10// The Darc family (part two)

~ Amity's POV, a continuation, a year later, at age fourteen~

It's been about a year since I received that strange flyer, from that mysterious man. As I brush my fingers against the yellowing, ripped page of the flyer, I start thinking to myself:

I still haven't yet decided, if I should just run away from it all. But then again, what is there to run away from if there's no else place to go to?

The pain of losing the family I never knew; it's slowly causing me to crumble slowly, bit by bit.

The pain of having to stay with a family that doesn't want me here.

This feeling can be compared to the desolate obsidian of my greatest doubts and fears, and I'm trying so damn hard to hold on tight to the thin rope of hope that's supposedly helping me up. Then again, who am I kidding? Heh. There's no point in moping over this.

Currently, I've been left with nothing to do in the walls of this enormous mansion, as the rest of the Darc family's children are at school. Just me and my thoughts, and of course, the lonely brick walls, with the cracks of white-colored paint peeling off. Ah, speaking of school, I've already been kicked out of the Requiem Schoolhouse, due to the fact that 1) I intimidate the children and 2) I've already mastered and completed every single subject of grades K-5, elementary school. Plus, I've already had made a promise to both the Count and myself; that I'd need no more of that useless system they call education.

Yet, I can't seem to let go of the fact that I want to push myself to go against the unfair system, so badly.

" I wish... I could go to middle school," I say to myself, sadly.

But there's no chance, because of both my status as a dhatin of Blight and the rumors:

Of my heart that's out for bounty.

But then, as I'm sitting on a wooden, blood-stained ledge next to the one place that makes this small, airtight, suffocating closet-like room of mine more bearable, the set of tall, sixteen-foot high double glass windows, I hear something.

" Who... Could it-" I start to say, and then I hear a familiar voice.

****

In an effort for being both a mix of nosy and just plain curious, I look out of the open windows and see a familiar face, begging the guard at the front of the Darc family mahogany double doors, to let him in. However, the guard, refusing to let him in, has pushed him out of the Darc family property, and he's left holding onto the rusted, noir fence, screaming to let him in. That is, until the family head butler opens the fence door, and demands information from him that he needs in order to be let in. If I were him, I'd not even so much bat an eye at letting that ruthless boy in.

The boy that had tried to kill me: twice. Ah, but at least I had lived to tell the tale.

" What's your name, species, and affiliation, sir?" I hear a guard at the front of the door ask the boy, as the head butler lets him in.

" My name is Kersen Lioek, dhatin of Jenglot. I've been hired by Count Darc to work as a butler here in the mansion, as advised by my father, Galep Lioek, head CEO of the ORBV," The boy replied, in a curt and steady manner, with a bow. That... Jerk!

Is he really going to be the new butler here?

" Yes, we've got you in, Mr.Lioek. You do know the payment, right?" The guard asked him, and for the rest of the conversation, I couldn't hear because they let Kersen inside the mansion.

" I can't believe this! Can this day just get any worst than that?!" I say to myself, as I smack my forehead in disbelief.

Right... This day couldn't get any worst... Right?

Wrong.

I was so wrong about everything...

Especially what happens as a result of that cruel boy moving in.

The last time I recalled, the boy called Kersen Lioek tried to steal my heart for bounty, along with receiving help from Raidne, the binge eater that caused all this.

Everything.

All of the pain. The screams, the goat blood. The death of the only woman I could've ever call a mother.

And my slow transformation into a dhatin of Blight... Is all because I stumbled upon the Dismouth forests and got my hand eaten by the bloodthirsty dhatin of Blight, called Raidne. Trembling, I tumble to the carpet floor, and suddenly, I start to feel sick again. Just thinking about that... Makes me sick to the core.

I look down at my prosthetic hand, and tears start to fall from my eyes when I start to think about Ms.Nugraha, the only woman I could've ever could call a mother.

"She's gone! All because of-" I start to say, but then I'm cut off by the voice.

" You. It's all because of you, TASTY! Human, you aren't even a human anymore! What a lousy excuse for a so-called human such as yourself!"

" No." I clench my fists, as I try to fight back the pain.

" Yes."

And then, I'm cut off by the sound, which causes to snap me back into this thing we call an unfortunate reality.

****

" Amity! Amity!" I hear Violet call out from downstairs. Which means that I'm going to have to-

" Yes! I'm coming," I shout back, and I quickly make my way downstairs. After all, I'm starving. And when it's around eight o'clock sharp, that's when my last meal would be served. And, that means that If I don't eat now, I'd have to wait until tomorrow morning, at nine o'clock to receive my breakfast. The Darc family restricts my food intake, and I do sometimes forget that.

Once I make it downstairs, I can sense something.

