The Blood Hourglass Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 First Meeting

The gray skies are shedding thin strands of rain as if it was a Spring day. I held onto my dad's hand, walking on the street that didn't match the season. Very few people were around. What drew our attention was a young woman lying on the street. She was shabbily dressed and barely breathing. Her lackluster gray eyes stared at us with nothing but death in them. My dad stopped in front of her, looking sad before shaking his head and walking again. Gray wind swept past us with rubbish and dry leaves.

"Dad, I need to go out for a bit," I said as soon as I got home.

"It's not a good day out. Put on something warm." Dad went into the kitchen to cook the groceries we bought. He was paid a bonus today and wanted to celebrate with a festive meal.

"I know." I walked into the bedroom and put on a black cape. I loved wearing capes since they block both wind and rain. Black was the color of night, a quiet and beautiful color.

When I put on the floor-length cape, I took off the gold and silver cuff on my arm, and then I went out.

Someone dashed toward the dying woman on the street. It was a small figure wearing a black cape. It leaned down to the woman and spoke. "I could give you life, but you have to give me your soul as the price."

The woman agreed by blinking. The figure bent closer to the woman's neck, exposing her sharp teeth, and then bit down. The woman looked blissful, however. The figure drew back her teeth after a moment and cut her own arm with a long nail. An evil liquid oozed out from the cut and dripped inside the woman's mouth. As the woman drank the liquid, death fell away. Someone standing at the street corner witnessed these actions.

As the woman regained life, the small caped figure said, "Treasure other people's lives as much as your own." Then the caped figure left.

The woman crawled up to her feet and then also left. The watcher departed. The wind kept howling, carrying fallen leaves and debris, adding some color to the gray street.

"Jing, come down and have breakfast. It's getting late!" my dad shouted.

"I'll be right down." I dashed downstairs after finishing my morning routine. Having someone who reminded you to eat breakfast is a happy thing, a moment I look forward to every day.

"We have crullers and soymilk today, your favorite," my dad told me as he flipped through the paper.

"Why aren't you eating?" I looked at him. He seemed to be obsessed with one part of the paper.

"There's a weird story." He kept staring at the paper.

"Weird? How?" I asked as I ate.

"There's some kind of murder at a village called Wei." He described the article.

"Murders happen every day. What's so weird about that?" I shrugged.

"But it says here the victim died from having their blood sucked dry by some kind of animal."

"Anyone see it?" Another thought entered my head.

"No one saw it." He shook his head.

"Then how did they know what happened?" I questioned.

"They said there were four small holes on the victim's neck, so experts thought maybe they were made by animal teeth."

"Like a vampire?" I drank more of my soymilk.

"Vampire?! You have seen too many movies. Listen, there're no such thing as vampires," my dad lectured me.

"Oh, okay." I didn't disagree.

"That would be a scary animal, though, no different than a vampire. Oh, well, who knows what really happened." My dad kept marveling at the story.

I could see what really happened at the village. I could see every scene and hear every sound.

It was nighttime. At a remote village, lustful laughter came from a brightly lit room, followed by a loud scream. The village fell quiet, so quiet it felt unnatural. It was the kind of calm I enjoyed, though, since it made me feel comfortable and safe; it made me feel like I existed.

Villagers streamed out of their houses to see the commotion. They followed the source of the scream.

More screams followed and they came from the villagers. It wasn't one sound. There were endless screams. What did they see that terrified them? Someone called the police, who dispersed the villagers, took away a body, and sealed the crime scene. Nothing seemed to have happened. Everyone left. Only the quiet that I enjoyed remained.

Chapter end