[@The1Rolling1Boy]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Ue7C9lFSs

"So... Are you a vampire or a human? Because you smell like a vampire..."

Claudia tensed at the youngling's inquiry, a sharp gulp of air down her gullet.  Nervously she bit her bottom lip, debating if she wanted to answer that question or not, though there was only one clear answer.  Ah yes, she was a witty little, so keen to sense the woman's undead aura, the acrid scent of dust in her veins...and her heart.

[i]Vampire[/i]...  Claudia hated that word.

[color=ed145b]~"Why sweetie, I..."~[/color]  She gave Spirit an uneasy smile that quickly diminished to a frown once she felt the girl squeeze her hand tight, the poor thing trembling as though she had seen a monster of some sort.  Her eyes, how they glistened with fear.  Claudia sighed and knelt beside her, placing both hands on the youth's trembling shoulders.  [color=ed145b]~"My dear..."~[/color]  She cooed, her sapphire eyes darkening.  [color=ed145b]~"There is no denying what I am.  Indeed I am a vampire, one of the living dead.  Every night, I must feed to sustain my life energy, but I've no intentions of harming a sweet little girl like you, Spirit.  I look into your eyes, and I can see the fear welling within you.  You no longer wish to be hurt, to be abused like you were those few years ago.  I can only begin to fathom the pain you felt, and it makes me ill just picturing it, a scared little girl huddled on a corner, so weak, so fragile.  Her wounds burn like hellfire as she shivers unclothed, ragged and beaten, so tired...so hungry...and so...cold..."~[/color]

Suddenly, Claudia released the girl falling to her knees in the grass.  Oh what horrible, horrible images flooded her mind, images of one scared little girl...hair red as blood, eyes blue as the ocean...how she shivered, screamed, and cried, begging for them to stop....  Tears filled her eyes, hot and burning.  Quickly she wiped them away, shaking the haunting memories from her head.