Chapter 2 — A Boy’s First Crush

14-year-old Hausten walked out of the house holding a large bag of weapons on his shoulder. Alarick watched from where he fed his horses and smiled. This boy had grown into a strong fine young man. He had hairs everywhere, and there was doubt that there was soon going to be talks around the community about the handsome young son of Alarick. Today was turning day and memorial day all in one. It was too much for Alarick. First of all, Rue was going to be turned today, and he was going to be officially betrothed to Cassie, the daughter of Alec’s brother. Too much was happening for Alarick today.

Hausten finished lugging things around, went indoors, changed into something better, and left the house, with Alarick waving at him and making him promise not to go out of the boundary.

“So, you turn today?” Adolpha asked her brother, Rue, as he looked at himself in the mirror in front of him, adoring himself and letting his vanity get the best of him.

“And you are getting betrothed.”

“Adolpha, why am I the object of your questioning today?”

“Well, because I want to know about these things, ignorance is not an attractive quality.”

Rue laughed. He knew what was going on. Adolpha was trying to impress Kasten, the man she hoped she got betrothed to. “Adolpha, are you hoping to marry Kasten or his brains?” he asked with a small laugh.

“Rue, a man, is a composition of so many things; I want a man who has all the things I like.”

“Like what?”

“Brains, beauty, strength.”

“Adolpha, you are a strange woman; I often wonder if we are siblings sometimes.”

“Me too, Rue. Me too. Do you want to know what else I wonder about?”

“What?”

“The single fact that Cassie looked past your lack of knowledge on the most basic things and still went for you. I am beyond bothered. Before you get married, Rue, I will have you swear in front of the entire Alarick clan that you will never come find me to pour in knowledge into your offspring.”

Rue turned to look at her and showed off his muscular body. He hit himself and said, “This is what Cassie wants, and anyway, with that forehead of yours, it is highly doubtful that Kasten will want to marry you.”

Between the both of them, Adolpha was more sensitive, so she threw a pillow at him and ran away from the room. Rue laughed out as she did. He had won this round, but if he knew anything about Adolpha, she was going to get back at him, but for now, winning felt great.

Hausten ran through the community fields, jumping over small fences and helping people with their luggage. By the time he had run through the village helping people with basic chores, he had come back home and changed again in preparation for the ceremony.

Every family at the ceremony sat according to their clan. The Alarick clan sat beside the Alec clan because they had intermarried enough for them to become one clan.

“Thousands of years ago, a witch conjured upon the earth a being that would never die. It would look like humans, be like humans and also haunt humans. As time went on, more spells were conjured to make it possible for that being to recreate people like him so that the earth would be populated with his kind. They were called vampires.

Centuries later, the daughter of that witch will fall in love with one of them and would want to procreate. By virtue of the spell cast on them to make them immortal, vampires could not procreate. But this witch, willing to have children with the love of her life, cast another spell that made it possible for vampires to procreate.

We do not produce vampires but humans. As a result, every human we give birth to, we must turn at a certain age to keep our immortal community growing.

Today, these men and women have come of age and are now ready to be fully turned into vampires. We will now begin the turning process.”

He beckoned on someone, and she came in, in a red flowing satin dress. She had a chalice with her, and she walked to Dez Alec and handed him the chalice. Dez Alec looked at her, smiled, and took the chalice from her, and she smiled back.

Hausten, who had been listening to the story with rapt attention, suddenly found himself locked in the world where this beautiful girl was alone with him. Everything in the square seemed to disappear. He suddenly stopped hearing Dez Alec’s voice and watched as she walked down from the stage and came to sit with the family beside them, the Alec family. Hausten kept staring until Adolpha tapped him and said, “Pick you your jaw, darling brother. You are drooling over her.” Hausten was immediately jolted back to life, and he faced the stage again. “Here in their chalice is blood from each of the heads of the clans you see here today. You will drink this blood, be killed, and then be reborn as a vampire.”

“Killed?” Hausten did not like how that idea sounded, and he looked like he was willing to fight it.

One by one, each person on the floor walked to the chalice and drank from it. When they were all done, Dez Alec nodded at some people, and five men walked up the stage with a knife and slit the throats of everyone who drank from the chalice. Hausten yelped and was about to stand and fight when Grenada held him down.

His world stopped again. She touched him. The girl touched him. Then she whispered. “Have patience, and watch,” she said. Hausten did not know why, but he was suddenly listening to her, and he stayed his hand.

In a few minutes, the newly turned vampires began to stand up, including Rue. Hausten turned to look at her and smiled; she smiled back and finally let go of his hand.

Once the vampires were back from the dead, someone led a number of dangerous-looking humans to the center of the square.

Dez Alec took the podium again and said, “And with our long-standing relationship with the humans, they send us their vilest criminals, people who have committed murders and are meant for death for our turning day, we use them as food for our newly hungry vampires who have not yet mastered the art of control. The crowd watched as these new vampires, hungry for blood, pounced on these men and drank from them.

