Stella's Child

VAULIC QUICKLY LEARNED that the toddler could not fly. Stella had warned Vaulic to be gentle with the child, but after it fell off the bed and wailed as though he had been in the clutches of a bear, he realized that this gentleness would be tedious and require constant supervision.

Vaulic let Francis’s hair grow. It was golden, like his mother’s, and therefore the vampire couldn’t bring himself to cut it off.

The most unfortunate part was that the boy carried the same crimson eyes as the vampire lord. Vaulic had hoped he would share the color of his mother, but they shone like the stars—like hers used to—instead of falling flat and empty like his own, so he supposed it would suffice.

The villagers seemed to be right about the boy; he was remarkably human. He had no appetite for pig's blood or goat flesh unless cooked. He wobbled slowly as he walked, and Francis babbled nonsense whenever Vaulic was present.

Vaulic would remind Francis he could not understand his language, but it didn’t stop the child. Not many things did, as he was stubborn. One of the first traits he recognized belonged to Stella, so Vaulic did not feel as though he must deny his son what the boy desired.

Some moments in a day, Francis would run in circles and ever-changing patterns, as though he was chasing something that could not be seen. He would be breathless, halting for a moment, before continuing once again.

“What is it thou doest, child?” Vaulic asked the boy. Francis stopped to look up at his father, but said nothing. He only laughed.

“Thou art humoured?” Vaulic asked once again. Francis watched his father, his eyes unwavering, then smiled again.

Francis turned away from the vampire and continued his running patterns.

“‘Tis the carpet. Thou runneth along the patterns…of the carpet.” Vaulic realized. Francis kept his head bowed, his small bare feet perfectly lined with the intricate swirls of the decaying carpet. Vaulic left his son to his strange behavior, hoping that it wasn’t something Stella would have interfered with.