BLOOD TWILIGHT

ANNE JONES

I blink my eyes, watching my father holding my favorite book in his hands at this moment.

I've known this story for a long time, but it remains my favorite, and I smile when I see my father's smile looking at me.

"Are you ready, Anne?", he asks with a loving tone, and I nod my head, hugging my doll tighter.

I pull the blanket over my body before I start listening to him read the book. I can hear the sound of the rain outside our house, but at this moment, I feel safe.

"Very well. Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a large castle. She had magical powers, a type of power that no one else could possess...", he begins, and I smile before saying.

"Her blood was magical...", I whisper, and he nods before falling silent again.

"Yes, her blood was very powerful to defeat the creatures of the shadows that always tried to destroy her kingdom. But the princess was always a brave girl and never gave up..."

I blink my eyes, lying in bed, listening to my father's calm voice. I focus on every word he continues reading, his voice always managing to relax me, and I sigh, feeling my eyes getting heavier.

I try to stay awake, but it's getting harder. He's in the middle of the story when sleep starts to completely take over.

"Dad...", I whisper, calling him, and he smiles before looking at me and closing the book.

"Are you already sleepy, my love?", he asks, and I yawn, making him chuckle softly.

"Can we continue the story tomorrow, Dad?"

"Of course, Anne. I love reading this to you for the thousandth time."

I smile and close my eyes as he comes closer, kissing my forehead lovingly. I open my eyes, seeing him turning off the lights in my room before looking at me again.

"Good night, princess.", he whispers, walking towards the door, and I hug my doll tighter.

"Good night, Dad."

I turn in bed before closing my eyes, managing to hear my mother's voice talking to my father. I'm very sleepy, but I can still hear their voices at this moment, and they're talking about me.

"Joseph, you were reading that book to her again?", my mother asks with a worried voice, and I frown, trying to sleep.

"She's just a child, and a book won't put her life in danger, Maria."

"I know, and you know that's not what I'm talking about. She's growing up fast, and at some point, we'll have to tell her the truth, Joseph."

"It's not time for that yet."

They fall silent, and seconds later, I relax my body, starting to fall asleep, hearing the peaceful sound of rain outside.

I open my eyes, hearing a loud noise and my parents' raised voices. I lift my head, seeing that my room is still very dark, meaning it's still night.

I sit up in bed, rubbing my eyes, and am no longer able to sleep, feeling my heart beating faster in my chest at this moment.

I kneel on my bed, pulling the curtains aside, seeing many black cars approaching our house. I frown when I hear my father's voice again.

"They're here; they've found us.", he says, leaving me confused, and I widen my eyes when I see many men in black clothes getting out of the cars, holding big guns.

"Dad? Mom?", I call them, getting out of bed and running out of the room, seeing my parents in the kitchen.

"What are we going to do, Joseph? We can't let them hurt her."

"That won't happen.", he says, looking at the door of our house as the men start trying to break in, shouting his name.

At that moment, my father's eyes fixed on me, and I saw when he and my mother ran towards me, looking at me with fear and worry at the same time.

"Dad, what's happening? Who are they?", I ask, and he asks me to be quiet before kneeling in front of me.

"Anne, I need you to listen to me carefully, okay? I need you to go back to your room and help your mother grab everything we need.", he says, touching my face, and I frown.

"Where are we going, Dad?"

"To a safe place; we don't have time. I need you to do this, Anne."

I nod, feeling him kiss my forehead and hug me tightly. I close my eyes, and when I open them, I see my mother silently crying and looking at us.

"Take her inside, Maria."

My mother nods before taking me into the room and closing the door, looking at me. She runs, grabs a bag, and puts my clothes inside along with my documents.

"Mom, I'm scared.", I whisper, feeling tears in my eyes, and she comes closer to me, and we sit on the bed together.

"Anne, I'm scared too, but everything will be fine. I want you to promise me something very important to me and your father."

"Sure, Mom."

"If something happens to me and him, I need you to keep going. I need you to take this backpack and run away, and never stop, do you understand?" she asks, holding my shoulders, and I widen my eyes, feeling a tear wetting my face at this moment.

"I promise, Mom. But I don't want to leave you."

I hug her tightly, and she nods, crying with me.

"Neither do I, but we need to protect you, Anne."

At that moment, I hug her tighter, laying my head on her shoulder, when I hear our house's door being broken down, and seconds later, the sound of loud gunshots begins.

I close my eyes tightly, hearing the men's and my father's shouts simultaneously.

"Where's the girl?"

"She's not here; none of you will ever find her!", my father shouts, and I tremble, hearing more gunshots.

"Find the girl now!", a voice shouts, and my mother looks at me with fear.

"Anne, hide under the bed now...", she whispers to me, and I shake my head, holding her hand tightly.

"Mom..."

"Please, do what I'm asking, Anne."

I nodded before getting under the bed, and hearing footsteps approaching my room. I hear a scream of pain from my father, and seconds later, two men manage to enter my room.

My mother screams, and I widen my eyes, crying when I see one of the men shooting her. She falls to the floor, crying, and I put my hands over my mouth when she turns her face, looking at me.

