Blood and more blood.

The red liquid symbols life, and at the same time, death.

It was raining like a storm.

Gunshots firing, and screaming. More and more screaming.

I lay there, dead in a pile of blood red spider lilies, very well aware of what was going on around me, with no way to move. Most of my bones were broken, and I couldn’t feel a thing.

It was too much despair.

A familiar cry of help. I tried to lift my head to find the owner of the voice.

It was my family. I saw a boy with black hair stained with fresh blood with another who was in a similar situation. One had a sword, the other a boomerang. There was a girl with blonde hair and another boy with silver white. There were fighting, against… who?

Humans…?

A cry for help, this time coming from somewhere else. I turned my head slowly, and saw a woman standing there. She was frozen, something keeping her from running. Then I saw her looking at me.

Me.

Mom…?

My foggy brain processed this too slow. The next time I opened my eyes, she was already gone. Shot down by a gun.

Despair.

It was too much.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream in agony, tear apart every single one who dared to hurt my family. Then I realized that I was still lying down.

Bleeding.

Bleed…ing?

How?

I’m… a human?

I woke up.

DEMON: To Save a Family

Chapter 1: The thin line between dreams and reality

“So… you saw a dream of me dying?”

My mother was obviously amused. The little quirk of her lips and raised eyebrow, along with the fact that her hand was stirring the spoon in her cup of coffee gave it away. Those were the traits I received from her.

I grumbled and bit into my toast. “Laugh it up, I know, it’s ridiculous.”

She laughed heartily and stood up, the chair making noise as it was pushed back. She walked over to me, her high red heels clicking against the floor, and ruffled my hair like a sibling making fun of the youngest.

“Don’t worry about it too much. It’s just a dream.” She teased me, pinching my cheeks.

I growled and swatted her hands away, my cheeks turning a little pink with embarrassment. “I know it’s not real!”

“You seemed pretty worried though.” She teased me again, her hands reaching out to pet my unruly hair once more. I pouted and turned away, giving up on dropping the subject and let her mess with my hair.

“Maybe I was…” I muttered, hiding my face with my bangs. She chuckled and ruffled me once more.

“You’re so cute, Sei.” She dropped a kiss to my cheek. I just grumbled some more.

My mother was a very… cat like person, to say. When she wasn’t at work, she wore sweatshirts and pajamas, her pretty blonde hair in a mess as she lied down on the couch and played video games with me at home. I was usually in a similar outfit. The same unruly blonde hair and half lidded brown eyes.

When she was at work, she dressed up too nicely. Always with a prim and proper suit, with no traces of wrinkles and bright red heels. Her hair was pulled back into a perfect bun, and her nails were done with red nail polish. That was the only part of her that I never resembled. I was always in lazy mode, in or out of the house.

There was noise coming from the stairs, and soon after, my father came stumbling into the kitchen.

“Morning dad.” I greeted him as I sipped my milk. My mother squealed and latched onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a big kiss on the cheek. I silently gagged.

“Morning darling!” My father responded to my mother with a proper kiss. As I was barfing in the corner, he came up to my and swooped me up in a big hug.

“Good morning my big princess! How are you today?”

“Just peachy, dad.” I replied as best as I could with him almost crushing me with the force of his hug.

“Alex! You’re going to suffocate her.” Mother joked as she patted his head. Father let me go with a ‘oops’ and a hearty laugh, and I felt my slight anger vanish instantly after seeing his smile.

My dad was a more of a dog than a cat. He was tall, strong, and the most manliest man I could ever find anywhere on the planet. He always tried his best to keep both my mother and I happy, but scolded me when I was too out of line as well. He was the best dad I could ever ask for, even if he was a little too affectionate at times.

A slight beeping sound came from my mother’s wristwatch. She glanced at it quickly, and pecked my dad and I on the cheek. “Sorry, I have to get going! See you two later!”

She drunk her coffee as fast as she could and bolted out of the house, somehow never messing up her outfit. Dad laughed warmly as he watched over her, and I smiled slightly.

“Well, looks like your dad has to get going too.” He ruffled my hair and kissed my forehead. “Sei… Are you going to school today?”