Some people looked away, but the majority cheered on, Hausten looked at Adolpha’s face, and she watched with a stoic reaction; he looked at Alarick and saw that his father had a soft smile on his face, something that looked like pride. He looked at the girl, and she was watching all the action quietly like she was trying to store everything happening in her memory for life.

Once the turning ceremony was over, the memorial began. All the dead vampires they were remembering today were murdered by humans, werewolves, and witches, but most were murdered by werewolves. When they got to Serah Alarick, her story was told with so much solemnity that a few vampires, including Adolpha, shed a tear. In Serah’s case, it was mentioned that Gonzalo, the head of the werewolves, had been the one responsible for her death.

“There werewolves are our enemy,” Dez Alec said. “They think we are an abomination because we are cheating the very essence of life by being immortal. They say we are not supposed to exist, so they make us prey, and kill us. But they cannot come after us if we are together; they only come after those of us alone, which is why the boundary was created to save lone vampires from getting killed by werewolves. The battle of 14 years ago was brutal, we got our pound of flesh, but we would admit that it did not make us feel better. We had already lost one of our most beautiful women, Serah, and the wife of my best friend, Alarick. Even after the battle had finished, his life had been a roller coaster without her. Please stay away from the boundaries, stay safe, and stay alive. Stay where we can protect each other.”

By the time the memorial was over, Hausten had grown a deep hatred for the werewolves. They were vicious murderers who had no honor, in his opinion. His father had taught him honor and kindness. He wondered if the boys raised in the werewolf community had someone who taught them nobility and honor. He never wanted to come across the werewolves, but he was sure he could fight one if he saw them.

After the memorial came the betrothal ceremony. It was quick and solemn. Rue and Cassie were officially betrothed to each other. They kept smiling at each other throughout the process.

With all the events of the evening over, it was time to dance and make merry now. The men went to a part of the square and drank wine as they laughed out and made jokes. Once in between conversations, two of the men will get up to spar while other men watch and yell in glee, making bets even. The women and some of the younger group took the dance floor.

Hausten spotted the girl dancing in the light by herself and went to her quietly. She looked at him and smiled widely.

“Do you want to dance?” she asked immediately as he got closer to her.

“Err, I do not….”

“Dance with me, Hausten Alarick.”

“You know who I am?”

“Yes, everyone in the community knows you and your daily routine of showing up at people’s houses looking for ways to expend all your energy.”

“Oh, I-I.”

“You talk too much, Hausten. Dance with me,” she said with a small laugh and pulled him closer. As they danced, Hausten made out the features of her face. Her copper-colored hair looked like flames when the lights sent streaks of red against her hair. Her lips were full; her eyes were wide, bright, and blue. When she smiled, it was the brightest thing he had ever seen,

“I am Grenada, Grenada Alec of the house of Alec.”

Hausten smiled as he swallowed hard; she was the daughter of his father’s best friend.

Together this young couple who had found sparks with each other danced into the night, under the glare of the stars and a half-moon.

The next day, after his chores at home, Hausten dressed up nicely and was heading out when he met Adolpha and his father outside in the garden.

“You surely are not going to offer help dressed like that,” she said, looking at him in wonder because he looked like he was headed to a party.

“Well, I am not exactly out offering help today,” he said.

“So, where are you headed?” Alarick asked.

“I-I am going out to see if I can find Grenada. She said she liked to watch butterflies in the morning, so I am going to the bloom fields.”

Rue overheard the conversation and came outside.

“No, no, you are not going to see Grenada dressed like that; you look like a boy.”

“What should he look like?” Adolpha asked, with a sneer in her voice.

“A man,” Rue said as he led Hausten inside the house.

“I promise you, Rue. Hausten looks fine for his age. The girl he seeks to impress is around his age, too; I presume she would not be too concerned with his dressing. Last night when she danced with him gleefully, I doubt his dressing played any part in that,” Alarick said and stopped Rue in his tracks.

“I tried to help you, little brother,” Rue said and walked back into the house alone.

As he left, Adolpha screamed after him. “I will love to see how manly you get now that you are betrothed to Cassie.”

Rue turned to make a face at her, and she replied in like manner. Hausten looked at his father, who nodded at him. Getting the approval he needed, he skipped away.

Hausten had thought that the bloom field would be filled with people doing the same thing Grenada liked, but when he got there, he found the place empty, with just one girl in a blue dress seated among the flowers. She looked so beautiful that it would seem one of the blue tulips had transformed into a young girl. For a small moment, Hausten was dumbstruck as he watched her from where he stood. He wanted to call her name and go to meet her, but for some reason, he stood transfixed, admiring the beauty in front of him.

After what seemed like hours, she turned and saw him where he stood, watching her. Light found its way into her eyes, and she immediately called his name.

“Hausten. How long have you been there?”

Long enough, he thought. “Err, not long. Father let me leave a little late,” he lied and walked to meet her. For a little while, the young couple sat down, watching the butterflies take flight in beautiful colors.

“Why do you come here?”

“Because nobody else does.”

“Why does no one else come here?”

“Remember the witches my father talked about at the memorial? The first witch who created our kind, and her daughter, and the other women that came after them.”

