(Chapter 4: Once More)

Alex as the days progressed only felt as if he had been left without something. As if someone had taken something very precious from him and left him to rot in misery. It had been a week since his mother had told him what he was. Honestly now though, he wished he had never asked her. Now he was left feeling as if he would blow away with the wind from the hollowness he felt. He stopped and took a deep breath as he looked up at the church. He was back in the village. According to people Priests could forgive any sin no matter what. As he stood there he felt a chill come over him even stronger than before. That feeling of a gaping hole in his body. Something that no matter what could not be stitched. He opened the door of the church and walked into the building. It was warm and cozy inside. A man in his forties was lighting a few candles when he stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

"I see. The devil child has come into a church? Should you not burn? Little demon?" he asked.

"I am not a demon."

"Then do tell, what are you child?" the priest questioned.

"My mother….she informed me that I am…I am a vampire."

"A vampire? I must say I would have thought those blood suckers would be far more grotesque looking," he stated.

"Grotesque? Sir I do not understand." The priest came forward and bent down on his knees to look the boy in the eyes. He reached up and slipped his fingers through the boy's silken white hair. Those eyes displayed curiosity and a great deal of innocence.

"You are a rather pretty one. Quite lovely looking I must say. It is not normal that vampires are so angelic in appearance. Or at least, I had believed it to be so," he stated.

"I am not the average one then? A simple number in multiples?"

"No, you are something more. And quite interesting…..tell me child…what your mother is," the priest asked.

"She is as I am sir. May I ask something?" Alex's eyes locked with the man's and the priest felt as if he had no other choice but to do as he asked.

"What is your question child?"

"Am I evil? Do you look at me and see a demon?" the child's voice was remarkably calm. He would have expected a rather obvious stammer or nervousness. The boy though, acted as if he was an adult.

"Why ask such a thing?"

"People have told me that I am a demon or a devil's seed. Do you believe what they speak of?" he questioned.

"Perhaps. However, it is time for you to leave….I must return home myself."

Alex listened to the priest and left the building swiftly. By now he wished nothing more than to be home, a place that recently had become his torment. He took in a breath of the cool night air as he walked back up to their house and found himself standing on their porch before he really contemplated it. His mother was waiting for him when he got inside. Sinclair, Julia, Uriah, Sonja, and Renly were all standing before him with ill-tempered expressions on their faces. He knew that they had to have been worried, and he felt blessed for that much. Alex walked up to his mother and placed his head on her stomach. It made an almost comical appearance come into the rather heated moment. Sinclair knew that her son was having a troubling time coming to grasps with what he was. Being only ten years old and learning that you were not human was a great shock.

She did ponder if perhaps he was indeed far too young to deal with such things. He would have to learn how to hunt, feed, control his blood lust and strength. Yet Alex's normally soft warm eyes had taken on a depressed look since that day. She placed her hands on his shoulders and led him up to his room. The others took her hint and parted ways to their own rooms. She needed to talk to him in private. There was nothing they could do to help him if everyone in the house was fussing and fuming at him all at once. Alex looked up at her as she settled him on the bed.

His pretty red eyes looked truly haunted. Sinclair didn't want to see that in a face so young. There was something about seeing a look of such depression that sent chills through her. Alex glanced down at the floor his bangs shadowing his eyes from her site. Sinclair knew he felt as if his identity was gone. She had felt similar when she learned. But with him, as just a child at the tender age of ten years old. Alex's eyes looked up towards hers and she felt herself sigh as she settled onto the bed with him. Sinclair wrapped her arms around him and took in a deep breath as she placed her head in his hair. He smelled distinctly of honey, cinnamon, mint, and the flower witches fire. Very vibrant, fresh scents. And they made up who he was in a certain way. Sinclair looked down at him as he snuggled up towards her. He must have been tired, she knew that.

"Alex dearest…..do not wander off like that again please."

"I cannot become a prisoner in this house mother. I cannot live like that," he said.

"And I do understand such things dearest, but you must realize that you have to tread on this ground lightly. Humans fear what they do not know."

"Then why do we exist? Are we created just to be scorned by mortals?" he asked.

"No, we are a part of this world. As pieces of the puzzle we must learn to cope with what we cannot understand. And sadly….mortals do not come as a simple understanding to us."

"I wish….that in some way….humans and vampires could see eye to eye. I wish that mortals could understand why we are what we are. Is such a thing too much to ask for?" he questioned her.

