Vampire Reincarnation

Hurried footsteps echoed through the narrow alleys and dark paths of the abandoned town. Kai and Kana’s parents ran around as they scanned the area with their mana.

Ray fiddled with a weird star-shaped object that had five crystals on its extremities. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as painful warmth spread all over his body, his fingers trembling as he tapped the large crystals on the star’s surface.

Elena and the others walked closer to him, their chests heaving nervously as they stared at the device

“Dear, do you really believe this thing works?” Elena asked, her grief-filled voice barely a whisper as she approached him.

“It has to…” he replied with a hoarse voice as his mana flowed through the object.

Tom stood next to Ray, his wife, Isabella following right behind him, worry and fear plastered on their faces.

“It’s been two days since they disappeared, maybe even more,” Tom said as he frowned, and his voice gradually rose. “We’ve looked everywhere in the city, and that thing your son built has proved useless so far!”

Ray let out a *Tsk* sound as he ignored his friend’s statement, advancing toward the shabby wooden gate, he kept checking the device every few steps, and his heart dropped to his stomach every time he did so.

Finally, he reached the gate, his goosebumps-covered body shivered slightly as he placed his fingers on the crystals, waiting in anticipation for it to light up, for its color to turn green, for his son to appear.

“Ray…” Isabella’s soft voice rang in his ears, but he completely disregarded it, instead focusing on injecting energy into the device.

His heart stood still as the mana flowed through his finger, and his pupils widened as one of the crystals’ color slowly turned green. He raised his head, staring at the direction it pointed toward - Outside.

“No…” Elena let out a soft gasp as her hand flew to her mouth, water swelling up around her eyes as she lost the strength to stand.

Falling to her knees, she couldn’t hold back her grief, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she choked, gasping for air. My son…

“It’s not too late.” Ray comforted her, and he pulled out his wand as he prepared to step out into the forest, and Tom did the same as his heavy steps crushed the grass beneath his feet.

A rustling sound rang in their ears, and their faces broke into painful smiles as they turned toward the source. Kana and Kai leaped out of a thick bush, their ripped clothes exposing the small amounts of wounds that covered their body.

They dashed toward their parents with tear-filled eyes. Elena and Isabella hurried toward their children, hugging them tightly with racing hearts.

“Y-y-you…” his mother struggled to speak as she exhaled and inhaled rapidly, her body barely calming down at the touch of her son’s warmth. “We were… so, so- where have you been, what, what happened?”

She asked in a barely cohesive speech, her voice trembling as she voiced her concerns, her pupils trembling while looking at her son.

“Mom… I’m so, so sorry I… promise I won’t break your word again, I *hic* I will be a good son.” He apologized as he wrapped his arms around Elena, her racing heart ringing in his ears, and he felt like a sharp sword had pierced his chest.

Ray looked sternly at Kai, and his lips parted, but his words got stuck in his throat as he noticed Elena glaring at him. He let out a soft sigh as his pulse returned to normal, and he bent down as he hugged his son.

“You don’t even know how many worries you gave us, I think we aged twenty years in two days.” He joked, his voice trembling slightly before he sternly said “But we will need an explanation at home.”

A few meters away from them, Kana’s parents scolded her as tears fell down her face like a coursing river. “I’m sorry I-”

“Are you really sorry?” her mother cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “You bad child, you have no idea how worried we were. Our world slowly crumbled away with every second you were missing, I, we…” She started weeping as she knelt down, and hugged Kana’s trembling body.

“Mom, I’m really sorry. I… I…” she sobbed on Isabella’s shoulder as she hugged her tightly.

Tom sighed and embraced Kana as well, his nervous voice barely above a whisper as he said, “It’s alright sweetie, you are safe and healthy, that’s all that matters.”

A few minutes passed before the group got themselves together, and they silently walked home, their breathing shaky, but relieved.

Kai suddenly reached for his pocket, having remembered the bracelet the old man gave him, he pulled it out and handed it to his parents. “Mom, an old man told me to give you this.”

His mother’s pupils widened slightly as she gently grabbed the bracelet, carefully inspecting it before asking “Did he say anything else?”

Kai shook his head in response “He wasn’t really talkative, but he seemed to know you two well…”

Elena nodded slightly as he stored the bracelet in her spatial ring, not saying another word until they arrived at their home, which was located in the southern corner of the kingdom, not that far from the abandoned town.

Ray had a pensive look on his face, but he similarly remained silent, and only demanded an explanation from Kai once they calmed down their nerves a bit more.

