Beth and I were growing closer as time passed. It was a natural progression of seeing each other every day, talking a lot about nothing, and sharing our secrets. Sam and Vivi were also spending more time together, which often left me going home alone after school; leaving me to my own thoughts and Beth’s whims if she decided to visit. But when it came to your mother, well, I purposefully made no mention of Beth in our short chats over the phone. It wasn’t her business to know. And she similarly kept her own secrets from me.

On the weekend before Thanksgiving break, Beth insisted we spend some real one-on-one time together again. The Leonids were at their peak, and she wanted to somehow make up for getting me kicked out of the Halloween party.

Beth led me through the brush and tall grass past the fence by the side of the road near Sam’s home. Inside that forested area was an old pecan grove left untouched by the owner in her elderly age. “Shouldn’t be much longer now,” She said as the clearing hidden deep within the grove came into view.

I fumbled about with my flashlight, trying to balance the blankets in my arms. The overgrowth was up to my knees. I could feel the occasional tugging of thorny vines on my jeans. I said, “I better not find any ticks on me tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, the peacocks and guinea fowl keep the area pretty clean. It’s mostly dirt and ash in the middle since she uses it for burning.” Beth sped up and went further ahead. “I even put down a tarp for us to lay on.”

I struggled to keep pace with her. “But you didn’t have the foresight to get the blankets? At least then I wouldn’t have to carry them.”

“Why else do you think I brought you along? We’re here, anyway.” She gleefully presented the laid-out tarp and metal fire pit.

I tossed everything down on the safety of the crinkly surface. “About time.”

“Don’t throw a fit just yet. Still gotta get the fire going…”

Beth grabbed the butane torch sitting on the side of the metal fire pit and set the foraged wood alight. She even found herself a stick to poke at the growing inferno as a means of entertainment—grinning at me as the flames flickered across her face.

I sat down on the tarp and asked, “So, we’re just gonna lay here and… look at the sky?”

Beth sat beside me and put her hands inside of her jacket. “Yep. Brought some snacks too.” She flashed some candy by sliding it out of her pocket—enough for me to see a squirrel’s tail falling out by accident. “Well, mostly for me.”

“Where did you even get all this?”

She giggled. “I borrowed it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really! Mrs. Woody let me borrow it all after helping out with her yard work. She’s nice like that—no questions asked.”

“Are you staying with her, then?”

Beth shook her head and pointed off in the distance. “I camp near a groundwater pump a bit further in. Far enough away to hide from people but still close enough to spy on your friend.” She elbowed me and smiled. “It’s not too late to make him kindred.”

“I’d rather you didn’t enslave him.”

Beth paused and looked low. “It’s not enslavement. We can give people a part of our power to others—form a bond through blood.”

“Symbiotically, or like a parasite? Those kinds of things usually come at a cost—like what happens when you use blood magic to create a thrall.”

“It’s different! It’s more like a contract—”

“Contracts are also blood magic.”

“Whatever! So what if it involves blood magic? It’s not like those other things. It’s a gift that I can give to others.” She pouted. “You should be thankful I’m even offering.”

“What makes you so sure it would even help?”

“Because it helped Meghan!” She turned away. “I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Meghan?”

“My sister.”

“Vampire, or…?”

“Human.”

I slowly nodded. “I see. It must’ve been nice… to have a sibling.”

“Hm… I never did tell you about them, did I? Or my past…”

“I figured it wasn’t easy to talk about.”

“It’s ‘cause I’m bad at telling stories.” Beth looked at the blaze before us and then at the sky. “It’s not time for the main event yet. I guess I could try… to pass the time.”