“Sorry, dad.” I replied with slight hesitance. “I…I’m not going today again.”

“I see.” He smiled sympathetically at me. “Ok. Be sure to stay safe, and don’t let anyone other than us in.”

“I know.” I smiled up at him. He chuckled and ruffled my hair again, before retreating upstairs.

I went upstairs and walked down the hallway, coming in front of a door with the nameplate ‘Sei’ hung on it. I opened the door and entered my room, closing the door behind me.

It was as dirty as ever. The curtains were still closed so it was dark, but it wasn’t hard to make out the shapes of the various plastic containers and candy bags on the floor. I rummaged through my shelf, pulling out another plastic container with my favorite food; Lasagna in it.

I plopped myself in front of my own TV, and set up the game device next to me. Opening the food container and grabbing a controller, I steeled myself for another new day.

Another day of doing nothing.

…

Something was wrong, very horribly wrong.

I swear I was just playing games in my room just a few hours ago, but no matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t my room, nor anyplace I was familiar with.

The room I was in was a very lavish and beautifully decorated room. The walls were red, a shade that was very close to blood, and there was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. It was golden, with diamonds and the light reflecting off it was almost blinding. I could spot a few expensive items around the room, a soft looking, huge black sofa, a silver chair that was studded with diamonds, and most of all, the huge throne that stole all the attention from the other furniture in the room.

I approached it carefully, feeling something odd with my body. It almost felt like I was in a child’s body.

Pushing away the strange thought, I focused on the throne in front of me. It seemed like it was fit for a king, being gold and shiny. Various kinds of jewels decorated the legs and the armrests, ruby, sapphire, emerald, you name it. It carried an odd air, as if that only someone who was fit for the chair could sit on it.

But, that was ridiculous, right?

It was then I noticed. My hair. It didn’t reach to my waist like it was supposed to. Instead, it barely touched my shoulders.

My arms and legs were shorter, and now that I thought about it, my line of sight was quite low, and narrower.

I hated to admit it, but I panicked.

Instead of a fourteen year old body, a body of a four year old greeted me.

I screamed a frighteningly high pitched scream. How could this happen to me? Why was I in a child’s body? Where was I?

What was happening?

“Sei!” The doors to the room burst open. I whirled my head around to meet the new arrival. “Are you alright?”

It was my dad. It should have been, he had the same face, same voice, same scent.

But… but…

“Daddy?” I whispered as he scooped me up into his arms. He sent me a worried look, eyes flashing with concern.

Red, blood red eyes. Not the familiar brown that I longed for.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” His voice was tinged with worry, brows furrowing.

Jet black hair. Not a soft auburn.

Skin far too pale. Not a healthy, tanned brown.

This person was my dad. There was no mistake, he reacted to me calling him.

This was my dad, but at the same time, he wasn’t. He didn’t look anything like my dad.

Who was this person?

Who was I?

I screamed again, before the world faded to black.

…

I woke up in a cold sweat.

It was raining outside. Although I couldn’t see the sky because my curtains were closed, I could hear the faint rumbling of lightning and the sound of water pelting the roof.

Normally, I was calmed by the sound of it. But today was different, it only served as a trigger to make me feel queasier.

What I saw before, it was a dream, right? It wasn’t real, there was no way that kind of place existed. I shivered as I rubbed my arms, feeling the temperature in my room drastically drop. It was almost like a freezer in here, and it felt like I was in a refrigerator. It was too odd, it was supposed to be summer.

Why was it so cold?

Trembling slightly, I got up from my awkward position on the floor. Still rubbing my hands among my arms, I toddled over to the small heater that was positioned in the corner of my room.

I plugged it in and turned it on, but it didn’t seem to work. I furrowed my eyebrows and tried pressing the button again, but it didn’t even make a sound.

I scowled and stood up. This was great, I woke up from a creepy dream, suddenly it’s cold like winter and now my heater’s broken. How fantastic.

I turned around, planning to get to my bed.

It was then. Someone was standing behind me.

It took a while for my brain to process this. When I looked up slowly only to meet blood red eyes however, my body reacted instantly.

I screamed and reached for the closest thing to me, the heater, and chucked it at the person’s head.

