In the middle of thunderstorm, Arjuna was woken up by the scream of his mother. And a very loud thud afterwards. The lightning striked down, creating a moment of light before returning everything to darkness.
Arjuna step down from his bed. Followed by fear, he opened his door. There were weird noises. Wet noises as if something was dripping. And something crunching. "Mother..?" The little boy called when he slowly entered his parents' room. The room was empty. Arjuna also checked for his brothers. But they were also not in their room.
The sound become louder as he reached the living room. And when Arjuna stepped into the room, his feet touched something wet and red. And his eyes followed the trail of that red liquid. And there Arjuna saw his mother, father, and his older brothers. All laying on the floor. Lifeless.
And something was sucking on his mother's corpse. The fangs stuck into her hand, pouring more blood out, and the monster drank it. The pair of piercing blue eyes watched the little as the monster drank from his mother. And after he was sated, he dropped the woman's body who had lost her color, to the ground as he walked straight to Arjuna.
Arjuna fell. His pants was stained with blood of his family as he tried to pull himself back. Fear. Little boy's heart beated fast as the monster steps closer to him. Arjuna closed his eyes in fear, when the monster had reached him. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to be killed like his family. But what could he do? Little boy was powerless in front of the monster with silver hair.
Arjuna looked up to the monster. He was too scared to speak. His body shivered in fear and his sweat were as cold as the rain outside his house. The monster's had reached the Arjuna's small arm and pulled him up. There were pain. The grip was strong that Arjuna felt as if his hand were going to be taken off. Arjuna cried out of pain.
Monster realized that his hand were too strong for the frail body of a child. "Sorry." He said. And then he carried Arjuna with both of his hands.
Arjuna too frozen in fear. He didn't speak anything. He couldn't. He watched his family's corpses getting further away as he was taken by the monster. Mother.. father... brothers.. everyone were dead. They were killed by this monster, and were eaten.
Arjuna was taken to a rundown house outside the village. It was a house inside the forest. The house had no light and there were only a single candle. Arjuna was cleaned with a wet towel. This time the monster didn't cause any pain like earlier.
"Are you okay?" The monster asked.
Of course Arjuna didn't reply. Back then at the house as he saw his family laying lifeless, all he had inside was fear. But now he had hatred.
The monster smirked as he saw the glare of the little boy. "Those are good eyes."
The monster put his sweater on Arjuna. Being a child, the sweater was oversized. Then the monster carried the boy to the bed. The bed was very rough and hard compared to Arjuna's bed. And he was covered with blanket.
"My name is Karna." The monster said, he watched the boy sat in the corner. Glaring at him with eyes full of hatred. "What's yours?"
Not recieving any reply from the boy, Karna gave up. He walked out of the room, leaving the boy alone in the dark room. The candle wasn't bright enough for Arjuna to really see what was on his surroundings.
Remembering his family. His mother who was sucked dry by that vampire who called himself Karna. Father and brothers who were bleed to death. Arjuna cried as he pulled the covers over his head. He sobbed so hard. "Mother... father..." he called for his dead parents in between his cries.
Karna was right outside the room. Listening to the cries. Poor child.
Arjuna swore that night, that he would took revenge and kill that monster.
By the morning, Karna came back to the room with human food. Two breads and a stick of butter. He used a knife on the butter stick, and spreads them on the bread. And he put the plate of the butter spreaded bread and the knife next to Arjuna. "I don't know how this will taste to you, but I saw humans eat this all time."
Karna then handed him some clothes. It was all his clothes. Karna had returned to Arjuna's house to grab some necesities.
Karna walked away and looked outside the window. His back faced Arjuna. All open and undefended. Arjuna looked at the knife on the plate. With this he might be able to kill Karna. He gripped the knife in his hands. And he stepped down the bed.
Karna was a vampire. He had hearing better than humans. He knew that Arjuna was stepping down the bed with the knife on his hand. And he knew what would came next.
The boy wasn't tall enough to do any real damage. But he managed to stab Karna on the back side waist. Amazing powers of a human child. But lacking any skills. Still it was worthy of praise. "You're strong. But that's not how you hold a knife."
Karna fixed Arjuna's hand position. "You hold it like this. And you push it with your weight."
