10 What do you hide?

Finn opened his eyes to find himself lying on the floor in a dark cave he wasn't familiar with. It occurred to him then that they were not in their house the moment a foul odour made its way to his nose.

The scent he perceived was oddly familiar. This was blood but it didn't really smell like blood much.

He looked around and that's when it occurred to him. They weren't in their home but this place had an awfully familiar scent. His mother and sister's scent was all over the place as well. Although their scent was overshadowed by the putrid smell of decomposing flesh, he could still pick it apart with his sensitive nose.

Skulls could be seen lying around with different bones here and there. The smell of decaying flesh was by far the most worrisome factor apart from the fact that the place was too quiet.

He didn't remember how he had gotten there which made his mind start running through different possible scenarios.

"Was I caught? I remember Jaun carrying me on her back. Did she foolishly allow them to get me? I can't be dead, right?" Finn thought in a panic state.

"You are up, that's good. Usually, with how much blood you consumed, I half expected you to still be asleep and never wake up," Juan walked into the cave saying. As she made her way in, a skull was on her path and without thinking too much about it, she swung her leg, kicking the skull and shattering the bone almost instantly.

"Is this her trying to reveal herself now? She waits till I'm awake before she finally kills, I get it's a classic move the cold ones make but again, quite shallow. So I'm getting my head bashed like that human skull, huh" Finn thought as his eyes followed Juan's every step.

The cave they were in wasn't a large one. All it could occupy would be mostly ten people and that would turn out to be a squeeze.

There was a door at the exit that resembled a prison bar. No light source at all but even at that, Finn and Juan could see just fine.

Juan on the other hand appeared to be in rough shape. Her once-perfect dark hair that never had a strand loose was in a mess.

She had blood on her clothes, hands and mouth as well. Finn on noticing this thought of numerous scenarios of how that came about. But his mind was not allowed to wander far enough as Juan broke the silence and halted his thoughts momentarily.

"You know, what you did back there is considered strange right? What I also find very strange is how you talk to yourself but act like you can't construct a good speech when you are with me or mother. I mean I expect a sign of remorse from you because I know you are aware of what you did. But somehow it appears to be that you are walking it off like it was nothing. You might not be able to grasp the full extent of what you did but let me break it down for you..." Juan paused after saying, took some steps and was now backing Finn. Then turned around in an instant and began...

" You just killed one of your own and Ate her!!.... Finn, you ate one of your own!!" Juan said holding and dragging her hair like she had gone insane.

Finn sat down looking like a typical two-year-old child when in reality, he was only a month old. He remained silent and the more he did, it appeared to make Juan come unravelled.

"What are you brother? I have spent the most time with you, surely you should know I know you are strange. Mother is rarely around to sit you. If there's anyone you should trust, it should be me" Juan said.

"She says I should trust her, ahahahaa..." Finn laughed inwardly but on the surface, he kept a plain face not showing an inkling of any kind of emotion.

"The last time I foolishly trusted someone, he told me I would grow up to be a strong man and that I would help him do certain things. But then I died, meaning he lied to me" Finn said aloud. As he paused, he had a good look at his sister's face that portrayed one of astonishment as well as confusion.

He understood that the words he said wouldn't particularly make sense to someone who hadn't been filled in on his life history. Nonetheless, he stood up from the floor and with his hands behind his back, he carried on with what he was saying.

"Trust is synonymous with foolishness. You asking me to trust you is like putting a veil on the blade you plan to stab me with. So when I say this, I mean it with all manner of contempt that I will not trust you and, I do not like you," Finn said.

Juan stood with her mouth opened wide in shock. She had been suspicious of her little brother but they were all mostly baseless thoughts that would go away the moment they came.

She was alone with him and thought no harm would be done if she said what was running through her mind which she did, but now the response she got in return was shocking to her at the very least.

It wasn't that there weren't younglings like Finn who didn't talk. Vampires were very fast in development and all-round growth. But at a certain age, they could choose to control their ageing. Talking was something they did quite fast too but in Finn's case, the content and emotions portrayed through the words were what left her speechless.

