This couldn't be happening, and yet, it was. The man, whose red-rimmed yellow eyes shone with madness, was here in his home. There was no more denying that he had been real and not just a figment of his Ezra's imagination, the one who had transformed him into this foul abomination and his voice… it was the same one as earlier, the one that had given the boy orders that lead to the death of Sabine.

Ezra took a slow step back, not taking his eyes off the creature who remained by the doorway, watching him with twisted amusement. His back bumped into the archway and he felt trapped, pinned down by fear. The boy knew very well what this man - if you could even consider him as such - was capable of and now he had access to Ezra's home, where his parents slept upstairs, blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Then, as if the universe was laughing at his misery, the kitchen and dining room light flickered on. Ezra snapped his head to see his dad holding a baseball bat and his mom standing behind with a distraught look on her face, and for a moment Ezra wondered. Had they found Sabine yet?

"Ezra," Hera gasped in surprise. "We heard you cry out in pain."

Their attention then turned to the man who had still yet not moved from his spot and automatically put the two together. The boy wanted to open his mouth, to tell his parents to run, but his body did not obey.

"Ezra," Kanan's voice was serious as he regarded the intruder with weary eyes, tightening his grip on the bat. "Go find Sabine and stay in her room until we come for you. I don't want this man hurting you again."

The creature burst into laughter, making them flinch in surprise. "Oh, I don't think you need to worry about Sabine anymore."

Hera gasped, tears forming as she covered her mouth in shock before turning to run up stairs, causing Ezra's eyes to widen and his breath to hitch. He felt like vomiting, having to watch the very scene he had wished to have avoided play out. His father's heart was racing so fast that the sound pounded in his ears like a loud drum playing a steady, quick pace. Everything was quiet and the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, weighing heavily on them. It wasn't long before a heart wrenching wail echoed through the house.

Hera had found Sabine.

Resisting the urge to go after his wife, knowing he had to protect his son, Kanan narrowed his watery eyes, taking a menacing step forward, overcome by grief and rage, having a very good idea of what had happened to his daughter.

"You will pay for what you did!" His dad hissed out, his voice trembling as tears began to pour out, listening to the distant sobbing of his wife from upstairs. Ezra wanted to scream, to plead for forgiveness, to ask for mercy, but knew that was impossible. He had wanted nothing more than to run, but that was also impossible, unable to leave his parents' fates to this fiend.

" I didn't do anything," the abomination purred out, never taking his bright eyes off Ezra. "Someone else did."

Hera came down again, nearly tumbling from the steps, her face covered in tears and snot, her lips trembling, sputtering nonsensical words, unable to catch her breath. She buried her face into Kanan's chest, clutching his shirt with shaking hands and he held her tightly as he raised his bat up threateningly towards the intruder.

"She's dead! Our Sabine's dead!" Were the words that Ezra could make out from his frantic mother and his insides turned. Guilt clawed at him, twisting and tearing at him as he watched his mom come so undone from something that he had done. "S-so much b-blood! I called…."

"Liar!" Kanan yelled at the demon of a man and Ezra flinched, backening even more into the corner he had trapped himself into as if his father's anger and hate and grief were directed towards him. This was becoming all too much, a nightmare where he spiralled forevermore down the endless pit of despair. Only this wasn't a nightmare. It was reality.

The man merely chuckled at the accusation, acting as if it was nothing more than child's play. He then turned his full attention to the frightened boy who desperately fought back his tears.

"Tell them what happened, Ezra ," the creature said with amusement, and there was an underlying tone of command and the boy felt as if it had put him under a spell. It was the same feeling when his body had acted on its own, biting into Sabine's flesh and draining her dry. It was then that he realised that he must have been placed under a sort of hypnosis by this thing and Ezra opened his mouth to accuse the fiend.

"I killed Sabine," he said instead in an eerie monotone voice. He recoiled at the words that came out of his mouth, they weren't the ones he had wanted to say!

