Fire Breath
Past Times

Unlike usual, Sabina sat daydreaming on the back porch. Accompanied by the sleepy Nora on her lap, Sabina continued to be busy with her thoughts.

He felt himself very low after Aiden saw what he was doing yesterday. And even though Aiden never touched on the matter again, Sabina still could not afford to be close to Aiden. This was the first time he felt so guilty for preying on humans.

"Nora, am I an evil killer?" he asked Nora who immediately gasped in shock.

"You still think about the witch? I don't think he was worried about yesterday's events" replied Nora.

"Although so..."

"That's it. It's your instinct to prey on humans" Nora said sootheingly.

"But my family there never preyed on humans. They always drink animal blood" Sabina said sadly.

"There are animals in a city like this? You want to prey on animals at the zoo? Your family lives in the middle of the forest. It's worth finding a lot of animals."

"I can't stop drinking human blood, Nora. I can't control myself!" said Sabina again.

Nora did not answer Sabina's words. He just stared at the sad girl.

"I regretted leaving my family home. It turned out that I was not as strong as I thought," Sabina said softly.

Nora remained silent at Sabina's words and silence soon surrounded the two. Sabina recalled her home in the middle of the forest in the northern part of the city. The house is very large and resembles a magnificent castle.

Sabina lived for 116 years with her family. During that time Sabina also felt very saturated with her life. Vampires never touch the outside world and their lives are limited to fellow vampires.

He was so envious of the humans that he often saw from behind the forest. They live with dreams and hopes. He saw himself alive because he could never die.

In the end Sabina decides to leave her family home and live among humans.

His entire family opposed his decision and tried to block it. But with various efforts finally Sabina can get out of her house and build this tiny house. At first he was very happy about it and very naively he tried to stop being a vampire. He wants to be human!

For weeks he drank no blood and ate only human food. At first it was easy, until finally he could not stand it anymore and lost control of himself. He attacked a man who was walking in front of his house.

From then on he felt human blood that was far more delicious than he had been feeling. The taste became opium to him and he could never stop it.

But despite all that, Sabina still had some good in her. He deeply regretted and hated himself for being a murderer. Sabina also felt very embarrassed to return to her home. His own father always taught him not to interfere with human life. And he had already violated it because of his selfishness. He's nothing more than a vampire in a daze searching for his true identity.

***

Aiden had a bad dream. In his dream, he saw his village filled with fire. Dozens of witches throw curses at big feathered creatures — turns out to be raging werewolves —. He himself tried to protect himself from the attacks of these creatures with his magic.

After successfully toppling several tails, he ran over to his grandfather who was dueling with a cunning-faced witch. The duel is very exciting with flashes of light that collide with each other in the air. His grandfather seemed very overwhelmed with breath that was almost gone. While the cunning-faced witch was still very calm. Not even a drop of sweat soaked his body.

"I have to help Grandpa!"thought quickly.

He then ran into his house and headed straight for the very dark stone bedinding room. The only light in the room was a stone the size of an adult's hand that floated in the middle of the room. The stone shone brilliant white like a diamond. The shape is round and the whole surface is smooth without stain.

Aiden walked closer to the stone. But the closer he got, it felt as if his entire life force and spirit were being sucked away. Suddenly his legs went limp and he fell to his knees. But still he forced himself to stand up and reach for the stone before his eyes. With the rest of his strength, he grabbed the stone in his grasp. At once his hand was burning hot and he groaned very hard. But he can't give up!

His mind was fixed on his grandfather who was dueling. Therefore he got back up and limped down to walk towards his grandfather's fighting arena.

Finally, after almost all his power was drained, Aiden reached his goal. He lifted the stone high and prepared to cast a spell. The last time he came to, he saw his grandfather screaming at him.

But he had not heard it yet he had been slammed far from the place. The magic stone he grasped slipped out of his hand and his gaze was glared at by the light.

