The neighborhood was rather quiet, she thought to herself as she was washing clothes that morning. It was good anyway, although it was due to another vampire attack.
"Where's that priest of yours, kid?"
"I know you're gangsters. Go away." She heard little Henry scream out.
"Look at this rude runt."
She sighed. Couldn't there be a day where there would be no noise on the street? She thought to herself as she lifted the basin of soapy water. She was going to teach them a lesson.
The guy who seemed to be their leader was tapping Henry's head by the time she arrived. "That rude mouth of yours."
"Don't touch me" Henry protested.
"We need him to sign this. Our construction work is getting held up because of all of you. Don't think we're going to go easy on you all because you're orphans, so hurry and get him, will you?"
She'd had enough, she thought to herself as she bit her lower lip. Angrily, she stomped towards the men, the basin on her hands. "Hey assholes, who the hell do you think you are, you better shut your faces and scram out of here before I tear you a new one." She yelled and made to pour the water on the leader when he dodged and swiftly grabbed her at the back of the neck.
"Ouch" She yelled.
"You again? Can't we have a day without you trying to be a hero?"
Her siblings rushed towards the man but were stopped by his bodyguards.
"And where are we supposed to go if you get rid of our house?" She asked and he tightened his grip on her neck.
"Do you think I care, feisty little bitch?" He snarled.
"Excuse me...can someone give me some directions?"
They all turned to see a guy behind them looking through the street like he was lost.
"What the hell..."
"Can you tell me how to get to the nearest police station?" He asked, flinging a cigarette through his fingers.
"Can't you see that we're in the middle of something? Go find it yourself." The leader said.
He seemed not to care.
"Ah..ok."And with that, he turned to leave.
Mr. Gangster leader turned to them and gave a nod to his men who shoved the kids away.
"You little rats should tell the priest to come out now or else my fists will do the talking on your sister's face." He said and she groaned as he grabbed her neck harder.
Her expression soon turned to a surprised one when she saw the guy with the cigarette returning back. "You know...you should really watch your mouth or do you want to spend the night in a slammer."
Mr. Gangster leader was surprised at his level of courage so he let go of her immediately and turned to face him."Who the hell do you think you are? One of the bodyguards asked. "Alright, you asked for it." He smiled.
The second bodyguard was about to make an attack on him when he discovered something and panic was written on his face as he whispered to his boss who frowned. "Fuck this, we'll be back next week. The priest better be around." He said and they ran off, throwing mean glances at him as they did.
Her siblings threw their arms around her and she gathered them in hers. "Sorry, was I too late?"
"No, you came at the perfect time." Henry replied.
"I was just about to give them a beat down." Henrietta said and Henry scoffed.
"Liar, you were rather quiet."
"By the way, don't tell Father Michael that I swore."She pleaded. He'd yell at her again if he knew.
"If you'll do the laundry for a week." Henry said, a wicked smile on his lips. He hated doing the laundry.
"Ok, deal"
"Yes!"
"It's better to avoid scums altogether like that next time." The guy with the cigarette said as he turned to leave.
"Wait." She called out and he turned to look at them over his shoulders. "Thanks so much for today."
He tore his eyes off them with a sigh. "No need to thank me. I just hate seeing lowlifes trying to make money like that." He replied as he went down the stairs in front of the building.
"Oh, wait. I can tell you how to get to the police station." She said and he slightly lifted his hand without shooting her a glance. "I already know where it is."
A sigh escaped her lips as she slowly turned to the house. She'd been living there, in the church runned orphanage since ten years back. The neighborhood was known to be a run down so bullying by gangsters happened frequently. She was used to it though...apart from one thing.
"Riña, go out for once. Don't you have friends?"
"As a college student, can you at least try to join a club and go to school events?"
Her siblings always nagged at her to go out and have fun as most college students did as she was the biggest loner on campus. Since she didn't know anyone in her major, she had to say hi to everyone on campus and have lunch all by herself. Was her campus life ever going to be fun-filled? Was anyone going to like her after knowing who she really was.