Despite having been trained as a police officer, nothing had prepared Kanan to hear those (heart wrenching) words coming from his son's mouth and his grip loosened on the bat as he lowered his arms in shock, his weapon hitting the floor with a dull thud as his jaws went slack. Hera let out a choked sob, images of Sabine lying so still on Ezra's bed, blood etched over her torso, neck and face - Ezra's bed , the small detail did not seem this dreadful, having concluded that the murderer had killed Sabine, finding out about this intruder before their parents did and attempted to protect her brother from this abomination of a man. However, there was no way that their sweet little son could possibly do such a heinous act.

"Tell me that it isn't true," Hera demanded, her voice trembling. For Ezra to say such a thing without so much as flinching unnerved her, as if this horrific situation was nothing more than some practical joke.

"I-I-" Ezra began to choke on the words, unable to spit them out as he, too, began to cry. His parents gasped in horror, seeing blood pour down the boy's face. Realising this, Ezra immediately covered his face and cried even harder, feeling the rise of remorse, confusion, and self-loathing. He could feel their burning eyes on him still, and he knew that he must have looked as much as an abomination at that man who had started all of this.

They had finally found out the truth, that their son - he doubted he could even call himself that - was a monster, that he was the one who had murdered his own sister.

"What have you done to my son?!" Kanan demanded, seething with anger and shock. Ezra looked up at his dad in surprise, not having expected such a reaction from him. He would have thought that Kanan would repudiate him for what he had done, for what he had become.

The intruder merely chuckled in response before pulling his lips back into a cruel grin, his sharp teeth glinting under the sharp light. Then he extended his arm out with his fingers slightly curled and Kanan started making a gurgling sound as he was lifted up by an invisible force, ripping him from Hera's embrace. Ezra and his mom could only watch in horror as Kanan scratched away at his throat with no avail and was then pulled into the fiend's open palm, his fingers curling tightly around his neck.

"Kanan!"

"Dad!" Ezra screamed, running to stop the monster from hurting his father. However, an invisible force pushed Ezra back, crashing into the table with a yelp.

"Ezra!" Hera was by him in an instant, helping him sit up before her gaze of sheer terror averted to Kanan and the monster choking him. She picked up the bat that had been dropped earlier with trembling hands, and tried her best to put up a brave face, knowing she did not look intimidating considering how broken she must have looked. Despite the horrible words that her son had said, though she really did not believe them - refused to believe them- he was still her son and would protect him as such. "Ezra, stay behind me."

"Spawn," the man said, his voice and face were passive, though the cold glint of mockery in his eyes remained as he regarded the pitiful threat. "It's time for us to finally feast."

A deep anger surged through Ezra as he leaped up to his feet, almost knocking his mom over, and lunged himself at the creature with a battle cry. There was no way he was going to let this fiend hurt his family any longer! "You will not harm my parents!"

His efforts were futile, of course. The creature was far stronger than Ezra, who momentarily let go of Kanan to grab the boy instead.

"Ezra," Kanan gasped out, clutching his neck as he attempted to regain his breath, feeling like a failure that he was unable to protect his children. He could only watch helplessly from where he had collapsed on the ground as the fiend tightened his grip on his son's neck, leaning in.

" I am the master," he snarled out, spit flying onto Ezra's face, who could only whimper out in fear, recoiling from the vile breath of death. " You are my spawn, and you will obey me without question and without fail."

The vampire was forced to let go of his creation when a bat came flying towards his head. He growled as he grabbed the wooden club and snapped it, sending splinters shattering to the ground. Hera regarded the monster with eyes burning with determination, the eyes of a mother willing to do anything in her power to protect her child. She cried out in pain when he backhanded her, sending her toppling to the ground. Blood began to surface from where she had been scratched on her cheek, causing Ezra's eyes to dilate and his throat to burn with thirst.

