Year 2017, Zoe was still 6 years old. It was a cold breezy winter night of Christmas. Zoe and her family was celebrating Christmas together with her best friend, Gabriel's family.
Zoe excitedly went to her best friend Gabriel to give her Christmas present.
"Gabriel, here's my Christmas present! So what about mine? Where is it?" Zoe asked.
Gabriel who was holding a warm chocolate milk on his tiny hands, faced Zoe who was running to him at full speed.
"Yours? I didn't prepare any." Gabriel said, calmly.
"Gabriel! Your so mean! And I tried so hard to find you one." Zoe pouted while holding a small box in her hand.
Gabriel looked in Zoe's hand, still carrying a small box with a tag hanging around it. He looked at the tag and saw something written in it. 'To my treasured best friend Gabriel.' As Gabriel looked at it, he smiled and laughed a little.
"I was just joking. Here's your Christmas present. " Gabriel said, while handing over a tiny box that he hid in his pocket.
Zoe saw the gift Henry was holding out she was very delighted and took it quickly while giving her gift to Gabriel.
"Yay! Thank you Gabriel!" Zoe said while hugging Gabriel tightly.
When she let Gabriel go, she opened the gift Gabriel gave and saw a cute silver necklace with a small real diamond hanging in the middle, inside. Zoe's eyes glittered with delight and happiness. She held it in her tiny hand then wore it.
"Gabriel, is this the necklace at the jewelry store near our school?" Zoe asked happily.
Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, it is. I noticed how much you really liked that necklace every time we walk to school. When we come across that store you would always stare at it. So I thought that you might like it." Gabriel said.
Zoe hugged Gabriel again saying your the greatest best friend ever! Zoe then ran to her parents who were talking to Gabriel's parents. After all, just like them, Zoe's parent and Gabriel's parents are also best friends.
"Mom! Mom! Look! Gabriel gave me a pretty necklace!" Zoe said happily, interrupting their talk.
Zoe's mom took her in her mother's arms and hugged her tightly. Zoe saw Gabriel in the Christmas tree where he gave Zoe the Christmas present. Gabriel stared at her with his cheeks pink. Zoe realized as soon as she saw Gabriel, she knew Gabriel was embarrassed.
She smiled delightedly at Gabriel, then looked at Gabriel's parents who were calling for him.
"Gabriel, sweety. Come over here." his mom called.
Gabriel went to his mother and he was also carried by his mother's arms. Gabriel, held unto his mother tightly while looking at Zoe's direction.
"Is that the reason why you were saving your money?" his mother asked.
Gabriel's face became reddish. He was embarrassed and at the same time happy. He tried so hard to save a lot of money to give Zoe that beautiful silver necklace with a small real diamond on it. He saved all his lunch money and did some extra cleaning in their house so his parents would give him some rewards so he can save enough money for the necklace Zoe have always wanted.
Zoe was very happy at what Gabriel did for her. She asked her mom to put her down and when her mother put her down, Gabriel's mother did the same to Gabriel.
When they were both on the floor, Zoe ran to Gabriel and hugged him very tight.
Zoe played with Gabriel the whole night until they finally fell asleep on the couch siting side by side while being covered by some jacket.
Zoe's parents went to her and picked her up carefully, so they won't wake her. Gabriel's mother did the same thing. Zoe was hugging all her Christmas presents. She wore the necklace Gabriel gave, she wore the watch Gabriel's father gave her, she wore the scarf her mother knitted for her, she held in her tiny hands the handkerchief Gabriel's mother knitted for her and she wore the mittens her father bought for her.
Gabriel did the same thing. His Christmas present and Zoe's were almost the same since what their parents bought were pairs. Both for a girl and a boy. They wanted to show their kids how much they want for Zoe and Gabriel to be together. But Zoe's gift is different. She gave Gabriel a silver chain-like bracelet.
