"My Gala," Madam Zornem mumbles as I sit along her couch panting. I sprinted all the way home, not sparing a moment to look at the scene I left behind. The reminder I have from the assault is the blood that drenches my clothes, head to toe. It is sticking to my face and hands; all I can see is red that paints over my body. 

"I just killed a man," I whisper. As I throw my head into my hands and let out a few deep breaths. This is not real, right? I am dreaming. For the love of Gala, I always say I wish I am dreaming, well, surprise surprise, this is not a dream, it will likely never be. 

"Gods, Alice, I don't know what we are going to do." 

"I'm sorry it - it - it - just happened!" 

"I don't blame you; I just don't know what to do." 

"Do nothing; if no one knows it was me then we have nothing to worry about, right?"

"There is a dead man in the middle of a marketplace, Alice!" Madam Zornem hisses at me, and I let out a deflated sigh. She is right; I am hopeful that maybe, just maybe, a wild animal might take the corpse before another soul sees it, but, in my reality, this will likely never happen. Why would it?

She lets out a quiet huff and walks to the front door where she grabs her coat. She turns back and looks at me with a sour look in her eyes. I can tell she is frustrated but not mad; that is what makes it feel worse. It is the look of disappointment. 

"I will be back in a few hours, don't do anything." I nod my head as she opens the door, and then proceeds to slam it shut. The whole house shakes, and I am left to my own devices, with the screaming in my head growing louder as frustration takes hold of my body. Why can't things just be normal, for once? If lady luck did not come around and fuck up my life, then perhaps, just perhaps, things might be normal. What even is normal at this point? 

"God damn it!" I scream aloud as I throw myself onto the couch, looking at my fingers. They are sharp, clawed, but they are no longer to the point where they stick out like knives. They are just as normal as can be, besides the whole monstrous appearance. 

I look around the home and stand up cautiously. I glance at the towers of books and inspect a few of the covers, and, truth be told, I cannot read a few of them. The language is the same as my mother tongue, but the detailing is beyond difficult to comprehend. There is no doubt that Madam Zornem is a brilliant scholar, and the works she accomplishes is difficult. I mean, that is what life is like for being a magic wielder and elder, not to mention. 

I continue to gaze around the small house and my hands gaze over a few of the shelves of books; I find myself, then, entering another section of the house. My feet drag along the hardwood floor into a new room; I swivel around the area and recognize it as Madam Zornem's work-study. From inside, I can see a bunch of jewelry, potions, and, well, more books. How many books can one person have? 

My hands trail along the edge of a bookcase, and I continue to study the bindings and titles of the various books. One seems to catch my eye, however, with a bright blue binding and an extravagant font. I cautiously take the book and feel the cover within my hands. It is rough, from what I can tell is Behiman pig hide, a special type of material used for, most times, magic-infused or magic-telling books. 

I stare at the title, and it reads, "Sheol: The Gateway to Hell." 

My eyebrow raises, and I cautiously look around the study, half expecting Madam Zornem to jump around the corner and say "gotcha!" 

Yet, there is nothing but the deafening sound of silence, and, not to mention, the occasional flicker of fire with the magically lit lights within the house. I slowly walk out of the study and head to the couch that I originally woke up from. My fingers trail along the cover, and I cautiously open the book, half expecting a series of flames to come from the pages buried underneath. Yet, there are simply pages. 

I look over the first page, and it reads, "This is not a book for the week, for this is a true telling of my experience through the gateway of Hell. There is a tales of the terrors that lie underneath but also the true reality of those that live there. This is not for the faint of heart."

I flip to the next page, and there is the start of a chapter. It reads, "Chapter One: Finding a gateway."

My interests are piqued, and I start to read through the story. It starts off with the telling of finding a gateway, a portal that connects from our world to the underworld. It is a rare event, only those who wield a specific type of magic can open a gateway, that or if the other side decides to open a portal. 

I flip to another page and look up, letting out a yawn. This book is not tedious; it is easy to read, and, in a way, somewhat appealing to my situation. Whether it is facts or fiction, it should at least be an intriguing league.

I find myself flipping through the pages, getting groggier. The words start to blend, and I find myself often repeating pages. It is not boring in the slightest sense; I am just drained of all energy that was once in my body. I rub my eyes and take in a deep yawn; soon enough, I find my eyes closed, and I succumb to the land of darkness. 

- 

A knocking on the door startles me awake, and I find my heart racing as a breath gets choked in my throat. I am shaking as I cautiously get up and sneak around towards the front door. My footsteps are silent along the old wooden floors; it is like I am walking on a cloud, trying to keep as quiet as possible. 

I put my eye to the peephole, and my heart sinks in my chest; it is not Madam Zornem. No, it is someone I never thought I would see again, Kyler. I nervously grab the door handle and crack it open, half expecting him to draw a sword on me. I am nervous, but I know, somewhere deep within me, that he is here to be of my aid. I can trust him, right? 

I only keep the door cracked to a minimum as the air drafts into the house. Kyler wears a small smile that is masked by the darkness from the outside. His dark golden pupils look at me with excitement but hesitance. 

"I thought I check in on you, how are you doing, Alice?" 