Sinclair could see that in the future Alex's empathetic nature could save him or destroy him. He saw the problems that caused mortals and immortals to not understand each other. Alex glanced at her as he waited for an answer. There were reasons that vampires could never truly care for humans, and there were even greater reasons that humans couldn't trust their kind. Alex's red eyes looked the other way with a bit of tension. She knew this due to him chewing on a fingernail. He did such things like that when he was nervous or worried. It was a habit that needed to be gone. It showed far too much about his emotions. Sinclair reached out and pulled her child into her arms while threading her fingers through his silky white hair.

"Did I ever tell you the story of the twin dragons?" she asked.

"A long time ago. I do not remember it."

"Centuries ago, there were two dragons born. One white as snow displaying the purity of the world, her name was Rie La. The second, black as night showing the darkness of the world. His name was Sin Fa. The two dragons never could understand one another and always were fighting. One day as they turned to their old ages Rie La made a decision. She would not leave her powers to be reborn to another dragon, but chose a child to give her powers to that would not survive past six months of its life. Sin Fa agreed and made the choice to do the same but chose a child that would walk a path stained in blood, and shrouded in darkness, and misunderstanding. Seven years past and the dragons reached two thousand years old. Rie La had come to feeling her age and made the choice to search for the child again. this time she found it. Seeing the child as a fragile, pure at heart, and empathetic creature she placed her powers in that child causing a silver ring to appear around the iris. Eventually she could no longer live and passed on peacefully. Sin Fa hearing her life had ended had cried for the first time. He searched for ten years until he found the child he was searching for. He pulled the child up off the ground he placed his powers into the child. to this day Rie La and Sin Fa have been in the afterlife living at peace with each other and watching over the children. However, they did not know that they had chosen the exact same child."

"They hated each other but found a common ground when they died? Mother I do not understand," he stated.

"Rie La and Sin Fa are the darkness and light in us all. And in that one child they show both and nether."

"I see," Alex answered.

"Alex, I want you to know something….the day you got your fangs I saw something in the sky that was black. The day you were born I saw something that was white. I question whether or not someone has given you a gift."

"I would not deem such a thing as a gift! Living as something cruel I would rather not live!" Alex stated glaring.

"You are so fragile. I wish you didn't know how hard it would be for you."

"I will not always be fragile mother," he said.

"Do you have a clue as to how dear you are to me Alex?"

He didn't really know why his mother treated him so differently from his sisters. She acted as if he was a frail porcelain doll while his sisters were iron maidens. Was it because he was her only son? Or because he was the youngest? Alex had went to sleep that night pondering why within a short two weeks his whole world had been turned upside down. True his family was doing their best to help him, but he didn't understand. As he woke up the next morning he realized how depressed he felt by being stuck in the house. He needed to get out of this place and keep himself calm. He felt as if he was going insane. Alex pulled on his coat over his clothes and pulled on his boots as he walked out of the room and down the spiral staircase. As he walked out of the door he took a deep breath of the cold air it wasn't snowing yet, but the chill of fall was here. Alex walked out to where a trail was started at. He headed down the path finding nothing but stiff grass and dead trees. The once clear blue water had turned ice blue and just as cold. He found a meadow and took a seat before putting his head in his hands.

He felt uncomfortable in his own skin. He was unsure of who he was, and why these things were happening. For nearly eleven years Alex believed that he was human like everyone else, true he was a bit different in appearance, but he never thought anything different of it until his fangs came in. Now he wasn't the same person. He didn't know the reflection in the mirror anymore. Even his own mother didn't know what to say to him. Alex gave a heavy sigh before he let a few tears fall. It was painful to not know yourself, especially when you were so young and vulnerable to things in the world. Alex sat there letting himself cry out the frustration, and confusion alone. It remained vaguely silent until a twig snapped. He looked up and around to the area behind him where the sound came from. A girl was standing there at the edge of the clearing wearing a dull gray cloak, her dress was simple but suited for winter, she wore boots, and gloves. Her eyes were blue and her hair long curly and a pale chocolate color. She looked worried, and scared as she stood there.

"Y-you are the ghost!"

"Excuse me? I am not a ghost!" Alex snapped wiping his eyes.

She stopped herself from talking after that and had walked forward before plopping down in front of him on her knees. He continued to wipe his eyes for a few minutes before he looked up at her.

"A-are you well? Did someone hurt you?" she asked.

The girl was a few years older than himself, and was from the village. Yet he knew that she shouldn't have been around him. Alex knew what he was capable of and the mere thought that he would have more blood on his hands scared him more than he thought it would.

"No one has harmed me and no I am not well!"

"Why are you crying?" she questioned as she watched him closely.

"Tell me…..why are you talking to me?"

"You look lonely. I thought you might would like some company….my name is Andrea Finch what is your name?" Andrea asked.