Karna taught the boy how to hold a knife. Knowing that this might cause his death on the future. But that was amusing by its own way. For Karna, a pureblood vampire who had lived for almost 300 years, death doesn't seem like an enemy. More like a friend.
The boy glared with pure hatred. But soon, tears started to fell down from his eyes. "Monster!" He yelled. "Why did you kill my family?!"
Karna shrugged awkwardly. "I didn't. They were already dead when I got there."
"Lies!" Arjuna tried to stab Karna once again. But his blade was stopped by Karna's hand. It stabbed pass the vampire's hand. And blood came out from the wound.
"I am not lying." Karna said as he unplugged the knife from his hand. The wound healed almost instantly. And he returned the knife again to Arjuna. Indirectly telling the boy to try again.
Arjuna tried once more. "Die! Monster!" He aimed for Karna's stomach, but once again was shielded by his hand. Making the same wound from earlier and healed again instantly.
Arjuna witnessed a monster in a human skin. An immortal who couldn't die by age. And any wounds were healed by seconds. Arjuna cried. How can he kill something like this? The boy were hopeless. He couldn't hurt this monster who had took his family away. All this grudge and hatred.
"Eat your bread, child." Karna said, as he picked the boy and let him sit on the bed. This time he took the knife away. "You can try to kill me again later."
Arjuna didn't have his knife anymore. Then he would settle with his fist. He gripped his hand and hit Karna. Karna didn't stop him. He let the boy hit him whilst crying and shouting. Hoping that this could help his frustation. Because he didn't know what to say to the child. Karna didn't even have the skill to communicate, how can he soothe a child's cry? If stabs and punches could make him feel better, then Karna would gladly take the wounds.
After Arjuna calmed down. Karna left the boy on his own again. He strolled outside, enjoying the sunlight. Quite a weird hobby for a vampire. But Karna liked the warmth. On contary to popular belief, vampires are fine with sunlight and garlics. Most of them living in disguises as humans. Working and living like a normal human. Only at night they would hunt for blood.
Arjuna watched Karna from the window. He was at the second story of the old house. Karna walked around. Then a bird landed on his head. And a second and third one on his shoulder. Arjuna was shocked to see a blood sucking monster that could attract animals like that. Monsters weren't supposed to look that harmless.
"Do you want to come down?" Karna asked as he looked back to Arjuna. But Arjuna didn't give an answer. All he did was keep glaring. "Hm. Suit yourself." Karna said as he continue strolling around until Arjuna couldn't see him anymore.
Karna wasn't there anymore. This is my chance to run away. Before that monster kill me for dinner! He ran down the stairs, and ran trough the door. He didn't know where he should go, he just ran straight to the forest.
Arjuna was lost. He didn't know where he were. His surrounding looked the same everywhere. Just dense woods and nothing else. But he couldn't stop, if he stop, he might be Karna's next meal, he believed so. So he kept walking aimlessly.
"Arjuna! I've been looking for you!"
Arjuna looked to the source of the voice. It was the priest at the church his family attend every sunday. "Priest!" Arjuna finally found his way out. He ran to the priest. Finally he could be saved from Karna. Arjuna cried in relieve. "Priest! There's a vampire.. he killed my family!"
The priest smiled. His droppy eyes and cheeks made him looked very kind. "Yes" He hold Arjuna's arm very strongly, it hurt. "I was leaving you for the last.. but that person had disturb my meal.."
The priest's smile changed into an evil grin. And his grin showed fangs. "Finally, I can taste you..." the old priest said, saliva oozing out from his corner of mouth, dripping on Arjuna's face.
"Priest..?" Arjuna's eyes widened as he saw the priest's true self. A bloodlusted vampire. Arjuna tried to free himself but the grip was too strong. There was nothing he could do. He closed his eyes, giving up. Accepting that he will see his family soon.
But instead of having the fangs sunk into his skin, Arjuna's face was splattered with blood. The priest's head fell to the ground. "You shouldn't wander alone.." Karna looked at Arjuna as he licked his blood stained finger. "Arjuna.." Karna called his name.
Arjuna fell to his knees as he saw the brutal murder in front of his eyes. And then he puked. He was simply a eight years old and wasn't able to handle something like that.
Karna looked concerned with the boy. "Sorry. That was a bit too much. I will be careful not to do this in front of you next time." Karna grabbed the dead priest's body. He pulled off the sleeve, and he sank his fang on the arm. And he started to feed.