Surprisingly, it made a clean hit. The person let out a raspy gasp of surprise and pain, and fell to the ground. I dashed to the side to grab something, anything that could be a weapon, and ended up standing a safe distance from him with a dictionary in my hands.

“The heck are you?!” I yelled at him, trying to stop my trembling arms.

“Wait wait wait!” That person held up on of his hands, waving his hands in panic while his other hands clutched his nose. “I’m not anyone suspicious!” He claimed, his smooth voice holding an undertone of panic and pain.

…I wasn’t sure if this guy had no common sense or was just a plain idiot.

“You barged into someone’s house without permission and suddenly appeared behind me, I think I have the right to suspect you. Or maim you. Either one really.” I scoffed, my heart gradually slowing down as my voice lost its shrill tone. I didn’t stop pointing the dictionary at him though. I saw him make a slight movement and narrowed my eyes.

“You make another move and this book will be meeting your nose. ”

“Alright, alright!” He shouted in exasperation and lowered his hand, the other hand still rubbing his nose. “Geez, I knew she was his daughter, but I didn’t expect her to be so powerful already…”

“What are you blabbering about?” I demanded. “And how did you get in?”

“One question at a time, my lady.” He sighed and I refused to show him any emotion as I mentally flinched at the name he called me. “But first, can you please turn on the lights? It’s really hard to talk to you like this.”

“How do I know you’re not trying to kill me?”

“Because I’m not trying to!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “And if I did, I’d be the one to get murdered in my sleep.” He muttered quietly. I glared suspicious at him as I slowly inched towards the light switch. When I felt the familiar sensation of it, I flicked it on.

The person standing in front of me, was indeed a man. He had short black hair but a slightly longer fringe that seemed to be dyed white framed the left side of his face. His striking blood red eyes stood out from his abnormally pale skin that was white as snow. He was wearing what looked to be a butler’s uniform.

To me, he just looked like an anime cosplayer.

“Finally, I can see your face.” He sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. He seemed to be inspecting me, his red eyes darting up and down. “Unruly blond hair and half-dead brown eyes with skin so poorly taken care of that looks like one of a indecent commoner. Exactly like the description.”

“Thank you for the compliment.” I growled, half thinking whether I could kill a man with a book. I probably could. “But you don’t look better than me. You look like you popped out of the second-dimension, and not in a good way.”

He tilted his head. “…Should I take offense to that?”

“Normal people would.” I sighed, lowering my dictionary. He didn’t seem to be harmful, at least, not yet. “But let me guess, hooray you’re not normal.”

“And should I presume that you’ll have that mocking tone whenever you’re speaking to a stranger?”

“Yes, yes you should.”

“I see.” I deadpanned at his response. Was this guy joking or being serious…?

“Anyway, would you explain to me why you’re barging into my house?” I sat down carefully on my wooden floor and crossed my legs, putting the dictionary in my lap. My grip on the book didn’t loosen though, and I kept a eye on the man.

“To be frank,” he followed my actions, sitting down on the floor across from me. “I am here to guide you.”

“Guide me? For what?” I questioned, my curiosity spiking at his words. I probably shouldn’t have believed him, but I figured that I might as well hear him out. He didn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon.

“Have you seen any weird dreams recently?” He questioned me, eyes narrowing. I tilted my head, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Why?”

“Answer the question, please.”

“Alright, alright.” I grumbled. Boy, was he a delight. Closing my eyes, I tried to recall the last time I had a ‘strange dream’.

At first, I couldn’t think of anything.

Then, velvet rooms. Red, red, red all over. Beautifully decorated furniture, a huge diamond chandelier. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds. Jewels, and blood.

Blood red eyes and hair as black as the night.

My eyes flew open as I gasped for air. A sharp pain stung my head, a dull ache that escalated into a sharp throbbing pain. I gripped my chest, feeling like the air got thinner.

Why was it so hard to breathe?

“I see you have experience with those.” The man in front of me said dryly. I heaved for air for a few moments, my eyes wide and panicked.

“W-what was that…?” I breathed out, voice wispy and faint. “Dreams…? They… they don’t feel like dreams…” I slowly looked up to meet his eyes. “What... what are they?”

