A Tragedy?

"Sometimes things are not always as they seem, are they Kasha", Hendreando asked in a mocking tone?

Taking a bounding step towards the frightened girl crumpled in a heap at his feet, he could hear the incoherent pleas she sobbed.

"Please don't hurt me I...I didn't mean to intrude, I was just trying to escape a...."

Before she could finish Hendreando laughed, flashing his glinting, large incisors at Kasha. "Yes I did see whom you were running from, and I am quite impressed that you escaped in one piece."

"Oh but look at that, looks like you didn't escape my little pet, Hendreando replied with faked worry."

Kasha looked down at her leg, which was seeping with blood, her face went white with terror as she stared at the red crisscrossed claw marks on her leg.

Hendreando knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Oh no child you are not going to be turned, no actually you are quite lucky you were only nicked slightly just enough to break the flesh."

Kasha did not mean to stumble in to the master vampires cavern, she needed shelter from the creature that was chasing her; now she was in even more trouble, then what she started in.

Let me start at the beginning.

Kasha was furiously knotting together her white linen sheets that slipped so easily from her grip.

Finally finishing the last sheet, she opened her window just enough so that she could fit through.

Tossing her homemade rope to the side of the window she cautiously ran to the other side of the bed, making a loop and inserting the sheets into the hole, tightening the knot. Grabbing a hold of the top sheet she made sure that her hand was firmly placed and would not slip, and lose her grip.

Testing the weight of the sheets she sat on the sheets slowly careening down the rope, she placed her feet against the house as she slowly descended so that she could control the speed of her descent, and to add the feeling of false security. When she was more than halfway down Kasha heard the audible sound of the sheets tearing from the knots, she frantically climbed down faster. "Almost there" she urgently said to herself. That was when the sheets snapped from their bounds and Kasha plummeted down to the ground.

Sharp pain stabbed at her sides, her arms and hands were scraped and bleeding, but Kasha did not care for she was alive and relatively uninjured.

Kasha stayed in place, straining her ears to catch the slightest indication that her parents had heard her fall. There was no sound, she stayed there for one more minute as she listened to her heart pounding loudly. She heard nothing.

"Good" she thought to herself no one had heard.

Instead of trying her luck, Kasha raced into the quiet woods, all she heard was the crunching that her feet made upon the october leaves.

Lying near the calm river, Kasha rested as her heartbeat returned back to normal; staring at the white clouds which lazily floated by.

Thoughts of the previous morning events invaded her subconscious. Kasha's parents called her down to the living room. Her father looked nervous, and her mother looked haggard as if she had not a week's of sleep. "Yes mother and father Kasha asked tentatively?" Kasha's mother and father glanced at each other. Deciding that Kasha's father shall say whatever the troubling news was. Kasha's father could not meet her eyes. Sighing he moistened his lips, "Kasha you are grounded."

"Why, what did I do Kasha asked furiously?" Go upstairs Kasha and don't come back down till your mother and I call you." Yes mother, yes father"; stomping angrily up the stairs she shut her door, wondering why she was grounded.

Kasha laid down onto her bed facing the ceiling, listening to the silence of the house. Kasha heard knocking at the front door. She could hear the scrambling her parents made as they rushed to their feet, opening the door and beckoning the stranger into the house.

Curious Kasha arose from her bed slowly opening the bedroom door, as it softly creaked open.

Stepping quietly down the steps, she could hear the hushed conversation the stranger and her parents were in.

"She is not ready her mother said matter of factually. "I agree" her father replied in unison. "You can't expect a child of her size and age to be ready whenever you see fit to pop into her life, and teach her your ways; it's simply too much pressure her mother added." A voice that sounded like gravel against glass snapped at her mother "she will be ready when I need her to be, period, nonetheless or there will be consequences" the man said in a threatening tone, holding up his hand in a dismissive manner. Without another word the man stepped out into the cold, slamming the door shut. Kasha's parents stood in the hall dumbfounded, unable to move for a time. Kasha quietly crept to her room, shutting the door, thinking apprehensively.

Kasha heard loud footsteps causing her to awaken from accidental sleep, she did not remember when she must have fallen asleep.

Scrambling to her feet, searching the darkness for the disturbing sound she had heard that had awoken her. A crack of thunder lashed out like a whip, however, Kasha knew that this was not the sound she had heard previously. It was something....more animal like.

In the darkness she saw a large dark shape racing towards her, letting out a scream of terror as she saw what it was that sought for her, she realized it was a lycanthrope, (werewolf.) Sharp baring teeth, and blood stained nails reached for Kasha, heading for the kill. Scrambling to her feet she ran for her life, to get away from the murderous creature with dark, blood-red eyes.