Arjuna was terrified with that scene. It was exactly how Karna feed from his dead mother.
Karna realized Arjuna was scared even more. And he felt bad. "Sorry." He stopped sucking from the dead priest. "I won't do this in front of you anymore."
Arjuna was taken back to that rundown house. He didn't refuse or fight while Karna was carrying him. For now, Arjuna had nowhere to go. He had lost his family. And whenever he remember his family, his heart hurt and he couldn't hold his tears. "Ugh..." Arjuna tried to wipe his tears with his hands.
"Sorry. I couldn't save your family. I was too late." Karna apologized. "And I'm sorry for tarnishing your mother's body. I was starving and couldn't ressist."
Arjuna looked at Karna's face. He was very different from the priest. The priest was full of bloodlust and wickedness, while Karna's was plain. There weren't any malice. He seemed not dangerous at all.
Karna put Arjuna down as they returned to the house. Karna looked around. This is not a good place for a child. Human children need to go to school. And they need friends. But he can't return to that village where Arjuna lived. Because that village was filled with too many vampires. And Karna wasn't heartless enough to just abandon Arjuna. "Arjuna, do you want to return to human world?"
Arjuna nodded.
"Let's do that then." Karna never liked to stay in human community. First, of course because he was a vampire. Seeing all those walking bloodbanks could be bad when he got hungry. Second, he avoided human society because there were chances that his cover could be blown, and hunters were right beside him. Third, was because the vampires. Karna was a pureblood, meant he was born from vampire rather than turned from a human. And purebloods, while stronger, were often hunted by other vampires because their blood could strenghten normal vampires. And unlike turned vampires, pureblood vampires' blood could turn a human into vampire with little riskof dying. And there were humans who were willing to pay high price for that.
But now there was Arjuna whom Karna couldn't abandon. Well, Karna just had to do it. "Arjuna. I will protect you until you can do it yourself. I promise you. Even if it cost my life."
—
Arjuna watched around. People. Crowd. In the city centre, they were doing their business. Selling food, things, and merchandises. Arjuna never saw so much people. He lived in village, and this was the first time he stepped his feet on big city.
Arjuna's hand was held by Karna. It was to prevent the boy from getting lost. But Arjuna believed it was to kill him if he made a noise or shout for help or try to run away. Which was why he silently followed Karna with fear.
Karna looked around, seeing the food stalls. "What do you usually eat?" Karna asked. Totally clueless what to purchase. But Arjuna didn't answer his question, so he randomly picked common food item like fruits, bread, and milk.
Then Karna's attention was taken by people with their children at restaurant happily consuming drinks and cakes. Maybe that would help..
Karna dragged Arjuna to the restaurant. Karna picked the boy and seated him because Arjuna won't seat himself. Karna understood that the boy was still scared hell shit of him. Considering how he killed and feed in front of him. Plus feeding over his mother's corpse. Karna felt a bit guilty for making Arjuna saw that. And would like to make him feel better. Karna took the menu, and put it in front of Arjuna. "Pick what you like."
Arjuna didn't pick anything. He stared at the menu and then to Karna. And forth and so. He just couldn't pick anything. Who can order a cake in front of a blood sucking monster who could kill him anytime any moment?
When the waitress come, Karna asked for the recommendation for children. "Something you think will fit this child, and water."
"I understand. Then how about strawberry shortcake?"
Karna nodded. Even though he didn't know what strawberry shortcake was. But asking what strawberry shortcake would be too suspicious.
The cake arrived. Arjuna frowned at it. He wasn't in mood for cakes. But he looked back to Karna.
"Eat." Karna said that. Karna didn't mean anything. He just wanted Arjuna to eat the cake because he was worried for him. Arjuna hadn't eaten anything good for days.
But from Arjuna's filter, that word of Karna was a command. And Karna's dead fish eyes made him looked even more dangerous. 'If you defy me, I'll kill you.' Was what his face spoke.
Arjuna shivered as he picked the fork and start digging on the cake. Arjuna believed Karna wanted him to eat because Karna wanted his food to be healthy and delicious. When am I going to be killed? He thought. He ate the cake. But it wasn't sweet or delicious. It tasted like impending death.