“You are unexpectedly sharp, my lady.” he murmured out, his voice smooth and thoughtful. “You’re not denying the fact that all of this may be a huge bunch of lies?” He raised an eyebrow. “You might be deceived by me. Or maybe, I’m not even here and I’m just an illusion that your brain is making up.”

“Cut the crap. I can see you, and I can feel your presence.” I snapped, “The temperature dropped after I woke up, which I assume that you’re responsible for. No normal human can do anything like this.”

“...Hmm.” he scratched his chin thoughtfully, “You’re definitely his daughter. You don’t seem particularly surprised at all of this. Or maybe that is just your expression, you may be screaming in agony from the inside. I got hit by a heater though, but I’ll let that slide for now. Now, let’s get into the main topic at hand.” He crossed his fingers and stared at me evenly.

“My lady, do you believe in monsters?”

“...What?”

“Do you believe in monsters?” he repeated. “Vampires, werewolves, demons, succubus, unnatural, fantasy like beings like those?”

“...Why should I have to answer the question?”

“I am just merely curious.” he answered me. “Although your thought does not change what I am about to tell you from now, it would be quite helpful if you stated your opinion to matters like this.”

I sighed, scratching my head. Monsters, huh…

“I don’t reject them, nor accept them, I guess.” I shrugged my shoulders. “They could exist for all I know, but I don’t give a damn. I’m not going to throw rocks and hold pitchforks and wave them around if that’s what you were thinking. As long as they’re not interfering directly into my life, I could care less.” I yawned, stretching my arms.

“In a way, those ‘monsters’ are living beings too, aren’t they? Who am I to tell them what to do?”

A short silence followed. I cracked open an eye, wondering why there wasn’t any reaction from the pale man. He had a slightly pleased smile- or was that a smirk?- on his lips, and he seemed to be nodding.

“I see.” He murmured.

“Yeah, so what did you wanted to tell me?” I asked him, plopping my hands into my lap. He slowly stood up and fished around in his pocket before bringing something out. He held it to my eye level, and I saw that it was a necklace.

A really pretty necklace. The chain was gold and the pendent was a small heart shaped golden locket. Small jewels decorated the locket, and it looked like it could be sold a million dollars.

“This necklace belongs to our lady, the daughter of my master.” He announced. “And this belongs to you.”

I blanched. My head shot up to meet his eyes in surprise. “…What?”

“Like I said, this pendent is yours.”

“But… but…” I stumbled over my words as I stood in a slight frenzy. “I…I, we, my family-”

“Rest assured, I am not talking about your family in this world.” Those words reassured me for a second, before I noticed the way he spoke was weird. It was as if there was another world that existed besides ours.

“I am talking about your family in the Altro, also known as ‘The Other World’.”

“That explains a lot.” I commented sarcastically, “Are you going to tell me about that too or are you going to just sprout out another bunch of garbage?”

“This is all very real, my lady. I can assure you that what you have been seeing are not dreams, but reality. Just that they are not dreams about this world, they are dreams about the other.”

I swallowed, my heart thumping with every second. Everything this guy said must have been a bunch of baloney, yet I couldn’t stop listening. It was as if an invisible force was pulling me towards the words that came out of this cosplayer’s mouth.

“In the other world, you are not fourteen, but four.” He continued, “You are the daughter of one of the most richest monsters in Italia. You are part of a family that is far more godlike that the one you have here.”

“Wait, you said monsters?”

“Correct.” His gaze was searing into me, as if lava was being forced down my throat. “You are not a human being, my lady.”

“You are a vampire, a kind of the most purest breed.”

At first I couldn’t understand what he was talking about. Me, a vampire? No way. I didn’t have any urge to suck other people’s blood. I did hate the sunlight, but it wasn’t as if I’d disintegrate if I made contact with it. I wasn’t affected by Christian goods like crosses, or holy water. I didn’t even look like a vampire. I didn’t have the two pointy fangs that defined them.

“What are you talking about?” I snapped. “I am a human, I’m not a vampire!”

“In this world you are. You are unmistakably a human being.” He nodded, “However, like I said in the Other World, you are not. There are humans that live in the Altro, but the population of maledetto, or what you refer to in this world, monsters, suppress the humans greatly. We are the majority.”

