THE VAMPIRE WHO WAS AFRAID OF BLOOD
THE VAMPIRE WHO WAS AFRAID OF BLOOD
CHAPTER ONE
THE KNOCK AT 3:13
There were many things Arini had been told never to do.
Never whistle after midnight.
Never answer a voice if you could not see who was speaking.
Never leave a mirror facing your bed while you slept.
And, according to her grandmother, never—under any circumstances—look out of the window if someone knocked on it at exactly 3:13 in the morning.
Arini had considered this last rule particularly unreasonable.
For one thing, her bedroom was on the fourth floor.
For another, nobody had ever knocked on her window.
Until the night someone did.
Tap.
Arini's eyes opened.
For several seconds she lay perfectly still beneath her blanket, staring into the darkness.
Her room was black.
Not ordinary blackness, either. This darkness seemed thicker than usual, as though the night had climbed in through the window and filled every corner of the room.
The fan had stopped.
That was strange.
Arini could always hear the fan. Even when the electricity went out, it usually gave one final miserable squeak before surrendering.
Tonight, nothing.
Then—
Tap. Tap.
Arini sat upright.
Across the room, on the little table beside her books, her digital clock glowed red.
3:13 AM.
Her heart gave a small, unpleasant jump.
She remembered her grandmother's voice.
"Arini, if someone knocks on your window at 3:13..."
Her grandmother had paused.
Even now, Arini remembered the strange look on her face.
"...don't look outside."
"Why?"
Her grandmother had not answered.
She had simply smiled.
But it had been the sort of smile that belonged on somebody else's face.
"Because one day," she had said quietly, "it might knock back."
Tap.
Arini stared at the window.
Nobody could be there.
Nobody.
Her room was four floors above the ground. There was no balcony. No ledge. Nothing for a person to stand on.
She told herself this.
Then, very carefully, she told herself again.
Tap.
This time the sound did not come from the window.
Arini stopped breathing.
It came from underneath her bed.
For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath with her.
Then her phone lit up.
Arini nearly screamed.
The screen glowed on her bedside table.
1% BATTERY.
She knew perfectly well that it had been fully charged when she went to sleep.
A notification appeared.
No app.
No number.
No name.
Only two words.
DON'T MOVE.
Arini stared.
Another message appeared.
IT KNOWS YOU'RE AWAKE.
Her fingers trembled as she picked up the phone.
Who is this?
The answer came immediately.
LOOK AT YOUR WINDOW.
Arini should not have looked.
She knew this.
She had been warned.
But curiosity is a peculiar thing. It is the reason people open locked boxes, follow strange noises and, in Arini's case, look towards fourth-floor windows at 3:13 in the morning.
So she looked.
There was a face outside.
Pale.
Perfectly still.
Arini screamed and fell backwards off her bed.
By the time she looked again, the face had disappeared.
Her phone buzzed.
TOO LATE. IT SAW YOU TOO.
CHAPTER TWO
AROHI DOES NOT BELIEVE IN VAMPIRES
The next morning, Arohi listened to Arini's story while eating toast.
This was not because Arohi was calm.
It was because Arohi believed that nobody should discuss supernatural emergencies before breakfast without first having something to eat.
She took another bite.
"So," she said, "let me understand this correctly."
Arini folded her arms.
"You never understand anything correctly."
"I am trying."
"You are laughing."
"I'm not."
"You have toast crumbs falling out of your mouth."
Arohi swallowed quickly.
"Fine. A little. Continue."
Arini glared at her.
"You are the worst sister in the history of sisters."
"That is statistically impossible. There have been many sisters."
Arini pointed at her.
"This is serious."
Arohi's smile disappeared.
She knew Arini well enough to recognise the difference between her usual dramatic storytelling and genuine fear.
Arini rarely became quiet.
This morning, she had barely spoken.
"What happened?" Arohi asked.
Arini looked toward the staircase.
Their parents were downstairs.
She lowered her voice.
"There was someone outside my window."
Arohi raised an eyebrow.
"Fourth floor."
"I KNOW."
"And you saw a face."
"Yes."
"And your phone sent you messages."
"Yes."
Arohi stared at her.
Then she reached across the table and touched Arini's forehead.
"Temperature normal."
"Stop it."
"Any chance you accidentally watched three horror movies before sleeping?"
"Only one."
Arohi sighed.
Arini stood suddenly.
"Fine. Don't believe me."
"I didn't say that."
"Good."
"I said your story sounds completely impossible."
Arini marched upstairs.
Arohi followed.
She expected Arini to point at the window and say, See?
She expected nothing.
Instead, she stopped at the bedroom door.
Because there was a handprint on the inside of the glass.
Arohi's smile vanished.
It was small.
Dark.
And far too high for either of them to have made.
Arini looked at her.
