• The silent breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, and for a moment it seemed that all around her voices were whispering, calling out to Nabrina. Her violet eyes were bright with delight, curiosity and wonder. She reached up and stretched her small pale hands to the starlit sky, as though if she could catch the wind she could understand its quiet words- so that she could hear its voice for the first time.

    "Can you hear it?" Said a deep voice from behind her.

    Nabrina twisted around from her seat on the soft grass and smiled to her father, small fangs poking out just slightly. He returned the smile. He had similar looks- ginger hair, pale skin, small nose, but his eyes were a deep green. "Maybe I can help you hear the wind better. Hear her voice." He scooped her up and set Nabrina on his shoulders, where she reached up higher.

    "I caught her, Daddy!" She squealed with delight, clenching her fists tightly, as though she really had caught the wind. She brought them down to her ears and narrowed her eyes.

    "What is she saying?"

    "Hush, Daddy, or I won't be able to hear her!"

    He laughed. Nabrina gasped.

    "What is it?"

    The five year old smiled. "She's saying that I look prettier than the moon tonight. She says that I look like a pretty princess. Does she really mean it, Daddy>"

    He smiled again. "Of course she means it. You're like a dazzling precious treasure. But you should let her go now. She has other people to talk to."

    "You're right." She grinned cheekily. As she loosened her tiny fists, a gust of wind blew her ginger hair over her face, "Say goodbye, Daddy!" She squealed, waving.

    "... Yes... Goodbye..." He said, but when he said those three words, he sounded more sad than anything else.


    * * *

    They both were silent as they walked back to their little house across the field, no noises but the swaying leaves and their quiet footsteps. Nabrina opened her mouth and let out a loud yawn. "Gah, it's almost morning. I'm so tired. Do I really have to go to school? I don't think I should. The teachers and the other people are always so mean to me... because I look different."

    "I'm sure it's not really like that."

    "Yeah huh! They don't like my eyes. And yesterday when I showed Kaleb my fangs he said that he would get his daddy and his daddy's friends to get me. 'Cause that's been the family buzzniss for years. But I just called him a big fat liar, because a grown up wouldn't spank a little kid. It's not right."

    "He told you he's get his dad?!" He said, suddenly trembling.

    Nabrina looked up at him and cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong? You look sick. Wah-!"

    Nabrina's dad scooped her up in his arms and immediately started sprinting across the field, inhumanly fast. "Daddy!" Nabrina gasped, her low bangs bouncing on and off her face. "Slow down! You're hurting me!"" But her words did not seem to reach his ears. They made it to the house in good timing, of course. After plunking Nabrina down on the front steps, he darted into the house and down the hall. "Diane!" He called. "Diane! That was her mothers name.

    The woman walked out of her room lazily, rubbing her eyes with her fists. "Huh? What's up, honey?" She asked.

    "We have to go."

    "What do you mean? Work doesn't start until ten."

    "I said we have to GO. NOW." Then some sort of recognition dawned on Diane's face, and it didn't seem possible, but she paled even more.

    Nabrina peered inside of the house, humming to herself as she curiously watched her parents fretfully pack a few bags. "Ooh~!" She gasped when she saw her father ready a silver gun and pack it into his suit case, "Is that a~ wah!"

    A hand clamped around her throat, blocking her her airways so that she could neither breathe or cry out. "let's take a look at those nice pearly whites my son says you got." Nabrina tried desperately to kick the man, but failed in her attempt. She gasped and clawed at his binding hands, which loosened only slightly. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

    "A fighter, eh? Oh woah ho!" The man laughed, along with several others behind him, including one woman. "Look at those suckers in there! Definitely one of them. Ain't no way they're fake. Now, son. Lemme show ya how to get the job done right." Nabrina forced herself to look down, and right there, hiding behind his mop of blond hair, behind his father, was Kaleb.

    "Nabrina!" She heard her father call. "Get in here now!" Several of the men muttered nervously when they heard his booming voice.

    "Kill the girl quick, dude." The woman said. "I don't like being near these people. They always freak me out."

    "Shut up!" Kaleb's father (or better known as Mr. Hiatt) snarled. "These aren't people." He held out his hand, and Kaleb handed him a stake. Kaleb whimpered as Nabrina cried. "They're just monsters in human skin!" And that was when a single shot rang out. "GAH!"