Karna smiled. Glad to see that Arjuna finally was 'willing' to eat something. And that even scared Arjuna even more.
Karna waited for Arjuna to finish the cake. Then he paid. And he took the boy's hand, walked to the next stop. The book store.
Karna walked from shelf to shelf, browsing for what he needed. He reached the child area. Children's book was the thing he was looking for. But another book caught his eyes. The book with light blue covering. 'Manual: How to raise a child.' Karna picked that book, feeling lucky. The he gazed on Arjuna. "Which one do you usually read?" He asked flatly.
Arjuna filtered the question as command. He gulped in fear. "I don't read." He answered. Hoping the vampire won't do anything.
"I see." Karna replied short. And he pulled the boy to cashier, and paid for his manual book.
Then, the next stop was a bar. "Welcome." The bartender said as Karna and Arjuna walked inside. "Oya, rare to see you here. What can I help you with?" The bartender was a beautiful man with messy white hair. Violet eyes that's so beautiful. If not for his bartender attire and voice, people might mistook him as a woman.
"Merlin, I want to sell my blood." Karna said.
Merlin picked a small glass bottle and walked from the bar. "Ah. Your blood is precious. You know how is everyone thirsty for you." Merlin smiled friendly to Karna. And then his attention switched to Arjuna. "Is this child for sale too?"
"No. Arjuna is not food." Karna spoke as he dragged the boy behind him. Hiding him from Merlin's dangerous gaze.
"Oya. Didn't know you like to take in pets.." Merlin was amused. He eyed on Arjuna and then to Karna. "Anyway, let's get to business."
Merlin handed the small glass bottle to Karna. Karna understood what he had to do next. He bit his own hand, making it bleed. And poured the blood into the glass. After it was filled, he gave it back to Merlin. Merlin was pleased. Because a pureblood vampire's life force worth so much more than what he would pay Karna for. Merlin grinned at the blood, and he took out a thick amount of money, paying Karna for his blood. "Happy to do business with you. Come back later, And you too, pet-kun~"
"Ah. I am too." Karna replied. He didn't have anything to do with Merlin anymore. And Arjuna wasn't comfortable in that place. So Karna quickly left.
Karna rented a room. It was tall local housing bulding where people stay and go. "From now on, this is your house." Karna said to Arjuna as he dropped his bags and stuff.
The he sat down on the chair. And he took the book he bought earlier. And he started reading, while constantly checking on Arjuna who stood in silence.
To raise be a good parent, one must first love their child.
Karna shrugged slightly at the thought. Arjuna wasn't his child. And Karna wasn't sure what love was either. He was raised void of interractions.
What is the most important in rasing a child is to make sure the child was mentally and physically provided.
Next are explanations on how children should act based on their age. But Karna didn't know how old Arjuna was. "What's your age?"
"Eight.." Arjuna answered.
At age eight, children are anthusiastic with physical activities. Such as playing and running around. In terms of social and emotional development, eight-year-olds enjoy having and making friends and take pleasure in imitating the actions of friends and peers at school.
Karna returned his gaze to Arjuna. Sending him to school was a good idea, but not for now. Arjuna would need something more basic first before he was released back to human society.
Make sure your child eat balanced food! Keep them happy and safe all the time! Hug them when they are sad or scared and remember always to respect them!
I see. Having a child is quite troublesome. Humans are amazing. Karna thought. Karna's plan initially was just to keep Arjuna for some time until he was old enough to care for himself. But after reading the book, it felt like that won't be archived in a year or two.
It was raining again that night. Rainy season wasn't Arjuna's favorite. It was cold, and it reminded him to his family.
He sat up as he looked to the window. Water drops covered the glass. Karna was sleeping on the chair with his arms crossed. He gave the bed to Arjuna. There were an option to share the bed but Karna felt it was unnecessary. And Arjuna always got tensed up when Karna touched him.
"Can't sleep?" Karna asked as he found Arjuna sitting on the bed. Arjuna tensed up when he heard Karna's voice.
Karna remembered the book told him to hug when children felt scared or sad. So Karna did it. He walked to the bed, sat on the side. Arjuna flinched back when Karna sat on his side. Arjuna thought he was going to be sucked by the vampire. He didn't expect a hug. And he certainly didn't expect a vampire's body to be this warm. This is almost like a human. The he felt his head patted by Karna.