When Gabriel's parents carried him, he noticed the warmth of his side and back slowly disappearing, so he woke up. When he woke up he saw Zoe's cute sleeping face. She asked her mom to go near to Zoe so his mother did so. When she did, Gabriel kissed Zoe on the cheek which ultimately surprised both his parents and Zoe's.
"Goodnight, best friend. Have a sweet dreams." he said and fell asleep on his mother's arm.
"Goodnight, Mae." said Gabriel's mother to Zoe's mother and left together with Gabriel in her arms and her husband following.
Zoe's mother carried Zoe with just one hand and used the other to wave goodbye while slowly whispering goodnight to Gabriel's mother so that she wouldn't wake Zoe up.
She carried Zoe all the way to her bedroom and placed her slowly on her clear white bed sheet and covered her with a soft pink colored blanket. Her parents left her in her room afterwards.
Hours later and Zoe was woken up by the cold breezy night. When she sat up, she shivered because of the wierd feeling along with the cold air. For some reason, she felt scared. Her heart beat fast and she felt uncomfortable.
Zoe started to feel scared so she went to her parent's room. Before she could arrive there, she saw her parents running towards her. Her parents were looking for her. Zoe felt happy to see her parents but her parents felt danger. When they finally reached Zoe, they gripped on her wrist and ran.
They hid her in a closet. They took a gun and used it for scaring. Well, they definitely knows how to use a gun but they didn't plan to use it in front of Zoe.
They left Zoe in the closet inside her room and her father left, leaving her mom in the same room to guard Zoe. Zoe started to feel scared. 30 minutes have passed and her father still hasn't returned. Zoe kept looking through the door, her and her mother kept waiting for her father's return. Hours and hours of waiting and her father still hasn't returned.
It's already 4 and her father still hasn't returned. She kept waiting but eventually fell asleep. While she was a sleep she heard a sound. She woke up. She wondered what it was so she spoke again. There, she aw her mother's life being sucked out. The guys who killed her father was biting her mother's neck, and her mother's hair slowly turned clear white.
Zoe was scared. 'What's going on?! Where's father?" she asked to herself. She looked everywhere and saw her father's lifeless body lying on the floor with a full white hair.
She felt very frightened. "Mom? Dad?" she kept saying slowly. She was very scared that her eyes was overflowing with tears. The people who killed her parents heeard her speak. They were going to the closet where Zoe was hidden, but luckily for Zoe the sun came up.
"Hey guys let's go home. The boss might get mad." the guy in red jacket with hood said.
"Yeah lets go. Besides the person whose hiding there can't do anything about us." the guy in black wearing a black cap said, agreeing to the red.
The 3 guys left leaving Zoe alone. As soon as they left, Zoe left the closet and went to her parent's body. She touched her mother's body and it was cold. She couldn't feel any warmth at all. It was as though her parents, warmth was also sucked out.
She couldn't hold her sadness anymore that she cried. "MOM!!! PLEASE WAKE UP MOM!! DAD!! PLEASE!! MOM! DAD!" she kept shouting while shaking her parent's lifeless body. Gabriel's parents heard Zoe's crying and they went to Zoe's house which was just across the street.
Gabriel was together with his parents. They looked in every room until they finally arrived at Zoe's room. When they looked inside, they saw Zoe holding her mother and father's hands. She was crying.
When Gabriel also looked inside, and when he looked he saw Zoe's parents and Zoe. He got started by what he saw. He was terrified. He was shaking a lot. His father grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Gabriel, forget what you saw. Understood?" his father asked.
Gabriel nodded, but even though he nodded he couldn't remove the scene from his memory. Gabriel's mother took Zoe and carried her in her arms while Gabriel's father held unto Gabriel's wrist and called the police. When the police arrived, they investigated the whole place but they couldn't find anything so they dropped the case as soon as possible after 1 whole week.
Zoe was supposed to be brought in an orphanage but Gabriel's mother declined it and Zoe was to live together with Gabriel and his family. She wasn't adopted since her last name never changed but she was supposed to live there.
