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New life objectives

I looked out slightly, on one side of the window, to see if the vampire was still lurking, but I did not see his silhouette on the tree trunk, his black coat and navy blue hat had vanished as if by magic. And the sun's rays began to peek through, giving way to a splendid view that I was ready to face.

I contemplated the sunrise in all its splendor and took a deep breath through my nose, meditated for a moment more, all the unanswered questions I had inside me and determined to face the sun and my family, facing my new reality was not easy, but it was impossible to ignore.

I came out of my room and quickly my mother surprised me with an unexpected hug.

"Son at last I can have you close , after almost a year without seeing you ."

The expression of happiness on her face was undeniable , I had a long time without seeing my mother's face so close , she had not changed much since the last time we saw each other . No doubt my affection for her was still intact , although the scent of her blood seemed to over leave her body , and I was trying to restrain myself and dismiss all perverse ideas from my head .

"Why are you so quiet ? , aren't you glad to see your mother after so long ."

The question confronted me somehow , but I could not tell the truth of everything that had happened , much less to my mother .

"Mother, how can you say that? I'm so happy to be back in your arms, you look even more beautiful than the last time we met. I see that Dad is treating you well.

A smile of relief and some shyness flashed across his face , as he squeezed me into a motherly embrace tighter than usual .

"You don't know how moody your father is , he wants to take up all my time . Victoria this , Victoria that , that man doesn't know how to do anything without me ."

I let out a laugh , listening to my mother's complaints . Everything was the same as it had been months ago.

"What do you say to our boy , sweetheart . are you complaining about our daily life ?"

Said my father with a light tone in his voice , as he came out of his room . And walked in surprise towards me .

"Look no more , young Christian Hall has come down from the city to visit his old parents ."

He opened his arms and embraced me warmly , making a place for himself next to my mother .

"Father I'm so glad to see you , don't give so many household chores to mother anymore please" .

The feigned gesture of surprise on my father's face when he heard my comment , perplexed me .

"You know what I mean George , you spend all day on the farm and then go to the fields to plant . Then you want me to be your chaperone for the rest of the night . It's exhausting work , you are very demanding ."

Commented my mother , while my father hugged her and ignored her words .

"It's so funny to me that after so many years they still love each other like when I was just a farm boy ."

My mother chuckled , while my father had a look full of love for her .

"You exaggerate , this is just a vile habit of putting up with your father day in and day out ."

"Well enough talk , now it's time to make breakfast my dear , you must feed the two men of the house "

"That's what I mean when I tell you that you are an insufferable bossy " I spit my mother with a playful look .

"You're just like that you two , this place hasn't changed a bit . Even though you've moved a few miles south."

My father sketched a smirk , and my mother set about preparing breakfast .

"Father would like to take a casual walk in the woods after breakfast, get some air and reminisce about the old days.

My parents looked at each other strangely and that led me to think that they were hiding something from me .

"A walk in the woods , son that doesn't seem to me ..."

"It's not a good idea at this time of the year son " My mother commented quickly , while my father's nervousness showed on his face and maybe there was something that prevented him from completing his words .

"I don't understand why? The weather seems perfect to go for a walk.

My mother's stiff look and my father's nervousness confirmed that there was something I had not been told.

"The weather varies a lot at this time of the year , besides at this season the surroundings of Pennsylvania become somewhat dangerous" Said my father trying to disguise the insecurity that the subject brought him .

"Dangerous in what way , what are you two hiding from me ?"

For a moment there was silence between the three of them after my question , I guess my parents were thinking what lie to tell me so I wouldn't suspect anything , but no doubt I had already been bitten by the intrigue bug and I was going to find out what was going on between them and the reason why they had moved south , after years of living in northern Pennsylvania .

" Who is hiding something? We are hiding nothing but dirt between our boots and a lot of unruly animals to feed"

I commented my father wryly , trying to evade the situation .

"Anyway , I'm going out to take a look around the place and then if you want I can accompany you to the farm for a while" .

I said in a nonchalant way , looking at my father carefully . I knew he was the weak link to find out what was going on , if anyone could not hold a secret for long it was my father . My mother on the other hand could be brutally tortured and would never say anything that could hurt her .

I got up from the table quickly and went to my room , this conversation with my father had been very useful . Besides getting up from the table without having to pretend I was having breakfast, it had let me know that my parents were hiding something and whatever happened I was going to find out what it was .

I quickly got ready by putting on a T-shirt, jeans and a pair of blue shoes. I made a slow gesture to look at myself in the mirror, and the surprise I got was almost catatonic. There was nothing reflected in the mirror , I was facing it and there was nothing but the reflection of my bed , the hairdresser and the set of black suitcases I had not yet unpacked .

"Vampires have no reflection ?"

I muttered under my breath , as a new question mark stuck like an arrow in my mind . I moved a couple of times to the left and right to be able to perceive if there was any change in the mirror image but nothing happened , I still could not see myself . I guess it will be something I have to get used to .

" i Son breakfast is ready , you can come to the kitchen !"

Shouted my mother from the kitchen , while I was trying to assimilate that maybe she would never look at my face again .

"I'll be right over , I'm kind of busy unpacking" .

I moved quickly to the suitcases and pulled out a handful of clothes , just in case my mother suddenly entered the room , and then sighed quickly before heading towards the kitchen and devising another excuse to quickly leave the house , before my mother realized that I wasn't going to try any snack .

