"STOP!"
Marco shouted immediately he rushed inside the room Perdita was in. He snatched the cat Perdita was holding away from her.
He was shocked by what she was about to do, but at the same time, he couldn't blame her. This was her life, this was their life now. The life of a vampire.
Perdita was more than annoyed with her brother, Marco, but she suppressed the rage inside her when she saw the anguish in her brother's eyes. This was her brother, her only family now. If it were someone else who tried to take her food away, with the anger in her eyes that had turned from green to red, she could have snapped the person's neck and turned him to her meal. But she knew it was the wrong thing to do if she wanted to become human again.
Perdita and Marco were turned into vampires during the time vampires were killing and turning humans into vampires. Some of their family members were drunk dry, while some died because of the transformation. Not all humans could undergo the transformation when bitten by a vampire, and they were among the fortunate, or rightly put, the unfortunate who passed the transformation and lived.
Unfortunate, because they now had to live the life of a vampire. Where the thirst and urge to drink blood was greater than anything. And fortunate that they didn't die during the transformation and had survived the tragedy and curse that befell them.
Perdita and Marco had successfully but painfully undergone the transformation they went through for weeks before their body fully stabilized to that of a complete vampire. Luckily for them, the villagers hadn't noticed it because their eyes were still the same color as their human eyes, unlike other humans whose eyes became red after the transformation.
During the beginning stage of their vampire life, they were always careful with their activities because the humans who survived in their village killed all who were turned into vampires.
Marco silently put the cage inside the hole and covered it with the brown board. He also shifted the bed back to its position before taking the cat Perdita brought out earlier.
Perdita still sat on the ground while trying to suppress the itching in her throat but it intensified as she watched Marco take the knife from the table before he swiftly cut the cat's neck. Blood gushed out and fell into the cup Marco kept on the table.
When the blood filled the cup, Marco took out a pill from inside the cupboard and put it inside the cup. He turned the blood with a spoon and handed it to Perdita who gulped everything in one go.
After a while, Perdita's eyes returned to their green color, and Marco's tensed shoulders relaxed. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if one of their neighbors were to knock and find his sister in the state she was in.
Just as he was thinking, they heard a knock on the door. Marco signaled Perdita to lie on the bed and he went to see the visitor.
Another knock followed the last one before he opened the door and saw it was one of their neighbors.
"Mrs. Williams, what brings you here?" Marco feigned ignorance and stepped outside while closing the door so the woman wouldn't go in. He had noticed how the woman was trying to peep inside the house.
The woman rubbed her hands on her dress and moved closer to Marco "I heard someone scream a while ago, so I came to check if you're sister is alright."
Marco's eyes narrowed and he subtly took a step back. He jerked his head toward the door and laughed "Oh, it was I who screamed. I fell on the floor. You know the wooden floor gets broken sometimes."
Mrs. Williams joined in the laughter "Oh, child, that's right. The wooden floor is shaky especially now that wood is costly." She looked around while she spoke.
Marco also noticed this and knew it was going to be a long conversation. Mrs. Williams was among the gossipmongers the village had. No news flew past their eyes and ears they didn't hear of. Even their nose will get the sniff of it.
Mrs. Williams lowered her voice and said "I heard what happened to Perdita in the market today. Is she alright?"
Heard? Marco thought. Wasn't she also in the market selling her goods? Even if she wasn't selling, he knew Mrs. Williams would always go to the market to look for gossip to spread.
"Ah, yes, she's alright. Though she's still sulking over her buns and her money, she's fine and I've made something warm for her to eat." Marco smiled at the woman who wanted more gossip.
"That's good Marco, you know vampires can be mean and…"
"Mrs. Williams, if you don't mind, I have to go back inside to my sister and see if she's alright." Marco interrupted, seeing the conversation was taking another turn which he didn't like.
Hearing Marco's clipped words, Mrs. Williams nervously laughed and clapped her hands. "Of course, you take care of her. I'll leave now."
Marco stood there and watched the woman leave. Though she said she was leaving, he had seen the disappointment in her eyes for not gathering enough gossip. He shook his head and went back inside the house.
Inside the house, Perdita sat up on the bed when she heard the sound of the door and she saw her brother walk in.
"How are you feeling now?" Marco inquired with a worried look on his youthful face.
"I'm fine, but I still feel the itch in my throat. I want more blood." Perdita replied trying to hold herself back.
Marco joined her on the bed and sat beside her. He gently took her hand in his and rubbed it with his thumb.
"Don't worry sis, hold back a little longer. We're almost there in turning back to a human. It might not be now, but maybe later in the future."
Perdita shook her head negatively. Her lips set in a thin line as a deep frown marred her face. "Do you think we will turn back? Every day, the urge to drink blood is growing stronger and I feel my control is snapping. Do you think the pill is working?"
Marco took a deep breath and muttered, "Have faith Perdita, the pills are working really fine, and in no time we will become humans again. That medicine man told us so too." Marco assured her but it felt like he was also trying to hold on to their little hope.
When they were newly turned into vampires, they went to a medicine man who also helped people during their transformation and sought a drug to turn them back into humans. The man had given them a pill but he also said he was not sure if it would work. He remembered the first week when they took the pill, they did not have any thirst for blood but after that week, the thirst only increased little by little. And as time passed, though people didn't notice it, they had begun to show vampire traits.
The only good thing Marco and Perdita appreciated about the pill was that they only had to drink a cat's blood and their thirst would be quenched. This was their reason for rearing the cats. They have not drunk a human's blood before and they believed the pill was working.
Perdita turned her face away from Marco. She didn't want him to see the vulnerability in them. She was the elder, and as an elder, she was meant to take care of them both but he was the only one shouldering their problems every time.
The increase in her thirst for blood had become alarming to her because as days passed, not only did she want more blood from a cat, but she also craved something more. This was why earlier in the market when that vampire man said something about pulling the heart of a human and drinking their blood was pure pleasure to his kind, she had the urge to taste and feel what it felt like. His words had unconsciously triggered her vampire's dark side which made him know what she was.
Marco watched his sister who appeared to be deep in thought. He squeezed her hand and Perdita turned to look at him.
"He knows and we might get exposed." The fear earlier returned to Perdita's eyes as she told Marco everything that happened in the market.
"Don't worry sis, he won't tell on us. One thing I've come to know about vampires is that they can be trustworthy more than humans." It still felt somehow on his tongue each time he used the word 'Humans'. Life had many unexpected twists and turns.
Marco's eyes looked distant and he continued to say, "If he wanted to expose us, he would have done so but he didn't say anything, at least, not now."
Perdita silently nodded her head. She couldn't agree more with what he said. Humans unlike vampires turn against each other faster than one could imagine. She had seen how they killed their fellow humans because they were turned into vampires, and she knew they would do the same to them if they discovered what they were.
But now another person knew of their secret, she couldn't help but worry about the future. It wouldn't take long for the humans to notice just like how she was discovered today. Her heart felt tight with guilt for being the one who got them exposed. She knew her brother was doing everything in his power to protect them, but all she did was cause trouble.
Marco hugged Perdita close knowing what she would be thinking. He had seen her eyes were clouded with pain and guilt which he didn't want. He was a man and he would do anything to make her feel happy. He rubbed her back and whispered over her head that everything would be alright.
But was everything alright? Or was trouble only brewing at the corner?