I shake my head, stretching my hand towards her, biting my lips not to scream when a man with a tattoo on his face drags her out of the room.

Red eyes.

They have scary red eyes.

I close my eyes tightly, hearing one of the men's voices.

"For a long time, you two tried to hide the girl from us, but know that we will find her, no matter what happens. We will find her and kill her."

"No!", my father shouts, and I cry more when I hear the sound of two gunshots and then silence.

No.

No.

I want to scream when I no longer hear their voices in our house. I open my eyes, looking at the door of the room opening, and I see black boots.

I widen my eyes, realizing they are here and will find me now.

"The police are coming, we need to go now! The girl can't have gone far!"

I wait for them to leave, hearing the sound of cars, and then I get up, running to the kitchen, hoping to find my parents, but I widen my eyes, crying when I see them lying on the floor with a lot of blood.

"No! No! Please, no!", I scream, falling to my knees and touching their bodies, but they are dead.

I scream, trembling as I look at my hands and see my skin stained with blood.

"Wake up, please, please! Don't leave me, please."

I wake up with a scream and open my eyes, breathing heavily and placing my hands over my heart.

I sigh, feeling tears wetting my face at this moment.

It was just a memory.

I keep repeating this to myself as I sit on my bed, seeing it's still night, and I was dreaming about my parents' deaths.

I look at the calendar on my bedroom wall in the apartment and see that today marks 10 years since that horrible day.

I close my eyes briefly before getting out of bed and heading to the kitchen, filling a glass with water to calm my heart.

I hate today, and I know I'll be thinking about it all day long.

When I return to my room, I fix my eyes on the photo of my parents that I always keep by my bed. I smile, feeling more tears before touching the photo lovingly.

"I miss you so much, and I swear I will kill every vampire that killed you two, I swear...", I whisper before looking out the window of my room and sighing, seeing that there are many hours until my shift at the restaurant.

"Today will be a long day...", I whisper to myself.

And I was right about that; my day was very long and tiring, working for hours until nightfall.

I hate that job, but being in this city keeps me closer to the vampires responsible for my family's deaths.

I sigh as I punch the punching bag in the gym once more before repeating it, keeping my eyes fixed on the object in front of me, feeling my heart beating very hard at this moment.

"Your whole body is very tense; what's going on, Anne?", I stop training, turning my head and looking at Matt.

"I'm fine, I'm just stressed, Matt."

“I've known you for five years; this is more than just stress, and you're going to hurt yourself if you keep training like this.”

I nod, knowing he's right, and I take off my gloves when he hands me a bottle of water. The truth is, I haven't been able to stop thinking about my parents today, and it's very painful.

“Will you train with me?”, I ask, putting my gloves back on, and he looks at me with a reproachful expression.

“Anne...”

“Please, I need this, please.”

Matt nods, and I smile as we prepare to spar together. At that moment, I turn my head, noticing a man in dark glasses watching me in the gym.

I frown, realizing he's never been here before. He seems to be working out, but I know he's a vampire, and something is wrong.

“Anne?”

“I'm fine.”, I murmur to Matt, looking at the vampire again, realizing he's not looking away from me.

Half an hour later, after my workout, I'm showering in the bathroom and getting dressed when I hear the sound of heavy boots.

“I know you're here, human.”

My body tenses quickly as I hear the vampire's voice in the women's bathroom. I'm inside one of the stalls, and I hear him lock the door.

I look at my bag on the floor before grabbing two daggers, and gripping them tightly in my hands.

“We finally found you, human.”

I am not afraid. I have spent years of my life searching for vampires and preparing to kill each one of them, and I am not afraid of him at this moment.

Holding the two daggers, I open the bathroom stall door, seeing the tall vampire near the entrance looking at me with a cruel and sadistic smile.

He laughs, looking at the two daggers in my hands, and I smile at him ironically.

“Don't worry, they'll be inside your chest in a few minutes.”, I taunted, seeing the anger in his eyes.

I know we are in public, but I know he won't let me leave this bathroom.

I blink, seeing the moment the big vampire wearing dark glasses growls and runs toward me. I stand still, holding the daggers, and I duck when he tries to attack me.

ANNE JONES

I turn my body, raising my hands and managing to cut his shoulder, hearing him groan in pain. I smile, seeing the anger in his eyes.

“Bitch!”, he yells, and I raise my daggers again, but before I can do anything, he’s quick and grabs my hands tightly.

I lift my leg, striking his face hard and making him stagger back, but he doesn't let go.

I groan as he throws my body hard to the ground. Furthermore, I exhale, raising my legs and kicking his face twice in a row.

He opens his mouth, displaying sharp teeth, and at that moment, his glasses are on the floor, and I lift my head, observing his red eyes.

“I’m going to enjoy making you scream, stupid human!”

“The only one screaming here will be you!”, I say this angrily, getting up and preparing myself again.

He uses his speed, managing to hit my body, and I groan in pain, feeling him push me hard against the other wall.

My muscles scream in pain, and I