Sting of my Spawn

Born to a ghost
a plague upon this earth
leave me to die
but I will prosper

"Leave me alone!" Jon screamed as he sat in his comforter in front of the fire. A bottle of scotch in one hand and a knife in the other. The pounding at his front door didn't stop and Jon growled. He slammed the knife into the side table next to him and stood up. "What part of leave me alone don't you understand?" Jon yelled, swinging the door open.

A young man stood on his doorstep, holding an infant to his chest. Jon eyed the two. He couldn't be the father, he didn't look old enough. "Please, I found this baby on the side of the street." The man pleaded. Jon looked at his eyes. They were pale blue and so young, so innocent. His eyes drifted to the baby and Jon saw the infant asleep in the man's arms. Brave little guy.

Sighing, he stepped aside and let the two inside. The man held the infant close to him, shivering himself. He wore nothing but a t-shirt and jeans. Jon pointed to the fire. "Warm yourself up." He took a swig of his scotch and set it down. "Let me see the baby."

The man handed Jon the infant and then walked over to the fire. Jon looked down at the baby's face. It's eyes were open now and he gurgled and giggled a little. Jon sifted through the towel that had been wrapped around the baby. He froze when he saw a marking on the baby's inner arm. A light gray swirl marked the baby and Jon looked back up at the man, who now had his hands out next to the fire.

"You said you found this child?" He asked. The man looked over his shoulder and nodded.

"Yeah. I was driving by and saw him by the road." Jon narrowed his eyes and placed the baby down on his chair. He walked over to the man and stood behind him.

"It's awful late to be driving." Jon whispered.

Turning around, the man looked at him, suddenly worried. "I was going home from a concert."

Jon nodded, seeming to understand. Swiftly, he brought his hands up, one on the man's neck the other holding the man's stomach. He shoved him back against the wall, causing him to gasp. "Show me your hands." He growled. The man's eyes were wide now. He held his hands up, they were shaking. Jon looked at them. No claws, no scratches, only track marks on his arms. Great, a druggie. Jon moved his hand to the man's face, pulling at his lips. The man winced and whimpered a little. His teeth were normal.

Pulling away, Jon let the man fall to his knees and huddle back against the wall. "I believe you." Jon said, feeling no remorse for the man. He had to be careful. He couldn't trust anyone. The man just stared up at him. "We have to destroy the baby." Jon whispered, turning back to the baby on the chair.

"Wha...what?" The man whimpered. "Yo...You can't! It's just a baby."

"If we kill it now, we'll save it years of suffering." Jon said, lifting the baby up and walking over to the fire. He looked down at the baby's face again. So innocent, so tough. Death would be better than the life that was in store for this baby.

The man was on his feet now. He took Jon by surprise and stole the baby away from him, rushing for the door. Jon gathered himself and ran after him, grabbing the man's collar. The man flinched as he was slammed into the wall. "He's just a baby, how could you do that?" The man asked, tears brimming in his eyes. Jon frowned at the sight. Why would this man care so much for this child. It wasn't his own.

"If this baby lives, he'll suffer years of torture and pain. I'm letting him be free of that." Jon yelled, trying to take the baby away.

"It should be his choice!" The man cried. "Everyone is allowed choices." Jon's eyes flickered to the track marks on the man's arms. He stopped trying to take the baby and watched as the man hugged it to his chest. The man's eyes were glazed over and he was staring off like he was remembering something he didn't like to remember. Suddenly the man looked up. "How do you know what will become of this baby?" He spat.

Jon unwrapped the baby and showed him the mark on his arm. He then rolled up his sleeve and held up his own arm. The man gasped. The same mark was on Jon's arm. "He's destined to." Jon said. When the man was at a loss for words, Jon put a hand on his head and turned around, walking over to his chair and picking up the scotch again. He took another drink.

Slowly, the man came over and sat down on the couch. He took off his shoes and sat cross legged, holding the baby in his lap. "What does the mark mean?" He asked meekly.

Jon looked over at him. "How old are you?" He asked.