“Yes.”

“They are all buried here. The next day, after the first one was buried, tulips began to grow. When the next one was buried, roses grew, and before we knew it, it was a field of flowers. However, people fear their powers, especially as the witch who is currently at our service comes here to draw powers.” Hausten did not get all she said, but it was good that this place existed.

They said nothing again all evening and sat watching the butterflies. Once it got dark, a bright, colorful light erupted from different sides of the field and formed a roof-like structure over the kids. Hausten jumped and was about to run when Grenada held his hand and looked at him. “Don’t be afraid. They do this a lot.”

“They?”

“The witches.”

“But they are dead.”

“Their powers are not, neither are their spirits. Don’t be afraid, just sit down. Grenada said. For some reason, Hausten trusted her, so he sat down.

When it began to get late, Hausten and Grenada walked out of the fields with the lights following them. When they got to the entrance of the field, Grenada turned to face the field and said, “Thank you, see you soon.” The lights blinked in acknowledgment. Hausten looked at Grenada, and she nodded at him.

“Umm, thank you,” he said. The lights blinked and receded into the field, then shot up and threw a roof over the entire field. Hausten stopped and looked at it for a minute.

“Beautiful, right?” She asked him with a soft smile on her cheeks.

“Yes, beautiful.”

They walked away together. Hausten walked with her till she got to her home, bade her goodbye, then ran home.

That night, as he climbed into bed, the only things in his mind were bright lights, a field of beautiful flowers, and Grenada, the butterflies were a part of the story, but they were infinitesimal in the big picture.

“Come and get me,” Farkas yelled as he took flight, changing into his wolf form and holding an old book between his teeth.

Fiend stood laughing and finally let go of the girl he had held prisoner because he wanted his brother to take her book from her. It was a young girl who had not yet activated her wolf. She ran after his brother, but her efforts were useless because, in his wolf form, Farkas was brutal and fast. He was just like his father, Gonzalo, in his prime.

She toppled over a tree stub and broke her arm. Farkas circled back, growled at her as she laid wincing on the floor, and went to meet his brother. He transformed and wore his clothes, both of them walked to the girl on the floor and dropped the book on her.

Then they took off and went into the market, wreaking havoc everywhere they touched. The market women saw them and hid their goods, calling their sons and husbands to help them take care of these boys who had become a terror in the community. At night, they disturbed the young men who were taking a class on hunting and activating their sense of smell. This was a routine for the two sons of Gonzalo. In the last 14 years, they had grown into a menace in the community, disrespectfully treating people and causing problems for their parents.

Tonight, like every other night, they got home to meet a small crowd of people they had offended reporting to their father because that was the only option they had. You could not lay a hand on these boys because they were the sons of Gonzalo. You had to let them have their way even when they were a problem because you had to respect the family of the alpha. This Alpha family was becoming a thorn in the flesh of every werewolf in the community, so they did the only thing they could do, which was to tell their grievances to Gonzalo.

Once the boys saw the crowd, they feigned remorse and looked at the floor with their hands clasped behind them in fake reverence to their father and the other leaders in the community.

“Gonzalo, I am tired of having my fruits thrown around by your sons. I already find it hard to get by, and your sons come to the market and throw all my properties all over the place,” one woman said. Gonzalo nodded at one of his aides, who gave the woman a small pouch filled with some silver in it.

“You have my deepest apologies, Marietta; this would not happen again,” he said solemnly. A few more silver-filled pouches and forced apologies from the boys, and Gonzalo thought he had handled the worst of the issues until a woman showed up with a young girl with bruises and arm tied up in a sling.

Gonzalo looked at her in a white nightdress and felt sick to his stomach as the woman, and the girl narrated the events that led them there. It seemed too familiar. He looked at the woman and offered his sincerest apologies to her. He was asking her how he could make her and her daughter feel better when a voice from the crowd said, “We do not need your apologies; we need you to rein in your sons.”

Another voice from the crowd, an old voice, said, “These apples did not fall far from the tree. Your sons take after you, Gonzalo. In your prime, you were a menace too.”

The man was right, and that was what made Gonzalo afraid. His actions led them into a war that took 80 of them 14 years ago. No, 81, 81, his son was lost in that battle too, and he did not even find his body to properly say goodbye.

“Farkas, Fiend, on your knees,” Gonzalo thundered. Both boys were surprised at the way he yelled at them; Gonzalo had never done that, not in the presence of the people that they would lead when he was gone. Their father had always been particular about building respect for his children in the eyes of the people, that before now, every time someone came to make a report, he waited for the person to leave before he scolded them, but today he was angry.

“I said, on your knees!!!” he said strongly, but in a lower voice. They looked at him, and they heard a quiet growl. If his wolf was struggling to come out, then he was very dangerous. They immediately fell to their knees. Right in front of the entire community, Gonzalo gave his sons the most brutal beating they had ever gotten. When he was done, everyone was shaken to their core, but he was not finished. He looked at them and said, “For years, to promote a certain style of leadership, the leadership of this community has remained with my family. No more! Neither of my sons is fit to lead. Thus, I am declaring that we return to the ways of those who the curse first found. After I die, you will fight amongst yourselves, and the winner will become the alpha. The legacy of a monarchy-ruled community ends with me.”

