My eyes burned, I was unable to rest. Slowly, I rose from the bed, exited my room. Silence throughout the house, however in the distance horses neighed and voices rang throughout the small town. The usual sounds for this time of night, sadly my family lived practically right across the street from a small bar. Approaching the window I could see the bar clearly. However, oddly...the lights seemed dim. Perhaps they'd closed early? But it seemed like someone somewhere was having a party. They say curiosity killed the cat...
Back to my room, and slowly climbing back into bed. I wasn't about to go out looking for danger, I'd learned long ago from the death of a dear friend that late night was not a time when young women needed to roam in their nighties. My eyes closed, sleep...yes. I needed to sleep. Tomorrow would be a busy day; perhaps I could find some sort of job to help our family? I would deal with it all later. The rain seemed relaxing, just what I needed at the moment.
Shattering glass awoke me from a slumber so peaceful. My eyes darted across the room in search of anything peculiar. The room looked normal enough, the air however...a foul stench raised into my nostrils. A scent which did not seem similar to me at all, over top of that however, another scent filled the air. Fire? Sitting up quickly and gazing towards a small window across the dark room I could see an orange glow. My eyes widening, I jumped from the bed and scurried to the window. Pulling back the sheer curtains I watched in horror as the buildings right before my eyes burned like the fires of hell. Movement outside my bedroom door caused my head to jerk in that direction. The floor boards creaking in the next room over and suddenly a shrill shriek from the window. My eyes darted in the direction of the screaming, it emitted from another house behind ours. My eyes focusing on movement, something stood in the doorway. A man, long white hair sprouting from his head. A small gasp escaping me as I saw the figure, his head suddenly turning my way glowing red eyes suddenly peering into my soul. I slid down the wall, hiding from the evil face. What was going on? Who was this man? Biting my lip rather hard trying to hold back the tears, I sat against the wall. Ouch, I had bitten my lip too hard and now a gentle trickle of red blood slipped down my lips, just as my tongue touched the droplet of blood the door to my room slid open. My eyes quickly scanning a figure standing in the doorway. My first thoughts were that the man from the other house had come in search of me, was I to die at his hands? Holding back the whimper that wanted to escape from my mouth, I pushed myself against the wall under the window sill; perhaps the darkness of my room would keep me shrouded. Bright green eyes darted from corner to corner as the figure entered the room, a deep crimson cape hanging from his side. This certainly wasn't the man from the other house; this man had short black hair parted down the middle perfectly. His eyes a bright green glow to them as he ran a hand over his smooth milky skin. He was pale, extremely pale and above all else frightening, sniffing the air like a dog. Then, it seemed he had seen exactly what he'd been coming for. Our eyes linked, my mouth dropped. Slowly, the man approached the orange glow from the window illuminating his figure and glistening in the moonlight a pair of sharp white fangs dangled from his opened mouth. It was in that moment, I knew I was staring into the face of a demon. Prayers wouldn't help me now; it was much too late for all that. Perhaps now I could only hope for redemption. But oddly, I could feel nothing at all my body completely numb and salty tears running down my face as I glared at the man who would surely be my death dealer.
A voice emitted from his opened lips and my eyes looked down to the floor. Should I fight for my life or just lie down and die? Had my parents already suffered their fate? So many questions filtering themselves throughout my head as the man continued to approach me and speak. His words, I couldn't understand. It was quite apparent that the man could smell my fear, why was he stalling? Kill me! Get it over with! Oh no, he was going to force me to suffer. My eyes welled with more tears. Suddenly, a hand grasped my jaw and jerked my head up. Although my eyes were now tightly closed, I knew the man was trying to force me to see his face. In fear of what was to come, I opened my eyes his hand let go and a thumb slid across my lip wiping a bit of blood away. For a moment, as his tongue gently lapped away the blood from his finger his eyes seemed less dark. A thin smile crosses his face and his eyes closed, his head bowed.
A crackling sound rang through the house and suddenly the roof began to come crashing down around us. This was my chance to flee; perhaps I could run far away. Come back again when the sun rose. Perhaps find my friends, my family. I began to stand as large beams began to fall around us. Just as my body began to move a large wooden support beam came crashing down from the roof atop the mans body, flames rose up over his face and a loud groan escaped him. Now, I could run! Quickly, I stood erect and began to find my way around the burning timbers, however in the background the sound of the mans groaning haunted me. Although he had come to kill me, could I honestly leave him there to die? I wasn't born to be a killer; it just wasn't in my blood. Turning back, perhaps the biggest mistake I'd ever made? Not really sure what exactly I was doing I quickly rushed at the flaming beams my hands gasping the wood and pulling it from the mans body. Grunting and groaning I lifted one of the smaller wooden beams from his back, the man stirred slowly. His body rising as I tossed aside the beam, although I had seemingly saved the man who would kill me, I felt a sense of victory. As I watched the man stand before me, hardly even a scratch, I was amazed. The heat of the raging fire, however, was beginning to take its toll on me. My hand grazed across my forehead, whipping away the sweat drops; my vision hazy and distorted. Slowly, backing up my feet slammed against the wood sending my body backwards into the fire. No matter how heroic my act had been, I could now feel the flames licking at my sides burning my soft flesh. This was the end, perhaps I should have run away.