place he could be.” “You will not stop me.” The vampire said, and went out to look. Maria slammed and locked the door and hurried to the kitchen to call the police. She heard wood splinter as the back door was broken down. Maria couldn’t find the phone. These problems always came with the worst timing, but it had never been this extreme before. “You surprise me, woman,” the vampire announced as he came back to find her, “It takes an extraordinary will to overcome my allure, even if it isn’t a perfect form of hypnosis. And it takes extraordinary courage to lie to my face. Perhaps I should demonstrate why.” The beast quickly had Maria by the neck. His nails tore into her skin as she strained for breath. It seemed to amuse the vampire to see her trying to pull his hand away. “Now, let’s try this again. Where is my son?” The vampire asked, but the woman would not give him any hints. She looked him defiantly in the eye, even as fear consumed her. Then something unexpected happened. The vampire cringed and turned to look behind him. There was Josethero, by the knife block. He’d thrown one of them and hit the creature. “There’s my son. You are a good boy to come out for your father.” The vampire sneered. “I didn’t come out for you. I came out for Maria. Let her go.” Josethero demanded, looking very brave for a small child. “Well, then, I must correct my original statement. You’re not a good boy. You’re a foolish one, because now I no longer need this woman. Shame to waste the blood, but I don’t want to spoil my appetite.” And with that statement, the creature snapped Maria’s neck like it was nothing. Josethero screamed, grabbed another knife, and charged in. Maria’s last thought was what an exceptional, brave boy she’d had the pleasure of raising, even if it was just for a little while. “Oh, it’s you again…” she sounded irritated as she put her hands on her hips. Then Justin told her something quietly that we couldn’t hear, and she replied with, “What? Are you actually insane, or are you trying some lame pick-up line?” “No, nothing like that,” he stammered, looking ready to jump away at any moment, “Jennifer—can I call you Jennifer?” “It’s Jen.” “Okay, Jen, then. All I’m trying to say is that you need to be careful. The world isn’t safe. We aren’t alone, and you, in particular, are in danger. Let us protect you.” She backed away from him warily until she had her back against the fountain’s basin, “I think I can handle myself. I’m not alone in the world. I believe in other people and animals, but there are no monsters. Legends are just stories.” “Some of them might be, but I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe.” “Why is Justin trying to flirt with that badass-looking chick?” Whip asked. “He’s not trying to flirt,” I sighed, not wanting to admit that I’d been the one who wanted her with the gang, “It’s too much to explain. We’ll talk about it later.” “You’re right,” Jen told Justin, “I don’t believe you. You know why? There’s no such thing as monsters.” It was like the universe took that as a challenge. It was just that ironic. A siren chose that exact moment to splash to the surface of the water in the fountain. She was the flashy, obnoxious kind of pretty that’s more distracting than anything else. She had long, black hair, seafoam green eyes, smooth skin, and annoyingly obvious curves. Everything from the greenish sheen over her whole image to the sharp fangs in her smile felt evil. What set Jen off was the webbing in her fingers and toes. “Okay, I concede your point.” Jen admitted in a small voice, backing away from the fountain. I took out my old trusty knife, ready to fight alongside my fellow alpha. And there was a voice in the back of my mind telling me to protect Jen and her lavender personality. The siren saw my knife, but it didn’t seem to intimidate her. She gave a wicked grin and burst into song. The melody was haunting, but pretty. As it bounced off the nearby buildings, I sensed magic in the air. My head suddenly felt like it was being crushed and peeled apart at the same time. I hit the floor. I might or might not have passed out for a minute or two, but I can’t recall one way or the other. I remember a few details, but my head hurt so much that I can’t be sure how much was real and how much was a hallucination. What I do know is that I was useless. I had to just lie there in agony and watch as chaos erupted. The siren didn’t have to lift a finger or get her own hands dirty. Everyone in the square started killing each other with whatever they could use for a weapon, even if that meant just their bare hands. The streets were quickly soaked with blood as people killed each other without reason or self-restraint.