The dying embers of the afternoon sun cast long shadows across the dusty field where Darian, a boy with black hair and brown eyes, and his friends waged war.

  “Rahhh!” they screamed at each other.

  Dan, the self-proclaimed general, barked orders from behind a dilapidated wooden crate, his face smeared with dirt and a triumphant grin.

  Darian was crouched behind an overturned wheelbarrow, carefully plotting his ambush. He never understood Dan’s enthusiasm for these daily “battles” but the glint of genuine joy in his friend’s eyes usually ended up winning him over.

  The shouts and battle cries of children filled the air. Punctuated bursts of laughter served to remind them they were just playing, and not out to hurt each other.

  Lilia, Darian’s younger sister, sat near the edge of the field braiding wildflowers with her other friend, occasionally rolling her eyes at the boys’ antics.

  Darian couldn’t help but smile at her. Maybe these silly games were pointless, but the good times they were having warmed him from the inside.

  This was peace.

  The first hints of twilight began to creep over the horizon, signaling the end to their fun and games.

  Dan, surprisingly called a truce first since he was breathless. They walked back towards their village, kicking pebbles and sharing stories of their feats in battle.

  Darian was usually cynical but today he found himself content and happy.

  It was a good day.

  Dinner that night was enjoyable too. Darian’s parents exchanged conversation, and the occasional light bickering between him and his little sister went on as usual. However, a knocking on the door would disrupt the peace that was present.

  “Stay here,” his father said, rising from the dining table.

  Darian watched his father get up and go to the door. He had an odd feeling in the furthest pits of his stomach. Worry? Perhaps. After all, visitors this late at night weren’t exactly common, unless it was the village head.

  A silhouette, cloaked in darkness, stood outside. Its head was obscured by a deep hood, leaving only an impression of a face in the dark.

  “Good evening?” Darian’s father greeted the person standing in front of the doorway.

  A gruff voice replied back, however it was muffled by the cloth covering its neck.

  “Sorry? What was that? Are you alright?” Darian’s father asked, leaning in to try and understand them better.

  The cloaked person spoke again, muffled once more.

  “Excuse m—”

  Before Darian’s father could respond in full, the figure at the door lunged forward.

  In a single horrifying motion, it slammed Darian’s father against the wall by the entrance with a sickening thud.

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  “Run!” Darian’s father roared, his voice raw with terror.

  Chaos erupted in the blink of an eye.

  The cloaked man lifted his father up with one arm on his neck, then bit into him. Crunching sounds could be heard, gurgling, then Darian’s father grew limp.

  His mother screamed a sound that ripped through the house like a hot knife slicing into butter.

  “Hide!” their mother screamed at Darian and Lilia.

  Darian scrambled from his chair, pulling Lily close. They stumbled towards their room, closing the door behind them as their mother grabbed a knife and tried stabbing at the creature.

  A heavy crash from the hallway followed by his mother’s desperate cries and pleading sent chills down his spine.

  Then, it was silence.

  Darian’s heart kept racing, deafening him to everything except the sound of his own breathing and the feeling of his sister’s hand as he held her close.

  The door to their room began to slowly open.

  Snapping from his own fear, Darian threw his body against it, doing his best to keep it shut. He pushed, pushed again, and again. Then, through a crack in the door, he saw a horrifying glimpse of his parents’ bloodied, pallid and lifeless bodies.

  Distracted for but a moment, he then felt a pain his shoulder as a massive force slammed into the door.

  The door was open.

  It had managed to come through.

  “Get behind me!” he ordered Lily, shoving her behind him.

  He grabbed the small pocketknife his father given him for his birthday and pointed it towards it, gripping it as tightly as he could.

  Despite the sombre lighting of the room, Darian could tell the hooded figure was smiling, almost as if it was mocking his feeble attempt at protecting his sister.

  Lashing out, it backhanded the boy into the wall left of the doorway with enough force to push the air out of his lungs.

  Lily screamed his name, but it was a distant sound his ringing ears.

  “Darian!”

  Watching the creature as it slowly made its way towards his sister who was being backed into a wall, Darian gathered all his remaining strength to pick up his pocketknife and lunge at the man, stabbing him with it.

  But the victory was short-lived. It wasn’t enough.

  The creature whipped its head around, looking at the small wound on its abdomen.

  Darian retracted his knife and saw that the wound seemed to mend itself before his very eyes.

  The hooded man then reached for him once again, but this time with more force. Its inhuman grip around Darian’s neck was choking him.

  It pulled him in close, then pulled off its hood, revealing red eyes, a pale face, and white hair. It smiled, then a searing pain erupted from Darian’s throat.

  It had bitten him, causing blood to violently gush from his neck and spill onto the ground.

  The next thing he knew, it had dropped him onto the floor in a pool of his own blood.

  The last thing Darian saw in his field of vision was it grabbing his sister before he felt his life slip away.

  *

  *

  *

  The morning sun streamed through a broken window in their room, waking Darian from a sleep that felt like death.

  Sitting up, his body groaned in protest. Then, the world came into focus. The mess. The blood. The attack.

  “Lilia!” Darian shouted, frantically looking around the room but she was nowhere to be found.

  Rushing towards the living room, his eyes fell on the bodies of his parents. They were sprawled on the living room floor, their faces contorted into looks of horror and pain.

  “Mom…Dad…” A sob escaped the boy’s lips.

  He knelt beside his mother, reaching out a hand to brush away a strand from her face and shut her eyes. The blood on the floor beside her had already dried up.

  His mother had a gaping hole in her chest. His father, who was close by had half his neck that looked like it got torn out. He couldn’t look away, the scene was searing itself into his memory.

  His breathing started growing faster. He looked at his father, then back again at his mother. He could hear his heart beating through his chest. Panic.

  But just then, a knock echoed through the house.

  Knock.~

  Then another.

  Knock.~

  And then finally one more.

  Knock.~

  Whoever it was turned the doorknob, and the door swung slowly, revealing a tall man with silver hair and red eyes wearing a white suit and hat.

  Darian looked up at them.

  They made eye contact; and for a moment, it felt as though they were locked in place. Something. They both felt it. A feeling.

  The world seemed to hold its breath.

  “…”

  The man finally spoke. “So, it seems someone’s killed my sister.”

  He began walking towards Darian’s mother’s corpse.

  Darian stood up, blocking his path so he couldn’t reach her.

  “Who are you?” he demanded, his brows furrowing yet you could tell he was scared, and perhaps apprehensive.

  The man stopped, standing directly in front of the boy.

  He knelt, taking off his hat and putting it on his chest as he met Darian’s eye-level.

  “Well, I suppose you could call me your… uncle.”

  *

  *

  *