Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

Evenly nodded, and then she walked to him and held out the sleeping boy to him. "Hold him for me for a moment," she said, wanting to remove the blanket from the bed so he could use it on the floor. But Rav stared at the sleeping baby without moving to take him, his face turning hard as he stepped back, away from the innocent child she held out for him to hold.

Evenly belatedly realized her mistake again. This man had something against this baby, or perhaps against all babies. She remembered another reason she did not like him, and a cold look crossed her eyes as she moved past him and put Angel down on the couch he had vacated. She then walked back to the bed, jerking the blanket off the mattress along with a pillow, and threw them at his face. He caught them in his arms before they could fall to the floor.

"Make sure you make your bedding away from us. That way you won't feel the presence of the innocent baby in the room, and you can sleep perfectly," she said, her words carrying clear disgust in her voice as she brushed past him. She went for Angel, picked him up gently, and he nestled against her chest, still sleeping peacefully.

"I will make sure to remember never to hand you to someone who doesn't like you next time," she whispered to Angel, stroking his hair as she walked back to the bed to lay him down.

Rav heard her words, and he felt a sharp stab in his chest at her claim that he disliked the baby. He stared at her as she went ahead and blew out the candles in the room without even waiting for him to spread the blankets, plunging the space in pure darkness.

Not knowing why he needed to make her understand that he did not dislike Angel, when he had never felt the need to explain his actions to anyone, Rav found himself saying, "I don't dislike him, my lady. Holding him only reminds me of what I have lost. It brings back memories of the people I lost and could never bring back...my son."

He didn't wait for her reply and began to jerkily spread the blankets on the floor, which still carried her scent, on the floor beside the couch.

Evenly, however, stilled at his words just as she was attempting to lay down on her pillow. She turned toward him in the dark with a frown.

He had a son? She had never actually thought there was a reason he didn't like holding Angel. Because of how Josh never truly liked children for any reason other than wanting an heir, she always compared Rav's avoidance to him. Josh had always seemed to hate holding even his little relatives when they visited for events, he would shoo them away and then clean his hands thoroughly after touching any of them.

Whenever Rav moved away from Angel, she saw the image of Josh and her hatred rekindled. She had never thought there could be a reason behind it, especially since she never actually forgave Rav for what he had done to her after turning her into a vampire.

Laying down slowly against her pillow, Evenly stared into the darkness in silence. It was already midnight, but she knew sleep was the last thing she would find after recovering from Angel taking blood from her.

"What happened to him?" Evenly asked after a long moment of silence. "Your son, I mean."

She had asked the question out of curiosity and remorse, but as the silence stretched on she doubted he would answer. She was already giving up on hearing his reply when his quiet, hoarse voice finally came from the darkness.

"He died..."

Evenly felt a sharp stab of pity pierce her chest. She had lost a child too, and she knew the feeling of it. She had lived many nights crying for that loss, blaming herself for it. But the child she had lost was born without life, while him...he must have held his son in his arms, carried him as a baby, only to lose him. The pain must have been double what she had felt.

"I am sorry," she whispered, truly meaning it this time. "How old was he?" she asked softly.

Rav was silent for a while before replying, "Five years...he was killed on the day he turned five."

Evenly gasped. "He was killed?" She almost sat up from the shock of his words but forced herself to remain lying down on the bed. Who could be so heartless as to kill a child?

"How did it happen?" she asked again, her voice low, her eyes pricking with tears for the innocent child that was killed. Children were innocent. None of them deserved to be killed, none.

Rav had carried the silent grief in his heart for so long that he had learned to cope with it. The memories had become distant with time, but never completely forgotten. And whenever he held Angel, the memories came back afresh, like it had happened only yesterday. He could see everything, and he could feel the pain all over again.

He had never told anyone about his family, not even his master. Not because he didn't want to, but because no one had ever asked. Now that someone finally had, he felt his heart ache anew. His throat seemed to close in on him, but he pushed the emotions back.

"It was a long time ago, back when I was still human. He was killed by rogues. Not only him, but my wife as well...and my Ma." His voice was low as his eyes turned distant in the darkness, his mind beginning to revisit the events of his life like they were happening all over again.

Raventown was a very small village between the borders of the human and vampire lands. Many who lived there knew each other, and most of those who stayed were dead poor, barely able to make ends meet. Only a few were considered well-off. Rav had been born into the household of those who were among the poorest, with barely enough to eat for a single meal.

Rav had never had any education in all his life. Instead, he lived working his back off from a very young age to feed his mother and grandmother, since his father had died of sickness. He never complained about the way he had been born or about the work he did, because he knew he had to feed his family. The only thing he wished for was a way to make life better for them.

Heaven seemed to hear his silent prayers for a better life, and sent the answer to him through a woman.

"Christian," his mother called him from inside their small cottage while he was chopping logs of wood in the backyard.

The young man who turned around quickly upon hearing his name was a younger version of the present Rav. His complexion was fair, and his face was handsome enough to attract the envy of some nobles who happened to see him.

This young man had not yet lost the reason to smile radiantly; this young man had not yet lost himself and everything he knew. He watched as his mother walked out through the door to meet him, a frown etched on her haggard, sunken face. She had been sick and was only just recovering.

"Yes, Mama?" He dropped the axe at once and rushed to support her, guiding her to sit on a bench in the yard. "I told you to rest and not get out of bed, Mama. What are you doing out here dressed in your market attire?" he scolded gently as he crouched down to her level on the bench.

"You worry too much, son. That's why I wanted to sneak to the market to sell some of those fruits without your knowledge before they get rotten. But then, I met a maidservant of the Andrews house, and she said you've been summoned to their house urgently. Christian, what have you done to them? I heard you were paid to chop firewood for them days ago. Did anything happen there?"

He knew at once why his mother was worried about the Andrews sending for him all of a sudden. In the whole of the village, theirs was the only family who were truly rich, rich enough to control the lives of the people there. If anyone crossed them, they never let it slide, they would ruin that person without hesitation and send them packing from the village.

"I didn't do anything I shouldn't have done, Mama. I did my work and got paid my money. You shouldn't worry. Maybe they liked my work and wanted to give me more," he assured his mother, though deep down he was worried himself, because the Andrews had no reason to summon him personally when he had done all the work of chopping the woods for the upcoming winter.

"Be careful, son. I don't want to lose you like I did your Pa. Go on ahead and see what they want, if there's any trouble, send someone to get me at once." His mother urged him on, though she still had a worried look on her face.

"I will be right back, mama."

Christian washed off his sweat, put on his shirt, and left his worried mother behind. Though nervous, he walked into the gated house with a steady step, convincing himself that since he had done no wrong, he had nothing to fear. He went up and knocked on their heavy wooden door.