"I don't know who you are. But you are certainly not my brother. You are not normal one bit, "Juan said after coming out of her daze.

"Ahahahakikikiki"... Finn laughed but then stopped all of a sudden, he stopped pacing about in the small enclosure, walked up close to where Juan stood and said...

"You speak about normal as though you are one. I mean if I'm to guess, you are 100 years old or more. Yet what do you do? You hide behind a ten-year-old's body afraid to let nature take its due course,"

"But then again, I don't blame you. After all, nature is responsible for all these gifts that you possess in the first place now am I right? Nature is the mother of all yet chooses to carry some across the lake safely, leave some behind in the water who cannot fight the strong current of reality to drown, and worst case, forget completely those left at the other end of the lake. So tell me ELDER one, what makes you in the least possible way, slightly normal?" Finn said and at that moment, Juan's dark eyes locked in with his red and golden eyes. They maintained silence and just stared at one another.

But then again, the words Finn spoke were of little meaning to her. Being born as a vampire was as normal as being born as another race would be to someone else. In her world, other races were the anomalies, not herself. But of course, she didn't reply with this. She feared the response she would get in return. So far, the one she had considered as a youngling, a spawn put in her hands by her mother to care for was certainly not acting as younglings would.

"Who are you?" Juan muttered as they locked eyes with one another.

"Who I am is of insignificant value to you or anyone," Finn replied.

With Juan staring down at the young child who spoke so many heavy words to her, a certain idea entered her mind. She immediately broke the standoff with Finn and started pacing around in the cave again.

-The less they know about you, the more things they expose about themselves in the course of trying to know you more. I have learnt over decades to conceal my true intentions. Leading people as far off as I can through the wrong path is the only way to preserve my existence. All intelligent life forms are in one way or the other predatory in nature. Vampires are no different from humans. They all want to assert total control over everything around them. Give them 99 out of a hundred and watch them unravel from their deep coated skin of deceit, seeking for that extra 1. What do you hide, Big sister? - Finn thought.

Juan turned around after looking away for so long. In the course of that, Finn hadn't taken his eyes off her for a moment. He felt a strange aura around her like she was going to do something drastic.

"Since you won't reveal yourself, I just might have to force you, little brother," Juan said and with the raise of her hand, she swiped it down at her neck, tearing through it with her sharp claws.

"Show...your...true self" Juan choked on saying these words. She fell to the ground with blood gushing out of her neck. But her eyes were steadily fixed on little Finn the whole time.

-Impressive. She could have harmed herself in any other place but chose to go for her neck. A clever action indeed. Playing to the instincts of a hunter that she perceives me to be who would pick the weak out. And convincingly so, she has made herself weak. A bold choice and an even dangerous gamble I must say. But for her to think of such methods means she also has a plan for the loophole she's left wide open. She knows there's a high chance I might take the bait and harm her now so what plan does she have if that happens? Cutting herself deep enough to trigger me and at the same time, shallow enough to keep herself alive. Clever and wise old bloodsucker she turns out to be. Perhaps I should reevaluate my opinion of her. A potentially valuable asset she might turn out to be. Nonetheless, I shall play to her fantasies.

Ahahahahahkikikiki... Finn laughed out with his hands placed on his stomach while at it.

"You expect me to lose control and jump at you like that girl back at the circle? You must not be so wise for an old vampire I suppose. Do you really think all that happened back then was beyond my control?" Finn asked as he walked right to Juan who lay on the ground with both of their eyes meeting. Occasionally, Finn's eyes would stray to her open bleeding neck but would then come back to meet hers and he would resume looking at her with a smile as more blood gushed out.

"You..mean.." Juan said, stuttering. Finn didn't allow her to end what she was going to say before giving a nod in affirmation.

"The only thing stopping me from not eating you at the moment is that I fear I might die from all the wickedness contained in you. For that, I'll have mercy and watch you heal, sister"...