The Fall From Grace

Chapter Six

It was busy in the marketplace as alexandra and her mother did their shopping. Alexander had allowed them to go alone for the first time and her mother and herself were having a good time being able to walk about freely. Alexandra's cloak gave away that she was not a normal eight year old and people were steering clear from them. Her mother was keeping her at arm's length but the sunlight was starting to hurt her eyes. 

"Mommy my eyes hurt, can I go stand in the shade?" Her mother looks down at her and then back at the fruit stand that they were headed towards. She looks back down at her and smiles nodded, letting go of her gloved hand.

"Yes, but I will only be there for a moment so don't wander off." She watches as Alexandra walks toward the shade.

Alexandra leans against the building behind her, pulling her hood down. The breeze felt nice against her skin and she looked out at the sunlight wishing she could walk in it like normal kids. She stood there for a moment before she heard somebody clear their throat. She looks over to see a boy not much older than her. He wore a cloak too and it made Alexandra shrink away from him, knowing that he was most likely not like her but instead a freshly fanged vampire.

"Is this spot taken? The sunlight hurts and my mother told me I could stand in the shade." He says and Alexandra shakes her head, stepping away so there was space between them. After a moment of silence she peaks over at the boy in the cloak to see that he has lowered his hood.
He was pale like her and had dark brown hair, her own black hair made her look much paler than others.  She didn't realize that she was staring until he looked at her and those green eyes met hers. "So how long have you had your fangs?" She doesn't realize that she has asked the question until it is out of her mouth.

He smiles and she catches a glimpse of them, they look so small compared to her own fathers. "It has been a few weeks but the sunlight still hurts. How long has it been for you?" She feels a connection to this boy but can't find a rational explanation.

"I don't have any. I am a half -blood."  His eyes widen and he looks away from her, breaking that connection. Half blood vampires were taboo but with the blessing of the royals they are allowed to live. "I have to wear this at all times in the sunlight or my skin burns and it has been that way for as long as I can remember." She didn't need to explain herself to him but she felt the urge to do so.

"That must be why you smell so good." She watched as his pupils tried to dilate but he just turned away from her.  "I'm sorry but I think we shouldn't stand together." He was trying to regain control but Alexandra was rooted to her spot as she watched this boy becoming an animal in front of her. After another breath she stepped away, slowly backing into the shaded alleyway, watching him turn to look at her with fear filled eyes.

"Mo-!" her cry is cut short as this boy is suddenly in front of her, covering her mouth. She shakes her head feeling tears spring to her eyes and the look in his eyes told her that he wasn't much in control of himself.

"Don't say anything, just let me have a taste and it will be over before you know it." His voice is soft and breathy as he covers her mouth and backs her against the brick wall, but she fights as much as she can against his strength. She manages to break free as he tries to regain himself from the beast inside only to fall to the ground, cutting her leg.

A loud hiss exits his lips and then he is overtop of her. He held her wrist above her head, his black cloak falling from around his neck. His pupil was beginning to swallow the green of his eyes and his grasp was too tight. "You're hurting me." her cries were not heard, the bloodlust overcoming this small ten year old boy wasn't anything she could comprehend. She could see the sharp incisors just past his lips and shudders at the thought of what is about to happen, the one thing her father had warned her about since she could walk. A vampire was about to attack her.