The Vampire's Call

HAVEN

They smelled so good—all of them. They were the worst assholes I had ever seen too. Humans. They could be so disgusting but so good at the same time.

I chuckled at my own inside joke before I dropped into the alley near the small house I had been watching for weeks and moved casually to the entrance.

I was hungry, and it was time to get dinner. I had been watching this family for a while now and had learned that they were beating their daughter. The poor thing deserved better in life than that, and I would put an end to her suffering tonight.

I entered the house without making a noise and located the parents, using my enhanced hearing. They were upstairs, sleeping in their bedroom.

A smile bloomed on my face as I made my way quietly up the narrow stairs. I ended up in a hallway, and I located the master bedroom on my right, using my nose.

I opened the door, and they were sleeping soundly, drunk again, the smell of alcohol and sex heavy in the air. I rolled my eyes. How predictable.

I moved to the bed in the middle of the small, dark brown room and started with the man. I slit his throat so fast that he didn’t even have time to realize what was happening to him. I drained him before he could wake up his wife.

His blood tasted like shit. But at least it would last me for a week after I was done with the wife too. I dropped his body softly back on the bed and moved on to the other side where the wife slept.

I did the same thing with her; she was looking at me, her eyes wide in fear as I drank her blood. Another human who believed that I was a creature of nightmares. Another asshole who deserved to die for what she did to her daughter.

I laid her cold body next to her husband’s when I was done and moved to the little girl’s room at the end of the corridor.

I didn’t know if she had any family, so it was better if I killed her too. I didn’t like to do that to innocent kids since she was probably no older than four, but it was better than being all alone. Life could be shitty sometimes.

I entered a small, white room that looked so unpersonal and saw the little one in her bed next to the wall. She was sleeping softly on her belly, the covers tossed around.

I smiled at seeing that display. She looked feisty. She had short, golden hair, and I knew that her eyes were the rich color of honey.

I had seen her with her parents enough to know that. She was skinny because they did not feed her properly, and she had cuts and bruises everywhere. I knew that tonight, again, she had cried herself to sleep, and I had listened to her because she deserved to have someone hear her pain.

I slid into bed slowly next to her and held her in my arms. At least she should feel a bit of care before she died. That was all I could do for her. She hummed and fluttered her little eyes open to look at me. Then I felt it.

My heart started beating fast as I recognized her. She wasn’t just an abused baby. Her blood called to me; she was mine. Or she would be when she was old enough, so I had to disappear from her life before I couldn’t walk away.

I would make sure that she was safe, but she couldn’t know how precious she was. My kind would try to harm her to get to me. I couldn’t put a target on this little girl’s back now. Not when I just freed her from her abusive parents.

“Come on, little one,” I said, and I could hear the softness in my voice. “I’m getting you out of here. Do you have any family?”

If she didn’t, I would bring her back with me. I wouldn’t leave that child alone. She meant the world to me already.

“Who are you?” She frowned. “Where are...”

She didn’t finish her sentence, and I felt her fear flare. I held her tighter to me and kissed her forehead to comfort her. I would never let anyone lay a finger on her anymore. They would all die before they could try anything.

“They won’t touch you ever again,” I told her. “Answer my question, sweetie. Where can I drop you?”

“My grannie.” She smiled. “Are you my guardian angel?”

I chuckled. I was far from being an angel, but maybe, if she believed I was an angel, that would make her trust me enough to get her out of the house and to her grandmother quietly.

“Of course.” I smiled back at her.

“Thank you,” she muttered, wrapping her little arms tight around my neck.

“Anything for you,” I said, rubbing her back for comfort. “Close your eyes. Open them only when I tell you to.”

She buried her face in my neck, and I carried her out of this damn place. She told me where her grandmother lived, and luckily, it wasn’t so far.

There was only one detail working against me: I would have to make her invite me in. Shit. Maybe my little angel could help me with that.

I tried to let her down softly when we arrived in front of a small, white house, but she was fast asleep in my arms. I smiled tenderly, watching her. I didn’t want to let her go, but she deserved to grow up normally before she could be with me. I wanted her to choose me too.

I knocked on the door, and I heard the heavy footsteps inside the house. Her grandmother turned on the lights as she walked to open the door, and the light woke my little one with a groan.

She rubbed her eyes and looked at her surroundings, visibly recognizing the place, even at night. “Grannie?” she called.

A woman in her late fifties opened the door. She seemed shocked to see me with the little girl. “What has my good-for-nothing son done this time?” She frowned.

I smiled at her, minding not to show her my fangs, and tried to give her granddaughter back, but the little one didn’t want to let go of me. It was difficult for me to leave her here, but my mind was set.

“There was a...robbery gone wrong,” I lied to the woman in front of me. “Your granddaughter said that you were her closest relative in the area.”

She seemed even more shocked, but she finally nodded. Good. I wouldn’t need to get further into details.

“Come on in so you can tell me everything about it,” she said.

“I should...put her in her bed first.”

“Of course.” She nodded.

She led me inside the house to a stairwell and a very pink, unicorn-themed bedroom. That was better than the plain white one she had at her parents’ house. Fuckers. Now that I knew who she was to me, I wanted to kill them a second time.

I laid her in her pink bed, but she still had her arms wrapped tight around my neck. Did she feel it too? That shouldn’t be possible.

“You have to let me go now, sweetie,” I said.

“No, you’re going to disappear if I do.” She pouted.

“Only for a while.” I smiled. “I’ll come back. I promise.”

She lifted her honey eyes to look at me, and I saw that I better hold my promise or she would make me regret it. So fierce already, but you’ll learn to lose that attitude. I chuckled and laid a small kiss on her forehead.

“Pinky swear,” she said.

I held my pinky out to her, and she linked hers to mine, offering me a smile brighter than the sun. I could never walk away completely, even if I wanted to. Fate linked us, and I would come back for her when she was older.

“Now, you should get back to sleep,” I said as she laid under the covers. “You’ll be tired for school otherwise.”

“I’ll see you soon?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes, princess. Very soon.”

“What’s your name?” she asked as her eyes fluttered shut.

“Haven.”

She hummed, and I heard her breath even out. I could watch her like this for hours. She meant so much to me already. I kissed her one last time on her forehead and walked out of the bedroom to join her grandmother in the hallway.

“Do you have kids?” she asked.

“No,” I answered.

“Well, you know how to handle them. Poor kid. I’ll make sure that she’s all right now. Thank you for bringing her here. Now, tell me everything that happened over there.”

She led me back downstairs to the small, old kitchen and made me sit at the table in the middle with a coffee. I told her how a robber had entered their house and killed her son and daughter-in-law, then I found the little one in her bed and decided to bring her here.

“Poor Grace. She didn’t deserve that. She didn’t even deserve how her parents treated her. He kept me far away from her ever since I dared tell him that he had no right to yell at her. It’s terrible to think like this about my own kid, but...he wasn’t a good man,” she said, dejected. “At least Grace will be safe now.”

Grace. That suited her, I thought. I nodded and thanked her for the coffee before erasing her memories of me. I just had to lock gaze with her, and I implanted the memory of cops bringing the little girl to her.

I cast one last glance to Grace’s room as I left and smiled. I will be back for you. Just wait for me. I will make sure that nothing happens to you. I will remain in the shadows until I can finally step back into your light. You need to forget about me for now, but I will never be far.