Chapter One: Fatal Mistakes

He didn't mean to do it, but his teeth sunk into the warm skin below him. In his relentless grasp a feeble body fought endlessly to no avail, and began to grow colder by the minute. Aros pleaded with every fiber of his body to stop, but his instinct ignored him and he kept feeding on that overly satisfying taste of the young blood he was indulging in. Is this how it would end? Aros would kill the very being he had created to begin with? Was this the price of his curse? It was far too great a price to pay. Aros finally managed to prevail and push himself off of the frail body below him...finally able to move, the boy sat up, slowly propping himself up onto weak knees. He had black hair, not a deep shade of brown, but black, as a raven’s wing, his eyes, although clouded over from blood loss, were a fascinating hue of blue, the dark kind, only found in the presence of an endless ocean. His head spun, his body felt hallow, but he manages to stumble to his feet. In front of him, Aros stood, he was a tall, well-built man with the usual dark brown hair that most average men possessed, he had a beard, more so resembling a woods man and brown sugar colored, caring eyes, aside from the trails of blood that ran down the sides of his mouth, one would swear he were the most timid man in the world. Instinctively the boy drew a shaking hand to his neck, to deep puncture wounds were left where only moments ago his father's cannibalistic teeth had impaled him, his eyes were affixed on the man. "Casper, forgive me, please" Aros whispered, pale in the setting sunlight, shining through the curtain as he took a step toward his son, but the boy fell back against a near wall, fighting for the breath that seemed to be steadily slipping away from him. The pain was unspeakable, shots of a burning sensation ran from his neck to his chest at alarming speeds, he longed for the pain to leave him, no matter the costs, “don’t touch me-“ he mouthed, barely forming the words as his father drew him close in a strong embrace, that he himself no longer had the strength to fight, and in those arms, the world around him grew dark.

Casper opened his eyes and found himself staring at a plain, white ceiling. It struck him after a moment of recollection that he did not know where he was. The bed he was on was plush and well decorated with black and gold patterned bedsheets and a thick comforter rested over him, this bed was somehow ominous in comparison to his old wooden structure back in the cottage home he had spent the greater majority of his life in. Eloquent paintings hung on every wall, mainly feminine flowers and canvases of exquisite amber vases and decanters. A majestic, oriental felt rug encircled the room, clashing nearly too perfectly with the Egyptian\-esque black and gold curtains that hung on two windows situated on both sides of the bed. His eyes trailed the smallest details, blurring over every so often, to which blinking would temporarily rectify his vision. He sat up slowly, everything hurt.

Outside of the unfamiliar room he could hear voices, what they were saying...he couldn't make out, but one of the voices he was certain, was his father's the other...sounded like a woman’s. Suddenly the golden room door knob turned slowly, and the black, arched door opened slowly. Aros stepped inside a woman beside him as they approached the bedside. Casper shrunk away, involuntarily at his father's hand that rested on his forehead. "your temperature went down" the man said removing his hand and avoiding his sons wary gaze. There was so much he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to apologize for. He longed for that childlike trust to emit from his boy’s sapphire eyes once more, but now there was only fear, fear and something else...

The woman who had accompanied Aros into the room spoke now in a vain effort to break the tension between father and son. "How are you feeling Casper?" the woman was dark skinned and had a coy smile, almost as if she knew something no one else did.

Her hair was braided into long, thin, caramel colored dreadlocks, pinned up with fancy arrangements of black lace and bows. They complimented well against her light green eyes. Over all she was a stunning woman, and seemingly gave off a slight air of danger.

Casper studied her, wordlessly.

"My name is Andrundria" the woman stated giving a friendlier smile. "My- you are far more beautiful in person..." something about the way the woman spoke her words ran a slight shiver down Casper's spine. Andrundria gave a slight laugh, apparently, she knew well enough the effect she was having on the nerve-racked boy. Aros intervened. "any side effects?" he asked the woman, who was apparently the wise physician in this situation. Andrundria gave a fickle laugh, "but of course Rose...he was bitten by a vampire, what would you expect?" the air tensed as the event replayed in Casper's mind. He subconsciously brought a hand to his neck...it still hurt, so much.

Aros avoided his sons gaze and cleared his throat "what type of complications?” he asked in effort to stray from the topic. Andrundria stared at the boy again. Slipping deep into thought. "occasional cold sweating, gazing away, replaying the scene over and over...and over" she smiled with pure self-satisfaction at the thought of Casper jumping out of his sleep, drenched in sweat, tormented by his own memories. "extreme rage, nearly inhuman rage" Andrundria made it openly clear that she was enjoying herself, as she sat near the end of the bed and ran her hand over the sheets. "rage to kill" she laughed and studied Casper fiercely. "and I bet you could be a very bad boy...” Aros cleared his throat again "he's off limits Andra" he said bluntly. Casper stared- no, glared at Andrundria, distaste flaring in his eyes, but the action only fed into her pretense and she clasped her hands together in delight. Casper decided to himself...that he absolutely detested the tall, dark woman.

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