Karna wasn't sure if this only, was enough to express feelings. Not that he believed words were enough as well. But he better said it anyway. "I'll protect you. You can sleep in ease."
Arjuna couldn't believe, the voice of that vampire was gentle and kind. And Arjuna felt safe in his arms. It was warm and peaceful. Arjuna slowly closed his eyes, and he fell into silent slumber after days without sleep.
—
It was a weird feeling. At first Arjuna feared Karna, the vampire with piercing blue eyes. But the more he spent time with Karna, the more Arjuna dwelled on his family's death, the less he fear Karna. No. It wasn't Karna. It was death that he no longer fear. If Karna wanted to suck him dry, then so be it. Arjuna just didn't care anymore. And when Arjuna realized, he had been with Karna for five months. They have opened and talk to each other. And Karna hadn't touched him.
So far Karna had treated Arjuna well. In fact, a little bit too well for an emergency ration. Keeping a human child barely alive so he can be sucked from was supposed to be easy. Basic food was enough. But instead, Karna tried to cook for Arjuna. Because the book told him to make sure balanced diet for children.
Karna read the recipe book. He put all the measurement presicely. He bought a digital scale for this. For liquid things, he used the lab glass. For the cuttings, he used ruler to cut the meat pieces perfectly. "Cooking is very complex, don't you think? Chefs are amazing people. They do this everyday. Such dedication is worthy of praise."
Arjuna stared from the dining table. Who would have thought a vampire could be this stupid? Of course people don't use lab glass, scales or ruler for cooking. Arjuna wanted to laugh because Karna looked quite troubled as he did what the cookbook told him to. And Arjuna never saw that expression before. Karna seemed less and less dangerous day by day. Even more comical because Karna said dumb things almost all the time. And he said those with straight face.
"I'm done." Karna said. "Eat this." He continue as he put down the plate of fried rice on Arjuna's face.
Arjuna did as he told. He took a spoonful of the friedrice into his mouth.
"How's it?" Karna asked. Standing and waiting for the feedback. He was looking confident.
"It's not salty enough." Arjuna commented.
Karna was slightly surprised. "That's weird. I've followed the exact amount.." he said as he rechecked the recipe. He found no problem there. He went to his cooking tools. And he believed his lab glass was the problem. He picked the glass an looked at the little sauce on the bottom of the glass. "Some of the soy sauce stay in the glass. Next time, I will have to re-add the amount that got left in glass. I see. I see." He said with his eyes closed. He was a little bit disappointed. Karna was confident that he had perfected the meal, but he didn't. Then he wrote down a note about the thing he had just learnt and stick it on the fridge next to the other notes.
Seeing Karna doing all these little things made him looked very humane. But again, Karna was still a vampire living from human blood. He left the house at nights, surely to feed. Arjuna had gotten curious, how long will Karna keep fattening up Arjuna before he will feast on him. Of course Arjuna was still afraid of the idea being sucked by a vampire. Karna once told Merlin that Arjuna wasn't food. But how much truth does that sentence hold? Arjuna honestly doubt that. Or maybe what Merlin said was true, Karna was keeping him as a pet. Like how humans kept dogs and cats.
And just like humans who took their pets for walk, Karna took Arjuna for strolls on the evening. But for Arjuna, the leash was Karna's grip on his hand. Karna never let go of Arjuna's hand whenever they were out.
Arjuna's attention was stolen by an ice cream truck. It wasn't there last week when Arjuna came. There were a few children lining. And some of them were already enjoying their colorful ice cream.
Realizing Arjuna's interest with the ice cream truck, Karna asked if he wanted it. "Do you want that?"
Arjuna nooded shyly. Karna was glad that Arjuna had opened up. It took Karna three weeks of waiting before Arjuna started to communicate with him.
They walked to the ice cream truck. "What flavour, young man?" The ice seller asked as he handed Arjuna the flavour list.
Arjuna picked the vanilla.
That day, Karna was utterly shocked to know there were more than ten flavours of ice cream. He always had thought they all should be the same, only come in different colors for variation. But each color representing different taste? Humans are indeed amazing. Karna thought as he and Arjuna sat on the bench.