“We were playing, originally we didn’t have the intention to ever break your word but… the gate was right there! There was a whole forest on the other side, how is that possible?”

He explained under his parent’s stern look, and as he continued to recount everything that happened to him and Kana, their expressions quickly turned to shock and anger.

Finally, he told them what happened with the old man in detail, including the short history lesson.

“That old man…!” Ray’s teeth let out a scraping sound as they ground against each, and he clenched his fists in anger. “How dare he say such unnecessary things, I'll beat some sense into him.”

Elena grabbed his shoulder before he got the chance to sprint out the door, and she let out a sigh as she said “Forget about that, right now…” she turned toward Kai, whose relaxed expression quickly changed to one of shock as he saw his mother’s scary eyes.

“Our son needs to learn his lesson…” she continued, approaching him as a long and thin branch appeared in her hand.

Kai gulped in fear as the expected punishment rapidly descended upon him, his grunts of pain ringing in his father’s ears, who only watched with a pitiful expression from the side.

…

The days quickly passed and the time for Kana’s birthday finally arrived. Her house was located on the outskirts of the only city that was still habitable - The Capital city, Mateso.

She waited for Kai and his parents just outside, nervously fiddling with her fingers and a small bracelet around her waist. The small red crystals that stood at the center of a few beautiful roses, which were embroidered on her crimson dress, softly reflected the moon’s gentle light.

Her head rose as she saw Kai’s figure appear from around the corner, his casual black and white clothes served as a stark contrast to her puffy dress.

“Happy 10 years.” He congratulated her while handing her his gift - A book written by himself containing multiple children’s stories that he more or less remembered. Its hardcover was black like the ebony tree and the title, written in white ink, read “Stories.”

Kana inspected the beautiful book, her small fingers grazing over its rough texture, and her eyes briefly stopped on the title before she burst out into light laughter.

Kai tilted his head as he curiously asked “What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, sorry I- this handwriting is just… interesting.” She replied, opening the book and flipping through the pages before stopping somewhere in the middle.

“Oh? ‘The bear tricked by… the fox’? What’s this about?” She asked upon reading the title.

“Ah, just a story I came up with a while ago…” He scratched the back of his head as he entered the house, followed by his parents, who had used disguise magic to change their appearance.

They said I can’t use that yet, I don’t understand what’s so difficult about it, but why do they even need to hide?

Kana’s house was built from the same materials as his, except for the decorations, which consisted of many more plants than his. There were some potted flowers and small trees, as well as vines that climbed up an isolated pillar.

It didn’t take long for more and more people to show up, a dozen people quickly filled the house with chatter, creating a joyous atmosphere as the guests greeted each other and caught up. Off to the side was a small desk that had a few beautifully wrapped gifts

The rest of the evening passed by uneventfully, and Kai found himself in Kana’s room as per her request. She slumped down on the bed and let out a relaxed sigh as she looked at Kai with wide eyes.

She handed Kai the book he gave her, and asked in a low voice “Can you read me a story?”

He sat down next to her as he took the book, and jokingly remarked as he opened it. “Why? You still can’t read?”

“You…!” She pouted as she repeatedly, but lightly punched him in the arm, and he asked as he burst out into laughter. “Should I choose?”

Kana nodded and laid down on her bed, attentively waiting for Kai to start reading.

“Alright, I like this one,” he said as he cleared his throat. “There was once an old couple. The old woman had a chicken and the old man a rooster. The old woman ate eggs every day from her chicken and never shared them with her husband. One day he asked her to give him one but she refused, saying he should get his rooster to lay eggs...”

A soft snore interrupted his reading session, and he slowly turned his head toward Kana, who was peacefully sleeping while hugging a pillow. His tender gaze lingered on her as he asked himself Is this what it feels like to have a sibling? A friend?

Memories from his life on earth flashed in his mind, his head hurting slightly as he tried to recall what his family was like. I was… alone, a single child. My mother… father… I can’t seem to remember much of that. I had a friend, his name… his name was Nevan, right? Nevan… Nevan!!!!!

His face reddened as blood rushed through his veins, and he inhaled while calming down. He closed the book and placed it on Kana’s desk before he covered her with a blanket and softly closed the door behind him.

He left with his parents, who had already finished having fun and slowly headed home, and two pairs of eyes watched them from the shadows as their figures disappeared behind a corner, following them from above under the protection of the darkness.