• It was late in the day, the sun past set letting the sky turn purple. Stars peaked in, cheating the night and moon. Wind began to blow the bear trees. I watched their swaying arms grip the sky in the dark.

    “Pandora!”

    I turned around to see my mother staring at me wide eyed. She waved her hand, beckoning me towards her.

    “Hurry, the gates are closing!” She said, stepping forward to grab my arm. On late October nights like these, the town gates were closed early, and curfew was way earlier. It was too dangerous for us in the night. Our human bodies could not fight off the evil that laid in these woods in the dark.

    As me and my mother jogged through the brush, the city lights in view, an eerie presence chilled the air. They were here. My mother had known it to, because right before they’d jumped out from the night, I felt her scream rip my heart open. They grabbed us, and pulled us down.

    My mother was pounced on, the sloshing sound of them drinking from her made me feel dizzy. The gate was visible to us at that time, only a wall of trees had separated us from safety, but these creatures were fast when they were hungry.

    “You idiots!” A lady had screamed at the pack surrounding the bloody corpse. “Feed in the town, not here!” They looked up with blood thirsty eyes and ran for the gate. I did not see what had happened next, and do not remember hearing it. My mind had saved me some of the torture.

    In terror, I was dragged away by them. As they took me farther and farther away, the thick silence that followed my mother’s death left me in a great pain. A thick cloak of sorrow took on the night as yet another shooting star took the sky. Pitch blackness left me to my limited senses of hearing and touch.

    Beyond the thumps and rustles made on the forest floor by their feet, I herd a sound like no other. Of children, women, and protective fathers hit down with their pride. My home, the life I once new, was erased. When my captors brought me to a place above the trees, a high cliff, I gazed behind. On the breeze there was a faint drift of sadness as the screams still lingered in my ears. Off near the horizon dimmed the ash and flame that had been set near midnight. My past was lit and burned before me.

    As I was taken further towards a new life, I felt the impact of the great loss carve me hallow. There were no tears, no screams of hate or plead. My heart stopped then so I would not suffer, but I began to feel its toll on me. I would bare this memory for all eternity.

    That night had scarred me. It was something I’d never forget. And these heathens were going to pay for it with their death. I swore that day, that I would eliminate the vampires. If only I’d know what pain such an oath would cause me when I discovered the fate they’d chosen for me.