"Alex."

"I like your name. where are your family?" she asked him.

"Sleeping still. I needed time to think. Andrea? Why bother talking to me?" Alex asked.

"I explained that you looked lonely. If you are not a ghost…..then pray tell what are you?"

"The damned."

"Oh, no one is damned Alex. We chose to be so or not. Why do you think such things?"

"I am cursed. If this is not a spell or hex by a demon then I would not know what to call it."

"You have confused me. What is the matter?" Andrea asked.

"I learned not long ago that I am not a human. I am a….I am not sure what you may call it. An immortal."

"Immortal? As to say….a vampire?" she asked him.

"Yes, a vampire. I would like to be left alone. I worry that I will harm you as I have done others."

"How old are you?" Andrea questioned.

"Almost eleven. My birth date is on Hallows eve."

"You are so young! Do not say such things about yourself Alex. You are far too sweet and beautiful to make yourself believe such a thing," she said.

"That is what you can believe."

Alex had talked to Andrea well into the afternoon time until they both had to leave. She left knowing more about the child that so many claimed was a demon or a vengeful spirit. While she also knew that there was more she wanted to learn. As Alex made his way home he learned that he hadn't minded speaking with the girl. Yet he still felt detached from her and others his own age. He wasn't human, his mother had told him what he was and for some reason he couldn't bring himself to understand or believe her.

When he looked into the mirror he didn't feel as if he knew himself. He was scared to look directly in the mirror, he didn't want to understand or know who he was. Alex felt as if he was his own worst enemy, possibly? Was it possible that it was true? What kind of monster had he become? Alex sat himself down in the middle of the grassy path that followed to the house that he currently resided in. he placed his hands over his eyes and listened. For the first time since he was a year old he listened to the world surrounding him. it was silent, such peaceful bliss. Why couldn't he have that in his life? Why couldn't he have peace? His mind was tormenting him constantly and he wanted sleep, he wanted calmness and the ability to let his thoughts stop and rest so he could think on what he was told.

"I am a devil's child. that is all will ever be to those humans…..human…why am I not like them? Why am I not like even my family? Who do I look like? I need answers! What am I! Who am I?" the questions he had were starting to swell to the point of agony. He didn't know how much more he could take before he snapped.

"Alexander! There you are. You had us worried to no extent," Renly said as she came to him. Her shout had caused him to look up.

"I was simply taking time to enjoy the day."

"It is absolutely frigid out here child. You should not be out here," she stated.

"Renly…..what am I?" those red eyes looked into her blue ones with questioning and pain.

"A vampire. As I am, as is mother, and grandfather, and grandmother and…." He stopped her by standing.

His small hands were clenched at his sides, his head bowed while his bangs shadowed those sharp eyes from view. Renly had always felt the need to protect him, yet now as he stood there slowly breaking apart at the seams she could not find a way to sew him back together in order to keep him standing. A beautiful broken doll with no strings to make it sing nor dance. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder as she attempted to comfort him.

"Alex, I love you, as do the rest of our family. You are special that is simply the reason. You are loved, and I know this is hard to contemplate at the moment, but you will understand soon enough."

"As you say I am loved, in what way? How can someone even have an ounce of adoration towards me? I am an ugly, hateful creature look at what I have done. I have become a monster," those soft hollow words stung her greatly.

"No! Alex! you are not a monster! You are special. Beautiful, you are my little brother and I adore you no matter what you have become or will become."

Renly's heart was breaking just by watching the child before her damn himself to a life of pain and hatred. He wasn't evil, he wasn't cruel or cold. She knew him, she'd always known who he was. Alex was an angel, so sweet, so loving and kind. Yet now, people were treating him as if he was a monster. He wasn't! but Renly didn't know how to make him think differently.

"Show me your proof," those sharp eyes looked up at her through snow white and pristine bangs as he spoke in volumes that outdid his age.

"I cannot. Let us go home dearest." Alex walked past her and kept his eyes forward. Unknowing to her those once soft eyes started to take on a hardened, icy look that one day would become all too well known.

The days that progressed showed how much torment his mind was taking. Renly was constantly aware of him acting colder and harder in nature. Alex spent more time with Andrea on occasion she would ask him questions about his family and his life. She wasn't scared of his appearance the times when he would display his fangs when his temper flared. Andrea would smile at him and talk to him about why he was angry. Soon enough they both found a companionship between them that benefited them in different ways. Andrea had always been curious about the boy that she'd see watching them play outside while he was indoors through the window.

