The vampire Man: Part 2

"I haven't exactly kept track of time, Erika," he answers honestly, giving her a small smile.

She sighs in annoyance and leans forwards, placing her elbows on her knees. "Well then I'll have to explain!" she exclaims excitedly. "When you come to us we are human children, our parents took care of us. We were born on Earth, and our parents died in the fall. We were brought to the castle where I was born, but I was taken away before I had a chance to learn anything! I've lived all my life here in this castle but there hasn't been anyone I can trust! I'm scared I might make a mistake, and everyone will die and I'll lose everything! You must help me!"

The last part comes out in an excited rush and she grabs onto his arms, shaking him slightly. He blinks rapidly in surprise, his eyes searching hers for answers. Finally, he opens his mouth to speak, but he can't find the words. Instead of answering she stands up and runs to the other side of the room. She kneels on the floor and reaches under the bed, pulling out a small wooden box. She returns to the bed and presents it to him, smiling widely.

"Please, Mister, will you please help me?" she begs softly.

He slowly nods, "I'd be happy to, Erika."

She claps happily and jumps back up, handing the box to him. He lifts the lid off and peers inside. Inside lies a small piece of gold jewellery with a single ruby stone in the middle. He stares at the object for a second before closing the lid and giving it back to Erika, "This isn't mine, it belongs to someone else."

Erika frowns and clutches her toy tightly to her chest, "But why does no one ever want it anymore?"

He looks at her for a moment, debating whether or not he should really answer such a question. But then again, she seemed pretty sincere in wanting his help, and he has been alone for far too long. He needs someone to talk to, and listen to. He may not know much about humans, but he has read enough books on them to recognize the look on her face. She seems genuine, maybe even sad.

He takes another deep breath.

"I can't give you an exact reason why no one wants it, Erika, but it is very rare for us to find something like this, and no one wants it. It means something very special to them, to me it meant so much more than that. Now, do you understand?"

She nods her head, looking down. Then she looks back up and smiles brightly, "Thank you, Mister!"

"Don't mention it," he responds and picks up his cloak. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get home before it starts raining harder."

She nods and waves goodbye, watching as he walks back out the door. Once he's gone, she carefully tucks the jewel back underneath the bed and closes the box. She makes her way downstairs, where a fire is already burning in the fireplace. It was kind of rude of her brother to leave it lit, but it was getting late anyway, and he probably wasn't coming back anyway. After putting on a new pot of tea, she turns back to the hearth and snuggles under a blanket, hugging her toy tightly to her chest. Soon after she drifts off to sleep.

In the woods, he sees something move in the distance. His head shoots up and his body goes on high alert. His eyes follow the movement, but it seems to disappear quickly. His eyes widen, what was that? The thing appeared right before the window. Was someone out there in the forest? Maybe a wild animal.

To be continued…