Prologue: Blood & Sunlight

BLOOD and SUNLIGHT

A Maryland Vampire Story

by

Jamie Wasserman

And Little Red Cap thought, "As long as I live, I will never leave the path and run off into the woods by myself."

—Little Red Cap, The Brothers Grimm

PART I

Fall

Prologue

"...and they lived happily ever after." The man closed the book and waited.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, darling," he said, smiling to himself. He was never lucky enough to get away with reading just one story.

"I'm not sleepy."

"You haven't tried. Close your eyes," he recited. This was their nightly ritual.

"It won't help." The little girl frowned, sat up in bed, and crossed her arms.

"Would you like some water?"

"No."

"Another blanket?"

"Daddy..." the little girl whined.

"Another story?" the man asked, sighing.

The little girl nodded happily.

"Okay, okay." The man flipped the big book in his lap open to another page. He had already bookmarked which story he was going to read. "Sleeping Beauty?"

"I don't want a story from that book."

"Oh?" the man asked, surprised. This book was her favorite, and he couldn't remember the last time she had asked him to read anything else. "Okay," he said, unsure, and reached towards her small book shelf.

"Uh-uh."

"Uh-uh, what?"

"I want the story you know by heart."

The man leaned forward and smoothed back the girl's hair. "The one I used to tell your brother when he was little?"

"Yes, that one."

"I don't know ... it's been a long time since I've told that one. I may not remember it."

"You remember."

She was right, of course. How could he forget? Things were much better then. "It might be a little scary for you," he said, trying one last time to distract her.

"Please, Daddy!"

The man watched her lips turn down at the corners, and he knew he had already lost. He just couldn't stand to see her cry. He kissed the girl on the forehead and took her hand. "You know he's going to be fine, right? Your brother's pretty tough."

"I know."

The man studied the little girl. Even in the dark, her face looked serene, untroubled.

"Okay," he said. "Move over. Let me sit next to you."

"How come?" she asked, scooting over quickly.

"So I don't get scared." He crammed as much of himself as he could onto her small bed. "Let's see..." he said to himself.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, dear."

"Is there a princess?"

"Yes, but she doesn't know she's a princess."

"Just like Cinderella?"

"A lot like Cinderella, yes."

The man waited. His daughter's questions always came in twos.

After a short pause, she added, "And, Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetie?" He folded his hands in his lap.

"Are there monsters?" She pulled the covers up past her mouth.

"Yes." He tugged the blanket away from her face. "All fairytales have monsters. But these are a little different. These monsters look just like you and me."

"Then how do you know they're monsters?"

"You don't. Not always," the man said sadly.

The little girl chewed at the inside of her lip, mulling this over.

He looked at his daughter. She had the same worried expression her mother had. It made the man smile at the memory. "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

The little girl nodded up at her father.

"Okay, I think I remember it now. This story begins like any other fairytale. Do you want to start it for me?"

The little girl closed her eyes and snuggled next to her dad. "Once upon a time..."