Love Hurts - Short Story

"Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are," the loving mother whispered soothingly to her daughter, "Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky."
         The little girl giggled sweetly, looking up at her mother with wide, bright, childishly awe-struck eyes as she finished the simple nursery rhyme,          
         "Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are."
         The little girl cackled with delight and said, through shrieks of happy laughter, "Again, again!"
         "Now, now, Lily. It's time for bed. That's enough silly time," the mother spoke as she gave her daughter, Lily, a big kiss on her forehead, "Go to sleep now, hun. I'll see you in the morning."
         "She sleeping?" Lily's father asked as Jane came down the steps.
         "Getting there. Can hardly get her to calm down anymore."
         Jim reached out toward Jane and pulled her into his arms as he kissed her gently on the head. She sighed as she breathed in the familiar scent of her husband. They had been dating two short years before they anxiously decided to marry. Before their relationship, they had each had a child of their own with their prior partners, but it wasn’t quite the same. So, soon after they wedded, Lily was born. Their sweet little miracle. Their Halloween miracle.
         "You remember what he said though, right?"
         Jane sighed heavily. "Yes, yes. Of course I remember. You can't just forget something like that, now can you?"
         Jim smiled reassuringly, "It's only a matter of time, you know. We can make it through this." Though his smile seemed real enough, Jane could see the doubt in his eyes, and only closed her own and laid her head down on his chest in response.
         "It's only a matter of time," he said again, rubbing her back slowly.


         6 years earlier, the day their daughter Lily was born, Jane and Jim's lives changed drastically.
         As they were getting their newborns room set up at their old manor, they noticed something a little off. The floor began to creak and groan. Dust began to fill the air all around, causing Jane to cover Lily's face with her wool cardigan.
         Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake, the bed soon rattling against the wall. Jim heard their older daughter, Lucy, shriek from the other room.          
         Soon, a brilliant, dazzling light filled the area, from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Jim shielded his eyes and threw himself over Lily and Jane.
         As the light faded, Jim was the first to look up.
         His eyes filled with terror.
         "Jane- Jane! What's going on?"
         The previously vacant room was now drenched with a droopy, red liquid. The smell of it all made his stomach tighten and lurch; he gagged, and held back his urge to vomit.
         "Is that...is that blood!?" Jane shrieked.
         "I don't know. I don't know, babe. What happened?"
         "Jane. Jim." A voice called out, shaking the room once more. The tremor caused the blood on the walls to trail down further, pooling out across the hard-wood floor.
         The couple looked around, but could see nothing but the reddened room around them.
         "Your new born child you hold before you holds a curse within her blood. You will see her grow to become...extraordinary. Beautiful, yet dreadful. She will only want love, but be warned- if she should see love return, the curse coursing through her will strike."
         "Wait! What the hell do you mean? Who are you? Why us?" Jim yelled, stamping across the room, his feet sloshing through the thick blood that caked the floor.
         Only silence answered.


The next morning, as the sun rose up on the Hill manor, and the night-dwellers slowly crawled back into their slumber homes, the Hill family took to the streets, taking a refreshing walk through their empty neighborhood.
         They were an interesting bunch to lay eyes on, that's for sure. Each member bore strikingly similar features: jet black hair, sunken eyes, and slightly crooked noses. Those who spot the family whisper among themselves, spreading rumors wildly. Thus the reason people tend to avoid them, so long as they can help it. Jane has even heard that their family line has been cursed.
         If only they knew, Jane would think to herself.
         Jim pulled their daughter, Lily, along behind him in a cart, as the rest of the family; Billy, the middle child; Lucy, the cheerful eldest child; and Jane, walked respectively around them, as if guarding the little one residing in the cart.
         "Hey, hey!" Lily called out, excited, as a young boy walked near them. The family stopped, letting the little one express her childish happiness.
         The boy leaned in and waved his fingers at her as he said, "Hey!"
         Jane smiled with glee as Lily jumped excitedly in her cart, as she generally had no contact with anyone.
         "I love you! I love you!" She shrieked happily.
         "Aww," members of the family cooed.
         The boy looked around at the girl's family, bewildered. Then he looked back at the little girl, laughing out as he said to her, "Well, I love you too!"
         Both Lily's parents gasped and froze. Lucy and Billy watched curiously.
         Lily's eyes widened, her pupils dilating, taking up her entire iris. Two, giant black eyes stared at the boy, who was frozen with shock. Lily began to shake as she smiled as wide as possible.
         Two rows of glinting, razor sharp teeth filled her mouth.
         She jumped out of the cart, pouncing on the unsuspecting boy, who screamed out in terror.
         The rest of the family looked away, knowing there was nothing to do.
         Blood and skin filled the side walk as Lily tore away at the boy's face, the boy who was nothing but a stranger to her and her kin. Her razor teeth sunk into his face and tore away at his flesh. Soon enough, the boy was left dead and Lily sank back into her cart, tears rolling down her cheek.
         "Mommy?"
         Jane's back stiffened, "Yes, honey?"
         "Why does this happen to me?"
         "Well, sweetie. Sometimes we just have to learn...love hurts."