Blood Ties - final chapter 2
Chapter 2
When Kithara arrived home later that night exhausted, she found a strange piece of folded parchment tied with string to the handle on the front door of her house. Untying it warily, she flipped over the ominous looking letter. Not seeing a name or signature of any sort, she cautiously unfolded it reading over the contents.
Dear Fledgling, please come to the large field behind the village at 22:00 hours.
Once she had read the last part of the neatly scripted cursive in the strange note, her brown eyes widened as it lit up spontaneously in flames, self-destructing in her hands. She dropped it quickly, stomping on it before rushing inside. All the while, Kithara was completely unaware of the eyes that silently followed her.
"Father, are you home?" Kithara called out once inside. Her hands came up to release her long red hair from its binding, and it fell loosely around her waist.
"I'm in the den, Sweetie." The reply came.
"When did you get back?" Kithara asked, upon entering the den after following her father's voice. She took a seat across from where he sat on the elongated red loveseat. The folded up piece of paper that had been in his lap, he quickly stuffed into his pocket as she approached.
"Just now." He told her, before asking, "How was the meeting?"
"It was certainly different than what I had been e-expecting." She bit her lip at the nervous stutter she failed to keep out of her words.
"It's true; the first meeting is always a little more intense, but you'll do fine." He said reassuringly. He stood up to hug her, and she fell into his warm comforting arms. Her head came to rest on his broad shoulder, and he kissed her head lightly before pulling back at the searing of his lips against the mark on her forehead.
"Why don't you get ready for bed? You will have a big day tomorrow..."
"Okay Goodnight Father." She said, complying with his request; it had been a long and trying day, after all.
It was dark when Kithara awoke with a shock as a loud bang a noise unlike she had ever heard before echoed through her room. She stumbled around in a daze, trying to get dressed quickly and ran outside. The town was engulfed in a bright orange flames and screams pierced the night sky. Bodies littered the ground around her and the air was filling with smoke and the stench of fresh blood.
"What is happening?" She wondered, not thinking clearly as she ran in the direction of the screams, she passed a few dozen bodies of women, children and men most with cute to their chests and necks.
"Father!" She screamed, "Where are you?!" She panicked she picked up speed, only to collide with a solid back. She stumbled, grabbing at her noise. A brown behemoth of a creature stood in front of her with eyes cold, it had two large horns on either side of its head and its body was covered in fur. It grunted at the sight of her.
Unable to look away, she froze as it raised its claws and brought them down at her. She moved though a little to late and it swiped the side of her arm, drawing blood. She flew to the side, landing on her back and clutching at her arm. She watched as it stomped over to her and closing her eyes, she braced her self for a final blow that when didn't come. She squinted through one of her eyes to find the creature on the ground, blooding gushing from its neck.
In front of her was a figure holding a sword while swaying on its feet. " We are a war, Kithara!" The person told her, turning around to face her. "There are people out there who seek to kill us." her father warned her.
"What about the treaty?"
"The treaty is void. You cannot trust anyone other than yourself." He propped his sword at his waist and placed a large hand on her shoulder. It was meant to comfort her but at the moment it was anything but comforting. A number of creatures like the one before was heading toward them and he pushed her away." Run for the forest. I'll join you soon."
She ran toward the outskirt of the village where the forest would block her view. Her father defended her and told her." Keep running." He told her, blocking another swing to his left. Kithara hid behind some trees as the screams from her village slowly died down. The minutes ticked away as she waited for any sign of her father as a thick fog rolled in. A figure started to approach from the outside and she readied herself to run.
She recognized the figure and started to approach when the figure lurched forward. She caught him, lowering him gently to the ground where she caught sight of something horrifying. A large gaping hole in their stomach was gushing blood nonstop and she could feel tears blurrying her vision as she tried to keep them in check.
"Father, hold on. Where is everybody else? Where's Michael?"
"I'm sorry, my child. Many fled and many were killed." Tears dripped from her eyes." I don't know about Michael."
"Why is this happening? Father?!" She screamed as he tried to stand up. She held him still on her lap." Don't move, your injuries will get worse."
"They killed your mother and returned to kill the rest of us," He coughed." Kithara, listen to me child."
"Father," She whispered."
"Y-You have a b-brother."
"What?"
"Listen to me, his name is Misha."
"Misha…" The name rolled of her tongue.
"I only have this picture of him." He gave it to her. In the picture was a beautiful woman in a white dress and in her arms was a small child with lime colored hair and light blue eyes." That is your mother and brother before she was killed." He started to cough again and shifted himself on her lap.
" I don't understand Father, what happened? where is he?"
"The night your mother was killed, your grandfather took him back to their village. I-I tried to go after them, but, but," Tears slid down his face and Kithara gently wiped them away.
"Find him Kithara. Protect him and keep him safe." He begged, clutching her arm.
"Don't worry, Father. I''ll find Misha."
He gave her one last smile." Your mother would be so proud if she could see you know." As his eyes close, never again to awaken and shine their wisdom on her. She held back the flow of tears she felt threatning to break through. The trees were rustling and she picked up his blood soaked after burning his corpse, a ritual right of vampires. She walked deeper into the forest, her promise fresh on her mind.
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