"Seventeen."

"What's your name?"

"Kyle."

Jon nodded. "Jon." He gave, but that was all. He ignored Kyle's question and looked down at the baby. "You're right. He deserves the choice." Jon looked up at Kyle's face. He was beginning to see how young he looked.

"What does the mark mean?"

We are drawn
to each other
like darkness to light
as life and death

"Have you ever heard of Vampyrs?"

Kyle frowned. "What? Like Dracula?"

Jon shook his head and turned away. Why was it whenever a vampire was mentioned, people always thought of movies or books. There were plenty of real vampires around, why didn't they recognize the real ones? "No, not the Nosferatu. I'm talking about vampyrs, with a y."

Kyle just shook his head.

"They're invisible, to humans. You can't see them when they come to attack you. In fact, while you're dying, you don't even know what's happening. All you feel are the scratches on your stomach, most likely your face. They like going for people's faces. You just feel them biting you, eating you, and you can't see a thing." Jon watched Kyle playing over the information.

"So there could be one in this room right now?" He asked, looking worried.

"There could, but there isn't." Jon answered. "Vampyrs also have the ability to mate, unlike most of the other types. But when they have children, their offspring aren't vampyrs. They're known as dhampirs."

"Are dhampirs dangerous?"

"Only to vampyrs. Dhampirs, along with animals, are the only things that can see vampyrs. They're also the only things that can kill them." Jon took a drink of his scotch. "That mark on the baby's arm is the mark of a dhampir."

Kyle looked down at the baby, running a finger down it's cheek and making it giggle. He then looked up at Jon's arm and then looked him in the eye. "Then...you..."

Jon nodded. "That's right. I'm a dhampir." Jon half smiled. He watched the emotions play across Kyle's face. Finally, the young man looked back down at the baby.

"What if you kept the baby?" Kyle asked. Jon raised an eyebrow. "Well, I mean, when he gets old enough, you'd be the best one to tell him about what he really is. Imagine if he had no one and he was just in a foster home, trying to figure out why he could see some people and couldn't see others."

Jon chuckled slightly. "Doesn't quite work that way. There aren't that many vampyrs out there. Besides, they'd come after him before he knew what they were. And I can imagine having no one. I had no one."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Kyle asked.

"Research. And, I asked a vampyr in trade for his life." Jon smiled when he saw Kyle's eyes widen. "Don't worry. I caught up with him later and killed him. He was attacking a little girl."

Kyle looked scared now. Jon didn't blame him. He would be scared too. "It's getting kind of late." Kyle said, looking at his watch.

"You want to go home?" Jon asked, not knowing what they were going to do with the baby.

Shaking his head, Kyle looked around. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stay here. I couldn't drive home tonight even if I knew nothing about vampyrs."

Jon chuckled and nodded. "You can sleep on the couch." He walked to the closet and pulled out a blanket. "Do you need to call home or anything?"

Kyle shook his head. "You'd need a home to call to do that." He said, smiling, but Jon saw the pain behind his eyes. He nodded and watched as Kyle laid out on the couch, holding the baby close to him. Jon smiled. He put a hand on the baby's head and watched as the baby looked up at him and giggled.

Jon walked back to his room and went to bed, not before finishing off his bottle of scotch.

When at last
we find each other
one of us will live
the other; to ashes

Kyle's eyes shot open. At first, he looked down at the baby. Had a small baby noise from him woken him up? No, the baby was sound asleep. His eyes scanned the room. There's Jon's bedroom. He could see Jon sleeping from there. No, what woke him up? A small sound reached his ears and he looked towards the door. The door handle. Kyle's heart leapt to his throat as he saw it was shaking, trying to open.

Sitting up quickly, he pulled the baby up and looked around. Hurrying over to a pile of boxes in the corner, Kyle emptied one out onto the floor. He was shocked to see knives and amulets but paid no attention to them. He put the baby in the box, leaving one side open and put it in the corner.