"I'm good," my voice is a squeak as I want to close the door. I look down at my clothes and notice that they are still blood-soaked. I can feel panic bubble deep within my stomach, and I know things are not going to be good if I do not get these clothes off. Where in the world do I find clean clothes anyway? 

"Can I come in?" 

"No!" I shout, and I quickly cover my mouth with one of my hands. I clear my throat, and try to calm myself down, “I mean, no, give me a quick second." 

I shut the door in his face and quickly look at the other door next to the study; I must pray there is a fresh set of clothes in there. I peek into the room and notice it is a bedroom. I let out a quiet "thank you" and look at the small dresser in the corner of the room. I open it up and see a simple black pair of shorts and a white short-sleeved button-up shirt. I take off my blood-stained dress and throw those on. Instantly, I feel refreshed.  I let out a sigh of relief and toss the dress into the corner where it is no longer visible to anyone else.

I walk back out into the living room and go back to the door, peeping back through the peephole to see Kyler waiting patiently. I quietly open the door and usher him to quickly come inside. He does not hesitate a second a rush inward. I close the door shut and take in a deep breath. I turn around and give him a closed-mouth smile, trying not to show the fangs that are very much evident in my mouth; it is uncomfortable, but I think he can tell something is up. 

"So, what brings you in here tonight?" 

"Let us not play nice, Alice. I came here to see how you're doing after becoming a st-ri-goi," he has to sound out the word as he reflects back on it. I prefer to just call it a vampire, but technically speaking, strigoi is the right word for it, whatever it is.  

"I'm alive, well dead, but as alive that I can be." I try not to let out a large sigh, but I can only nod my head to be reassuring. I can tell from the grim look dispersed along Kyler's face that my little facade is not working so well against him. He is a smart young man; I will give him that. 

"Open your mouth, Alice." 

"Huh?"

"Did I stutter? Open your mouth real wide." I let out a breath of defeat and give a grimace, opening my mouth up to reveal my set of fangs. They are sharp, engineered to rip through flesh and kill. Kyler looks a bit stunned as he inspects the fangs a bit closer. I quickly close my mouth before he has a chance to look any further or, perhaps, think any worst of me. 

"They're fangs, what do you expect?" 

"They're kind of neat."

"Huh?" My mouth is slightly open, this time with a bit of surprise. Did he just say they were . . . cool? My fangs? The things that I just sucked the blood of an entire being out of; they are cool? What in the world is wrong with him? Why would any soul in the kingdom of Gala ever consider these things neat? 

"I mean, the way they are formed, it is that of predators. It is how you are built now, and, as odd as it sounds, they are very intriguing to look at. I mean, how do you even feed? I assume normal food doesn't quite satisfy you, though." The pit in my stomach grows as I walk by him and sit down back on the couch, looking to the book I had set aside. I cannot believe I fell asleep reading it; where was I last? 

Goodness, not the time, Alice!

"Right now, I don't really know. Madam Zornem has supplied me a set of animal blood, but I do not know how long that will hold up. Truth be told this whole thing is very foreign to me and absolutely terrifying." 

"Well, I could imagine; I would feel the same way. After hearing all the tales of vampires and monsters, I could not imagine how you feel. I probably am not making you feel any better; I'm sorry."

"Yeah --- this isn't very reassuring. I thank you for coming by, though. That makes me a bit better that someone cares. Can I ask you something?" 

"Go for it," Kyler sits down next to me on the couch and places a hand over mine, giving me a small smile of reassurance. My face lights up with a blush, and I must look away to make sure he does not see my reddened face. My heart is skipping beats and part of me wants to be sick. I shake my head and keep my face down. 

"Do you know anything about my mom? She's in trouble." 

Kyler is quiet for a few moments, and I can feel his hand gently grasp mine is reassurance. I graciously accept the comfort, and we are soon holding hands. I am not sure if it is romantic or just as friends trying to comfort each other. Just friends, right. 

I almost scoff aloud; my mind is racing, and my heart is doing flips. This is pure idiocy; there is nothing between us! 

"I'm afraid I don't," I let out a defeated sigh and could feel my shoulders slump slightly. Of course, he is just a lowly knight. Well, perhaps not lowly, but he is just a knight, a knight in training even. Kyler then squeezes my hand, and I look towards him, “it doesn't mean I can't find out." 

"Really?" my voice is squeaky with urgency as I nearly leap from the couch into the air with joy. Any help would be a step in the right direction. I recognize, however, that there is a quick forming list that I need to follow, each one just as urgent as the last. I need to find my murderer, save Mama, and try to break this curse. I want to let out a cry of irritation, but I find myself remaining silent, just wallowing in my own pity. 

"I am not sure how much I can do, but if I can find where she is being held, then I will do what I can to get her out." I look towards Kyler, shyly, and give him a small smile. 

"I really appreciate that, Kyler." He proceeds to smile at me, and we both let out a little bit of laughter that bubbles from the tension within the room. It is the urgency that is forming between us; whether this is a bond or not, I am a monster, and he is a human. This whole romantic idea is from me having no interaction with any males; it is just a false reality in my own mind. 

Before we have a moment to speak anymore, the door flies open, and an irritated Madam Zornem enters through the doorway. I am suddenly still, frozen in fear as I am caught in the troubles of my own mind. 

Oh no.