Milk Teeth

Meet Garnet, an odd vampire with a bit of a problem...

“Hunter. Demon. Monster. Villain. Destroyer of all humanity” I sighed as my glazed eyes scanned each and every word. Again, for the hundredth time those pathetic human slayers spoke of my brethren, not me; as always. Why is it that I must be ignored so? I try my hardest and it just seems that it is never enough!

Every night I would skulk out and I would find my prey. Juicy and tender with plenty of that sweet, sweet berry juice oozing in tunnelled veins, swarming in arteries and popping through the miniscule gap of capillaries. Each a treasure chest of lush, delicious haemoglobin. My mouth salivates at the mere idea of that oxygen harbourer. Oh yes, most do it for the kicks and the ecstasy, as well as the need to fill out hollow wiring; not me. My taste buds are so much more refined. I must have the healthiest, the fittest and on occasion the sickest.

Unlike them, I can feel each cell roll over my tongue, down my gullet and into the pits of heaven. Not only that, but the meat one must chomp through to get onto the meal isn’t so bad; bitter, but not terrible. Personally, I find it’s the flesh that adds the sharpness to the gloopy scarlet, not the content itself.

Tossing my silver letter opener aside, I flipped through the several notes I salvaged. A young slayer boy lived in the city and I’d been intercepting his post daily. Why? Well, not only does it give my brothers and sisters a heads up on who is slaying who, but I can get my stamps that way!

Oh yes, I am a little, modest stamp collector! In fact, I’ve taken up many hobbies in which my brethren frown upon. Sometimes, being the youngest is good; it means I can get away with these likes and dislikes. Usually...

“Garnet,” came a withered, past tired voice and I jerked up in my seat. I’d completely forgotten, being far to lost in my own world again. Tilting my chin up, I looked to find Father staring expectantly at me, Drake, my elder brother, standing obediently behind him. Father was an old prune with long, white hair and yellowed fangs, frequently dressed in dark robes. On appearance, he was insanely brittle; yet even at his age he could easily take out a pack of slayers. Crusty, amber eyes gestured for me to hand over what I had uncovered, and so I passed the notes to him. Drake smirked at me and I stuck my tongue out; we never got along.

He was tall, dark and handsome. Hair midnight black and skin frightfully pale, he would burst out into flames in the sunlight and held a strong distaste for garlic. Yet, his inhuman speed and strength - as well as good looks, sadly - made up for it. Red eyes flashed at me and I pouted, looking away and folding my arms. OK, maybe at times it sucked being the youngest.

The room we were in was vast and constructed out of the finest, polished wood; Father would only ever accept the best. Golden embroidery adorned each bookshelf pressed up against the walls, chock-full of leather titles and bulky texts. The carpet was deep red, almost the - surprisingly - colour of blood and decorated with the pattern of fully bloomed roses. In between two of the bookshelves was a long mirror and in it was reflected an empty room. Even if I could see myself I wouldn’t want to stare for too long. Small and slim, without any toned features and grey skin; I was often picked on and named “Ash” because of it...

My hair is cut short and fluffy, sticking out in all directions. Unlike my brothers’ and sisters’ hair, it is not crimson, silver or black - it’s merely dark brown. My eyes are dull and never, ever sparked with power, and my skin would go pink easily under the influence of heat dissimilar from everyone else’s’ flesh! Also, my fangs hadn’t fully developed; I still had my milk teeth and one of them was on the verge of falling out; visits to the vampire dentist every six months! Honestly, humans are afraid of the dentist! I’d much rather face a living than a dead one.

Clearing his throat, Father dragged my attention back onto him. “This is good news, as it turns out that Angeline has taken care of that pesky slayer from Edinburgh; impressive”

I bit my lip and tugged the sleeves of my red and white striped shirt over my knuckles; I knew what was coming from this.

Drake smirked and nodded, perfect hair bouncing. “Also, Gareth has eliminated that slayer from York, Newcastle and then some, he’s done decent work”

Father turned to him a moment and grinned. “Remember when Rory killed that mortal by mistake?” he remarked with a deep laugh. Drake joined in instantly, holding his stomach and wiping tears from his eyes. I felt my mood plummet. What a way to rub it in... Bring the nutter brother Rory into this.

Abruptly, the two stopped laughing and snapped their heads round to me, faces serious. I wrung my fingers together and took short breaths. Was it warm in here? Oh no wait, Drake’s glare just turned the place into ice. Nice one son.

“Garnet,” Father spoke sharply and I recoiled at his tone. At the best of times it was never good to be addressed by a vampire as old and grumpy as he, it was even worse when his anger was directed right at you.