Looking back at the door, he saw the door handle turning. "Jon!" Kyle screamed as the door flew open. Kyle started running towards Jon's bedroom.

It was cold suddenly. Like a frost had found itself on Kyle's body. He felt icy hands grasp his shoulders and fling him around. He slammed into the wall hard. There was an explosion in Kyle's face and he felt blood trickling down his face. Something scratched at his face, leaving three large marks down it. Kyle screamed as he felt something tear into his stomach.

There was nothing. Kyle was staring at the opposite wall. It was true, he saw nothing as he knew something was attacking him. All he saw was his own blood running into his eyes.

Suddenly, Jon was there. Kyle cried as he watched Jon rip an invisible foe away from him. The pain, it was so much.

Jon pulled the vampyr off of Kyle, fear gripping at him as he saw the amount of blood coming from Kyle's face and stomach wound. He slammed the female vampyr into the wall and put a hand to her throat. "A dhampir." She gasped, staring at him.

Vampyrs were alluring creatures. Their pointed teeth were not only the canines, but the entire top and bottom rows. Their fingers were claws and their eyes were always pitch black. The eyes were the scariest for Jon. "Bitch." Jon rasped, holding her throat.

Jon eyed his knife plunged into the table on the opposite side of the room. He looked back at the vampyr and then side glanced at Kyle. Kyle looked dazed and sick. The vampyr he was holding clawed at Jon and he grabbed her wrists, holding her. "Kyle, Kyle listen to me." Jon said. Kyle groaned slightly. "I need you to get my knife." There was no answer. "Kyle!" Jon screamed. Kyle snapped out of his trance and looked up at Jon. "The knife." He said.

Pulling himself along the ground, Kyle left a blood trail behind him. "Oh just a taste." The vampyr whined. Jon slammed her into the wall again. She growled at him and brought her feet up. Jon hadn't been expecting it. She pushed him away. Jon caught himself and looked at Kyle. The vampyr was nearly on top of him.

"Roll!" He screamed. Kyle rolled to the left and the vampyr slammed into the ground. There was a crack and she flew into the fire. A high pitched scream echoed and Kyle put his hand over his ears, watching as the invisible creature caught on flames. Kyle watched as the flames formed around a body.

"Jon..." Kyle cried, scared so much that he urinated on himself. He huddled himself up and pulled his injured body away from the flaming body.

Jon came up next to him and grabbed him beneath the arms, pulling him away. He set Kyle against the wall and grabbed his knife from the table. Jon stood in front of the flames, clenching and unclenching his grasp on the knife. He was enjoying watching the bitch burn.

Finally, the vampyr fell over and screamed on the floor. Jon kneeled down and held the knife above her. She gurgled however and Jon waited for her to say something.

Finally, she was able to rasp, "There will be more. There will always be more." Jon growled and brought the knife down above her heart. He was glad that Kyle couldn't see her blood soak out. He was glad he couldn't see the burnt flesh or the way she died with a burned away smile on her face.

Turning around, Jon looked at Kyle who was starting to fall asleep. He got up quickly and went over to him, slapping him a little on the face. "No you don't. Kyle, where's the baby?" He asked, studying the three claw marks down Kyle's face and the stomach wound. The stomach wound was what worried him. "Where's the baby, Kyle?"

Kyle looked at Jon and then at the boxes. "I hid him." He said. Jon turned to look at the boxes. He stood up and ran over to them, opening the box and seeing the baby inside, content as could be. He reached down and pulled the baby out.

"All right little one. All right." He whispered, turning around to look at Kyle. Kyle smiled a little. "All right." Jon whispered again. Kyle closed his eyes.

Jon sat down on the floor, the flames to his right and Kyle's body in front of him. The baby was in his arms, sleeping. Two people had died smiling and another too innocent to know about death. Everyone was content but him.

Tears brimmed at his eyes and Jon looked down at the baby. He looked over at the burning corpse of the female vampyr. The flames were starting to die down. He chuckled a little. "I hope you never ask about your momma." He whispered.

We are connected
You and me
You are my blood
and I am your death.