“We?” I repeated. I was starting to sound like a broken record.

“Yes. Like you, I am also a vampire.” He gestured to his eyes. “My eyes are red like blood, are they not? If you look closely, you can also see that there is a faint glow around the iris.”

I squinted and tried to look as closely as I could without feeling uncomfortable. He was right. If you looked close enough, you could see a faint red glow, as if the eye was emitting out some sort of nuclear power.  

“This is what defines a vampire. I believe that in this world, the trait of a vampire is said to be the fangs, but in our world, it is different. Of course we do have fangs, but it is our decision if we want to show them or not.”

“You can control your fangs?”

“Yes. I can activate my powers if I wished to, and during that time my fangs would show. However, this is not the only trait of a vampire. My lady, what else do you know about us?”

I wanted to chuck the book at him. How the heck would I know what traits a vampire had? I didn’t even knew they existed up until this point.

“I don’t know much, but aren’t vampires supposed to have other powers? Like telekinesis, or super strength or what not?”

“Yes, that is correct.” He nodded, as if pleased with my answer. “However, not all vampires have those powers. We only have one.”

“...What?”

“For example, in my case I can use shape-shifting.” He explained, his lips curving up in amusement. “I can transform into a bat and other living beings. But that is because I have the blood of a shape-shifter running through my veins. Other vampires who do not have this blood cannot shape-shift.”

“So, what, are you saying that not all vampires can transform into bats?”

“Exactly. Vampires do have special powers, but we only have one. Most rarely do we have any more than that. Although, there are special cases.” His eyes flashed., “But your family and I, do not have any other except for the one we are born with.”

“Okay, okay. So, I’m a vampire.”

“Yes, yes you are.”

“I’m a freaking vampire.”

“Yes, yes you are.”

“This better not be some kind of joke. It is, isn’t it?”

“Please just accept the facts so that I can move onto the next topic.”

“So impatient.”

“I have a something to ask from you,” He said, completely ignoring my comment, “do you wish to live another life?”

“...What do you mean?”

“Do you wish to go to the other world? Do you wish to live as a vampire?”

“Hey, look, I’m not completely sure of what you mean…”

“Looking at the state of this room, I can tell that you must have not been outside for a long time,” He continued, “It is merely my assumption, but you’ve been in this room for almost two years, haven’t you?”

I stiffened.

“You haven’t been to school. You haven’t talked to other people besides your family for two years. All you do is sit around, eating lasagna and playing video games until your eyes rot. I do not understand, what is there to gain?”

“Of course you wouldn’t understand, you’re not me.”

“That is why I do not understand why you wouldn’t want to live a more fulfilling life. You could do so many other things, but why?”

“Is staying indoors a crime?” I stood up, glaring at him in anger. I wasn’t usually one to express emotions so freely, but everything this guy said rubbed me in the wrong direction.

“Why don’t you talk to people anymore? What is the reason for that apathy reflected in your eyes?” He grabbed my face and stared into my eyes. I could see my reflection in those glowing red orbs.

“I can save you.”

I couldn’t take it. I snarled, grabbing his wrist and yanking his hand away from my face, I held his wrist in my hand so tightly that it was turning blue.

“Do not assume anything about me. You don’t know jack shit about me, so you better stop running that dammed mouth of yours.” I didn’t know why, but the back of eyes felt hot. Not from anger nor sadness. It was something else. I felt something rumble deep in my chest.

“I am not one to take lightly, so if you want your hand back to you safely, you better shut up right now and get the hell out of here.”

He stood there, not saying anything but was just staring into my eyes. He seemed almost captivated. Like a moth drawn to a flame.

The corners of his lips slowly lifted up as the daze in his eyes faded away. “You are definitely the one I was searching for.”

“What?”

“Your eyes, do you not realize?” he uttered softly, his other hand reaching behind his pants, taking out a mirror. He showed it to me, and I let go of his hand in shock.

My eyes weren’t a muddy brown anymore. They were a red, a vibrant, glowing red. Almost like… almost like.

A vampire.

“Stage one has been completed. The line between your dreams and your realities have broken, my lady.”