Kasha could hear the creature snarling angrily, not trailing far behind. Kasha knew that it was inevitable. No one can outrun a lycanthrope, not even her Kasha thought darkly to herself; grimacing. Kasha saw a large dark cavern which was corroded from the weather looming in the distance, her last chance of escape.

Taking a deep breath Kasha lunged onto the face of the rock, scurrying quickly away from the advancing predator. Her heart was pounding into her throat with fear.

Reaching the top of the summit, with ragged breathing. She turned towards the lycanthrope that shimmied up the mountain as if it was ground. The moment she blinked the lycanthrope lunged for her throat missing it by a fraction of a second, and had instead sunk in his sharp claws into her leg.

Kasha screamed in pain and retreated into the darkness blindly. The further she went inside the depths of the dark cavern; more light illuminated brightly on the walls that were echoing with water, every drop more intensified than the last. kasha could almost taste the pungent odor of blood. Wrinkling her nose in disgust she walked on daring to walk further into the cavern. Kasha stopped abruptly, she heard the sound of glass cracking and before she could identify in what direction the sound had come from, it exploded causing Kasha to hurtle into the wall with a heavy weight upon her, keeping her pinned. Huge sheets of glass kept her pinned against the wall; immobile.

A man arose from the glass, yawning sarcastically making his way deliberately slow towards Kasha with great confidence. "Hello Kasha I have been expecting you for some time now." "Were you able to acquaint yourself with my pet?" Seeing that she had by the blood that seeped at a steady pace. "Oh look at that, it seems you have been scratched" the vampire said pointing his long fingernails towards her gashed wound. Kasha's head snapped up, her eyes filled with terror, the color draining from her face. "Don't worry Kasha you were not cut deep enough to be turned" the vampire said with faked comfort, of her well-being. "You are safe for now the vampire said with such calmness. "Sometimes things are not always as they seem, are they Kasha?" The vampire did not wait for her reply and stepped closer towards the cowering girl at his feet. "Such a pitiful creature you are" the vampire smiled which caused his fangs to glisten in the light. Kasha shivered with fear.

Hendreando inhaled the aroma of the blood that was strong in the room and listened to Kasha's racing heart, and sensed the perspiration that fell from her face in small dew-like droplets. Hendreando hadn't fed in a while and this delicious morsel in front of him played with his senses. She will be perfect he thought with glee and no remorse. In a blink of an eye Hendreando was in front of the startled child, kneeling on his knees in front of her. He turned her neck towards him and lightly clamped his fangs onto her neck, drinking her life away. Kasha started to struggle. "No this will not do" Hendreando thought to himself. To calm the unyielding child he sent calming thought to her mind. "Relax Kasha, I will not hurt you, Relax" he said in a calm soothing, almost hypnotic tone. Kasha did so immediately, as the vampire had commanded. Each drop was filled with memories, lovely warm memories, and cold lonely ones also. Then a memory that surfaced staggered Hendreando as he saw the scene she had witnessed when he had been over at her house, snapping at her mother that he would soon return for the child.

Hendreando snatched his fangs off the child's throat. It was too late she would soon be gone. "I was to teach you, and in time share my immortality with you, and instead I have signed your death warrant." The vampire thought frantically of a way to revive the child to her full health. Her eyes were glazed over, close to death.

Hendreando bit his wrist and put it to her mouth, she did not drink. "Drink he commanded, drink and live and learn the fruits life and death." She could not comprehend what he had said, all thought and reason was gone and she soon fell into death's awaiting arms.

The vampire stood, anger raced through him, punching a glass wall, it shattered into a million pieces. She was gone because of his thirst, and he did not think to take a first sample to see who she was, now it was too late. The vampire dragged the sheets of glass off of her that had pinned her down. Scooping her up Hendreando threw her down off the cavern unceremoniously, where his pet had waited so patiently. His lycanthrope started at Hendreando questioningly. "Eat", Hendreando commanded.

The lycanthrope obliged; dragging her limp body towards him-self. Hendreando watched the happy lycan munch on Kasha's arm, and dig at her stomach with it's claws, revealing the innards of the human. Wet, sticky blood pooled around the body before rigitoris had set in the vampire had noted. Hendreando viewed the spectacle that had unfolded below him with great interest. Turning away from the window he went to his corridors that were fashioned in red and black, he pushed open his push, royal red casket and slipped in, before the dawn had broke.