Chapter Text
The sun had already set by then, tinting the sky in hues of purple and orange. Tang Si still stayed out, shuddering as a breeze brushed past her. Her arms were already aching by the time she had finished hanging up the rest of the clothes.
It wasn’t very uncommon for her to be working at this time, her mother had grown fragile and didn’t have enough strength to keep working around this hour. So as the oldest daughter, it was her responsibility to care for her mother’s chores.
She stretched her back before wiping her drenched hands onto her skirt, at this point her hands had become numb from the hours of working nonstop with water. The girl reached over to unhook her lantern from the stand then picked up the basket that had once been filled with laundry.
The furnace emitted a warm glow across the house while Tang Si felt her tense shoulders relax as she bathed in the warmth of her home. She jumped slightly as her father emerged from the depths of his room– his voice jolting her out of her trance.
“Si, come here and help me.”
Her father croaked as he descended onto a chair, his back stiff while his hands held on the corner of the table for stability. His hands attempted to massage his shoulder but to no avail, it did little to nothing to soothe the ache.
Tang Si smiled weakly before heading over behind her father. She quickly unravelled her scarf after she had set the basket down by the door.
“Where does it hurt, baba?”
Her hands hovered over his back, his feeble hand patted his shoulder while he explained why it ached. Her hands slowly worked on his shoulders, her thumb pressing on points on her father’s shoulders.
The older man sighed in content before speaking up.
“Si?”
Her father spoke up while Tang Si rolled his shoulders and flexed the strained arm. She hummed in response, looking at her father.
Before her father could continue, her younger brother's groans could be heard from the bathroom followed by a loud thud. “Stop throwing the bucket, Lian.” Her father commanded, getting up from his chair and approaching his son.
“Baba there's no more water! I need water!” He cried out, his face flushing red as he complained while flailing his arms around furiously.
“That's not how you should act when you need something, boy.” He grumbled, pinching his son’s ear angrily. He reached up to rub his ear while wincing slightly.
Lian glanced at Tang Si and his face instantly lit up.
“ She can do it! You're old enough to do that!” He exclaimed while pointing furiously at her.
“ No way I'm not!” Tang Si interrupted, “ After what happened to Mr. Grantz’s animals, there is no way I am going out there.”
Tang Si hissed, crossing her arms with a scowl on her face.
Her younger brother looked up at their father expectantly, and a pleading look washed over his face.
“ That was what I was going to ask you. You need to get water for us, your mother can't do it today.” He turned around to look at Tang Si, and she looked absolutely mortified. Her hands fell to her sides while her lips parted slightly.
“What!? There are vampires out there– You can't expect me to go out there– ” Tang Si argued, sweat forming on her forehead.
“You are getting water, you're the eldest in this family. Lian can't do it; he is still a kid,” He interrupted.
“Either way, you already know how to get there.” Her father waved his hand dismissively, turning away from her.
“But– Baba! The vampires- They are out–! ” She protested desperately.
“Tang Si. Don't believe those stupid tales, you know better than that. It is not far anyway, you can do it.” He spoke one last time before retreating into his room.
Tang Si stood there frozen while her brother gave her a snarky grin,
“Don’t look at me like that.” Tang Si growled, her brows furrowing in displeasure.
“Like what?” Lian answered with a chuckle in his tone, “Go get water, Baba told you to.”
She scowled at him while he giggled.
“Don’t worry! The vampires won’t get you! Either way, only babies believe those tales.” He gave one last snide remark before he hopped away, full of life.
“You–!” Just before she could pounce on him, their mother walked in, looking oblivious to the mischief as she gave Tang Si a concerned look before flicking towards her brother who was holding his laughter.
“Behave.” She said simply and they immediately obeyed.
Tang Si gave him a sharp glare before walking away.
Outside, the shadows had finally enveloped the village. Every crevice was covered by a dark silhouette and most residents had already retreated into their homes. The clouds had already concealed the moon, contributing to the already dim environment.
Tang Si hesitated, her feet rooted to the ground as if sensing something would happen later on, yet she ignored that warning and left.
The buckets swayed gently as she made her way through the woods, one hand balancing the stick the buckets were looped through and the other holding a worn-down lantern that flickered at the slightest gust of wind.
Her heart rammed against her chest, and the trees swayed as if they were mocking her. Her grip on the lantern tightened at the faintest sound of rustling off her path, her gaze locked onto the path below her.
++++++
Maybe vampires aren’t real. I mean– how could they do that to Mr. Grantz’s animals? I don’t think he would do such a gruesome thing, and I don’t think his dog would do that as well. Yeah- Wick looks a bit scary but she’s a sweet dog.
That man would never do that, who would be able to do that anyway? He doesn’t seem like the type to even do that, he doesn’t even like talking to people, what more than being the centre of attention?
Not sure, he wouldn’t come out after that. It's not a crime or anything but I think it is pretty odd that that would happen to him.
Whatever, I am sure vampires aren’t real or anything. Someone must have done it to him as– I don’t know. Revenge? Sick way to retaliate though…
But why would they even think it was a vampire? Any other animal could have done it and out of all of that, they chose a vampire?
Really mature, maybe kids made it. Who knows, people are pretty mindless when it comes to incidents like this. They believe anything.
