Bloodsucking Goddess

'How it started'

I slowly walk through the woods, trying not to scare away the wild boar that I'm hunting for dinner. It's a hot summer morning, and it's unusual for a wild boar to walk through the woods in such heat. I have to get it right now, or I'll have to face the consequences.

My father is waiting, and I sure do not want him to wait for too long.

The wild boar stops. I grab my bow and aim it towards the now-eating creature.

Hunting always makes me nervous, I don't like killing animals, even though that's what I've been doing for years. I know there is no other way to survive in a world ruled by vampires, and we can eat a few days of prey.

"Ok, Mavia, you got this! Inhale, aim, and shoot," I whisper to myself. I close my eyes for a moment, listening to the trickling sound of a stream nearby. The noises of the forest soothe me.

I open my eyes and inhale.

The end of the arrow slides through my fingers and the arrowhead burrows itself right through the wild boar's heart. It starts to run away, but it's too weak so that I can still see it from where I am standing.

"Got it," I exhale, and remain at my place since the wild boar can run further if I scare it. I wait a couple of minutes, my eyes following the stumbling animal which now lays down to die.

I wander towards the body, delighting in the sound of my feet sliding through the leaves.

I might not enjoy it, but I'm very good at hunting and tracking because my mom taught me. She learned it from her mother, who once lived in a resistance camp. At those camps, humans were trained to hunt animals or kill vampires in an attack. They were trained to survive.

My mom and I have always lived in the woods, isolated from the rest of the world and well hidden from the vampires. There are only a few resistance camps left because these disgusting monsters destroyed almost all of the camps.

Only those who bring something special are allowed to stay in the remaining hard-to-find camps.

I grab my prey and place it on a big blanket.

I look around the forest and take a deep breath, smelling the earthy aroma of moss and green leaves. My eyes wander back to the wild boar. "Thank you," I exhale.

I love the woods. They always remind me of my mom and my best friend, Mallory.

"Okay, now back home before the bloodsuckers smell the prey," I say to myself

"Home," I sigh. Can you even call it home when it's a place that makes you feel like all the darkness of the world crawls up right into your heart as soon as you arrive?

I hate my home. I hate my father. He is the reason why my once so beautiful home is now the reason I'd rather be killed by a vampire than return to him. But I have to, I promised my mother I would protect her secret investigations.

She recorded her research in a diary.

Dark memories from the day I lost my mom flush into my mind. I can still hear her screams and I picture my father beating her to death.

"Mavia! Sweetheart, you need to share the recipe with the other humans! You can save at least a few of our kind, but be careful with whom you trust," my mother shouted.

"I believe in you."

These were her last words before she passed out and died shortly after. Tears rushed over my face.

I ran outside to get the diary with the recipe as well as the substance that might save some humans, but my father pushed me aside.

This was one year ago, and since this day he has always threatened to destroy my mother's investigations if I disobey him.