No! The boy scolded himself, squeezing his eyes shut as if it would help fight against the scent of blood. He couldn't - wouldn't - repeat what happened earlier, not to his mom or dad!

"You still protect the boy, even knowing he had slaughtered your daughter without any hesitation?"

"My son would never hurt his sister, not on his own free will," she spat out, glaring at the fiend. Ezra felt warmth blossom in his chest as tears pricked his eyes, soon followed by the cold sensation of guilt. Even now his parents would protect him despite knowing the hard truth of what he had become and whose blood he carried on his hands, and whose blood he now craved.

"Ezra," the monster said with a sense of calmness that sent shivers up the boy's spine. "I grow tired of this," his yellow eyes turned away from Hera to burn into the scared, blood streaked eyes of Ezra. "I think it is time for you to silence your mother, don't you think?"

The boy's eyes widened at the command and his stomach churned when he had found himself moving towards his mom. He screamed at himself to stop moving, to stay away from his mother, but his body did not respond as if it had a mind of its own, leaving him nothing more than a mere passenger. Hera watched her son approach with petrified eyes, unable to understand what was happening.

"Ezra?" She choked out, hoping to reach Ezra with her voice but the boy's steps did not falter. It was only in that moment that she realised his eyes weren't the deep blue that she had come to adore and love over the years, but scarlet, misty from his tears.

"M-mom," I'm so sorry. Ezra could barely squeeze the words through his lips, his tongue unwilling to move, feeling as heavy as the guilt and horror that weighed down on him.

He then unwillingly tackled his mother, yanking her hair back to expose her neck. From this close, the scent of blood was even thicker than before and his throat felt as if it was on fire. It disgusted Ezra that even having already drank from Sabine, he felt as if he had been starving for days and now he was forced to kill Hera. The feelings of self-loathing dulled down when his fangs sank into the delicate skin, chased away by the warm liquid filling his mouth, causing a pleasant warmth to wash over him.

" NO! " Kanan screamed, struggling as the vampire grabbed him. Claws seized his hair, forcing him to watch the events unfolding.

"Watch as your beloved son murder your precious wife just as he had murdered his sister," the vampire said with a smooth voice into the man's ears and chuckled. "But fret not, you will soon share the same fate."

Thick tears streamed down Ezra's face as he continued to drink Hera's blood, uncertain whether he was still being compelled or not. It just tasted so good and the burning sensation in his throat began to fade, eased by the liquid flowing down his oesophagus. Deep down inside, he knew this was all so very wrong, and yet, he found it hard to stop, wanting more and more blood to abate the agony.

Hera's initial struggles became sluggish, her head barely able to hold itself up and her complexion became paler. She wrapped her arms around her son's back, one hand gripping tightly at his shirt while the other weakly drew circles in a soothing motion, much like how she always did when she would comfort him. Ezra let out a muffled sob at the sensation of his mother's love, still unable to pull away from the never ceasing hunger for blood. He could feel the tears from his mother against his forehead as he shifted closer and he screwed his eyes shut in shame.

Then, much sooner than Ezra could have wished for, Hera's hands fell and she gasped a few times in her desperate attempt for air before falling silent. The spell was broken and Ezra removed his fangs, but did not pull away as he sobbed into his mother's bloodied neck. Once again, he had murdered another loved one. Once again, he had failed.

There was a short cry of pain, forcing him to look up to see that the creature had sunk his teeth into Kanan. His eyes widened in horror at the prospect that he was going to lose his father, too. Gently setting his mother's body down, Ezra leaped to his feet and lunged at the creature, determined to save the least one of his family members.

Invisible hands suddenly grabbed at Ezra, holding him down in place. He struggled against them, but their grip tightened painfully, causing him to wince and he immediately knew who was causing this. Tear filled eyes dared to look up to see the demon stare back with vicious, yellow eyes, burning even more intensely as if daring Ezra to defy.