The crowd gasped. Gonzalo walked out of the group, changed into his werewolf form, and took flight.

The boys remained on the floor in humiliation. His friends knew where he was going, and they changed into their form and followed him as he ran into the wild.

For hours, all five men ran through the bushes, finally converging at the point where they always had extra clothes. They changed and silently sat in the darkness for a while.

“Why did you do that, Gonzalo?” Gastos finally asked.

“I have the death of 80 people hanging on my neck! That should never happen again to our community.”

“It has been 14 years; it is time to let it go,” Brandon said.

“How do I do that when my sons are replicating the same actions that brought us here? How do I forget when I can see my mistakes repeating themselves right in front of me? I have to make sure that mistake ends with me,” Gonzalo replied.

“Whenever you tell this story, someone will think you were the only one there,” Gastos queried. “Gonzalo, we all did that together, we all made that reckless decision together, and you need to stop living in that guilt; penance has been paid.”

“I was Alpha. I was the leader; I should have made better decisions,” Gonzalo said regrettably. “This is why I have to make sure that someone as reckless and unfit as both my sons are not just handed leadership. They have to earn it; they have to fight to get it. They will cherish it better.”

The men stopped trying. If there was anything they had learned from Gonzalo in their years of being friends, it was that he never turned away from a decision. He was set in his ways.

As the days went by, Gonzalo became unhappier. He walked around the community with a grim face but never took it out on anyone. He began to go to the place where it all began again. For a while, he stayed away from that place, but at this point, he needed peace, and something about that spot gave him peace.

Daciana ran through the bushes and fought to see through the heavy fog that was in front of her. She finally got to where she was going. It was a cave; there was a boy crying in front of the cave. She started to walk towards the boy. Every step she took, both the cave and the boy receded further into the darkness; soon, they both disappeared.

Daciana woke up screaming for her child. This had become the routine. She woke up every night screaming about her son. Each night was worse than the former, and nothing the witch made could save her from this affliction. In the mornings, she was pale, and her eyes hollow. She stopped coming out of the house as everyone could tell that she had been afflicted by something. These nightmares began 14 years ago, and in the beginning, the witch’s potion helped her sleep better and drove the dreams away. But now, they no longer worked, so Daciana had to relive losing her son every night, and by morning, another bit of her had left.

Gonzalo could not recognize his wife anymore, and this was one of the reasons he was furious at his sons. The family was going through enough, and he did not want to worry about two grown men who were not married because no parents wanted their daughters betrothed to the sons of Gonzalo.

Daciana slowly faded into this person who people whispered about in hush tones. They said the death of her son made her mad, and some say she may have been made before then because she spoke of a cave that no one else saw. They said a lot of things, and she heard them all. She heard them all but had decided that it was in her best interest not to say anything.

“How did she look?” Hausten asked his father one day as they sat down watching their horses.

“Who, son?”

“Serah”

“I can show you better than I can tell you.” With that, he took the boy to a room where Serah’s painting was and frowned when he noticed the look of worry on the boy’s face.

“Why do you look like you have seen a ghost, Hausten?”

“Because I bear no resemblance to either of you.”

Alas, the time had come for the boy to know his true origin and not the one that was fabricated for him.

Alarick told his son the entire story of the war and how Rue and Adolpha found him in a cave, and they brought him home to save his life. When the story was over, Hausten was grateful, but he was sad as well because finding out that his family was not his blood was a hard pill to swallow.

“So, I am not your son?”

Shocked, Alarick replied, “No one has said that, child. You will always be my son, whether you came from my loins or not.”

That was supposed to be reassuring to Hausten, but it was not, so he left the house and walked to the bloom fields, hoping that he would find Grenada there.

She was there when he entered, and the first thing she noticed was the look on his face.

“What is wrong, Hausten?” she asked him, genuinely worried.

“I just found out that Alarick is not my blood.” Grenada was silent because she knew, as a matter of fact, everyone knew about the baby Alarick came back with after the war with the werewolves. Those who did not see it happen heard about it from other people. It was not private knowledge.

“Why did you not tell me?” Hausten asked, sad.

“I thought you knew.”

Hausten shook his head and looked into space. “So, I’m not a vampire,” he said. Grenada didn’t know what answers to give him, so he stayed quiet. Hausten returned home to a worried father and siblings.

“Where did you go, son?” Alarick asked, visibly exhausted.

“To the flower field,” he replied.

“I was very worried, Hausten.”

Hausten did not reply; he simply shifted one foot to the other and stayed staring at the floor.

