Blood Red Moon
By: Joy Kolowski

Part 1

Thunder roared and shook the ground. Sirus was in the middle of a walk through his woods when it began to pour out of nowhere. "Damnit", Sirus sneered, "Of all times for it to rain: the moon was big and bright, and the air was crisp and clean." Sirus then heard a small squeak of fright after the thunder sounded once more. He looked down and saw a small balled up figure in the shadow of a tall oak tree. He kneeled down, thinking it was a cat, and placed a hand onto the top of the balled up form. The figure jumped at once and pressed itself against the tree. Sirus stood back for a moment as a lightning flashed and revealed the face of a young girl. Even though it was only a quick moment, he could tell there was fear in her eyes. He adjusted his eyes more to the shadowed area as rain dripped down his raven black hair. Sirus then kneeled down again, and leveled his eyes with the little girl's. He then placed a hand onto her shoulder with a sentimental smile. "Hello there", Sirus said as the girl scrunched up at his touch," My name's Sirus... What are you doing in my woods little girl?" "I-I was j-just w-walking...?" The little girl said biting her lip. Sirus now noticed the girl's dress was all torn and caked with mud from the rain. "What's your name little girl?" Sirus ask taking in another look at the girl. The girl had deep-red hair and blue-green eyes. She also looked about five years old and as if she hasn't had anything to eat in at least a week.

"My n-name is K-Kara, s-sir", the girl stuttered. Sirus could feel the little girl, now known as Kara, shiver from the coldness of the rain under his hand. Taking a big leap, and guess, Sirus asked," Are you an orphan Kara?" Kara nodded and asked in return," H-How did you know sir?" "My name's Sirus, Sirus Wolf. So please, call me Sirus, Kara" Sirus said with another sentimental smile "and it was just a guess. I thought you might be because of your clothes and the fact that you're in my cold, private woods instead of inside a nice home near a fire." Sirus then stood up and let out a hand for Kara to take," I guess the right thing to do will be to take you home and give you something to eat." Kara, with great hesitation, took Sirus' hand and moved forward a little out of the oak's shadow. The rain was beginning to light up, but it still rolled over Sirus' hair, making it go into his eyes (which he hated). Sirus, with his free hand, wiped the hair that was in his eyes back over his head and began to walk down a mudded path. Sirus loved his hair, it was short and slickly cut, but it grew to be an annoyance in the rain. Kara, after a couple of minutes, began to make out a figure of a big house. After they got closer she could see that the house was old, and mainly run- down. Two pillars in the front was missing, there was a broken bulb hanging on the porch, the door was half way off it's hinges, and the windows, that she could see, were all nailed shut. Kara stopped holding onto Sirus' hand, and clanged to his whole arm. Sirus patted Kara on the head with his free hand and walked to the steps to the house. The steps creaked under his weight as they walked up and to the door. Sirus pulled Kara inside and flicked a light switch on that was near the half-opened entrance door. Kara noticed she was in a large living area. The inside of the house, Kara noted to herself, was nothing like the outside. There was beautiful maroon wallpaper, the windows all had patterned drapes, there was forest green carpeting, and the doors on the inside were perfectly fine and made of mahogany wood. Sirus let go of her hand and began to walk across the room and past two maroon velvety chairs. He motioned for Kara to follow, and she did immediately. Sirus walked into a room and flicked on the light. Kara could now tell that it was a kitchen. The kitchen had sea-blue tiles and marble countertops. Sirus must be rich, Kara thought to herself, he owns stuff I've only seen in Hollywood movies! Sirus moved to the fridge, looked over his shoulder at Kara, who was standing in the doorway. He made sure to cover up the fridge with his body so she couldn't see what was inside. "What do little girls like to eat? Oh yeah," Sirus sprung up from the fridge with peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a small jug of Sunny Delight in his hands. He then, while still hiding the contents from the fridge, closed the door and set the condiments onto the counter. "Every kid likes peanut butter and jelly! And of course you'll need something to drink." Sirus then opened a cabinet and pulled out some bread and a glass. He was closing the cabinet when Kara came fully into the kitchen and curiously looked at the fridge. But after Sirus had her sandwich made, all curiosity left as she felt her hunger seep through. Sirus held out the sandwich to Kara. She took it with a "thank you" and a big grin. Kara ate the sandwich as politely as she could while being hungrier then she had ever been before. She then asked after a couple of bites, "Why do you have all your windows nailed shut Sirus?" "I... I have an allergic reaction from the sun", Sirus replied as he pulled out some cheetos and an apple. Sirus made another sandwich and he set the rest of the food onto the large wooden table near-by and sat down with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich he made for himself. The chairs were so big Kara had to be pulled up by Sirus to sit in one of them. Sirus just smiled to himself as he bit into his sandwich and watched Kara eat the foot he set out for her. Then a thought stuck Sirus. What if he adopted this orphan? He never had a kid before, and all his cats, dogs, and even snakes died within ten years of having them. Yeah, Sirus thought to himself after finishing his sandwich, I'll adopt Kara and... she'll die within a brief moment in time. Sirus sighed, placed his elbow on the table, and sadly placed his head onto his palm. Kara finished her food and drink and felt like she couldn't eat another bite if she wanted to. She then noticed Sirus' saddened expression, leaned over and asked," Are you ok Sirus?" Sirus began to smile again as he patted Kara with his free and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine... I was just thinking... I'm not asking for a child, I'm asking for a friend... would you like to live with me? I'll give you food, a place to sleep, and anything else you'll need... but I don't want to be a father... is that ok?" Kara's face lit up with happiness," Yes! I would love to live with you. You're so nice, and you made good sandwiches!" Kara swung her arms around Sirus' neck and gave him a gentle hug, "I'll be your friend till the day I die! I don't care if you don't want to be my dad! Thank you so much Sirus!" Sirus petted the back of Kara's head and smiled more sweetly. I want to be your father, Sirus thought sadly to himself, but I'd lose you down the road of my life somewhere, and I can't lose a daughter, but I can lose a friend. Kara's words then broke his train of thought. "Sirus? C-Can I go to bed now? I'm really tired", Kara then stopped the hug, stood in her chair and rubbed her eyes with a yawn. "Of course, of course" Sirus said standing up. Kara let out her arms to signal for Sirus to carry her. Sirus had no problem with this, picked her up, and carried her back into the living area. He then walked up to another door, nudged it open with his foot, and walked in. He turned on the light switch with his shoulder and Kara could now see a four-posted bed with mid-night blue drapes, pillows, and blankets. She didn't have time to see the rest of the room because the sleepiness took over and she fell asleep in Sirus' arms. Sirus took a small breath, so he wouldn't wake her, and walked over to the bed. He moved Kara over to hold her with one arm as he moved some of the blankets back and placed her on the bed. Sirus then tucked her in, walked to the light switch, took one last look at Kara, and then he flicked it off. He closed the door as quietly as he could and walked over to the sofa on the left side of the living area. Sirus took off the blanket that was hanging on the back of the sofa, covered himself and fell asleep, forgetting about the light that was still on in the living area.

