A Vampire's Rotten Heart

The Orobanche Tree

    I fled from the scene of the crime with a smile on my face. Doors opened and people poured out to see what all the commotion was about, but by then, I was invisible to them.

    I never liked Auntie McAllister. Her voice was always a little too loud, she always complained a little too much. Ever since my father died, she'd been taking up more and more space in my life, always lecturing us about God and Bhale and all the things we weren't supposed to do... She may as well have moved in! Good riddance, I say!

    I ran silently on my tiptoes, going quickly but never making a sound. I found a discrete ditch that laid encircled in trees. Roots bridged through the middle of the ditch, which would suffice in keeping my clothes away from the soil. Not that my clothes were that clean to begin with— they were caked an stained with blood.

    I could take care of that in the morning.

    As I climbed in and closed my eyes, my mind began to wander. What would happen if Mother had found out? Her heart would shatter. But would I ever know that? Her heart was likely already in pieces. I had been missing for almost a week now... That poor woman.

    I tossed myself around. Maybe she would've found relief in knowing that her son was no good anyway. And it didn't matter that I was missing.

    I shouldn't have killed Auntie McAllister.

    My stomach twisted and sank. I had killed her in vain. A woman who could've easily had twenty or thirty more good years. Gone. And I did it. I pulled my limbs close to my chest.

   Mother's closest friend was dead, and she doesn't even know it yet. And when she finds out, she won't know why. I felt sick. Sick in the stomach, sick in the head, sick with myself. I wanted to vomit out the contents of my soul and vanish.

    The roots that cradled me began to rumble.

   A deep voice carried through the wind. "Are you lost, little one?"

    I immediately sat up, tense. I was covered in blood. If anyone found me, surely I'd be in a deep, deep predicament.

    "It's alright... Everything's alright..."

    I turned my head and scanned the area. There was no one but the stars.

    "Ha, ha. It's okay, little one. Just settle down..."

    "Where are you!?"

    "I am very, very far away. Yet, I am everywhere. But I've heard you. I've come to help you."

     I felt a deep black root wrap around my waist, snug but not constricting.

    "You seem troubled, little one."

    "Who are you?"

    "I am nothing more than a tree. My roots spread all across Whitham, and I hear and feel everything..."

    The roots began to rock.

    "You're new. You've killed someone for the first time. You're feeling guilty. Don't."

    "But I—"

    "Hush... Hush..."

     The roots began to move and grow and branch off. One of the new tendrils stroked my cheek.

    "It wasn't your fault. You're just like that. It's in your blood."

    "How could you say something like that!? This was something I chose... It's my problem now."

    "It's only natural to feel guilty after your first one. But I promise. It gets better. Soon, it'll feel no worse than eating a pigeon pie."

    "...And I'll be a monster."

    "That's an awfully pessimistic way of thinking about it. The crab eats the seaweed, the seal eats the crab, the man eats the seal. It's not absurd for there to be another level."

    "I'm not an animal!" A root came to wipe a tear that I was unaware of. Soon enough, I was sobbing. The roots came to rub my back.

    "It'll be alright... It'll be okay..."

    I cried myself to sleep that night.

    I woke up feeling no better. The tree was gone. And who knows how long I've slept. A day? Two days? A month? I didn't care. I was hungry again. Not starving, but it was enough for me to notice.

    I knew better now. I couldn't do this alone. I was too stupid to feed myself.

    As twisted as the tree's morals were, he genuinely seemed to want to help me. And if a tree of all things can feel sympathy for a vampire, surely another vampire would as well.

    I walked to a nearby lake and gazed at my reflection. I could pass for human, couldn't I? Surely a few things were off, but no one would notice...

    I took off my shirt and my vest, and I began to wash the blood out in the river. I was vulnerable. I needed help. I'm enough of a man to admit that.

    I put on my sopping-wet-but-blood-free clothes back on and began to walk back into town.

    It was time to find a new family.