“Hausten,” Adolpha began. “Rue and I were the ones who found you, and you have been our little brother since then. There is not one bone in our body that does not think you are our blood. You bearing a different face from the rest of us does not take away your place in this family. You are Hausten Alarick, my brother. I need you to stop feeling like you belong elsewhere. You are an Alarick, and you always will be, even though you’ve decided to go look for the humans who birthed you. You will always be a part of this family,” she said sternly. She stood up and pulled Hausten into an embrace, kissed his forehead, and said, “Alaricks do not run away when they are faced with a problem, Hausten. They stay, and they face it together. The next time you are faced with a difficult problem, do not run to the bloom fields; stay and see how it can be fixed before you leave. Running away from situations you do not like does not make the situations disappear.” She walked away, leaving Hausten with Alarick.

The boy went to sit at his father’s feet and said, “Tell me another story, father.”

“One day,” Alarick began. “A boy went out to hunt with his father and decided to use the bow and arrow he had not yet learned how to use. His father had warned him several times not to touch those items, but he was adamant. That day, while his father chased after a gazelle, the boy took the bow and arrows out of the bag and made an attempt to shoot. He held the bowstring wrongly, and the arrow shot backward, the tail hitting the boy on the face. He bled terribly and was eventually treated by a witch. He never touched a bow and arrow again until he was old enough to learn how to use one.” Hausten was laughing when this story ended.

Alarick looked at the boy and asked him, “Why are you laughing, son?”

“Because, father, the mark on your head still shows.” Alarick broke into hearty laughter. “I begged the witch to take away that scar, but she said I had to pay for my stubbornness, and pay, I did.”

“That witch does not seem to like you very much,” Hausten said.

“Oh, she was the worst. Someday, I will go to the bloom fields and ask her what issues she had with me. She always had a large ugly frown on her face whenever she saw me, and it was not pleasant.”

“Maybe you did something?”

“Me? Never! I was a pleasant child.” Hausten was laughing again.

“Why are you laughing again, son?”

“Because Rue said you were a stubborn child.”

“Ahhh, what does Rue know? He is still a boy.”

“Rue will not like that,” Hausten replied with a giggle.

“He is almost married now, and he has turned. Let us not tell him I called him a boy.” Father and son laughed again, and silence fell on the room.

“Will you ever turn me?” Hausten asked quietly.

“As soon as you are 18, you will make that decision, son. Because you are not exactly my child, I cannot make that decision for you. I understand that you may want to go back to the human community and live among your kind for the rest of your life, so I would let you choose,” Alarick replied.

Hausten nodded. He said nothing further, but he knew that he was never leaving Alarick. This was his family, and in a few years, he will be turned and officially betrothed to Grenada.

Hausten ran faster than he had ever run in his entire life. Then his feet began to slow down. The farther he tried to get away from it, the heavier his feet were on the floor. He finally stopped running and hit the floor in exhaustion. He turned to face his assailant, accepting that this was how he was going to die. It was a monster with green eyes. He could not make out the figure because it looked like a man and a beast at the same time. The images kept alternating in front of him. Sometimes it was a hairy man, and other times, it was an animal. The monster got closer to Hausten, and he shut his eyes tight, silently wishing he could disappear.

Hausten woke up panicking. This was not the first time he had had a dream such as this; it had gotten intense over the months and was beginning to deprive him of sleep. He had to tell his father and older siblings they always had an answer to everything, and right now, he needed answers.

“It never hurts me or tries to touch me. It comes closer and just growls. It has fangs and fur, and sometimes it is a man,” he said to them at dawn while they had breakfast.

Alarick nodded. What his son had seen was a werewolf, and he wondered if his continuous obsession with them played a part in his son’s dreams. While their dismissal of the danger he was supposedly facing made him feel better, he could not shake the feeling that there was more he needed to know about this monster. He got on with his day, despite the questions that troubled him.

He met with Grenada later, and although he didn’t want to appear scared or restless. His mind was in a constant state of questions.

“Are you okay?” She asked him over and over and over again. Hausten shrugged and looked away. Rue had always told him to be a man and to be respected as a man; he did not need to show weakness in front of a girl he wanted to marry in the future.

“I’ll marry you someday,” he said to her.

Grenada heard him but pretended not to. The flowers beneath them grew taller and did a small dance. Both children laughed. The witches were eavesdropping.

“You look like something happened to you last night, Hausten. Why won’t you tell me?”

“Okay,” Hausten said, finally giving up control. There were other days to practice the man lessons he got from his brother, Rue. Today, he was going to tell her what his dreams were about.

“I saw a monster in my dream. It had green eyes.”

“Like your own?”

“I have green eyes?”

“Yes, Hausten. Your eyes are green like…” She looked around the field for a visual explanation, and just as she looked, a stalk of green rose grew into her sight. “Yes, that one. Thank you, Lorraine,” she said and turned to face Hausten. Now his dream was scarier.

“Well, the monster has green eyes, and it comes after me in my dreams, but when it gets close to me, it doesn’t hurt me or anything. It just looks at me.”

Grenada paid rapt attention to Hausten as he described his dream to her. And when he was done, she quietly said, “You saw a werewolf.”

“Yes, my father and siblings said that too.” Hausten replied. Grenada looked at him and pulled his hands into hers as they sat down on the lone bench in the entire field. His family telling him he had nothing to worry about was reassuring, but Grenada holding his hands and saying nothing made him unexplainably warm. It felt like an embrace, like she was saying he would be okay. He believed her.