Kara woke up early in the morning due to a quench of thirst in her throat. She uncovered herself from the blankets and noticed it was the bed she saw earlier when Sirus brought her in. She smiled at his kindness and tried to get out of the bed. She fell to the floor and noticed the bed was up high. She stood up and saw that the mattress was only an inch or two shorted then she was. Kara saw a digital clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It read 9:56 a.m. She shrugged and walked to the door. She then quietly creaked the door open. Kara noticed the living area still had it's light on. She saw Sirus sound asleep on the sofa with his mouth half way open and his hair all messed up around him. Kara then noticed that Sirus' skin was extremely pale. She didn't pay much mind to it and snuck across the living area and to the kitchen door and thought to herself, "Why is he sleeping still, it's almost 10 a.m." She flicked on the light and walked over to the cabinet. Kara already knew she was too short to reach it so she scanned the kitchen area and noticed a stool near the entrance. She grabbed the stool and pushed it over to the counter when the cabinet was. Kara climbed the stool, got a glass out of the cabinet, and got back down. She walked back over to the fridge and opened it an inch then she stopped when a strange fume came out. It smelled like blood! With a big gulp, Kara pulled to fridge slowly open to reveal two full rows of packaged blood and a full gallon of blood with a label that read "Young Blood." She screamed and tried to run to the other side of the room, but in doing so she bumped into the fridge door and made the gallon of blood and a lot of packages fall out and spill all over the floor. Kara could feel the blood run over her feet and she screamed again.

Sirus heard a scream and sprung up from the sofa. Right when he stood up he could smell the sweet, cold blood coming from the kitchen. "Oh no" was all Sirus could say when he ran into the kitchen and saw Kara on the floor curled up with fear. He ran over to her and noticed all the spilled blood. With a sigh of relief he noticed none of it was from Kara. Sirus then kneeled down and placed a hand onto her shoulder. "Are you ok Kara?" Sirus asked as if nothing was really wrong. Kara just gasped, straightened, and scooted back into the corner of the kitchen. "T-That's why you're pale and your windows are nailed shut! You're a vampire!" Kara then began to cry as she hugged her knees and hid her face. Sirus couldn't think of a way to explain everything, and so he wouldn't scare her, he didn't move "Yes, I am a vampire." The bluntness in his voice shocked himself and he tried to go with a more soothing voice," I'm sorry you had to find out so quickly... I'll just have to make you forget, and make you happy." Before Kara could move, she found her eyes looking into Sirus'. They glowed an eerie silvery- green as she felt her mind go fuzzy. Only a few moments after, Kara fell unconscious. Sirus picked her up and took her into the living area. He placed her on the couch with a disappointed sigh," It hasn't even been a day and I had to erase her memory." He sighed again, "Oh well, I'll move... I'll make sure she won't remember this place. She'll never know again that I'm... a vampire."