The beast, Samuel, ran towards his wife and child. His mouth became agape, his mind lost, and hunger overtook him. A cave of teeth, entrails, and saliva began to envelop both of them.
But the meat vendor pushed both mother and child away from the beast's path. All Cloette could hear at that moment was the meat vendor pushing her and her mother out of the way.
The child started hearing snapping, squelching, and spurting. Samuel began devouring the meat vendor.
Only a limp amputated arm was left on the ground. Annette took Cloette and ran away from the village while her husband began to rampage throughout the market.
Blood, sweat, and carnage filled the air throughout that day as Cloette just witnessed the first of many massacres in her life. But the worst thing about it was her father did it to protect her.
Annette set Cloette on a horse and rode off from the massacre that had just occurred. Cloette felt a twinge in her stomach and vomited onto the side of the road before continuing to ride back to their home on the outskirts of town.
The following day, a series of banging came from the Vascos residence's door. Annette woke up startled and started packing her bags.
Small glass bottles, herbs, and seeds would be packed into different colored small cloth pouches. Red, black, and plain for flowers, bulbs, and stems.
Pounding on the door became rattled enough to almost have the door broken from its hinges. Various muffled screams were heard from outside the house and one familiar voice as well amongst them: the newly appointed Priest of the village.
Cloette woke up perturbed and in shock. She looked over at her mother rushing around the house, packing their belongings.
The little girl still had scars on her scalp but was unaffected by the pain from the other night. Pulsing was seen from the amount of swelling on top of the child's scarred scalp.
She slowly got out of bed and waddled towards her mom, asking her, "Mama, are we still okay to stay here? Why is there so much pounding?"
Annette looked down at her daughter, knelt to her level, and hugged Cloette close to her bosom. Cloette could feel her mother's tears run down her head.
The child held onto her mother and stroked her mother's hair to soothe her. Annette picked Cloette up and looked over at the door.
The constant banging and pounding echoed throughout the small cottage. The magic woman could not comprehend as the ropes in her chest began constricting her neck as in a vice unable to be released from its grip. Being unable to breathe, her mind wandered around through the house.
The small child held her mother's face and smiled, "Mama, we are going to be okay. I am okay. You are okay. Vamos por favor mama.
Cloette consoled her mother with conviction and calmness. Her daughter knew that at that moment, if there was someone who remained calm, there would always be a sliver of hope of surviving in this cruel world.
A world of humans who caused this child so much anguish in a matter of moments still cared about her heritage as a half-human. Annette collected herself as soon as the door broke down.
Her movements were once scattering without sequence, but then a sudden surge of efficiency and precision took over her mind. As in a trance, she pulled the rug from the floor, which revealed an etching of a magic circle.
Each ring within the symbols sparked small embers and became engulfed in flames. The woman smiled when knights broke through the door.
She cackled, flipping the bird at the knights, and she yelled, "En tu culo, perras! "
A cyclone of fire and electricity enveloped both of them, and it spread throughout their once-permanent home. Cloette looked over to the knights with pity and pain that she had experienced that one night by man's greed upon the innocence of a child of the mystical realm.
That moment was quickly gone when both child and mother appeared in the icy mountains. A cyclone of heat and sparks dissipated into the tundra's piercing atmosphere.
The sudden cold air hit the young dhampir's face when going through the portal to evade their captors. Cloette gasped from the sudden change in temperature from her home to a place of sheer reflective white.
The sun felt soothing on her skin with the mixture of frozen air instead of blazing and blistering heat from her former estate. The gentle and crisp scent came from the evergreens, and pine trees surrounding both Annette and her daughter.
It is a new life for Cloette to thrive and a terrifying journey for the young humanoid. They both began their tread towards a small village in the valley of the snowy mountains with whatever energy they had left.
Annette breathed heavily from the amount of energy that she had spent making the portal.The intimidating mountains were becoming more pronounced as the duo descended from its slope.
Smoke would come out of these wooden cabins in the small town as their destination becomes shorter with every stride down to the mountain's base. Zephyrs were going through the trees with a sharpness that would make their face feel waves of numbness from the frosty afternoon.
Cloette ended up carrying her exhausted mother on her back. She trudged along the snow to the sidewalk, where they reassembled at the town's well.
Annette sat at the edge of the covered well, to rest from the amount of magic that she had used. The exhausted witch looked at her daughter and stroked her small face gently.
Her fingers were stinging and lost some of their color. Hypoxia set in on her extremities from the amount of exposure she experienced to the sudden change in climate.
The witch looked over at the rest of the town, witnessing the structure to be familiar with their new surroundings. A three-story building with a sign that read 'Kro'.
She hurriedly limped to the door and pressed her weakened body against it to enter the establishment. Cloette helped open the door and experienced a sudden surge of warmth from the ground floor of the building.
Embers and bits of ash floated past her from a great fire in the middle of the building, with the smell of food in the air. Hopefully, Cloette could try to ensure her mother's safety in the unexpected world without her father.