Walking down this narrow snow covered road surrounded by trees all without a single leaf, I seal my fate. Slowly and cautiously I walk, the fear manifesting in the pit of my stomach. I know what lies ahead and I know the consequences of pursuing it. They say we are all born innocent, but what we were born into marks us with sin. Our town is vile with no mercy. Children are forced to die and parents are forced to watch. Fearing their other children could be next. Many tears have been shed and just as much blood to match it. Every child has a sealed fate which they cannot change, without the help of a rebellion. We are all powerless alone, but strong together, that's why the government tries so hard to tear us apart. Piece by piece our town falls apart. Too few people are willing to take the risk. No matter how many people say they want to change the world, too few will do anything to make that change. I believe in the spirit of night and the death of day. We can only change what we have come to be, and we can only love when given reason. Pain is an everyday feeling for those who are real and joy is for the ones living in fantasy. I don’t pray and I don’t hope for the knowledge of all disappointment that is to follow. We are the only ones who can change our own destinies not a mystical force or all powerful being. To get something you must give something. Many people don’t see that.
Sadly my sister was chosen to give her life for the government to prove a point; I will not let that happen. Her name is Skylar Ray. She is about five feet tall with these beautiful blue eyes with a tint of gleaming green and medium length black hair with a strip of orange on both sides of her face. Skylar just turned thirteen last week and is starting to develop a slight figure; she is a beautiful girl. I just wish he would have chosen someone else. I’m her older brother Alexander Ray, and I just turned eighteen in November. I have black hair just like Skylar’s but its short and I spike it in the back. My eyes are as green as emeralds. I’m about six feet tall, I guess, and have a pretty nice build. Even though I’m only eighteen I’m basically her father. See two years ago, when I was sixteen, both of our parents were killed by the government for their different perspective on life because the government had already accomplished their goal of scaring everyone to follow without questions. That’s where my sister comes into play. The government created this…..this…..this thing; I’m not even sure what to call it. He’s a blood thirsty monster who kidnaps young girls and every now and again a boy then takes them to a castle up in the hills, which is where I’m hopefully heading. He does all sorts of horrifying things to these kids; that’s why I am so fearful to not only go after her but find it to be too late when I get there. With all this on my mind I suddenly found myself whispering a lullaby my dad would sing to Skylar at night when he had upset her. “Your my world, always have been and always will be, I’m just sorry I had my head in the clouds to where I let my world drift away, could you ever forgive me?” Tears started welling up in my eyes. One escaped and slid down my ice cold bare cheek. “I just can’t lose her too” I whispered into the deathly silent night “I’ve already lost my parents, she’s the only one I love who is still alive.” I wiped my eyes on my jacket sleeve.
As I started walking again I saw blood in the snow, I followed the trail. There was a dead girl face down in the snow. Skylar? I instantly thought. My chest got tight and my heart stopped beating. I turned the girl over. It wasn’t her. “Phew “I sighed. A hand suddenly touched my shoulder. I jumped up in attack mode. It was only Rice Vence, the guy who had a crush on my sister, kind of tall for his age, he’s fifteen. About my height I guess. His hair is short and blonde with purple scattered through it, and his eyes are a soft violet with flickers of gold at times. “Did you follow me Rice?” I said harshly.
“I just want to help find Skylar,” he replied with sadness in his voice as if Skylar was already dead. I thought about it for a second. “Fine, but I’m the boss got it?” I finally said.
“Anything for Skylar,” he responded sounding hopeful. We started up towards the hill and, the castle.
As we walked he told me more about himself, how his family all left when he was little except his mom and how he’s been alone for the greater portion of his life. I felt a sting of pity for him in the pit of my stomach where fear was still festering and growing. Suddenly we heard rushing footsteps. I pulled Rice behind the brush and ducked into it myself. We heard a girl’s blood curdling scream, a gunshot, then silence. The footsteps stopped and once again the only noises you could hear were the sounds of mine and Rice’s heavy breathing and the loud racing of our hearts. We waited a few minutes before we stood up to check things out. All we saw was the body of a girl who had obviously ran away from the castle, considering she was runningg down the hill. Poor girl. She was lucky she even got that far, and that they didn’t drag her back by her feet kicking and screaming. I thought about Skylar for a moment, and I knew Rice had too. We both hid it in our faces though not letting one another know our concerns. It was nice to know she had someone who cared for her almost as much as me.































“What exactly happened to your parents?” he asked out of nowhere.
I shifted uncomfortably. “My parents were sort of rebels I guess you could call them. They held protests and secret meetings to gather as many people as possible for a rebellion. At one time the government had confiscated weapons of theirs and they went after them and killed the two guards. When the time came that the rebels were going to fight, the government sent officers to kidnap them. They were tortured then sentenced to death.” My hands shook as I gave Rice every detail while he quietly listened and sympathized. I even told him how Skylar looked just like our momma just a little shorter and with more free-spirit.
“I’m so sorry Alex,” the words came out of his mouth like sandpaper, rough and jagged.
“Nothing we can change now,” I responded. My voice cracked a little so I changed the subject. “I think we should try and finish what my parents started….maybe we can accomplish what they wanted,” in my mind these words had sounded unreasonable and crazy but now that I had spoken them out loud I knew I wasn’t crazy because, no matter what, I would sacrifice everything for a better world that my sister can live in worry free. She at least deserves to know love instead of hate. But after I said it all I heard was the whipping of the wind in the trees.