"Dad!" The boy cried out, helplessly. He struggled even harder against the restraints as he watched his father's skin take on a grey glow, his eyes sunken from the toll of sudden blood loss, fighting to stay open. Kanan trembled in the vampire's grasp, resisting the urge to arch his back into the man, to get closer as the side effects of his blood being sucked started to make themselves known. His lips, torn from having bitten into them, cracked open but no sound came out, but Ezra knew what he was saying nonetheless.

My son.

And with that, the last inkling of life was drained away from him. The creature dropped the body without much care, letting Kanan fall to the ground in a heap, and grinned as he wiped his mouth clean. Ezra's body quivered with rage, feeling something dark and sinister stir deep within him. As soon as the invisible hold on him was released, the boy lunged at the fiend with a wail. He already knew he was no match against this abomination, but he was much too angry to care; he had lost everything because of that monster!

The fiend snarled as he lifted a leg and kicked Ezra across the room, and he landed with a pained cry against the cabinets, the wood caving in upon impact.

Get up! The boy inwardly yelled at himself, half aware at the fact that the monster was making his way towards him, the room spinning too much for him to make sense of his surroundings.

A thought then occurred to him and Ezra scrambled towards the still open drawer from earlier. Without hesitation, he grabbed the silver knife with the hem of his pajama's sleeve, remembering the vicious sensation from his previous attempt, and ran towards the monster, raising the knife in conviction. The man, unimpressed at Ezra's continuous resistance, grabbed hold of the boy's arm before he could bring his blade down into the creature's chest. The bruising grip tightened, forcing Ezra to drop his weapon, sending it clattering on the floor. He let out a howl of pain as the vampire continued to close his hand, and the bones began to cave in from the pressure before finally snapping with a loud crunch! His knees buckled underneath him, only able to remain standing due to the creature's hold on him.

"Your defiance has long strained my patience," he said coldly. "Accept that you belong to me and the process will be less painful than it has to be."

Was this guy being serious? Ezra wondered to himself in disbelief, glaring daggers at the creature. The pain of breaking bones was nothing in comparison to being forced to kill and watch his family die.

"Never!" He spat out.

"You have nothing left here," the creature tried to reason, his tone softening to false sympathy. "I am all that you have left."

"That's because you made sure of that!"

The man let out a vicious snarl and did not let go of Ezra's arm, that was slowly starting to mend itself, as he began to drag the boy towards the glass door in the dining room. The boy struggled, helplessly clawing at the hand that held him, but the monster acted unaffected by the act. Ezra then twisted his body to face his parents who lay motionless on the cold floor, their cheeks still stained with dried tears at the horrors they had faced not too long ago. He desperately reached out with his free hand, trying to grab his father as he passed by.

"Dad!" He cried out, "Mom!"

The fiend growled and tugged Ezra away, marching through the door before throwing the boy down onto the wet ground, the light drizzle of rain tickling his cheeks as he laid there dazed for a moment. He found himself unable to move as Ezra attempted to get up and could only watch as the horrid monster extended his arms out in concentration and the ground began to lightly shake before the house burst into explosive flame, the windows shattering from the force.

The creature roughly hauled Ezra up to his feet before painfully grabbing hold of his jaw.

"If you scream, I will kill anyone who comes," he promised, "Or better yet, I will make you kill them."

Ezra whimpered at the vow, knowing fully well that this murderer would remain true to his words. The grip on his jaw tightened, earning a yelp of pain from the boy.

"Do you understand?"

The boy eagerly nodded, not trusting his voice and wanting nothing more than for the pain to stop before he gets a broken jaw. The man changed his grip in favor of grabbing Ezra by the arm again as he dragged him through the backyard fence and through the shadows towards the Forgotten Forest.

Just as they neared the edge, Ezra could hear the distant shrills of sirens heading towards his home. All a little too late.

"You're a monster!" Ezra cried out, struggling in the unrelenting tight hold.

"You are exactly right," the man snarled. "I am a monster, a vampire to be exact, just as you are one now as well."