Today they were in the meadow again. It was nearly Alex's birthday and she wanted to give him a gift. He rarely smiled, and when he did she couldn't help but do the same. The look of pure adoration and kindness on that ivory doll face was lovely and contagious. Andrea's father asked why she so often would go for walks instead of playing with the other village children. All she could tell him was that she enjoyed the peace and the chance to watch nature at its best.

Alex was sitting cross legged in front of her while his small, fragile looking pale hands were settled on his legs in a relaxed state. His snowy bangs hanging in his eyes while he looked at the little pale purple blooms that were in the meadow with them. Andrea was sitting much the same way except she was clutching her small purse. She never had thought that he was a frightening creature, Alex was far more calm than what people believed. She wished the other villagers would give him a chance.

"How are you today? Are you well?" she asked.

"I have had better days."

"Oh, I see. I saw your mother yesterday in the garden. She is a lovely woman very beautiful," Andrea stated with a smile.

"Tomorrow I turn eleven. The thought seems rather redundant to me, however, my mother always expects to have an event for me. Even as the celebrations of the winter comes around I do not look forward to it."

"Well, it is your birth date should it not be celebrated that such a wonderful and sweet person was born?" she questioned.

Alex looked up at her with a feather pink blush scrawling across his cheeks. She could not help the laughter that came from her. he was simply adorable. The little quirks he had made him so special to even her. As his blush calmed down Alex moved to lay on his back and watch the sky. It was a pale winter gray that showed it could possibly rain or snow soon.

"Are you frustrated with something Alex?" Andrea asked him as she crawled to him.

"Why is it that you are not afraid? You are the daughter of a minister who has raised you to fear my kind. So, why are you not…..?" she had leaned forward and kissed his cheek at that before sitting up and holding out a small pouch.

"W-why did you?...Andrea! you cannot do such a thing I am not a….."

"Shush it is a birthday kiss mother and father always do that to their friends and family. Now take this it is a gift," she said as he took the pouch.

Alex slipped it open and held out his hand to take out the small item. It was a silver cross that was curved and warped a bit to create a climbing vine patter with a rose in the center of it blooming. It was placed on a simple chain made of silver as well. he looked up to the girl before him as she plucked it from him and moved to clasp it around his neck. It hung loosely from his throat coming to the middle of his chest. She smiled and placed a hand on the small pendant as he watched her closely.

"It is a gift of protection. You remind me of a rose very much. A natural beauty and softness. You are a rose in human form."

"You flatter the damned to well Andrea," he said with a glance off to the side.

"No, I do not. It is true."

He glanced down at the cross that was laid around his neck. He hadn't ever truly understood why the priests thought that a trinket this small could be such a powerful weapon against his kind. Those fables were not true. Crosses, holy water, garlic, sunlight, and a stake through the heart did not kill them. vampires rarely died from much of anything the elders were a good thousand years old as for the Gods they were ancient thousands of years old. Alex gave a sigh and looked towards the dark haired girl before him.

"I thank you none the less Andrea," Alex said with a small smile.

"For you to smile is all I ask and all the thanks I will ever need."

Alex talked with her for a few moments before they both heard a crack of twigs. The two children turned to see Andrea's father and the town parish standing before them. The two men stared in shock and horror at the site of the girl with Alex. There was something about the child at that second though that made the two men only stare. He looked terribly innocent, and delicate. Yet it only lasted for a moment until those rich scarlet orbs looked up into their own eyes.

"Demon take leave from my child!" the man said as he snatched Andrea up and kicked Alex in the chest.

"Father no! Wait he is not a monster! Father please!" Andrea's pleas fell upon deft ears.

"Foolish child he has bewitched you!" He stated.

"I have done no such thing! She found me here and has become a friend to me!"

"Silence! Filthy demonic offspring as yourself does not deserve friendship with mortals."

The priest had come forward to hold him down while Andrea fought her father. Alex felt himself freeze in horror as the man raised a dagger. The priest saw something evil, he desired to take sweet little Andrea away and taint her. he would not let the child grow old enough to attempt it. as he lowered the dagger however, a flash went passed him and knocked him over. The four people turned to see none other than Sinclair standing there in rage holding the dagger that had attempted to make a mark on her child.

"How dare you!" she whispered.

"Witch leave us. That demons seed deserve none less than death."

Alex looked at the priest who was standing. He was the only one who managed to see the gun that the man was pulling from his coat. As if he was the wind itself Alex leaped to his feet and darted towards the priest. It took the blink of an eye for Alex to be at the priest claws out and fangs ready. A blood curdling scream ripped from him as the boy latched onto him tearing a hole in his shoulder as he pushed the man down. A feral hiss came from him as he kept the man from firing the gun.

