The Smell of Old Books and Blood

Prologue

"Mommy! Can I go play with the humans?" Said the little golden haired boy, face squished against the window, looking like a kid in a candy store.

His mother sighed, walking over to him and hugging him gently from behind, "No honey... you're still too young. Now step away from the window. You'll give yourself sunburn." The blonde boy pouted before grabbing onto his mother's dress and walking over to the kitchen with her, being lifted up into his seat.

"When can I play with them?" Said the boy with a whine in his voice. His mother halted the conversation for a moment to open what seemed like a small, worn refrigerator, pulling out a packet of some sort and giving it to the boy. He held it in his hands for a moment, looking down at it and frowning. "Mommy... did you eat today?" When he didn't receive and answer, he held out the packet towards her.

His mother only shook her head, pushing the packet back towards him, "You're still growing, Kaveh. You need it more than I do. I'll have dinner tonight, I promise. Daddy's gonna come back home tonight with enough juice to last us another week okay?" She ran a gentle hand through his hair, trying to coax him to accept the food.

It didn't work. "You said that last week..." He looked down at the packet again, squeezing the red liquid inside of it. Her heart ached at those words. How was she supposed to tell her small boy his father wasn't coming back... The sniffling of her son pulled the mother out of her thoughts, "I hate him."

She quickly leaned down, cupping his cheeks in her hands and using her thumbs to wipe away the tears, "Don't say that, okay? Your Daddy loves you very much. And he'll do..." he did... "He'll do what he needs to protect us. Now you gotta trust Mommy to do the same. So no humans, and three meals a day. For me, please? Once you're done growing we can start cutting you down to one meal a day. That's all you'll need. But for now, three meals." The boy found himself nuzzling into his mother's warmth for comfort, slowly nodding as much as he could despite being held by his mother. She gave him a sweet smile before pulling away. As soon as she turned around though, her smile dropped. How... was she supposed to get blood now?

She heard the small noises of her son drinking from the packet, looking over at him and nodding to herself. She'd find a way... she had to...