She thought to herself despite feeling terrified because of the rumours.
Whatever, anyone can be paranoid. I can’t blame them.
Realisation had finally set in, she stilled as her eyes widened, staring down at the path that had abruptly ended. The plain trail had ended with rocks and grass and someone’s lit house a few metres ahead.
Her shoulders immediately slumped in exhaustion, staring at a front yard where chickens roamed around freely.
Damn it. Went too far. I already don’t want to be out here and then this happens…?
She reached up, rubbing her tired eyes before she turned around then continued back down the path. Her gaze stayed high this time, she couldn’t take any chances anymore, she had no idea how long it had been.
Paranoia crept up her spine as her eyes darted around the forest, the path seemingly stretching on for metres.
She cursed herself for getting off track for so long, thinking too hard about a stupid tale that multiple kids had probably conjured up. Now she almost ended up on someone’s property.
With the rumours of vampires lurking around, people definitely do not want to see a random figure in their area. Especially at night.
A gust of wind came and went giving her the sudden need to get this done immediately. As she sped up the pace, her buckets swung more frantically on her shoulders while her stomps grew louder and more desperate.
Wait, where was it again…?
She paused mid-step, the flame in the lantern settling down for a moment. Tang Si looked up to scan the surrounding area and look for the split path that led to the well. It wasn’t close by at all. She did wander out too far.
A squeak of noise suddenly caught her attention, sounding like a small cry of an animal or the creaking of the forest. Her head turned in the direction of the sudden noise, expecting to see a cat.
It wasn’t uncommon for people to have cats, they were usually there to drive off mice. She even housed one herself.
“Hello?”
She spoke up instinctively. Her heartbeat quickened, thudding inside her ribcage restlessly.
Whatever it was, it seemed like it had spotted her. If only she had stayed silent, that creature wouldn’t have noticed her. Either way, what creature? It definitely had been a cat or a frog.
Her breathing became unsteady, her occasional sighs grew shaky and her grip turned weary. She physically shook her head, as if doing that could erase the worries that plagued her mind.
Beneath her unsteady sighs, she cursed herself for not bringing her scarf with her along with lines of reassurance for her mind.
“Nothing is in the woods, it's just me and my imagination.”
The promise flew with the wind, a breeze that made her tremble slightly.
Not from the temperature, but rather that feeling of dread crawling up behind your back. She repeated the sentence over and over again like a broken record, trying to convince herself it was just her anxiousness taking over.
She had felt this way before, don’t worry.
But that doesn’t always mean that everything was alright.
“Those shadows can truly trick you. It’s just too dark to recognise anything that your brain fills in for you.”
“That nothing is out there, Tang Si.”
“A human could do such horrors with his hands, it’s not like it’s impossible to kill a cow.”
“Any animal could own red eyes, it’s pro—”
Tang Si halted, her feet felt rooted in the ground while her body became paralysed. Her eyes bore into those red pupils that stared back with such intensity, resembling a predator who had just found its prey.
Her words got caught in her throat, and only a small whine could come out of her lips. The world felt like it spun around her, her head grew light and hazy before she stepped away. A panicked gasp escaped from her before she dropped the buckets off her shoulders and held her lantern towards the figure.
Her jaw tensed while the flame flickered restlessly in the lantern. Her knuckles turned white from the death grip she had on the handle, it ached but she didn’t consider loosening her grip on the only object that gave her light.
“Move– Move away-!”
She thought she said, but only a whine escaped her mouth followed by incoherent mumbling.
Her throat tightened in fear as her fists balled up on her sides.
It seemed like the creature had caught up to what was happening and moved closer, its eyes growing bigger the more they trudged nearer.
“I said– get away–”
Just before she could take another step back, her foot landed on the pole, rolling her onto her back. The back of her head knocked onto the edge of one of the wooden buckets, causing her lantern to shatter loudly before the flame quickly died out.
The eyes wandered closer slowly, steadily while its gaze stayed locked on the girl.
Tang Si’s head pounded loudly, it was practically impossible to ignore the blooming pain settling on her head and her strained neck.
With every blink, the creature appeared closer.
It was like the creature was creeping towards her, preparing to pounce onto the unsuspecting girl.
Her eyes stared at the red pupils glaring back at her with such intensity.
This is not real. This is just a dream. Wake up Tang Si. Wake up.
She repeated useless reassurances that went through her ear and out the other. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head furiously like it could wake her up.
Cold sweat travelled down her temple. Her senses overwhelmed her; the throbbing sensation in her head, the feeling of clawing her fingers into the earth as sticks stabbed into her palms, her heart twisting inside her chest as if it knew she was in danger.
Get up.
Get up.
The thought echoed in her mind. She whined before she felt her body go slack, her head lolled to the side before she slumped to the ground. Tang Si didn’t know when she opened her eyes, everything was too dark to take note of her surroundings.
But she still didn’t know what crept towards her.
Don’t go, not yet Tang Si.
Save yourself.
Get back to your family.
Get up.
The last thing she saw was the red pupils, standing a metre away from her. Right in front of her. Staring down towards her, its eyes remained expressionless as it watched Tang Si lose consciousness.