“Alarick says when I turn, I will be able to protect myself from them,” he said.

“Why did you call him Alarick?”

“Sorry, father.”

Grenada smiled and looked away. “Yes, you will be. My father said Vampires are stronger than werewolves because we cannot be easily killed, and we are faster and stronger than any being in the world.”

“I hope he turns me soon.”

“Do not be in a hurry to turn.”

“Why, I should be able to protect myself, to go into the woods. I want to be able to go out of the boundaries without being afraid.”

“Have patience, Hausten.” She said with a smile. “When you turn, you will not grow old again. You will be stuck looking like this forever. This is why I have decided to wait for a long while before I turn. If it means staying within the boundaries, that works for me. If you want to marry me, you will wait too. I do not want to marry a man that looks like a boy.”

They both laughed. Even if he didn’t understand what she said, he rarely did; Grenada was wise for her age. She was beautiful and wise; she knew so many things that people did not know. Other vampires thought her strange because of her affinity for the flowers of the bloom field. Now, they saw Hausten with her and wondered if the witches of the bloom field had helped her enchant him. Of course, these were concerns they kept within themselves and discussed in hushed tones. The only thing worse than having Dez Alec as an enemy was having his wife as an enemy. She had lived for 700 years and took no prisoners when she fought. If you spoke about Grenada in a manner she did not like, she would come for you, and even Dez Alec would not be able to save you.

“Tell me more about being a vampire,” Hausten probed. Grenada turned to face him and began to say everything she knew, everything she had read in books, and everything she had learned so far. When she got to the part of the human blood, she watched him squirm, and she laughed.

He asked her what it felt like to take in human blood and what could happen if he decided not to. Grenada explained to him how being a vampire worked. She smiled and said, “It is like every vampire to thirst for fresh human blood, directly from the vein, but over time some vampires have learned how to drink from already stored blood and even animals rather than kill a human for their blood. Taking blood from a human does not mean you need to kill the person; death can only occur when you do not know how to control yourself. Often, you cannot blame the vampire for being unable to control their hunger, especially if they had just turned like what happened on the memorial night. You could see that some of the vampires killed their prey,” she added. Hausten’s eyes grew twice the normal size in horror.

“Do you mean I will not control myself when I turn? I do not want to kill anyone,” he said, horrified.

Grenada shrugged and said, “I do not think you won’t be able to control yourself. I think you are strong, and I think you would be able to control yourself.”

“Do you think you would be able to control yourself?” he asked her.

“I think I will. I am strong too.”

Hausten believed her, for herself at least; he was worried that he was not strong enough to hold back himself. But it was going to be a long time before he turned, and maybe Rue could teach him how to be strong. But then again, Rue had killed his prey too at the turning; Rue was not a good teacher. Adolpha had not been turned, but she seemed strong. Grenada and Adolpha were the same, they were always buried in books, and they knew a lot of things. If Adolpha could not teach him, Father would. Father was strong and noble and would not kill a human in the middle of feeding. Father would teach him how to be strong.

As he walked home, his mind traveled in different directions at the same time. First, his mind wandered to Grenada. He was afraid of her, but not in a bad way. She made his heart beat faster, like the way his heartbeat whenever he woke up from those bad dreams. But instead of fear to be the reaction, he wanted his heart to keep beating like that. She was in control of his heart. He touched his chest and felt the beating again.

His mind also traveled to the werewolf in his dreams. The one who Grenada said had his eyes. He tried to remind himself that it was just a werewolf-like his father and older siblings said. Still, it worried him because the nightmares had not come just once; they were coming over and over again. He wanted to not worry, but he could not. The image was too glaring to ignore.

Maybe if he was a vampire, he would stop having those dreams. But Father had told him that he would not be turned until he was old enough to make the decision to turn. He knew what he wanted now, but Father did not seem to believe that, so he was stuck with Father’s decision.

He dreaded the night; sleeping meant having to face the green-eyed werewolf in his dreams. It was scary when he did not know what the monster was. Now that he knew, maybe it would be less scary. He continued to kick up dirt until he got home. At home, he met the witch with his father.

“Here he comes. Come here, Hausten.” Hausten went up to meet the both of them.

“So, I have brought the witch to help you with your sleeping problems,” Alarick said.

“I do not have sleeping problems, father. I have nightmares.”

“Well, they are the same thing, Child. Good sleep is devoid of terrors,” the witch said. Hausten could not argue with that.

The witch came closer to him and sniffed. “Hmm, wild daffodils. You have been around Elaine.”

“Who is Elaine?” Hausten asked with a frown

“The witch who did not like me,” Alarick replied.

“You are a handful, Alarick. Your entire clan is. If you were not such a man of honor, the witches would not be at your service.”

Hausten giggled. In the bloom fields, Elaine was probably the nosy witch who kept listening to their conversations. Wait, that was Lorraine. All the witches buried there were nosy.