Honestly, I thought slayers had it easy. The worse he’d do is toy around with them for a bit before death, pull out a few intestines, do that wicked thing Vikings did when they’d take someone’s lungs out whilst still alive; genius, really. But eternal life with him was the worst! I’d much rather look at my own fluttering lungs than receive another lecture from him!

Drake then cleared his throat and spoke up for him, having crushed the letters in his hands. “It seems that as of late you have been... distracted, sister” he said in a calm, somewhat smug tone.

I swallowed a hiss. “And?” I spat, “Rosaline is always out messing with that human boy, and don’t get me started on Alfred and his teenage girlfriend”

Father sent Drake an angry look. Whoops. Did I just drop my siblings in it there? Shame, maybe they shouldn’t do the same to me just because I’m younger.

My brother coughed awkwardly, seeming to have lost his powerful demeanour for a moment, only to regain it as he spoke to me again. “Yes, but that can be easily handled. You, on the other hand, are too distracted by other things, as well as fraternising with humans-“

“It’s not like I’m in love with ‘em! I just hang out with them sometimes,” I furrowed my brows. Crossing my arms over my chest, I moved my glare to the side, bottom lip out childishly - hey, force of habit, I’m barely seventy yet.

Drake growled and slammed his hands on the table. “Let me finish!” he bellowed. Father shot him a scowl and Drake jumped back at step. “A-Anyway, you should not be “hanging out” with them regardless. That’s not the only issue here, I am talking about those ballet recitals, the badminton tournaments, boxercise, yoyo contests, stamp collecting, prank phone calling, tire swinging, worm eating-“

“Vampire or not, I’m still a kid!” I retorted. Drake did not hesitate; he stepped around the mahogany desk to me. His hand gripped the top of my plush seat and he tipped it back as he sneered right into my face. “And you’ve yet to kill a slayer” he hissed.

“Drake, do not treat your sister this way,” Father scolded, giving him the meanest glare I’d ever seen him do. Now I think about it, if I listened hard enough would I...? Yes, I can hear the hearts of the world’s strongest, most frightening warriors stop dead. Father truly was a monster; the slayers weren’t as dumb as they looked.

Drake rammed my seat harshly into the ground. My body jolted and teeth clacked, I groaned and rubbed my jaw; nothing better have chipped.

Father then addressed me again. “Garnet, I will give you a week and that is it. If you do not find and destroy a slayer, then I will send you into Confinement”

I sucked in a breath, eyes wide. He had to be kidding! Seriously? Confinement!? That was the worst place for any vampire to go. I would much rather be placed on a bed of nails and then ran over by fifty vehicles.

Confinement was where the “Unstable” vampires were sent, like my brother Rory. He went psycho and began to eat human flesh as well as their blood, eventually it actually came to a point that he couldn’t tell us apart and would try to gorge into our flesh too. Then, he was sent to Confinement. No blood. No water. No food. One would be pinned onto a bed with a holy cross held on a fragile string above them. The stench of garlic would be pumped into the air and if one tried to escape - Shh-dunk! A stake right in the chest. There is no way to escape, none at all; to me, it was the ultimate “Saw” trap. Not to mention that awful metal cage they put your fangs in, nutty Rory has scars still from them and that was over two hundred years ago.  

And also, all of this meant I could no longer compete anymore! I mean, yes, the Vampire Tournaments were all well and good, but no one was better than the other. Like robots, they’re all the same. But in human competitions, the ones I joined in were much more fun; even if I had to lather myself in sun-lotion, charms and spells to protect myself from burning.

I rose from my seat, the chains of my dark brown, poufy shorts rattling. I made them myself, with a dozen pockets, random key rings and all sorts attached to them; they took me bloody forever too!

“I can do it,” I said with confidence, hands balled into fists by my sides. Father smiled satisfactorily - I’d never seen him do that - and Drake snorted, coughing behind a hand to hide his laughter. “I’ll do it before the weeks out! Watch me!”

“Indeed,” Father said sombrely, “Go then, Garnet, and we shall see the results. It wouldn’t be good for my reputation after all, to lock the youngest in Confinement”

Smirking, I gave a mock salute and marched with sure strides out of the room, making sure to give Drake a smug look upon my leave. For once, I am certain that my dull eyes glimmered. Still, I’d wished I stayed behind, and then I would have heard those final, fateful words. “Watch her, Drake. I want to make sure that she isn’t lying to us”

 

I wondered around the city, as free as a bird and humming a little tune to myself. Tonight was the night I’d kill him, that boy slayer! He was eighteen and thus much older than my twelve year old body; but I was nearly seventy and so had more experience than him! Every inch of him will be strewn across the pavement, smeared into windows and leaking out of the gutter. There would be long, drawn out rips and tears, squelches, cries and pleas.