    Mr. Hiatt dropped his stake, his wrist bleeding terribly. His grip on Nabrina's throat loosened a bit more, and she gratefully gulped in a lungful of fresh air. "Touch her and the next one goes through your head! Drop my child!" Mr. Lockwood (Nabrina's father) roared angrily, fangs flashing as he aimed the gun at Mr. Hiatt. Her mother trailed behind him worriedly, muttering "My baby, my baby!"

    "Well," Nabrina's attacker growled. "Looks like I was right! I'd know that d@mn face anywhere. You're the worst of them all! Good ole' Red Tooth!" He let go of Nabrina, who crumpled to the ground, coughing violently.

    "Nina!" Her mother gasped. She began to run toward her, but her husabnd put his hand in front of her, blocking her path. He shook his head. "But Jonathan-" He shook his head again and bit his lower lip angrily.

    "You wouldn't happen to remember me from all those years ago, would you?" Nabrina's dad narrowed his eyes, as though he actually was trying to remember. "Come on, it was ten years ago, right?! You and a few of your monster friends walking around, having a good time, drunk off of some fvcking blood. Maybe that's why you don't remember. You murdered my sister right in front of my eyes! I watched dig your filthy fangs in her neck and suck her dry while your friends beat me to a bloody pulp on the sidelines! You d@mn b@stard! We couldn't even find her body! Where the hell did you put her?! B@stard!!" He removed a hidden gun from it's holster at his hip. Then things went haywire. The other people behind Mr. Hiatt did the same and began to fire, round after round. There was only enough time after that for Mr. Lockwood to jump in front of Diane to shield her~ before he turned to ash, where the wind swept him up and carried him away, all right before Nabrina's eyes.

    The gunshots ceased. The only sound now was the distand police sirens. Mr. Hiatt chuckled, the corner of his lips twitching, then he practically exploded in gleeful laughter. " Only way to kill a vampire is a bullet or stake to the heart. But I finally got 'im! Found 'im and killed 'im! Aahaha! The Red Tooth is dead! Now for his family, who's just as bad!"

    Nabrina's eyes were wide with shock as she lay sprawled on the ground., staring at the spot where her father had been just moments before. It felt as though a a giant gaping hole had just been punched through her heart. Tears slid down her cheeks and dropped on to the ground, soaking in silently. "D... Daddy?" She said.

    "Dude! No time to kill them both! Cops are coming! We'll get them later! Let's go!" Mr. Hiatt's comrades grabbed his wrists and began to pull him away from the scene. One even ripped off his shirt and started to apply pressure to his gunshot wound. Kaleb lingered behind, looking to Nabrina, and then to her trembling mother, before he finally turned tail and retrated after his father.

    Diane scooped up her weeping child, the gun, and her husbands wedding ring before she also turned and ran to her minivan. After plopping Nabrina down in the front seat, out of time to strap her in the back, the engine started with a rumbe, and they backed out of the driveway and sped down the road. The passed their attackers. The woman shooter gave them the finger.

    Nabrina sat up and quickly rolled down her window. It was her first time sitting in the front seat, but that just didn't seem very exciting right then. She needed to hear it again, the wind, but that morning, she was silent. Was she laughing?

    Can you hear it? Maybe I can help you hear the wind better. Hear her voice.

    I got her, Daddy!

    What is she saying?

    Hush, Daddy, or I won't be able to hear her!

    What is it?

    She's saying that I look prettier than the moon tonight. She says I look like a pretty princess. Does she really mean it, Daddy?

    Of course she means it. You're like a dazzling precious treasure. But you should let her go now. She has other people to talk to.

    You're right. Say goodbye, Daddy!

    ... Yes... Goodbye...


    Nabrina shivered, letting tears roll down her face once again. "This wind is so cruel. You were just teasing me, right? I thought you were my friend. You took my Daddy away from me. So I promise, wind, that I will never, ever forgive you again." The wind whipped into her face, whistling, and she rolled her window back up in disgust. They moved onward, but no matter how many times she saw her mother do it, Nabrina never looked back. Not once. Never again.




    TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2