Years have passed, it was already Year 2024, and Zoe is already 13 years old. With so many years passed, she still hasn't forgotten it. It was lunch time on Valentine's day. While walking around to look for Gabriel to give the chocolate she made he heard 2 guys talk about vampires.
"Hey, have you seen the news last night?" askd the boy in blue T-shirt and white shorts sitting on the left.
"You mean about those people who sucks blood? Of course I did! No way I would never hear that news!" the boy in red T-shirt and black shorts, sitting in the right said.
Zoe got intrigued of the topic. Zoe came closer to them and listened to their talk.
"Those people are like vampires! They drink blood through the neck don't they? " the boy in red said.
"Yeah! And they turn the hair of the person they drink blood from into white. I heard from some rumors, other than their fangs the only way to identify them are their clear white hair!" said the boy in blue.
"Yeah! So you heard it too?" the boy in red asked.
Zoe was so interested that she joined their talk.
"Hey guys, can I ask where you heard those rumors?" Zoe asked.
The boy got surprised and they looked at Zoe who was listening to their talk from the back.
"Ah well, I don't really know whom I heard it from." the boy in blue said.
"I see. Oh well then, thanks anyway." she said.
Zoe was also quite disappointed, since she didn't hear anything. She continued to look for Gabriel. She looked all over the school but she couldn't find him at all.
The class finished. She looked for Gabriel so they could go home together, but still there is no Gabriel anywhere. She went home alone and when she came home, Gabriel came home late.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Gabriel. Where have you been? I've been looking for you." Zoe said.
"I was just at the rooftop asleep, sorry to cause you trouble." he said.
Zoe smiled slightly and gave him the chocolate she hid in her pocket all this time. "Here. Eat it." she said. As soon as Zoe have the chocolate to Gabriel, she went to her bedroom which was upstairs next to Gabriel's room.
When Zoe went inside her room, Gabriel also went to his room and held the chocolate tightly while looking at it. He didn't realize, his face already turned red. He lay down on his bed and smiled to the chocolate.
"Ahhh!" he held in his head with sudden pain.
He had a headache and a high fever. He slept in his bed. Later on that night, they were attacked again.
This time, Zoe saw everything. They hit Mary, Gabriel's mother, on the head with kick which knocked her out. They opened their house and a fang showed. They bit her on the neck and her hair slowly turned into white. As soon as her blood was completely sucked out, they dropped her on the ground.
Gabriel's father that time was very scared that he couldn't do anything. His feet froze on the ground. He was shaking while Gabriel was also unconscious near his mother. His mother carried Gabriel in her back while his father was supposed to stand guard.
When they knocked Gabriel's mother out, Gabriel fell on the floor. His father froze in place. His father held a gun in his hand. "Uncle! Wake up! You need to protect Gabriel!" Zoe shouted, which snapped Gabriel's father.
As soon as his father got his composure back, he pointed the gun at the vampire but before he could pull the trigger a vampire appeared on his back and broke his neck.
Gabriel's father fell on the floor and the other went to his body to drink. The guy who broke his father's neck didn't drink any of his blood, but in stead he looked at Zoe. Zoe got frightened. Without anyone else to drive their attention, all eyes were on Zoe.
Zoe was shaking. The guy in black suit had a perfect position. He was stands straight with dignity. It seemed like his from a high position.
"Hello, young miss. You seem very fresh. Anyway, let me introduce ourselves. I am Denise Stryker, the leader of the vampire family called Bloodless." he said.
Denis slowly took Zoe's arm and bit it. As soon as he bit it, he let go of her arm.
"That would be my little reminder that we met. Young miss." he said and left along with the other vampires.
They left together with Gabriel's body. As soon as that left, the sun rose. The neighbors called for the police. Since no one could take care of her anymore, a person from a certain organization took her in.
They knew it was a vampire that attacked both of her family. She asked them to change her name and show Zoe is dead so they did as she asked since it would be easier for the organization too.
"What name would you like?" they asked.
"Arisa Cage" she said with herdead emotionless voice.