The Cursed Boy

Prologue

Once, there was an earthquake, and a mother and her son were trapped in the rubble.

Days passed, and the single mother was beginning to lose hope. Her one-year-old son was crying non-stop. Crying from fear and hunger. Even at such a tender age, he could already tell something was wrong just by looking at his mother's face. He hugged his mother tightly - she was his only warmth, his only source of hope, and fell into a fitful sleep.

His mother was one selfless woman. She didn't care about her life. All she cared about was her beautiful baby boy. Evan. He was such a beautiful bundle of joy. His life had barely started, and she was determined not to let it end so soon.

It had been 3 days without food or water. Her baby boy needed water, or something to drink, or else he would cry and cry till his voice turned hoarse. Obviously, there wasn't much option in that small space in the rubble that they were both trapped in.

Then, she made a painful decision.

She would die to get her son out here alive.

She would have to bite her fingers till they bled, and let her son suck her blood. It was her last resort.

Taking in a huge deep breath, she readied herself for the pain ahead and bit hard into her index finger. She bit as hard as she could till she felt that metallic taste in her mouth and that stinging pain at the tip of her finger. Then, she gently shook her precious baby boy awake and let him suck her blood.

That boy happily sucked the blood. To him, that blood was just another foreign liquid he had to drink, just like milk powder or some random baby food, and thus didn't question the metallic taste - he wasn't a picky eater, after all.

The woman gently stroked her boy's soft hair. She knew she would die, but it didn't matter. All she wanted was her boy out safe.

Her heart ached at the thought of not ever being able to see her beautiful son grow up, or ever hold her grandchildren. But, she forced herself to keep her tears down. Every tear would only mean that she would have less water in her to keep her son alive.

Gently, she cradled her precious child and rocked him to sleep. The boy, oblivious to his mother's internal pain, grabbed his mother's finger with his two chubby hands and continued drinking her blood.

Not knowing that by doing so, he was draining her of her life essence.

~~~

On the fifth day, the poor woman was barely surviving when sunlight finally reached her eyes.

Her life was hanging by a thread. She was barely conscious, but gathered every single ounce of energy left in her body and thrust her baby boy into the paramedic's arms.

She, too, was rescued from that hell of a place they had suffered in for 5 days, and was whisked to the hospital for immediate treatment, together with her son.

In the ambulance, her child lay beside her.

She knew her time was up.

She forced herself up, stroked his hair and gave him one last kiss on the forehead.

"I love you, Evan. Mummy loves you," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Then, she told the paramedic weakly, "His name is Evan. Please keep his-"

And she went limp.

She never made it to the hospital.