Now the cold was becoming our enemy, cutting into our bodies and making our teeth chatter. It lingered on our skin threating to freeze us to death. As we walked through the bitter cold I thought of a plan to crumble the government, and all it would take is a simple sign to signal the rebels and an inside eye. We came upon a dead field laced with potential threats and hiding places. In the middle of the field on top of a large hill was the castle. It stood tall with cement walls and many architectural designs from the Middle Ages or maybe even the medieval times. I thought for a second before we persisted on. The danger and the sacrifice that will be faced to change life as we knew it was too much. To execute my plan, Rice would have to get into the castle and report back to us. I let Rice in on what I was planning, and he seemed to be determined to play his part, whether or not he made it out. I respected him for that, but I wasn’t going to let him die nor would I let my sister die. Rice is going to go in and be our inside reporter, and at exactly midnight, I will send the signal for the rebels; the blood stained knife of betrayal.
Rice went on to follow through with our plan moving through the grass dragging his legs and hopes behind him. He finally made it after an hour of walking through resistant grass and other dead plants. As he made it to the wall I saw him turn and look at me then push on. Then all I saw was him disappearing behind the doors of no return. There was no turning back now. I waited for the sky to go dark and the clock to hit midnight. It seemed like I waited for days. Finally I got a report from Rice. He had found Skylar, but she was in bad condition. She could only survive there a couple more days if even that. I wasn’t going to wait that long though, she had endured too much torture as it is, and I was planning to keep anyone else from experiencing as much pain as the fallen ones before had.
Finally after what seemed like a week, the clock hit midnight and I sent the signal glowing in the sky for all to see. By that time the next day I had over five-hundred rebels at my command. I knew we had a chance. Each boy, girl, man, and women was loaded up with weapons ready to use them. I called Rice and told him we were heading in; I got no answer. I tried again; still no answer. That was all I needed to push me farther than I had ever gone. We marched across the field in pitch black darkness on an attack of the castle, our spirits blazing red with anger and hatred. We finally reached the door and stormed the castle taking on every guard that challenged us. It was a blood bath. I searched and searched for Rice and Skylar, but it seemed like I couldn’t find them. Suddenly I heard a scream, but it wasn’t an ordinary scream it was Skylar’s I froze, then rushed towards the screams. I found them, both Skylar and Rice in a room, bloody, bruised, and cut clinging to each other as if clinging on to their own lives. Skylar was screaming in pain from the monster tearing at her neck with his teeth, Rice was unconscious. I tackled the monster and the monster bared his teeth. They were different from mine. He had two…fangs on the top and bottom of his jaw. Skylar looked up, her face pale white and blood runningg down her neck where the monster had attached himself to her. I first shot the monster eleven times, letting his blood spatter everywhere, then walked over to them, wiped the blood from Skylar’s neck, and saw the pentagram burned into the back of it. At that moment I hadn’t realized what it meant, but I recognized it. Without thought I picked up Rice’s limp body and carried him downstairs as Skylar limped behind me obviously in severe pain. I felt so bad I couldn’t carry her too but she suggested I let her walk. We got back downstairs to the bloody battle that was just about over. Only a handful of the thousands of guards remained.
When the last ones were finally dead a figured appeared. It was him; the leader of them all. I became furious and lunged into the middle of the crowd towards him. I screamed “NOBODY TOUCH HIM, HE’S MINE!!” I stepped out of the crowd and pulled out my knife, and tried to cut his arm with it. He seemed to vanish then reappear behind me. I twisted around and got him unexpectedly below the stomach, not deep enough though. He grew angry and tackled me, then pinned me to the floor with all his strength. He was way stronger than I thought he would be. I tried to struggle, but he tightened his grip on me and broke my left arm. I yelled in agony. “ALEX!!!!” I heard Skylar scream. I struggled again this time I was able to get free and send him sliding across the floor. He lunged at me again hitting me right below my jaw line. I dropped to the floor blood dripping out between my lips. I tried to get up but between the pain of my arm and the pounding of my head my body refused to respond. He tried to punch me again but something stopped his hand in mid-air. It was Skylar. Her eyes had become red and her teeth looked just like the monster I had killed earlier. I was shocked and speechless. I watched as she flipped him over her head onto his back and jumped on top of him then she ripped open his throat. I watched unable to believe it, she was……drinking his blood, sucking him dry. She looked up at me blood covering her face and snarling like a wild animal “What’s wrong Alex? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” then she laughed like I’ve never heard her laugh before…it was evil like. “What happened?” I heard someone ask behind me. I struggled to look behind me. It was Rice. He had finally come to and was sitting up looking very confused “all I remember is trying to protect Skylar from that horrible monster.” Skylar walked over to him and filled in all the empty spaces. Except one. “What did that monster turn you into Skylar?” I asked gasping in pain. “A vampire,” someone answered without hesitation. Rice stared at Skylar for a second and instead of looking at her in terror he looked at her with love “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more amazing,” Rice smiled. She bent down and kissed him gently on his lips. As the kiss lingered all of Rice’s bruises disappeared as well as Skylar’s. I watched in awe and when they finally pulled apart I crushed my little sister with a hug, vampire or not she was still my sister. “Thanks for never giving up Alex,” she whispered into my neck. “Boo, I could never give up on bringing you back safely,” I whispered back as tears slid down my cheeks into her hair. Finally after six years of hell, things went back to the way they should be. No monsters killing children or governments trying to control and destroy all free life. Before all of this, I had only imagined doing the things we had accomplished, but now I knew we could accomplish anything. The girl I had always known to be special now held a curse. Knowing she would face all of eternity by herself I had her turn me and Rice as well. A government that had worked so hard to tear people apart had only created something that will now bring us closer than ever. The curse of the Vampires. Again things returned to normal for everyone else, except us. We weren’t sure of how many other kids had made it through “the change” like Skylar but, the town seemed to be growing for the better. For now…..