Arohi looked back.
Neither sister said a word.
Then Arohi whispered:
"Okay."
Arini waited.
Arohi swallowed.
"That is... definitely not toast crumbs."
CHAPTER THREE
THE SECOND KNOCK
That night, neither Arini nor Arohi slept.
Arohi had dragged her mattress into Arini's room.
"I am not scared," she announced.
"Nobody said you were."
"I just think if a vampire comes, it will be more efficient if we are in the same room."
"Why?"
Arohi thought for a moment.
"So we can both panic together."
They waited.
12:00 AM.
Nothing.
1:00 AM.
Nothing.
2:00 AM.
Nothing.
Arohi yawned.
"You know," she said, "maybe vampires have school tomorrow too."
Arini gave her a look.
"Maybe they overslept."
"Shut up."
Then—
TAP.
Both sisters froze.
The clock changed.
3:13 AM.
Arohi slowly turned towards the window.
Arini grabbed her arm.
"Don't."
"I wasn't going to."
"Your head is literally turning."
"I was checking."
"Checking what?"
"If I could see the vampire without looking directly at it."
Arini stared at her.
"That's not how eyes work."
"Well, nobody has asked science yet."
Tap. Tap.
The phone lit up.
Both girls looked at it.
DON'T LOOK OUTSIDE.
Arohi whispered, "That is never a good sign."
Another message appeared.
I'M NOT THE ONE AT YOUR WINDOW.
Arohi slowly looked at Arini.
Arini slowly looked at Arohi.
"Who has your number?" Arohi whispered.
"Apparently the supernatural community."
The tapping became faster.
TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP.
Then another message.
RUN.
The lights went out.
Something crashed against the bedroom door.
Arohi screamed.
Arini screamed.
For three full seconds, neither of them ran.
They simply stood there screaming at each other.
Then someone spoke behind them.
"You should have listened to your grandmother."
Both sisters turned.
A boy stood in the darkness.
He was perhaps seventeen.
Perhaps older.
It was difficult to tell.
He had pale skin, black clothes and the exhausted expression of somebody who had been dealing with terrible people for a very long time.
Arohi pointed at him.
"Who are you?"
The boy opened his mouth.
Two sharp fangs appeared.
Arohi blinked.
Arini blinked.
Arohi slowly turned to Arini.
"Okay."
"Don't say it."
"I owe you an apology."
"Don't say it."
"I was wrong."
Arini folded her arms.
"Continue."
Arohi pointed at the boy.
"That is definitely a vampire."
The boy looked offended.
"I can hear you."
"Good," Arohi said. "Then you know I am frightened."
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"That's exactly what a person here to hurt us would say."
Arini stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The boy hesitated.
"Rayan."
"And why are you in our house?"
"Because your grandmother asked me to come."
Silence.
Then something knocked beneath the floor.
TAP.
Rayan's face changed.
Every trace of irritation vanished.
"We have a problem."
Arohi stared at him.
"A bigger problem than a vampire standing in our bedroom?"
Rayan looked at the floor.
"Much bigger."
CHAPTER FOUR
THE HOLLOW
The floor cracked.
A thin black line appeared between the wooden boards.
Then another.
Arohi stepped backwards.
Arini grabbed her hand.
Neither of them let go.
"What is it?" Arini asked.
Rayan did not answer.
"Rayan."
He looked at her.
"A Hollow."
Arohi frowned.
"That sounds less frightening than it should."
"It eats memories."
Arohi stopped talking.
Rayan's voice had become very quiet.
"It doesn't eat thoughts. It doesn't eat dreams."
The black crack widened.
"It eats memories."
Arini looked at her sister.
"What happens if it catches us?"
Rayan hesitated.
That was enough.
Arohi whispered, "What happens?"
"You don't die."
For one hopeful moment, both sisters relaxed.
Then Rayan continued.
"Everyone else simply forgets that you ever existed."
The room became silent.
Arini thought of her parents.
Her grandmother.
Kabir.
Arohi looked at her.
"Would you remember me?"
Rayan shook his head.
"No."
Arohi went pale.
"And would I remember Arini?"
"No."
Arohi tightened her grip around Arini's hand.
"Absolutely not."
Rayan stared at her.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"You cannot fight it."
"I wasn't planning to."
Arohi looked at the cracked floor.
"But it is not allowed to eat my sister."
Arini stared at her.
For once, she had no joke.
No answer.
Then—
TAP.
The sound came from the floor.
TAP. TAP.
And a voice whispered from beneath them.
"Hello, Arini."
Arohi moved in front of her sister.
The voice laughed.
"Hello, Arohi."
Arohi froze.
It knew both their names.
The floor exploded.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE LETTER WITH TWO NAMES
They escaped through the hallway.
At least, Arini thought they did.