"Wow , you're already dressed to go out . You were serious when you said you wanted to explore ."

Commented my mother with a curious twinkle in her eye .

"You know me mother , I told you I would and I will . I'll go out for a walk and then come back for breakfast and continue that pending conversation ."

" i Pending conversation !!! what are you talking about ?"

My father asked curiously .

" The topic that you two don't want to tell me , and why you don't want me to leave the house" .

My parents turned to look at each other , and I took advantage of the moment of silence and uncertainty between them to slip out the door and find a way to hide so that I could listen to their conversation from afar without being seen . I was determined to find out everything that this pair of rascals wanted to hide behind my back .

" Christian already noticed , he already figured it out . Did you think you could keep the secret for so many years?"

I heard my father say annoyingly , while my mother had a disturbing look .

"i Never thought things would get out of control , I thought all that stuff about mythical creatures was just a myth . I never thought we could have any link to those creatures . See our son is perfectly human, perfectly normal. I am perfectly normal!"

Shouted my mother nervously pacing back and forth with her hand trembling on her chin .

"But now we have a demented relative , rather a mythical relative . A relative who can come and devour us at once and harm our son .Why did your father have to hide that secret for so many years and now on his deathbed he confesses his mischief ?" .

A mythical relative? I mean, my grandfather had a child with some strange creature, but what does that mean? The truth is getting more and more confusing, not only I am a strange creature, now it turns out that I have a possible relative who is also a strange creature.

"I know my father is not a saint, but he understands the situation, he is just warning us of the dangers his mistakes have created. He was just a common farmer , it is not his fault that in the middle of the night a creature has frightened him and whipped him like that just to procreate a child from him , who knows for what purposes . My mother and I heard that story a long time ago and we thought it was all an idea of his imagination , that's why we decided to leave the whole country life and dedicate ourselves to another life , so that my father would find calm , but things for some reason ended up returning to the same place where it all started ."

My mother's trembling voice was an indication that she was reaching the limit of her nerves and if she who was the steadiest woman I knew was about to break is because that story was real .

"What do you mean by that? That I'm to blame for you coming back from the city to live in the countryside and now because of me you are in danger".

My father frowned as he said each word, and I felt the despair and guilt choking him.

"George, how could you think that? I could never say that finding you was a mistake, let alone creating the family we have today. I just feel so much frustration with this whole situation and also the arrival of our son so suddenly , I fear for our lives and all that this may cause , now that there have been multiple murders by strange creatures in the countryside ."

My mother sighed and sat on the couch with a blank stare towards the window leading to the tree trunks .

" I'm sorry honey , it's just that this whole family situation is so bewildering and overwhelming . I never thought that these mythical stories would one day touch us so closely , but I promise you that no matter what happens I will fight for our family."

My father sat next to my mother and wrapped his arms around her in a welcoming way and at that moment I felt that my family was more powerful than all the circumstances that threatened us . Although I felt inspired by my family , I now had more uncertainty than before , as I had confirmation that there were many more like me in this place besides the prince of vampires who continually came to harass me .

I did not know yet if these supposed relatives would be a threat or a support in my situation , but I should certainly find them to find out their position and see if they could provide some kind of protection for me and my family . My mind was a sea of confusion and I needed concrete answers to all my questions so I decided to continue with the plan of going out to explore the forest in search of some support that would benefit me , although I had another urgent thing to check .

I could adapt to the sunny weather that morning , I had read somewhere that vampires can't expose themselves to the sun , I think they would turn to ash or something . I have a great terror that the sun's rays will do me some harm or if it's all a myth , I guess it's time to test it . After I plucked up my courage and began to walk slowly under the sun, I watched as the sun seemed to sadden and hide itself between several gray clouds and all at once the storm clouds gathered to give way to the coldest rain I had seen in this part of Pennsylvania in a long time . The raindrops were falling heavily leaving their trail on every wildflower and in every corner of the wet town of Exton in Chester County Pennsylvania.

Apparently the weather was on my side and I felt able to jog that rainy morning and continue the journey through the woods near my parents' residence, with each step, my pulse quickened, and the desire to find some answer to all the questions that drowned me was more and more latent.

I traveled the same route that I had traveled the night before that morning, with the sole purpose of finding some clue that would lead me somewhere to investigate more about my species , but the place was intact , clean , there was nothing irregular . I decided to visit the grave of the officer I had brutally murdered to check for any unusual traces , and to my surprise the hole where I had buried him was open .

"How can it be possible , I could swear that I had buried him here ..and he was .. ?"

"Dead , brutally beheaded and with clear evidence that it was not a common animal of the forest , who killed him " Replied an unknown voice behind me , panic gripped my body as I realized that someone had discovered the atrocity I had done and also knew that I was not a common human . I turned to see where the voice was coming from, and as I looked at the pale face and golden brown eyes, I realized that I was in the presence of another vampire I did not know.

His pale face, along with his fine features gave him an air of sophistication, his hair had gray tones in the temples, it was shoulder length and gave him a somber look, he was wearing a gray shirt, black jacket and black jeans. He was wearing matte black leather boots and his body pose was relaxed , as if he knew I was not going to attack him , although he surprised me from behind .

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