It was so clear...

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A small child weeping, her poor little eyes to swollen nubs. Why must they leave? Why must their bodies stiffen just to be placed far beneath our feet? No one else at the crowded funeral even attempted to put the child to ease. Maybe they thought the girl needed this or perhaps they were too caught up in their pain to bother with hers. Her father eventually kneeled with a teary smile. "Just because people leave us doesn't mean they're gone. Remember her, and she'll live forever. So remember mommy." The girl held back her tears with a strong face. "I'll remember her!"

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The memory was so clear yet so vivid. Everything seemed to push far so back into my mind. I can't remember any of the faces or even where the funeral was located. That's no surprise since it's been nearly 90 years. But even if it's painful to refresh my mind with these thoughts. I couldn't afford to forget them more than I already have. I promised.

I sat up from the uncomfortable resting position I found myself in. My head feels as if my skull would explode from the constant throbbing, and I haven't had a proper rest since I left the city.

With an aching feeling in my body, I looked around the solid concrete walls. I struggled to stand and walk out of the small shed I hid myself in. The sun nearly blinded me the second I stepped from under the protection of the poorly built building in the middle of nowhere.

When I finally crouched out of the small stone shack. I noticed its half-sunken state and moss-covered walls. I turn around allowing my attention to wander from one tree to the next before settling on the wide pond in front of me. I ultimately ran out of strength and had to collapse to my knees.

I haven't eaten in a long time, yet no matter how long I go without food, I never die. Whether I stop eating, sleeping, or even drinking water, I don't die. I suffer from the weakness that occurs with malnutrition, even passing out here and there. But never death—

I'd strip down to my underwear before crawling over to the pond and diving into the shallow end. It wasn't the cleanest water nor the deepest, but it certainly helped to wash off the many days of built-up muck.

My eyes focused on the other end of the forest. I wasn't looking for anything particular, but I needed something to fix my already cluttered mind on. Though I wasn't in the most optimistic situation, I couldn't help but enjoy the area's beauty. The various greens that engulfed my view, as well as the enormous ray of sunlight, were dazzling. Akin to enhancing a person's beauty with vibrant colors.

A sound of rustling came from the bushes, interrupting my peace. I hoped it was only a small animal, but I didn't want to waste time before hiding under the water.

Any noise from above was drowned out by the water filling my ears. As a result, any assumptions about what was going on were just that: Assumptions. I decided to peek out in terror after a few minutes of nothing.

It was nothing...

...I need to calm down

I placed my hands on the edges of the pond. I was using all my strength to drag myself out of the water. It was dangerous for me to take a swim since now my body was too heavy for me to carry it for a while. I dressed in a flat lying position, only putting small efforts to lift my back long enough to place on a shoe. Then take breaths of air before forcing on the other. Once done I merely lie in place. Waiting for my strength to find me once more.

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"Tilly. Tilly!" My father called to me with a soft yet sterned tone. I would run through my childhood home with giggles filling the air. My skipping led to a small room. A wooden desk sat in the middle of the room with books covering the surface. Though with their untouched quality they seemed more like decorations."Huh?" I looked around the room with fairly little effort. "Papa?" I called out again, this time a little more urgent. My father soon yelled from behind his desk, "Boo!" which caused me to jolt back. With a tiny thump, I collapsed. While assisting me from the ground, he laughed hysterically.

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Before noticing, I believed I had been daydreaming for about an hour. The sounds of my fathers voice started to feel foreign to me and that's what frightened me the most.  I got out of my dejected position and sat up with ease. So I figured it was about time to find a town.

I threaded through the forest, feeling each step eat away at my sanity. Fear built up, telling me I wasn't moving... Seconds turned to minutes which turned to hours, finally leading me to place my foot on a concrete road.

Nothing felt more homely than this withered path. I eventually picked a random side to follow. Hoping one of these led to somewhere not too populated. Unfortunately for me, the sun beamed onto the road causing the bottom of my shoes to wear a bit. When I eventually arrived at a motel, I was a shattered wreck.

I didn't draw much notice as I entered through the glass entrance because it was a minimally populated building. I walked towards the front desk to see a small woman look up at me with a quick smile.

"Afternoon!" She said joyfully, understandably ignoring my tattered look.

"Yes. Do you know the direction of a small town called Darien?" I returned her grin, which wasn't the brightest, but I was trying.

"Oh," She bent done to reach the bottom of her desk, pulling out a small map. "I'm no good with directions, so you need this. Here I'll circle the town, and you add it to your phone's map."

I gave a pained expression since I hadn't had a phone in almost 20 years. "Mind if I just have the map?"

She titled her head, confused by my response, before handing me the map. "Of course, we have many. But I promise you'd prefer to pin it since it's a pretty confusing path."

I lightly laughed at her response. She was preaching to the choir, but I had no other options. "Can I ask? If you have any rooms open are you guys ok with taking cash?." I continued the flow of the small conversation while pulling out a few crumpled bills.

"Of course! of course!" Her smile was becoming delightfully contagious. She stuck her hands out and grabbed whatever remained of my money. "Uh-huh, so this is about one nights' worth. Is that all you want?"

After a brief pause, I nodded. At the absolute least, one decent night of sleep would be ideal.

The woman walked from behind the desk and handed me a key. Then led me out of the building to the room doors horizontally angled along the wall. "This will be your room. Bring back the key by tomorrow."

It was a brief conversation but the longest I've had in a while. The sky, which was previously ocean blue, had turned a crimson orange meaning I'd been walking for around half a day.

I didn't have much strength so I slumped onto the lovely bed. It was cheap and of low quality to some, but it was pure heaven to me.

It only took a few minutes before I fell to sleep.

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I stood at my ill 80-year-old father's bedside. He could hardly keep his eyes open due to his exhaustion. Tears obscured my image of his raisined dark skin and snow-white hair. I should have been beside him in the shape of a 50-year-old woman. But somewhere in my 20s, I had reached a point where I was no longer aging. This was not like my mother's death for me. Because this was something natural. This happens despite my best efforts to urge them to stay. As my father began to fade away before my eyes, I could hardly maintain my composure... "I promise I'll remember you!" I pulled his hand within mine whispering my promise to him as if it was a wish.

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Screams snapped me from my deep slumber. I jumped out of my bed with newfound strength. They seemed to be coming from a room beside mine. Was it some fight or argument? This isn't my first time at a motel and has often encountered pretty gruesome scenes during my stay. But this one appeared much nicer than the others, so I wasn't expecting it to be just as sketchy.

The screaming stopped after a few seconds, and I didn't know rather be frightened by it or delighted. But before I could decide, the yelping started back up again. I tried to fight my moral urge to intervene since it didn't involve me.

Let's say that when I walked out of my bed, that fight was regrettably lost. When I got to the door, I noticed a louder scream had started in another room across from me. At this time, I had no idea what was going on until my door began to open on its own.

That small woman from the motel counter stood in front of me.

"Uh, excuse me, miss, but the room bes-" I couldn't finish my sentence before two other figures came up from behind her. Two men appeared basically from the shadows. One was larger and dressed in a lot of black the other seemed more cheeky and vibrant style choice yet much smaller. A thick aura came from them both...

An aura I'm used to

Vampires