“You’re from California, then? What brings you to
New York?” Mr. Holstadtler inquired, but I had already
begun shutting the door behind me.
I stood on the Holstadtler’s single-step porch,
unmoving, as I contemplated what had just happened to
their daughter. A beautiful future lost to evil and for what,
why? I couldn’t understand it and it tore every fiber of my
being apart. I willed the Master to come for her that night,
I wanted it. Had the coward shone, his death would have
been assured swiftly. Instead, I stood on that porch in
vain, and he lived another day to torment yet another
innocent.
I walked down the icy driveway with ease and
made a right onto the sidewalk beyond the gated yard. As I
walked, I thought of the many vampires that I had killed.
That night, it wasn’t the killing that bothered me. Oh no!
Staking vampires. Killing them. Fighting them. Saving
humans from the immortal beasts. That’s what I do. I am a
Vampyre Paladin, a protector of humans and champion of
justice. However, not all humans can be saved, like the
Holstadtler girl. I’ve had to kill newly-turned vampires
before, but that girl was just thirteen years old. Too young
for most fiends to be interested in. It was curious that she
would have garnered any attention at all. What God-
forsaken fiend would dear mark her with a tragem? That is
what churned my hatred.
I’ve been a Paladin for so long that I’m usually
immune to the sensitivity of mourning for lost souls. But
for some reason, Sara’s transformation made my blood
boil. I wanted the fiend who ruined her life and… I found
myself with a desire I hadn’t felt in a long time. The desire
to avenge her.
90