Her mind went back to the incident that had happened on her way back home two days back. A body whose neck had been pierced by fangs had been seen lying in its' pool of blood, two streets from hers. People in the bus where she had been seated were talking about it as the bus drove past the scene and Riña turned to the mother of the deceased who wailed loudly.
"I told you there's no noodles." Henry screamed, jerking her out of her thoughts.
"But that's what I want."
A sigh escaped her lips as she headed for the kitchen.
"What's going on?"
"Riña, Henrietta is craving noodles after dinner and we're out of it." Henry replied
"Really? Don't worry Henrietta, I'll get some at the convenience store."
"Can I come with you?" She beamed.
"It's late Rietta,stay at home with Henry. I'll be back before you know it." She replied and headed out of the house.
The nearest convenience store was almost closing by the time she arrived as it a couple of minutes to curfew. "Riña, what brings you..."
"Can I have some noodles, please?" She asked and the store owner hurriedly went in to get them.
"Thanks Mr. Thomas." She said and made to give him the money. "You can keep it dear."
"But Mr. Thomas..." "You should hurry along now, Riña. It's almost curfew."He smiled and she bowed slightly in appreciation. "Thanks and goodnight Mr. Thomas."
"Have a goodnight dear."
She turned to head home and was two blocks
away when the street lights started to flicker. A frown settled on her brow as she raised her head to look at it. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it on the outside though,so what was...
"So this is where you shithead has been hiding..." Her head whipped round to look at the direction where the voice came from and she was surprised to see Mr. Gangster leader again,this time bullying someone else. She carefully hid beside a shop and slowly peeked out her head to see what was happening.
"Please, have a little patience ... I'll pay you your money." The man pleaded.
"A little patience, a little patience,that's what you say all the time...but then I see you coming out of a bar, with girls flocking around you.Life must be so good, right?"He snarled and Zuriña raked her hands through her hair, wondering whether to interfere or not.
"Please..."
"There's no way you'll be escaping a beat down today, my friend." Mr. Gangster leader said and started throwing punches all over the man's face. Zuriña closed her eyes not wanting to watch the long scene but the sound of the punching soon stopped and she could hear little groans. On opening her eyes to see what had happened, a soft gasp escaped her lips and she had to cover her mouth to prevent her from getting caught.
The man who was being beaten up had transformed into a vampire and he'd thrust his hand through his creditor's body.
"I told you to have patience, didn't I?"
Zuriña blinked hard as she completely hid herself out of sight. Trying to abscond to safety, she ended up bumping against a trashcan behind her. Fear washed through her as she hurriedly made to rise, making more noise instead and she cursed aloud, hoping the vampire wouldn't come for her.
A cold shiver ran down her spine as she felt a dark shadowed cover her and she slowly turned to see the vampire who'd killed the leader of the gangster before her."Please... please..."She swallowed hard.
"Why am I getting excited all of a sudden?" He chuckled as he approached her.
"Don't come near me.... don't come... Someone help... please."She stuttered as she crawled backwards and he smiled.
"There's no one here, darling. Are you afraid? Come on, don't be. After all, vampires were once humans...humans like you." He replied and she could see his fangs had elongated. He lurched towards her and she stuck out her foot in response, trying desperately to get away but he grabbed her ankle.
"Please don't do this...." She cried and he pulled her underneath so he was over her. She tried to force herself out of his grip but he had her pinned to the ground.
"Look into my eyes...this power is a gift. It makes people who are weak superior over others."
She kept struggling and he tightened his grip on her arms as a wicked smile crossed his lips. "Guess what?"
She was too afraid too ask. "I won't kill you..."He said and slowly lowered his lips to her ears, trailing down his tongue."...I'll bestow this gift upon you...I'll make you a vampire"
"NO!" She screamed.
