Star Iron - A Vampire Epic

Calum

The surf ran through his toes, pushing more pink sand around them. The high tide moved in faster than usual with the approaching storm. Calum knew when the crabs buried themselves and the birds retreated from the beach it was time to return home. He returned to his shoes and slipped them back on while watching the waves.

For a moment, a man stood in the water with spear through his gut and pinning him to the beach. A single blink caused him to fade away. Every so often, a body floated in the water, or a person cried for help as they perished in the tide-beaten rocks. He searched the people's faces, hoping to see the ones that belonged to one of his parents.

He left the dead souls to the beach as he turned to follow the only path that led back to town. The first time he saw one the visions of a dead person, he remained awake for days, but he began to accept it. He'd cried and called for his parents so many times on the beach that the dead started to answer. Every day, a trip to the beach was another chance to see his parents who died in a war fought on the sea.

The clouds raced him to the town and several one as blacked out the sky. The light rain didn't slow him, but he came to a complete stop when he saw a group of boys going the opposite direction.

"Look, it's the crybaby," one of the boys said as they approached. Calum turned to not make eye contact which caused him to run into one of them.

"What was that for?" the offended boy asked, then grabbed a fistful of Calum's shirt. "This island doesn't need another weak part in the chain."

Before Calum could argue, the boy shoved him causing him to fall back down an incline. He rolled several times before stopping in a small creak. The boys laughed as Calum fought to hold the tears back, but they streaked his face. He jumped to his feet when he noticed a woman half submerged in the water and skin decaying to tattered bits from the current.

After looking back up the hill to find the boys gone, he looked to the water, but the woman no longer remained. He took several deep breaths. They'd never followed him home from the beach, so he dashed back as fast has he could. His house, made of plastered walls and thick matted roofs just like the others, was a single room and far away from the town density.

He grabbed a few pieces of firewood before entering the house. After getting a fire going in the stove, Calum rested at the table. His stomach growled and he pulled the bowl over with his gatherings in it. Only a few nuts resided in the bowl which didn't catch his liking.

"Darling?" a woman's voice came through the sole window in the house.

Calum's heart skipped a beat as he darted to the widow and pushed the shutters aside, but no one remained outside. Leaning out the window, he searched for the woman.

"Child?" she said, and Calum turned up. The sad eyes of a woman with a cut throat and a blood stained dress stared down at him. "Come back to me."

Calum slammed the shutters and fell back. On the floor, he tucked his knees into his chest. He sobbed as he heard them walking outside of his house, being carried in the winds of the storm.