The witch brought out a small bottle, asked Hausten to open his mouth, and fed him the foul-tasting liquid, then quickly held his nostrils to make sure he swallowed it all. For someone so tiny, the witch was remarkably strong.

After she was done with whatever torture that was, she said, “Go, wash up, and sleep, son. You will be fine.”

Hausten nodded and walked away, his throat still burning from whatever that mixture was. He undressed and entered the dimly lit bathroom. The moment his foot touched the water in the bath, the burning sensation in his throat stopped. The witch was right for asking him to wash up; it was clearly part of the treatment. He took a long time washing up. The water was hot, and it felt good. He missed when Adolpha used to wash him up, but he had grown into a man now, and little childish pleasures no longer mattered, according to Rue. Actually, Rue said a lot of things. He was a man of many words, and half the time, these words were geared towards what a man should be. Hausten got tired of hearing him go on and on about these things and would rather listen to Adolpha share knowledge she had gotten from some book or some teacher she encountered.

Hausten thought about the werewolf again as he washed up. Even though he was not a powerful vampire yet, he had to learn how to fight, to defend himself.

After washing up, Hausten felt his eyelids begin to get heavy. The witch had set a sequential chain of reactions with her potion. Hausten was to follow all the rules which she had laid out, which was just one: “Wash up and go to bed.” Hausten changed into his nightclothes and stumbled into bed. Sleep came immediately; he closed his eyes, and the last thing he said before sleep took over was, “I will ask Rue and Adolpha to teach him how to fight.” With that, the darkness of the night descended upon his sights, and he slept.

Hausten woke up late the next morning but was well-rested. He did not dream of the green-eyed wolf tonight, and that felt good. He came outside after washing up to meet Rue and Adolpha sparring while their father watched. Rue had turned, so he was stronger. He sparred with Alarick first, then his sister, because he wanted her to be stronger.

“I want to fight!!!” Hausten yelled from the door. The trio looked at him in surprise and was about to turn away when Adolpha picked up an Escrima and threw it at him. Hausten ducked, and the stick landed over him. Rue laughed, but Adolpha was not joking.

“Pick up the stick, Hausten,” she said authoritatively.

“He is not re….” Rue began to speak, but Alarick held up his hand to silence Rue, who drowned because he did not like it.

“Son, pick up the stick if you will learn how to fight, pick up the stick.” Hausten shivered as they bent to get the stick.

“No offspring of Alarick will show trepidation, pick up the stick and come here this minute.”

Those words were all he needed because Hausten picked up the stick and charged into their midst. Alarick threw another stick at Adolpha, who caught it like a pro. Her first move sent Hausten flying up into the air and landing on his behind. She laughed, handed him a hand, got him up, and went slower this time. Together, his father and his siblings taught him how to fight, and the child was a fast learner.

His daily routine changed. After he finished whatever task his father had assigned him for the morning, he started sparring with Adolpha.

Once, Alarick stood at the window watching his children spar, and the most surprising thing happened. Hausten leaped up while dodging a kick from his brother and flipped over Rue, who was some inches taller than he was. For minutes after he landed, Adolpha and Rue were too shocked to understand what had just happened. Hausten, too did not understand how he was able to do that, so he tried again, but this time he landed with his back on the floor, and everyone laughed, including Hausten.

Over the next few days, Alarick took an interest in watching Hausten fight, and he realized that the boy had grown into a warrior, a skilled fighter; he could only wonder what abilities that boy would unlock when he finally turned. This was the last person he had to worry about; Hausten Alarick looked like he could take very good care of himself without anyone’s help. The boy had also grown a love for trees, and Alarick watched with glee as his son climbed trees and came down with strength. He was delighted in the strength of the boy. Soon enough, more people in the community had noticed Hausten’s remarkable strength, his handsome looks, his green eyes, and his kindness. Mothers with daughters talked about him in glowing terms; fathers with sons talked about him in admiration.

He was no longer going around the community looking for who he could help as he used to; he was busy helping his father build a new shed. The cool evenings had become a sparring time for him and Alarick.

One evening Alarick was training him on how to overpower a werewolf; as they fought, Alarick often crouched, teaching Hausten the flip-move he would need if a wolf came charging at him. Hausten got the lesson the first time, but the second time he was distracted, and he fell on his face. They heard a small laugh by the corner, and when both of them looked up, Grenada was standing at a tree near them and laughing.

Hausten immediately stood up and dusted himself. Alarick laughed.

“Grenada, what brings you here?” She smiled softly and pointed at Hausten, who immediately looked at the floor.

“Does Alec know you came?”

“Yes, he asks that you come by the house to discuss the new hunting grounds we are expanding to.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Alarick”

Alarick nodded and walked into the house to wash up and head to the meeting with Dez Alec.

Grenada stopped smiling and looked at Hausten, who was confused all of a sudden. Where did her smile go?

She grabbed an Escrima and said, “Let us fight, Hausten.”

Before Hausten could grab his own, she swiped him from under his feet and threw him on the floor.

“Hey, that was cheating.”

“I am aware.”

“So why did you do it?”

“I am displeased with you, Hausten.”

“What did I do?”

