“Please be serious, Lila. Do you know who did this?” the young vampire questioned, panic apparent in his voice. “As much as I adore sleep, fifty years is an awfully long time…I could have found a way to permanently never wake up with all that time I lost.”

“I’d hate to spoil the story; would you not rather find the answer yourself?” Lila responded, voice barely above a whisper. “What sort of protagonist would you be if I told you everything?”

Noël stared pleadingly at Lila. Slowly shaking his head, he merely stated, “You’re not making any sense. Please…just tell me.”

“Oh, alright then, my dear. I suppose you deserve a hint at the very least.” Murky, ethereal image fading from view, Lila soon flickered over to a small puddle underneath a tall elm tree.

As the young vampire carefully made his way over to the tree, Lila sighed as she gazed forlornly up at it. “Miss Lila?”

“I’ve always hated trees…there’s just something about them that I can’t explain……”

“I’m…sorry……” Timidly shifting from one foot to the other, Noël hesitantly regarded Lila’s words.

“Don’t apologize, my dear.”

“I’m sorry,” Noël meekly stated once more. “There’s just so much I don’t understand...”

There’s a faint warble in her voice, distant and almost apologetic. “It’s been fifty years; I’d be more surprised if you weren’t.” Eyes staring unseeingly into the distance, Lila heaves out a light sigh. “Well…I wasn’t there myself. I don’t know everything, but…someone died, and naturally… you were there……”

Noël’s voice catches in his throat as a cold chill runs up his spine. Could I have…? Is that why I……?

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

“Did…I kill them?”

“Do not fret my dear; it’s all in the past.” Lila’s laugh is soft and airy as she nonchalantly dissuades the vampire’s worries. “You did not kill her…intentionally at least.”

“Miss Lila…please tell me—who did I kill!!?”

“Now, now, did you already forget?” Lila half-mockingly chastised. “It’s not a matter of who you killed, but how they died!”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Noël blankly muttered.

“Tell me, what do you last remember?”

“I…I was waiting for my Aunt Delia,” Noël responds, words interlaced with an unreadable expression. Vacantly, he wonders what became of his beloved Aunt. Her face was already fading from memory, but…even her voice was but a distant dream. There was more to her, though……it’s been so, so long. What did she last say…? Is she alright? Is she…alive? “She was out on an errand and left me alone. I got tired of waiting for her and left our cottage, but everything after that is a blur……”

“My dear…do you know what you are?” Lila questions, slight fondness (or perhaps melancholy) apparent in her voice.

Tilting his head to the side, Noël stared questioningly at her. “A vampire?”

“Exactly. And what do vampires consume?”

“Blood,’ he says, looking pale. Noël draws his sleeves over his hands nervously as he ponders the strange witch’s words. “Or…in other cases, they can drain a human’s life.”

“Do you thirst for blood?”

“No—of course not!!” Noël exclaims, evidently feeling quite insulted. “How disgusting; there’s no way I’d drink blood!”

“And yet…you claim that you are a vampire,” Lila pleasantly responds, voice almost sickeningly sweet. “Care to explain why, dearie?”

“Please, enough with your cryptic games,” Noël retorts, lamenting over faceless shadows of those long passed. “I may be a vampire, but how could I have killed someone, let alone a friend?”

“It’s simple, my dear. Unfortunately, you are the latter,” Lila hums. “Most vampires drink blood, but you steal that which is most precious to humans.”

“But…how could this happen!? I was careful. I…kept my distance,” the vampire exclaimed, distraught. “I never meant to kill or hurt anyone; I just didn’t want to be alone anymore……”

“I know, dear. Whatever your intention, it’s still no excuse,” Lila replied, hand placed sympathetically beneath the surface of the puddle. “You know as much as anyone else that we could never belong with them. With humans. You’ll only hurt yourself and everyone else in the long run.”

Staring unseeingly at the plethora of warm hued autumn leaves peppering the ashen ground, the dead boy and submerged witch were met with silence—whether mourning the life of a stranger who must have meant so much to him at one point or the lives they could have had underneath different circumstances is unclear. A soft hazy halo envelops them as the sun slowly starts to descend underneath gray clouds.

“Your intentions are pure, but…you’ve been cursed with a terrible lot in life,” the purple-eyed witch states, soft wispy voice breaking the silence that enveloped them both. “It’s possible for a human to survive having their blood taken…if the vampire were to show some restraint.”

“However, it’ll have a completely different result if a vampire were to consume their life,” Lila is quick to interject as realization and horror dawns on Noël’s otherwise expressionless face. “Sucking out their life force can lead to a swift demise if you are around them too long.’

“But…I’d see her for once a week at most. And I would only stay for less than an hour……” Noël contemplated, voice laced with uncertainty.