What will I hear? The tearing of envelopes, the swipe of the paper being towed free and then the joyous howl when the family reads that I, Garnet the Vampire, had slain the slayer. Tonight, he shall dance the part of that knight and I the dragon - only this time, one with scales and fire shall win, the one with steel and blade shall lose.

I gave out a happy sigh and clapped my hands to myself. After which I will return home and play with my yoyo again! It’s been so long and I still need to master several tricks, I need to make sure that I’m well prepared; the tournament is coming up soon. I’m needed around the world, you see? Not cooped up in Confinement.

Soon, I had come up to the set of flats I remembered him dwelling within. Remember, smile and act friendly, smile and act friendly, smile and...   

The door opened and a tall, blonde haired boy answered, green eyes swimming with confusion. I smiled and was about to speak, when a barking echoed through the air. I heard the boy give a cry; “Tyson, no!”

In seconds, a puppy Labrador was leaping up at me, tongue lolling and eyes sparkling. I-I couldn’t help it! I’ve never been greeted by something so lovely and cute before; animals often stray from me. Giving a happy squeal, I bent down to the puppy’s height and stroked him, cupping his face in my hands and cooing.

“Wait a minute!” the boy snapped, alert. I froze. My tongue poked out of my mouth and over my fangs. Damn. I forgot I can’t hide them until I get my adult teeth...

Saying my farewells to the puppy, I vanished into the shadows and from sight. By that I mean I merely hopped back over the edge of the balcony and hung upside down, out of the boy’s line of vision and in that of the old pensioner walking to his flat. He stopped, gazed at me and I mouthed to him; “you’re losing your marbles”

Above me, I could hear the boy rushing about, complaining that he couldn’t find his stake and that it was buried underneath his stuff. Then, the stamping of feet came and went. I sighed and folded my arms. “Just you wait... Next time I’ll getcha’ easily,“ I then arched a brow. Wait a minute. He was practically inviting me to dinner!

I dived from where I hid and landed on the ground with a soft tap, a grin spreading across my face. There would be no Confinement for me! I’d tear this loser limb from limb and bring his head back to Father. Why would I do that and not give him an easy death? Revenge? Pfft... Well, yes, but not for the reason you’d think. I care little about my fallen brethren, all I care about is the time that I’ve lost practicing my awesome tricks for this tournament. It’s time, I believe, for the dragon to take down this little knight...

 

Hopefully this time I’ll be in one of the slayer’s letters too!

Author's Note

My take on a vampire. I love her, little cutie thing... I did this very quickly and so they'll be mistakes somewhere. Please, mortals, enjoy~

Reviews

[ruby]

it was magneficant.lollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[J.L Hunter]

Good deal. I like it when I finish a story, even a small one like this, and feel like I hadn't just wasted five minutes of my life. This one was actually very good and would like to read more. The only thing I have to say in critique is basically, you should tone down the description a bit. Ever hear the expression "Leave some to the imagination", well, to be honest vampires are supposed to be sexy and charming... nothing more sexy and charming than anticipation, leading up to revelation of who the character is and what he/she is like. Until then, the reader can create their own image of their vampire, mixed with what you've told them about it.

[Hisou_Tenshi]

Very good. I enjoyed reading about the family of vampires and how they weren't always as regal as people make them out to be. Very unique and discerning.

[robyn.alexandra]

I'll say this now.
I HATE VAMPIRES WITH A PASSION.
Unless they come in the form of original written word.
I loved this, you didn't make it cliched, it wasn't about the modern, sparkly excuse for a vampire. It was stripped back, it was minimal. It was simply excellent.

[Alice1292]

This was really fun and refreshing. I love how you really got into the character, and not so much action or vampire mythology or a love story like people usually do - you kept it simple, well done.

[Athena Ramos]

I love how you made vampire still human :D
cause in other vamp stories the vamps can't age. but she's a little girl who's growing X3 nice! not a typical vamp story and i like it!!

[Deactivated_BurningDemo..]

I really loved this one. I was put off because of the Vampire theme - thinking it would be another cliche vampire story - but I was really surprised. This little vampire is so fun. I hope you write another.

[arlery]

Amazing. It was so well constructed, and vividly described. I really enjoyed reading it. It's good to finally read something non-cliche about vampires.

[A.E. Reed]

Awesome! I love how she isn't all cooped up and surrounded by old stuff. She's all over the place and having fun, because she immortal!!!!!!

[Sigyn]

This was utterly....disgusting, but that's what made it quite enjoyable! They first part, with all the goopy scarlet and the description of the meal that was...well amazing, and it scared the heck out of me! Thus, you have achieved my respect in the writing world. I love the view that you took. The cute little girl going out to be a ruthless murderer. Amazing....