❦ ❦ ❦

I had a family a long time ago... a human mother and father. But most importantly, I had Meghan. She was a ray of sunshine whenever you saw her, bringing light and laughter to any room she was in… when she was well, at least. You see, Meghan was very sick, like Sam, but well beyond just mana sickness; having regular infections and sometimes coughing blood. Her parents were desperate for any help they could get her. They even pursued alternative methods when the medication didn’t work… to no success. Magic could’ve helped her, but she was too susceptible to mana. It would’ve been too dangerous. And she was eventually hospitalized when one of the infections got a lot worse…

I didn’t understand why. It made no sense to me why she couldn’t come home; why her bruises and sickness wouldn’t just go away. I was still unaware of the human limits—often getting admonished for my rough play at school when I was just trying to have fun—and it made me so angry. I was treated like a bully despite trying to be nice. So, I figured, why not? I would act out in class, hurting the kids for any little slight, enjoying the pain I was causing them. I couldn’t believe how fragile the others were compared to me. But, while weak, humans are certainly resourceful. I guess they realized that if they couldn’t fight me, they’d have to trick me. And trick me they did.

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A couple of girls waited by the hole in the fence during recess, calling me over. They were daring each other to go through, cross the street, and come back without being noticed by the teachers. I immediately stepped up to do it, and the girl that followed me suggested we make a race of it. So we stood there, outside the fence, prepared to run. When the others were counting down, she bolted before the signal, so I went after her. She then turned around, grinning, and kicked me in the leg, tripping me. It was such an awful fall onto the pavement. My hands and knees were torn to shreds. All I could see was red. But that pain, that anger, awakened something great and terrible in me.

You know I can control my blood, right? It’s an extension of my will. All it requires is a simple cut, to let it flow, and to shape it with my mind. It comes so… naturally to me. The others saw my blood rising from me and screamed, calling me an abomination. I was too busy discovering myself, my real self, to care about their judgment. I realized that there was more to me, more to life, than pretending to be weak. My blood then returned to me, healing my wounds, causing the teachers to be in disbelief when the others told on me, unable to truly describe what they saw. I thought then, later that day, that if my own blood could heal me, then perhaps it could heal her.

I pleaded with Meghan’s parents to take me to the hospital to see her. I didn’t really have a plan on what to do when I saw her; I was just determined to do something. When I finally got there, she looked barely alive with all sorts of tubes and needles attached. Her mother cried at the sight, and in the fuss of her father consoling the woman, I bit my thumb and managed a bit of my blood into Meghan’s mouth. To my disappointment, nothing happened; at least not then. I went home, dispirited, crying the whole night. I had no idea that there was a call from the doctor about a change in her condition. That some miracle occurred… and that she asked where I was.

Meghan soon came home completely fine and beaming. The joy was visible on her parent’s face—a joy I could never bring them. To them, it was a divine intervention. Meghan knew it was me that saved her, though, as she had a newly gained “intuition” about me. We realized that we could share simple thoughts and feel each other’s emotions without the use of words. We were bonded. Inseparable. Kindred. I was happy to have my sister back, to have a friend, someone who understood me completely. But it worried her parents how much time she was spending around me—someone so young—and a monster.

So I got sent back. Meghan’s parents only agreed to take me in for the monthly payments, enough to cover the medical bills. But with Meghan being healthier than ever, and their concern for our strange and quiet play, there was no need to keep me around.

It was your mother and some guards who came to collect me. Dr. Lynch… was nice. Nicer than any other adult I had known. I just knew it by looking at her, at how she smiled so genuinely at me. The guards were more reluctant and suspicious towards me, though. One grabbed me and forced me into their armored van. It caused a real fuss. I don’t know if it was how I reacted to being separated from Meghan, or the fact she managed to stop the van door from closing with only her hand, but it was enough to set them off. The guards threatened to “terminate” the whole family due to “contamination” along with a bunch of other words about cleaning. Dr. Lynch tried to calm them down, but they made good on their threats. The whole house was burnt down with Meghan and her parents inside, shot to death. I thought that maybe she’d survive, live on without me, but the silence in my heart told me she was gone… and that I was alone again.

“It’s not your fault,” Dr. Lynch told me. “I know you were trying to help.”

She cried. I didn’t really understand why. I guess she was talking to herself. And it would be because of me that the other vampires were also taken from their homes—deemed a complete failure in regard to Dr. Lynch’s original vision.