“You abandoned me.”

“How?”

“You stopped coming to stay with me at the Bloom fields.”

“I have been training.”

“Which is why I want to fight you because that is the only way I will see you.”

She hit him with the stick again and screamed, “Fight!”

“No. I’m sorry.”

Grenada stopped, dropped the stick, and started walking away.

“Where are you going?”

“I have seen that you are okay; I am going away. If you are looking for me, you know where to find me.”

Hausten watched as she left. Alarick came out a few minutes later and asked for Grenada. Hausten told him what had just taken place, adding that he did not know why she was so angry. Alarick laughed and said, “Wash up, son, change, and go to the bloom fields to look for your friend. While at it, pluck her a flower, will you?” Alarick walked away laughing.

An hour later, Hausten walked into the bloom fields to meet Grenada sitting alone on the bench, talking to herself. He plucked a yellow tulip and walked up to her.

“Grenada?”

“What do you want?” she replied without looking at him “You said…no, I came to give you this.”

She turned to face him, and he gave her the flower. She smiled and told him to chase after her as she took to her heels.

“Grenada, it is dark!” Hausten yelled after her.

“No, it is not, Lorraine!!!” Grenada yelled back. The bright, colorful lights came up immediately and spread throughout the field as Hausten chased after Grenada, who happened to be a fast runner.

Daciana tossed and turned on the bed. She was getting weaker daily; she no longer came out of her room at all and seldomly spoke to anyone. Her sons, Farkas and Fiend, in some rebellion over what their father did to them, had left home. Gonzalo was barely sleeping, and he had aged quickly. Oftentimes he went to bed with a small wooden stake in hand, as if he half expected a vampire to jump at him when he slept. He no longer took walks around the community like he used to. These days, he kept to himself. His friends had gotten tired of trying to talk him out of the mess that he had become, they wanted more from him, but it was clear that they were never going to get that. Something had broken within the warrior they knew, and no amount of wine and meat could save him. He no longer went out with the pack to hunt on the full moon; he instead turned and roamed the community alone.

Daciana got up from the bed and walked to the mirror; she screamed and broke it. She did not recognize what she saw. Gonzalo sat at one end of the room in the darkness and watched as his wife screamed in anger and fear. She fell at the foot of the mirror and began to hum a tune.

He was filled with pain and sadness; he did this to her. His carelessness cost her their son. A war that should never have happened had he done the right thing and let that vampire woman go. Instead, he chased her and enjoyed the thrill as she toppled over herself, trying to get away from them. He brought this on to his community and his family, and every day that passed had him painfully living with the consequences of his mistake. He got up to go outside when he saw all his friends outside his house. They looked serious.

“What is the problem?” Gonzalo asked.

“You were right about the problems we were having with our younger wolves,” Brandon said.

“Farkas and Fiend?” Gonzalo replied exhaustedly.

“No, this time around, your sons are innocent. As a matter of fact, we have not seen them in a little while,” Gastos replied.

“So, what is the problem?”

“Some younger wolves have been seen chasing humans in the woods. Humans who came to enjoy the woods. This is bad because we have a treaty with these humans to live in peace with them.”

“All they need is a large quantity of wolfsbane, which they have begun to grow in recent times because of the threats, and we are done. That is all they need. We need to put a stop to this,” Corleon said.

“I am more afraid of something else,” Gavin said. He did not wait for them to ask before he continued. “Their behavior will bring us back to where we barely recovered from. We lost men and women in that fight 14 years ago, a fight that would never have happened had we not been a reckless band. We did not know she was a vampire woman. Like these kids, we thought she was human because it was impossible for a vampire to wander that far. Only in the middle of the chase did we realize she was a vampire because of how she ran.

Our spirits were high at that point, high and hungry, and we wanted to feed it. We wanted to feed whatever demon was making us chase her, and we chased her to her death. I am saying this story again not because we do not remember it collectively, but because I want us to realize that these boys are making the same mistakes that cost us greatly. Gonzalo refuses to say this, but part of why he is miserable is because that fight cost him his child. Daciana has become a hollow shell of forgotten memories, and the rest of us just go around pretending like we do not know that 80 people died because of us. We need to stop this.”

Listening to the story again was torture for Gonzalo, but he needed it. He needed to snap out of this self-pity that he was wallowing in and become the leader he was. He needed to put his foot down and call the young wolves to order. More importantly, Gonzalo needed to rebuild his community. Fourteen years and they had been living like the battle was yesterday. He was not ready to move on, but the community had to be. They had to look forward.

He looked at Gavin, touched him on the shoulder, and said, “Thank you.” They made a plan that night, they were going to convene a general meeting where Gonzalo would address his people, but first, these wolves needed to be taught a lesson.

That night, Gonzalo and his friends trailed the reckless young wolves, punished them, and made them promise never to attempt to go near the humans again. They got a signed pact from their parents and the boys that the next time it happened, the boys would be locked in a dungeon. Their parents knew Gonzalo was not joking; he had stripped his own sons of their honor in front of the entire community. Their sons were going to get the same treatment or worse.