Blood Bait

The first time I saw her was at my grandmother's funeral.

She wore a black dress, but her lips were painted a vivid red.

She didn't fit in with the funeral at all.

She avoided the crowd and stood far away. After the funeral ended, she lingered by the gravestone for a moment, then left.

A thorn branch had appeared on the gravestone.

I guessed she had left it there.

There were red marks on the thorns. I couldn't tell if they were her lipstick or if the thorns had pricked her hand.

It bothered me a little, so I eventually threw the branch away.

I asked my mother who that strange older sister was.

My mother told me she had been my grandmother's governess.

But she was so young. I didn't believe it.

Later, we moved away from that old town and never returned.

Until, years later, on Halloween night, I saw her again.

She was still wearing a black dress, her lips a rich, vivid red.

Her face was just as pale, young, and alluring as before.

She looked at me as if I were tempting prey.

I couldn't pretend not to see her. I went over and asked her to dance.

After all, I was an adult now.

I asked her, "Miss, who are you dressed as tonight?"

She pressed close to my neck and smiled. "A vampire."

It hurt a little, like an impossibly fine thorn piercing my skin.

I tensed my shoulders, then came a numbing, intoxicating ease.

Her voice remained by my ear as she continued:

"Myself."

"Miss Hunter, would you like to play this game with me tonight?"

Vampire big sister x hunter little sister

*Written in third person

*Blurb archived on August 28, 2022

Theme: Develop a proper perspective on life and death