"Alex! Please do not!" Sinclair came forward and wrapped her arms around the child before pulling him off the man and took the gun from him. the three humans in the meadow watched as those scarlet eyes locked with the priest's blue ones. The threat within those eyes showed so much of a promise of death that the man felt himself tremble, and his heart race.

"Shush, child, there is no need for this it is done and over with," she stated calmly.

"He is a devil look at him Andrea!" her father's words only caused her pain.

He could not see what she did in Alex. He was not a devil nor an evil creature. Inside he was as pure as herself. She looked at those beautiful red eyes as the look of murder left them, and that softness returned.

"Father? Are we not all sinners? Are we not any better than himself?" she asked.

"He has destroyed your mind child! You should be burned for your transgressions!"

"NO!" Alex's sharp snap caused them all to look at him with surprise.

"She is not bewitched or hexed. I thought her my friend, none more or less. I wear a cross if I am a devil then do tell me how could I bear it?" he asked.

The man looked at the small wavy cross with its rose and vine pattern on it. The child spoke the truth. How could he be as wicked as they say and wear a cross? Alex looked to him with calmness as he waited on the man's verdict. As the man looked on at him he started to see what his daughter did. The child was beautiful, and undoubtedly a calm presence.

"I have decided…..child I will supervise the moments where she will see you. How is it though that you are as you are and you are not in agony from such a trinket?" he asked.

"He is half human on my family's side. I am half mortal, mother is immortal as is father. Yet father was not always as such," Sinclair said.

"Tomorrow, I have invited the two of you to eat with me and my family. Meet my wife and son he is a bit younger than your boy there. My wife will need a final say as well."

"We will see you there soon sir," Sinclair said as she turned to remove Alex from the meadow.

He was a child that did not yet know enough to understand how great a difference there was in himself and that girl. Yet he made the step forward in order to help those few mortals realize that he was not scared to show them his true self and that he was as they were. The very understanding that the immortals had clawed at for centuries was placed in the delicate and surprisingly decisive hands of a child. A child whom their society shunned for his differences. Sinclair knew it was those differences though, that made Alex as he was. He saw the the fine gray line between black and white. As she made it to the porch with him she realized something. The silver cross around his neck that he had stated in his argument to defend himself.

Alex looked up at her with those red eyes and gave a faint ghostly smile before heading inside. Sinclair stood there for a moment while she thought on the events of the day. When Alex had attacked the priest he had looked wild as he could be. He was protecting his blood, it was almost a good sign but it also showed how hostile he was. With a shake of her head Sinclair walked back into the house. Tomorrow depending on how things went would let her know if Alex was right in trying to befriend Andrea Finch. She walked upstairs to his room where he was seated watching out the window with it open as the wind came in. She came behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders while he watched the wind caress the tall grass and tree leaves.

She couldn't help but wonder what the child saw in this simple act of nature. More than likely it was far from what she or others could see. The way he was watching was with an unusually high interest for a child his age. Yet at nearly eleven years old Alex was far more intelligent than even some of his tutors were in their old ages. It seemed as if wisdom beyond his years was there from the day he took in his first breath.

"Little angel what are you staring at so constantly? Did you find an interest out there?" she asked.

"I have simply become a bit thoughtful on a subject. Mother the man who tried to hurt me...I did not sense a will of ill fortune...more of fear. I cannot help but wonder if this is what all humans feel when they see me. Even Andrea was frightful of me at first site."

"Yet she learned of your true self and no longer became frightened. She knew you Alex as a human as she is. Andrea is a good girl. Perhaps she will make a good wife for you in the future?" she said while laughing as a frustrated blush came up on his face while his arms hid his mouth from view she could tell that he was slightly smiling.

"I highly doubt such a thing mother...after all...mortals could not possibly love creatures such as us like they do one another."

"We love each other do we not? Then tell me why angel that they could never feel the same as we do?" she asked.

"We feed off of them like starved leeches each winter do we not? If a mortal who lived bared witness to such a site what would they think of us?"

"Little angel it is not that simple...true love can defeat all hatred, all fear, all pains..."

"Is that why you would cry yourself to sleep each night after father died? And is it why you look at me and flinch at moments? Because you love me? Or because I look like him?" those words were so sharp and cruel that she barely could believe that they came from the mouth of a child.

"Love can be the cause of pain sometimes and there is nothing we can do about it. Alex I love you, and yes there are moments when you do things that are like him," she said.

"What exactly?"

"The way you look at people, your body motions at moments...like when you bite your lip or fiddle with the hem of your shirt...you are so much like Roukan that sometimes I completely forget that you are not him," she said lightly.