Aiden awakens in shock at Sabina's house. Sweat poured down all over his body and face. He was still panting as he tried to get up and sit down. He raised both his hands to wipe the sweat on his face and took a deep breath to just calm down.

"Why did I dream about it again?" his sighs hoarse.

After being calmer and his breathing had returned to normal, Aiden got up and went out of the room. It looks like food is already available at the dining table complete with a cup of tea that looks delicious with smoke billowing on it.

Aiden turned his gaze from the dining table and looked around. He was looking for Sabina who he had not met anywhere. He then walked past the dining table to the sink and washed his face. After that, she took a shower in hopes of feeling better.

Aiden had not yet seen any signs of Sabina's presence, despite having traveled around almost the entire corner of the house. Even Nora was nowhere to be seen.

After a long search for — interspersed with drinking warm tea and tasting cakes made by Sabina — he began to worry. Fortunately when he intended to go looking, Sabina had already returned home with Nora.

"Where from?" aiden asked as they passed by the front door.

Sabina looked at him coldly.

"Where did you learn to make cookies?" asked Aiden then after the two sat on the back porch.

"My mother was human before my father made her immortal. She is very good at cooking. And even though we don't need human food, my mother still enjoys making it and tasting it" Sabina explained.

"That means you've been a vampire since birth?" asked Aiden who was replied with a nod of Sabina. "Until now, how long have you lived?"

"A hundred and sixteen years."

"WOW! Much older than me! But why is your face still like twenty years old?"

"I can stop my growth until the moment I want."

"Where are you guys from?"

"My father was a descendant of an old vampire family in the far north of Luteria. He then left his house and fell in love with a human, my mother. Only until that's what I know" Sabina explained.

"I never got out of my village. All I've ever met was a witch. Just this time I saw a vampire in person" Aiden said.

Sabina looked at him with an unpredictable look. Aiden looked back at him with a smile.

"Why?" ask Aiden.

"No. It's just that I still can't believe anyone would accept me even though I've killed a human being, but my family certainly won't accept me back" Sabina said later.

Aiden leaned his body towards Sabina's bowed face.

"Don't you just say your father turned your mother into a vampire? Doesn't that mean your father bit your mother too?" aiden asked still looking at Sabina.

"What Dad did and what I did was different. First, my own mother gave herself up to turn into a vampire. Then my father didn't suck my mother's blood until he killed her.

"While I am, I am actually sucking human blood to the point of not turning it into a vampire" Sabina explained at length.

"So your family never killed a human?" ask Aiden. Sabina shook her head weakly. "Then stop killing people!"

Sabina looked at Aiden. Only this time there was someone who blatantly forbade him from doing such a despicable act.

"I'll get you some blood, so don't kill again!" continued Aiden.

Sabina's eyes glazed over. His head nodded many times and his tears finally dripped as well. Aiden smiled at him.

"I'll help you look for magic stones" Sabina said amid her sobs.

"You said that I didn't know where the stone was. There are no more witches I can ask because my village has been destroyed" Aiden said sadly.

"Didn't you say your parents forced you to look for her yesterday?"

"I lied. Actually the reason I was looking for that stone was because I was the one who destroyed my entire ice and even killed my grandfather. Before my grandfather died, my grandfather said that the stone had been captured by Sin Scove, the witch who wreaked havoc on my village.

"And through the information I got from my journey, the witch was in this city" Aiden said.

Sabina looked at Aiden carefully as if she truly understood his story

"Then what have you got after being in this town?" asked Sabina in response.

"My wand has already reacted to that magic stone twice. First when you were attacked by a werewolf. The second one when you suck the blood of a woman in the garden."

"really? But there's no such stone in my house."

"I'm not saying you keep it. It's just like if I were near you I could get closer to the rock I was looking for."

Sabina grunted softly.

"I'm so glad you're still around me" he said. "Did that magic stone have a name?"

"Ephestus..."

***