"Papa!" The voice of a young girl rang loudly In Marcus's ears. He could feel two small hands pressing against his chest repeatedly. "Papa please wake up!" The small voice shouted once more, this time with more desperation and fear.
Marcus struggled to get up, his entire body felt sore and heavy, he groaned audibly as he slowly rose to a sitting position.
Marcus slowly opened his eyes, he was greeted with a dim and blurry vision. He blinked several times until his vision cleared completely.
It was then that he noticed a young sitting on her knees before him, she was dressed in a long winter coat with a fur hat and gloves.
Her eyes were blood red, with tears streaming down her pale cheeks. When she opened her mouth to call for Marcus again, he noticed that she had sharp fangs similar to that of a vampire.
"Papa!" The girl cried with a smile returning to her face, "You're alive!" She said happily as she buried her face in Marcus's chest. She wrapped her small arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could.
Marcus looked down at the girl with a perplexed expression, who was this girl? And why was she calling him father?
He began to look around his surroundings with a confused expression.
It seemed he was in a shack of some kind, it was barren and lacked almost everything you'd need in a home.
There was no furniture, there were no lights except for two candles that sat on the floor close to where to young girl had been moments before.
The windows were uncovered allowing Marcus to see directly outside to the cold winter wonderland that surrounded them.
"What the… hell?" Marcus stammered as he tried to piece together what led him to this point.
Closing his eyes and focusing on his latest memory, he could remember being in a tavern discussing something with a woman in a shady, black cloak.
Marcus remembered how he had drunkenly pursued the woman. "Hey, fine lady, where you find yourself rushing off to?" He said in a sluggish tone as he followed the woman out of the tavern.
The woman looked back at him with narrowed red eyes. "Know your place and be gone you drunken fool." She then turned to exit the tavern.
Marcus however, was full of drunken curiosity and courage. He followed the woman out of the tavern and onto the dimly lit streets.
"Hey." Marcus exclaimed as continued to pursue the woman, "Can't we just talk a little bit, then I leave you alone, I promise." Marcus had a wide goofy grin on his face as he spoke, he barely managed to keep himself steady, holding on to the wall beside him for support.
The woman halted as she turned to look back at Marcus. Her expression was one of frustration and amusement. "You are a persistent fool that much I'll give you, but if you continue to follow me I'll be forced into action."
Marcus couldn't care less about the woman's threat, there's no way a pretty mug like that could hold any malicious intent, he thought. "Just wanna talk a little tiny bit," Marcus said with slurred speech as he drunkenly walked forward.
The woman sighed as she examined her surroundings, when she noticed that the streets were empty due to the downpour of snow, she smiled, revealing a pair of fangs similar to that of the young girl's.
Marcus noticed the woman smiling and chuckled, "See, you wanna talk too!" He said with a laugh as he took another step forward, however, something was over his foot, and as he attempted to raise it, he began to fall forward.
The woman's eyes widened as she realized Marcus was about to fall face-first into the snow.
She moved speed that most would consider impossible and before Marcus hit the ground, the woman was standing before him with both hands placed on his sides.
The woman's grip was strong, it was in a class that far surpassed that of his own, almost to an impossible degree.
"Woah!" Marcus exclaimed as he slowly pushed himself off the woman, "I didn't mean to touch ya or anything." He said with a shake of his head.
The woman sighed as she looked up at Marcus, "do you still wish to talk?" The woman asked curiously as she reached a hand to Marcus's forehead.
Her hand was cold and soft.
Marcus opened his mouth to respond but he blacked out before he had the chance to speak.
Marcus then opened his eyes once more bringing himself back to the present.
He looked down at the young girl who was still hugging him and reached down a hand to softly and gently brush her back. "Um, excuse me little girl, but do you know where I am?" Marcus asked softly.
"You're home." The girl replied in a muffled voice, her head buried deep in Marcus's chest.
Marcus sighed, he quickly realized that this little girl was under the impression that he was her father and this was their home, and it seemed that was going to change at the moment, so he decided to play along.
"OK then." Marcus said as he continued to rub the girl's back, "Where's mommy?"
The girl slowly removed her face from Marcus's chest and looked up at him with a saddened expression, "I don't know papa, she gave you to me then left, it's been a few days since last I saw her."
Marcus fell deep into thought.
Who dropped him off alone with this child? Was it the woman from the tavern, if so why the hell did she kidnap him?
As Marcus fell deeper in thought, he realized something was wrong. He looked at the girl that sat in his lap with a concerned expression. "What do you mean I was given to you?" He asked with worry in his voice.
The girl chuckled as she leaned closer to Marcus. "To eat you." She said bluntly, "Well, to drink your blood until Mama brings back someone else."