Those words deep down somewhere stung horribly. Not him? But his father? How could she compare the two of them as if they were the same person? Alex glared at the scenery before him. Roukan? Who was he exactly? He had no memory of his father at all. If he did he wouldn't have asked what made him so much like the man. Alex turned to her with those sharp eyes and kept his lips in a firm line as if to show the irritation he felt.

"I do not remember him mother."

"I have a few drawings...would you like to see them?" she asked as she held out her hand to him.

With a small nod he took her hand and was lead to his mother's room. He'd only been in there a few times since he was around seven or so and it hadn't changed once since then. She was pulling out a few scrap books and laying them on the floor. He settled down with her there and looked as she flipped the first one open. It was a small drawing of herself and a man possibly in his mid twenties. She'd used colored clay and paint to give it a full effect which showed him the man's ashen hair and burgundy eyes. He wasn't extremely tall, but rather around a few inches taller than his mother.

"See you two do favor quite a bit," she stated pointing to him.

"He is different..."

"This was your father Alex, surely you have more to say than that about him?" she asked calmly.

"I never knew him so how could I possibly have more to say."

"I should have expected as much, especially when there's no memory to go by."

Alex continued to look at the pictures with her. He could admit there were a few flashes that were there. Gray hair cut and styled much like his own and dark eyes. There was a smile there as well something kind and loving. The lips would move and speak, but nothing could be heard. She pointed to a larger painting that took up the entire page it was of the same man and himself as a small baby sitting in his lap.

"This is one of my favorites," she said with a small sad smile.

"Yet all the same it makes you sad."

"It is because I miss the days we had together as a family and I feel saddened by the days that we will never get...Alex," she reached out and placed a hand on his.

"I want you to find someone who will love you, and settle down...have a family, make her smile and laugh everyday, have lots of kids and give each one of them your undivided attention and make me a proud old woman one day."

"Those years are still a many moments away mother," he said.

"I know...still...say you will do your best in that and in your future."

"I will not promise you anything until it has been set in stone mother," he stated.

"That is a good boy Alex, never swear on it just like your father. Your beautiful, and you have the courage to do things that none of us could ever imagine...do not swear to anything for me...I feel in a few years you may be on your own."

the next morning it was slightly cloudy as it had been yesterday, yet it was clear that it would rain at some point today. Alex had chosen to ride into town like his mother. She used her mare Oleander, while he was placed on a black mare by the name of Raven. The mare had abnormal blue eyes, but seemed to like him as much as Oleander did. The black mare was a few years younger than the white one but was just as calm. His sister Sonja had given him a black cloak with a hood to keep him dry during the rain while his mother wore a pale blue one. He felt almost in a spotlight due to the appearance of themselves. As they made their way into the village many people started to whisper and cast disgusted glances their way. He knew how they were, it was only a few months back that they tried to kill him.

His mother stopped at a larger home not far from the church that had a grassy small yard in the front. She dismounted the mare and he followed before she took his hand and ushered him into the house's yard. A small stone hit the back of his mother followed by one that hit him directly on the head. Alex turned releasing a feral hiss in the peoples direction his eyes for a brief moment glowing like embers. The door opened and they were taken inside quickly. Andrea's father stood there before them with a pale worried expression on his face. Off to the side was a woman in a pale gray dress with a boy not much older than Alex, and Andrea. He thought about smiling as he removed the cloak he had been given earlier, but the site of his hair and eyes wasn't very disarming to the woman and boy.

"Thank you for inviting us sir, it is quite the pleasure to meet your wife and son...and yourself on better terms."

"Ah yes Lady Salvador it is greatly so..." he said as he trailed off.

"Sinclair if you would, I am not a fan of honor fics nor is Alex."

"Of course. Now Ann this is.." she cut him off.

"I know who they are...they call you a witch and your child a demon's offspring...is such garble true?" Ann asked.

"None of the such. I am a vampire as is he, but a witch I will never be. Alex is not a demon nor devil sent to bewitch...we leave the bewitching to the witches."

"I see. Your boy there...quite a beauty," she said as she came towards him and bent down a bit to look him in the eyes.

"You have no need to state things so politely to a complete stranger ma'am."

"My word, quite a charmer I see too...sharp words for a lad so young. Yet I do not jest when I speak, you are a beauty," Ann stated as she patted his snowy head.

"M-mother that may be quite hard for him to digest..." Andrea started.

"Excuse me ma'am but your daughter is correct...I do not hear kind words often from strangers."