They gathered us all up at Somni Solutions, then split us up into groups to be sent away somewhere else. My group was the one that stayed, to be raised underground with the other rejects. Well, maybe not rejects, but other vampires who were a bit on the rowdy side; considered too dangerous for society. It was honestly okay for those first few years. We were kept in a spacious dorm on the lowest level, even had our own rooms and entertainment. I was in Room E, third room on the right, across from… let’s just say someone I used to like, but not anymore.

It was an institutionalized environment for sure, but Dr. Lynch was very active with our development, treating us like people rather than an experiment. She even told us about you, showing off your baby pictures… the naked ones… she was so proud of you. She didn’t outright try to be a mother to us, but she was the best mother we could hope for. She kept a lot of the bullshit away from us, but as time went on, it became clear it was all starting to wear on her, and… I don’t need to tell you what happened next.

Our treatment became much worse in the following years; especially since we were becoming more mature—our bodies and minds. The scientists tested us extensively, our abilities… our limits. It wasn’t strange for one of us to never show up again. Some of the others were changing, too, their bodies and personalities—their eyes stuck with a red glow. We still tried to have our fun, though; sneaking about the dorm during quiet hours. Our education was poor and we had to discover some things for ourselves in our nighttime visits. There was lots of biting… a simple pleasure.

We didn’t know any better.

I wasn’t happy with what life became for us in those final days. I dreamed of returning to the surface and feeling the sun and rain again. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. And so a group of us conspired to use blood magic to escape. The scientists went down easy—trying to talk us down, rationalize with us, instead of fleeing. I took on a few guards myself in the chaos, knowing well who my targets were, getting my revenge after so many years. But someone got sloppy, and an alarm went off. Shortly after, there was an explosion above us, causing a fire to spread, burning so unnaturally bright and limiting our regenerative abilities. The blood outside our body became near useless, some bleed themselves dry trying to use it. Guards then descended upon us, firing freely at us. I was too occupied watching my friends get gunned down to notice one of the pillars in the grand foyer collapsing above me. My body was crushed on impact. I couldn’t move or breathe, but my consciousness remained. My thoughts drifted to Meghan as I watched one of the guards come over to me, pointing his gun at my face. I was honestly okay with dying and closed my eyes, my consciousness finally released from pain. But death doesn’t come so easily to us, unfortunately.

What happened next, I don’t know; I barely had enough blood to regenerate. Somebody carried me and led other survivors out of the building, handing us over to the Arbiters to be kept under their watchful eye; one prison for another. Anyone with glowing red eyes was killed immediately. The rest were put through a rushed trial for murder despite it being for our own survival. I was also on death row for using blood magic to kill, but they were more interested in keeping me alive and stuck me in a cell for a while.

That is until Rosa got me out.

At first, I thought it was some joke. I couldn’t believe that for all the trouble the Arbiters went through, they were suddenly going to release me to someone I didn’t even know, telling me not to do it again. I can’t describe to you the relief I felt getting out of that place, finally free to do whatever; my only regret being that Meghan couldn’t live to see me now. Despite the gift I gave her, her life was still cut short… Sometimes I think I should’ve never interfered… but she would’ve died either way. Humans die too easily… If things didn’t happen the way they did, though… then I might not’ve met you. In a way, she was the one who gave me life. So for that, I am grateful, at least.

And I…

❦ ❦ ❦

The fire started to grow dim and the flashes in the sky were steadily increasing. Beth ended her story with a slight frown. “I may have said too much,” she said while bringing her legs closer to her. “But there was also a lot I didn’t say.”

I said, “Thank you.”

“Why thank me?”

“For telling me…” It was difficult for me to say. “I know it isn’t easy to lose someone you care about, especially so suddenly. And… I guess it helps to know my mother tried her best. For all of us.”

Beth’s eyes watered up, but she quickly wiped it away. “We’re both kinda sad, aren’t we?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. All we can do is go at our own pace… Mourn in our own way.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” Beth smiled. “How about you tell me a story?”

“Hm? About what?”

“I don’t know,” she said in a whisper. “We have all night to figure it out.”

We spent the rest of the night beside each other under some blankets, holding hands as we stared into that celestial sea together; each falling star a new memory.