Marcus' heart dropped as his eyes widened in fear, his breathing grew heavy and his heart began racing, "you're gonna eat me?" He asked hesitantly, "Why? I didn't do anything!" He pleaded.
Marcus was left at a crossroads.
He could either fight or accept his fate as a human sandwich.
"Don't be afraid papa." The little girl said as she reached a hand for Marcus's cheek, her mitten was cold and had the texture of it was woolly and scruffy. "I only took a little bit, so you wouldn't die."
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief as he reached to grab the girl's hand. He was glad the girl saw fit to keep him alive, because although he was seriously considering it, the idea of fighting a little girl was unappealing and neither was leaving her behind.
"So then, you know I'm not your father right?" Marcus asked the girl as he removed her hand from his face, he then reached for her other hand and put it between his own, like a sandwich.
The girl smiled as she nodded her head. "I know it's not good to play with my food, but you smelled really nice, and you looked really strong, it would've been a shame to eat you, so I made you my papa!"
Marcus nodded hesitantly, careful not to show any fear, he was afraid that one wrong move could lead to this girl changing her mind.
"So, do you usually eat people?" Marcus asked hesitantly hoping she would say no.
The girl perked up with a wide smile, "all the time!" She exclaimed excitedly. "My favorite is the fat, rich humans mama brings, there's just so much to eat it's like a buffet!" The girl said with a giggle.
Marcus chuckled nervously. "Circle of life I guess."
Marcus hoped for the girl's sake that she was a different species than humans.
He then sighed as he focused his attention on the girl, who stared back up at him with a joyful smile.
"So, what time does mommy usually come home?" Marcus asked.
The girl paused for a moment, she bit her bottom lip as she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Hmm, mommy usually comes home every three days with something to eat."
"And how many days have passed since I arrived?"
"Four." The girl replied with a sigh as she placed her face in Marcus's chest with a light, muffled thud. "I'm sorry papa, you must be dying to meet her."
"Poor choice of words," Marcus muttered under his breath as he wrapped the girl in his embrace. He wasn't interested in meeting this girl's mother in the slightest, he doubted she'd be as naïve as his daughter.
"What was that, papa?" The girl asked as she looked up at Marcus.
Marcus shook his head. "Nothing, are you hungry?" He asked knowing that if she didn't eat him, then she probably hadn't eaten anything since.
The girl nodded. "I am, but Mama hasn't come back yet, and I haven't had flesh in ages."
Marcus shifted uncomfortably at the girl's words, the way she talked about eating humans as if they were a light meal was disgusting and disturbing, yet he knew that for his own sake, he should probably play along.
Marcus huffed heavily as he began to look around the cabin once more, this time with the goal of searching for anything useful.
Looking around he didn't see much, just a few worn blankets and a rusted pot, the cabin was almost completely empty.
Marcus wondered if the girl and her mother lived like this on the regular.
It would make sense if they did, the moment a village or city found out there were vampires wondering about their streets eating people, the church would be called almost immediately.
And if it came down to a fight between a paladin or priest vs a vampire, that would be a very one-sided fight.
"Papa, are you alright?" The girl asked as she still clung to him.
Her eyes were wide and filled with the innocence you'd expect to see in a child. Marcus felt conflicted emotions about the girl, she was just a child sure, but a child that could rip him apart in seconds.
"I'm fine," Marcus said softly as he continued to rub the girl's back. "I was just looking for something to feed you with."
The girl shook her head. "It's fine papa, I can go a while longer without eating, besides there's nothing in this place, we just arrived two weeks ago."
"So you don't live here then?" Marcus asked.
The girl shook her head. "We don't live anywhere papa, we've always moved, for as long as I can remember."
Marcus felt a pang of grief at the girl's words. "I see." He said softly.
He then huffed a breath of frustration as he brought the girl closer to himself. It was at that moment Marcus silently resolved to protect the girl, at least until her mother came back.
He hoped that by then he'd have an escape route planned, or at least some way to escape this complex situation.
"Can I ask you a question?" Marcus asked softly as he placed a mad on the back of the girl's head, running his fingers through her smooth cold hair.
"Of course you can, papa!" She said enthusiastically.
Marcus knew that now, information was all that he needed. "You mentioned you and your mother move frequently, can you tell me about that?"
The girl's expression fell grim as she slowly shook her head. "I don't want to talk about that papa, bad memories."
Marcus nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry." He said softly. Marcus could already piece together that they must've been hunted every time they had to move, or something similar.
He realized that he had jumped too deep, too fast. "Let's start with your name then," Marcus suggested.
"Crimson, daughter of Medina." The girl said with a warm smile.