"I feel sorrow for you child...yet I see you are loved...now, who is hungry? I have cooked enough for everyone," she said sweetly as she lead them all to the small dinning room.

Alex was seated next to his mother while the two other children were near the parents. Ann brought out mostly stewed meat and potatoes. She seemed a bit nervous but they ate quietly without much eye contact. Andrea was shaking she was so scared. Alex felt a need to comfort her as much as he could by making small eye contact. When they finished Ann took the dishes and settled back down into the dinning room. There was a feeling of discomfort as they sat there in silence. Andrea had felt tension between people before, but never like this. The thickness of the air made it feel like a dense fog that covered the marshlands. She was praying that they would let her spend more time with Alex and vouch for him with the other villagers and their children. For now though she would settle for him being able to be around her.

Eventually the three children were told to go outside for the time being. Alex was walking around in the field not far from the house as the small drizzle of rain came down. Andrea and her brother Peter were following him as he enjoyed the mild weather. The boy hadn't known much about the strange white haired boy that everyone regarded as either a ghost or the witch's child. Yet he looked simply as innocent as he and his sister were. The boy's pure and searing red eyes made him wonder exactly what he had about him that made him so entirely different from humans. True Alex's snow colored hair, scarlet eyes, and porcelain doll skin did make him look twice as fragile as the others who were his age, yet he also seemed to have a rather strong and powerful presence.

"I am glad that the adults have decided to be civil."

"I can understand that. People often are not willing to listen to us when it comes to our kind," Alex's simple reply made her smile at him before laughing a bit.

"You are...haha...rather...hahahah..."

"Is there a problem Andrea?" he asked.

"No, not at all. I simply am stating that you seem quite blank when it comes to other people."

"I have not had much interaction with people of my age," Alex said.

"The reason I have said such a thing is because you truly do not know how to react to me or even adults."

"You are more becoming as painful as a blade Andrea," he stated.

"I do not mean to be. Yet I cannot help it...you are so different from others I know."

"This is a natural thing for me. Andrea you know I am not even a nomal person," he said calmly glancing to the side.

"People call you a demon's child why is that?"

"Because...I look like something unnatural," he stated as he looked up to the sky. It was a calm and light drizzle of rain something that rarely botherd him. He quite frankly enjoyed the rain. The cool water and wind mixed with the stormy sea gray sky made him feel rather calm and adjusted to who he was. It was only a short lived peace though.

"You look more of an angel than a demon," stated the boy.

Alex not to long ago had agreed to himself that he didn't understand humans, but he felt that they weren't bad and deserved to be listened to as much as they did. Yet sometimes he truly questioned how much respect mortals rated on his kinds standards. Why would anyone listen to a human? Because they appaered to be rather understandable creatures while they were the things if fictional writtings and nightmares. Alex walked with Andrea until a few of the others children came running to them. He had become very silent and pulled his hood up on his cloak.

He hated crowds. Not that six other kids were really a crowd but they weren't as trusting as Andrea. As he stood there and listened to their approuch he felt himself close his eyes and shiver a bit. The air didn't bother him to badly, but he knew it wasn't the weather. The possibilty of being treated like a monster was only a few steps away. He didn't want to feel that way again. He was wild when he felt threatened. He never wanted to hurt someone, his nature wasn't cruel.

"Are you willing to lay a life on that statement?" his concious asked him this as if to warn him.

No he wasn't willing to lay a life on such a subject but he knew he wasn't a killer. True he may have been made out to be one by people who didn't understand. They made him carry painful thoughts. He said nothing to his mother who asked him to make a promise when he knew better. He never made promises because there were always chances that he couldn't keep them.

"A killer? You were born one look at what you did to your father! Look at the pain your mother has to endure!"

he knocked that thought to the side as the children finally stopped and looked him over for a second before asking Andrea and her brother to play with them in the fields. Alex expected her and the boy to say yes but he didn't ever think that she'd shake her head no and walk to him. Andrea laced a finger with his before smilng and saying he was her friend.

"Who is it?" it was a blonde girl with beautiful curly blonde hair and grayish blue eyes. She smiled at Andrea and looked him over again.

Andrea had snatched the back of the hood on the cape and pulled it down revealing his white hair and red eyes to the other children. They gasped and stepped back quickly, horror written across their faces.

"It is that monster! The ghost! Andrea get away from him he will kill you," a red haired boy stated. He'd tried to jerk her away from him but the girl held onto him tightly clasping her slightly tanned coarse hand in his slender, soft, pale one. The color of their skins were in stark contrast as was the texture.