Or rather, someone.

This someone, he's taller than before, his lean muscular figure seeping through his white button-down butler's uniform. His smile is more intimidating than friendly. But his eyes... They are the same pensive golden eyes, the same soft gaze.

This someone, I can't seem to get out of my mind. And, I think that's going to be a problem.

Since he was previously working with my enemy, my cause for all my problems, Raidne.

" Nice to meet you, Ms.Nugraha," Kersen said, as he bent down to my level to give me a curt handshake. He does this in a rather monotone, dry notion. And, once he's finished with his greeting, he walks away and heads to his room in the servant's hallway.

But what I didn't realize... Was that Violet Darc was no longer here:

And Kersen had walked into her room, instead of his own, Violet tagging behind him.

****

" You said that you'd do anything for me, right, Kersen?" I hear Violet wail, as I see her eyes glowing a bright red.

As I peek through the creak in the doors, I see that Violet Darc, the eldest of the Darc family siblings, hungry for his blood, is down on all fours, as she's about to pounce on Kersen, who's sprawled across the floor. I see that the white floors made of the finest limestone of her princess-like room, is a pool of crimson that is splatted across the floor, and some scratch marks are traced on the walls.

This... Can't be good.

When a Vampire of dhatin's eyes turn red, they are in feasting mode, and when I mean by feasting mode, I mean of blood. These dhatins of Vampire will stop at nothing to feast on both dhatins and humans who they have a special liking to, or connection. They'll suck their blood, and then they'll feast on your liver, licking every...

Last.

Bit.

Some say that Vampires are an entirely different species from those they call human, but they don't know. The cult of cannibal-like humans that first emerged from West Europe, they were still human. But they had the heart of a monster, poisoned by the smell of blood, and the lust for it.

Was this the payment that the guard had told Kersen to acquire? His very life is on the line, and yet he's in no position to refuse. Also, considering that Vampires are above the social hierarchy of Jenglots themselves, he has no right to stop them.

" Yes, I understand," Kersen says, and he starts to take off his shirt in front of her. But, I can see it. The pain that lingers in his eyes is almost too obvious, too noticeable. He doesn't want this.

Even though he can't do anything about his fate, he doesn't want this.

There, in the darkness of the moonlight, I see that once little boy in him. A small, helpless boy, that once had a light of good in him. He's begging for the lightness to seek him out, for anyone to save him. But, I won't save him.

Especially after-

" You know, I heard from the villagers the other day that you're adopted, aren't you, Kersen?" Violet sneers, as she continues to crawl towards him.

Adopted? No way.

" Yes, I am."

" Well, you do know who your father was, right?"

And that's when he looks at her, in utter shock. Baffled, he tries to get up, but Violet has already dug her perfectly black painted fingernails into his skin, piercing into his blood. He flinches, and when he does, she slams her body against him to the hardwood floor.

" Ah, no, no. That's not how a dog like you is supposed to treat its master!" She spat, and grabs his face with her hands, pulling his lips closer to hers. And, when she does, she bites down on his lower lip and rips open his skin.

" Tell me! W-who was my-" He starts to say, at loss for words.

" Your father... WAS A FOOL. He wanted to fight for humans rights, and in doing so, he was brutally murdered. On the night of my tenth birthday, my father had announced to us that we'd have a special dinner, and that special dinner! Was the blood of your father, Hak Sato. Your mother, was devastated after hearing the news of the death of her husband, and she became a deadly binge eater of Jenglot... And left you to fend for yourself, on the streets," Violet continues, and she then stroked Kersen's cheek, as if trying to make him understand.

" Don't you see? You were born to die for the likes of my family. So it be best if you just shut up and do your job!"

"Born to die. Born to die. You worthless piece of scum!" Violet said to him, her manic voice ringing in my ears.

The blood poured on the hardwood floor, the rips of Kersen's flesh piling up. At this rate... She's going to kill him!

But... Why do I... Care?

Because maybe, just maybe, deep inside, I could relate. That even though through that small slot of time that I had knew him, he was a cruel, insolent brat, I could relate.

Kersen never wanted to be evil, nor did he ever wanted to become a killer. He just had no choice. Just like me, he's reaching out to anyone that could be of support to him, he tried to use his skill to his best of his ability, just so he could find out who he was. Just like me, he didn't want to be a monster, and was taken in by a man who turned him into one.

As Violet started to feast on his body, I had this sudden urge of compulsiveness burn throughout my heart:

And the emotions that welled up inside me, I started to pour them out, all in one scream, " NOO!!"

And I used the one item that Henrik had given me long ago, to shoot her in the back...

Of the head.

And maybe, I'll be able to save him.

Save him from his fate.