Journey (1)

Renbrandt came bursting through the door with his son unconscious in his arms.

"Ren?" Diana's voice trembled with concern. "What's going on? What's happened to our son? Why is he covered in blood?"

"Don't worry, he's fine. It's not his blood, but we have to leave." Renbrandt reassured her, rushing to grab a towel to quickly wipe blood off his son's face.

"Leave? Why? What's happened?"

Renbrandt continued to move swiftly around the room with Darian in his arms, gathering things left and right, before gently laying his son down in his own bed.

"Renbrandt!" Diana raised her voice. "You better tell me what's going on right this instant! Or I'll–" 

Renbrandt took a deep breath while wiping Darian's forehead with the towel, meeting his wife's eyes with a mix of regret and concern. He knew he had to explain the situation.

"Diana, I'm sorry," he began, his voice heavy. "Our son awoke to his vampire half, and things got out of hand. He got into a fight with the same boy who hurt him the other day and lost control."

Diana's eyes widened, but she urged her husband to continue. "What do you mean he awoke to his vampire side?" She asked, disbelief present in her voice. "You told me that if it didn't happen when he was younger then he was going to be human…"

Renbrandt nodded, his tone solemn. "I know what I said, and I was wrong. The reason he lost control is probably because it happened so late."

"What about the boy he got into a fight with, is he…?" She asked, suggesting her son might have accidentally killed Olfin.

"He's physically fine since I used a potion. I managed to erase that kid's memory of what happened, but it won't last forever, he'll eventually remember everything. We can't stay here, we have to leave within two days, maximum, my love."

Diana's eyes lingered on Darian's sleeping face. She was worried about their future that seemed uncertain.

"Diana, we have to go… I'm sorry" Renbrandt caressed her arm.

"I know. It's okay…" She muttered, hugging her husband while looking at her son. The road ahead was going to be long and arduous.

***

The following morning, Darian awoke to the sound of movement and shuffling about outside of his room. His mother and father were busy packing things in wooden crates.

Putting his hand over the right side of his face, Darian had a mild headache as he slowly started to remember what happened. From him losing complete control of himself, to small, sharp fangs growing in place of his canine teeth, and eventually to his father sedating him.

All he could feel was a sense of foreboding, as though things in his life weren't quite as what they seemed.

Shuffling out of bed, he felt weak as he did his best to walk to his bedroom door.

"Ugh…" He groaned, feeling as if a giant boulder crashed into him headfirst.

Turning the knob of his bedroom door, what awaited him as soon as he opened it was the sight of his mother.

"Dari, you're awake. Thank goodness." She said, hugging her son.

Darian was still confused by everything, his parents had obviously been hiding something from him. He knew he was probably not human. A ghoul? A vampire? He tried piecing the pieces of the puzzle together, but he couldn't fathom how.

He had witnessed his own birth, there was no way he was anything but human unless one of them wasn't. It was the only way. Or perhaps both were not human? A different race?

Noticing her son was out of it, Diana held Darian's cheeks, checking to see his temperature before pressing her hand on his head.

"Dari?" She called out to him, noticing he was lost in thought.

Looking up from the ground, he asked with a blank expression on his face. "Mom, am I a monster? What am I?"

Diana looked into her son's eyes, concern and sadness in her own. She had dreaded this day for a long time, the day she'd have to reveal the truth to her son.

"No, you're not a monster," she began, her voice soft but firm. "You're our little miracle, you're both human because of myself, and a wonderful vampire because of your father."

Darian's eyes widened, everything started to make sense. But how had he missed the signs all these years? There had never been any indication that his father was anything other than human.

The headaches, the emergence of his fangs, and the way he had craved blood on that day – it all made sense now, however.

"But why didn't you tell me?" Darian asked, his voice filled with nothing but confusion and hurt.

Diana took a deep breath before answering, "We kept it a secret because we didn't know whether you would awaken to your vampire half. And the world is a cruel place, and people often fear what they don't understand. Your dad and I wanted to protect you, but you have to be careful from now on."

"So I'm…I'm part vampire?"

"Yes," Diana nodded. "You have both vampire and human blood in your veins. It's a part of who you are. Now, drink this, it'll make you feel better, young man. We have a long day ahead of us." She said, handing him a cup of hot milk.

"A long day? What's going on?"

"We need to leave town by tomorrow. We're packing up and selling the house. It's not safe for us here anymore," Diana explained, her tone carrying a sense of urgency.

"But mom what about Olf–" Darian asked, wondering what had happened to the boy he nearly murdered.

"That boy's fine, it's you who I'm more concerned about."

Darian understood and drank his hot milk in his room where his father would come to check in on him to make sure he was okay before returning to packing the house. 

Diana had departed from their home, headed to the Town Hall to finalise the sale of their house and to convey the news to Lady Emily at her clinic. She said they were leaving town due to a close relative's illness, and also because Diana was seeking a change of scenery having lived in the town for so long. 

Before long, Diana returned home, accompanied by Lady Emily, who had come to bid farewell to her young apprentice.

***