"Oya. You're taking your pet on a walk?" That second Arjuna heard that voice, he knew who that person was. It was Merlin. He walked to them, then taking a seat with them. Making Arjuna in between two man. "Haha, I see you're fattening up your food." Merlin added as he saw Arjuna holding his ice cream.
"Arjuna is not a pet or food." Karna said in flat tone.
"If this is not food or pet, what? Could it be you're raising your future mate?"
Arjuna didn't know what Merlin meant by that. Arjuna knew nothing about vampires and their terms. But that one interest Arjuna. Because Merlin was talking about him. And Merlin was looking to Arjuna, grinning. He was totally interested in the young boy. Merlin terrified Arjuna.
"That's not it." Karna denied. But he said no more than that. Instead, he pulled Arjuna's hand. "Let's go, Arjuna."
Karna never liked it when Merlin tried to get close to Arjuna. Because Merlin wasn't a good vampire, unlike Karna. Merlin might not do anything to Karna, but who knows if he would try on Arjuna. Karna hoped that Merlin won't thought of anything potential to harm the boy.
What Merlin talked about was stuck in Arjuna's head. What is mate? Is that another term for food?
"Karna"
Karna wasn't expecting Arjuna to call him by his name. He never did. That was a pleasant surprise. "What?" Karna asked in response.
"When are you going to bite me?"
Karna finally understood why the boy seemed to fear him so much. He must have thought Karna kept him as food. "You're not my food, Arjuna. I will not bite you."
Arjuna still wasn't sure if he could trust Karna or not. "Then what about the 'mate' Merlin said?"
"That.." Karna paused a moment. "In human terms, maybe it's like marriage."
Arjuna blinked in surprise. Was Karna taking him in to marry him in the future? "But we're both male!" Arjuna said. Indirectly rejecting the idea. Arjuna didn't want to marry Karna.
"Ah.." Karna was a bit troubled how to explain the situation. There will be a lot of things to say. Karna was weighing if he should explain or just let it go. But maybe he should. "I am an omega, Arjuna."
"What's that?"
"That..." Karna was at loss. He didn't know how explain that because Arjuna was a human and a child. "In human terms, it's like female."
Arjuna got even more confused. "But you're a man."
"Yeah."
"How can that be?" Arjuna's brain was in error.
And Karna was also in error in how to explain. "Uhh... that... unlike human, vampire's have three sexes. And their looks isn't the indicator of that." Karna paused to check on the boy. Arjuna clearly didn't understand the topic, so he changed the talk. "Arjuna, do you want to go to school?"
Karna was getting a little bit worried about his own blood. He had traded five small bottle amount of his blood for necessities and money over this seven months. His blood wasn't supposed to be sold that way. Because with his blood, any human can be a vampire. Because Karna was a pureblood (born a vampire). Not a turn-blood (turned into vampire by other vampire's blood) like most vampires out there. Humans can still turn with turn-blood's blood. But that was still low chance of sucess. If one failed, he dies. But with Karna's blood. It was almost a certain one would turn into a vampire. His blood fetch really high price thanks to that.
It wasn't that Karna dislike vampires, but not all vampires were kind enough to respect humans. Some of them straightly kill just for feeding and playing. He could just hope the people who would consume his blood was vampires.
And the last bottle he bleed himself for was not for money. It was for documents. He needed legal paperwork to send Arjuna to school. Merlin had connections to the higher ups. There were vampires with power in human society. And so on, to make a new identity. Karna's previous identity had died from car crash. And Arjuna had legally become his younger brother.
Usually when they left the house, Karna would be holding Arjuna's hand. He did the same. Arjuna's hand was held by Karna right after they left.
But then Karna let go of the smaller hand at the middle of the way.
Arjuna didn't expect that. Heck, Arjuna didn't even expect that Karna would want to send him to school. What if Arjuna run away? What if Arjuna tell people that Karna was a vampire in disguise. Then he would be free. He had always thought about that. Karna might have been nice and kind to Arjuna. But how long would that last? Where is the certainty in that? Karna was a vampire and Arjuna was a human. They were never meant to get along.
Arjuna looked up to Karna. To check why the vampire had decided to not held his hand.
And Karna looked back to the boy. Karna shown slight sadness in his eyes. He said "I trust you." and added a smile afterwards.
.
.
.
That smile was the only thing Arjuna couldn't betray. In the end, Arjuna allowed himself to become this kind and gentle monster's pet.