His skin was as soft as a new borns, the color of an exspensive china doll, and completely free of blemishes. It showed the difference in their worlds. Hers was rougher, more of a medium tan color, and had the coarsness that came from working hard. It made him feel brittle and he hated it.

"Alex will not hurt me he is really gentle and quite sweet," Andrea said as she smiled at him.

"Him? How so?"

"Reggie you know as I do that not all people are as we describe them to be," she stated smiling.

"Did you say his name was Alex?" asked the blonde girl.

"I did Anna-beth."

the children came closer taking in the rare site. Alex wasn't seen by them hardly ever and it made him wonder what people would see when they got closer and really tried to have a good look at him. Alex stayed silent for a moment before the red headed boy reached forward and gasped a strand of his hair and tugged lightly.

"Ouch!" he couldn't help it. The sensation of his hair attempting to break from the roots hurt.

"I do not believe it! You have white hair truthfully?" asked the red head.

"Yes I do."

"You look just like the angel painting in the church!" said a brown haired girl with green eyes.

"I do? I haven't been inside of the church since I was a baby."

"Would you come with us? We wanted to go into the forest," said the brunnette.

"Why the forest?" that place wasn't exactly the safeest place in the world. Even he wasn't allowed in their.

"We want to see the witches cabin!" said Anna-beth.

"No. I cannot do that..." he was cut off.

"And why not? You and your family is supposed to be some kind of demons why are you not interested?" it was Reggie.

"I refuse to disobey my mother...I respect her judgement far to much to do so. Your families should be held with such respect as well."

"Respect? You truthfully are respectful towards your mother?" asked a sandy brown haired boy.

"Yes I am. I will not lead other people into a place where even I will not dare to tred."

Alex's red eyes refused to leave the others until they all broke down and rethought what they were planning. He would not be responsible for deaths that he was not there to witness it. Alex had started to walk back to the house where his mother was currently talking with Andrea's parents.

Sinclair's blue eyes looked towards the two pale faces before her. Telling the two mortals the story of how Alex came about was something she rarely spoke of. The memories were bittersweet. The times where she could watch Roukan with his son and the smile he gave him. It was also painful to remember that moment when Alex had taken on the role of a adult figure at the age of one and comforted her.

"You appear surprised?" she asked.

"Indeed. Such a violent life to be so young."

"Sir I do not mean a harsh word against you but...Alex is simply just a child who has been through a great deal of pain and I fear without more mortal contact he will become cold," she stated.

"You believe he will grow cold? You fear that? Why would a vampire fear such things?" the woman was doing her best to show sympathy.

"Alex is so young far to young to know what he is. Most of us do not know the truth until we're thirteen years old now with that knowledge I fear he will find it to much and he will break," she said.

"Alex is special is he not? I understand your fears Sinclair but you are still raising him if you keep your good work up you will have a wonderful son who will become a even greater father one day...Andrea has taken a great liking to him."

"I see that. Alex has a way with people, yet...I cannot let my fears rest...I have seen who he may become.

She played the memory of the god-child in her mind. He was beautiful, but deadly something that bothered her. She didn't understand how that could have been her child. Alex was so calm, so gentle. He'd never truthfully meant to harm the people he had and his mind suffered for every death. There was already so much damage there how much more would it take for him to break? Alex was clearly already a bit disturbed from what happened only a short few weeks ago. Her child was a doll made of steel and glass. Most was strong but the rest fragile.

"He keeps himself away from people who are his age since he lost control and hurt the girl up at our residence," she stated.

"So, he has killed before I presume?"

She gave a gentle nod. Alex was far from proud of it. In fact he became twice as tortured from it. Alex's feelings showed great pain when he spoke and as he looked at her that day. He regreted it and wished he hadn't done it.

"He is far from proud of it sir in his eyes I saw such pain he despisded it and still does...he despises what he has become and is still learning...I have become regretful for what I have done to my baby boy."

"You sound like a truthfullly concerned parent I would not expect any less though...Sinclair...the boy's father you stated that he was not like you or your parents?" asked Mr. Finch.

"No he was not...we call them Arcadians they have the power to torture and kill without even touching but...he's just now learning how to control it his bloodlust."

"So, you believe that in Andrea becoming a friend to him he might retain his humanity?" asked Mrs. Finch.

"I do."

"Well...I say we shall try this for a bit and see what comes of it," Mr. Finich said.

Sinclair smiled. An agreement that was not met at the end of a weapon for once. She hadn't ever seen that happen between a human and a vampire before. Perhaps Alex was teaching her something that she didn't know about? Maybe that child was showing her that there were more ways than force while she showed him that there was a reason in their existence.

(Chapter 4: Once More - Closed)