Later, she would remember running.
She would remember Rayan shouting.
She would remember Arohi somehow finding time to complain that nobody had explained anything.
But mostly she remembered the house changing.
The corridor seemed longer.
Doors appeared where there had never been doors.
At one point Arini looked back and saw her own bedroom at the far end of the hallway.
Impossible.
Her bedroom was upstairs.
At another point, Arohi heard their mother calling them.
"Arini? Arohi? Girls?"
She nearly turned.
Rayan stopped her.
"Your mother is asleep."
The voice came again.
Closer.
"Arohi..."
Arohi's face changed.
That voice was not her mother's.
It belonged to their grandmother.
Their grandmother had died three years earlier.
"Open the door, beta."
Arini began to move.
Arohi caught her.
"No."
"But—"
"No."
Arohi's voice shook.
"She's gone."
Rayan watched them silently.
Then he reached inside his jacket and removed an envelope.
Both sisters stopped.
Their names were written on it.
ARINI AND AROHI.
In their grandmother's handwriting.
Arini's hands trembled.
Rayan handed her the letter.
"She gave this to me."
"How?" Arohi whispered.
Rayan looked at her.
"Your grandmother knew about Planet P."
Arini opened the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Only one sentence had been written on it.
WHEN THE GIRLS HEAR THE KNOCKING, TAKE THEM HOME.
Arini looked up.
"Home?"
Rayan nodded.
"Planet P."
Arohi frowned.
"I don't live on a planet called P."
"No," said Rayan.
"You live on Earth."
The house shook.
"But you were not born there."
CHAPTER SIX
THE MEMORY AROHI NEVER HAD
The television turned on by itself.
Static filled the screen.
Then a picture appeared.
Two little girls.
Arini and Arohi.
They were perhaps two years old.
Arini was crying.
Arohi was laughing.
Their grandmother was holding them both.
Behind her stretched a strange landscape.
Purple grass.
Silver trees.
A green sky.
Two moons.
Planet P.
Arini stopped breathing.
Arohi walked towards the screen.
"That's us."
"No," Arini whispered.
"It can't be."
But it was.
Their grandmother looked directly towards the camera.
Then, somehow, directly towards them.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
The television went black.
Neither sister moved.
Then Arini said:
"We've been there before."
Arohi shook her head.
"I don't remember."
Rayan looked at her.
"That's because you were never supposed to."
Arohi turned.
"What does that mean?"
Before he could answer, something appeared in the mirror.
Two reflections.
Arini.
Arohi.
But the real girls were not standing in front of it.
The reflections smiled.
Then the reflection of Arini raised one hand.
So did the reflection of Arohi.
The two reflected sisters placed their hands against the glass.
Words appeared.
WE REMEMBER WHAT YOU FORGOT.
The mirror shattered.
And the Hollow laughed.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE GIRLS WHO CAME BACK
Rayan pulled a small metallic object from his pocket.
It looked like a watch.
Except it had no hands.
No numbers.
Only five symbols.
"Your blood," he said.
Arini stared at him.
Arohi stared at him.
Rayan immediately added:
"Not because I want it."
Arohi pointed at his fangs.
"You understand why that clarification was necessary."
"I'm afraid of blood."
There was silence.
Arini blinked.
Arohi blinked.
Then Arohi laughed.
Rayan looked deeply offended.
"You are a vampire."
"Yes."
"Who is afraid of blood."
"Yes."
"That is—"
"Please don't."
"—the funniest thing I've ever heard."
The house shook again.
The laughter stopped.
Rayan held out the strange watch.
"A drop from both of you."
Arini and Arohi looked at each other.
Then Arini held out her hand.
Arohi did the same.
Two drops of blood touched the metal.
The five symbols exploded with light.
The house twisted.
The ceiling became the floor.
The floor became the sky.
Arohi screamed.
Arini screamed.
Then Arohi shouted:
"ARINI!"
"I'M HERE!"
"GOOD!"
"WHY?"
"I JUST WANTED TO CHECK!"
The portal opened beneath them.
For one last moment, Arini looked back.
The Hollow stood at the end of the corridor.
Tall.
Thin.
White eyes.
Smiling.
Around its neck was a silver pendant.
Their grandmother's pendant.
Then the portal swallowed them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
PLANET P
Arini landed face-first in purple grass.
Arohi landed on top of her.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Arini's muffled voice said:
"Get off."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"My leg is somewhere I don't think legs are supposed to be."
Rayan landed beside them perfectly.
Of course he did.
Arini sat up.
Then she looked around.
And forgot to complain.
The sky was green.
Not simply green.
It seemed to change colour whenever she moved.
Two moons floated above enormous mountains hanging upside down in the air.
Rivers climbed towards the clouds.
Tiny glowing creatures flew between silver trees.
Something with six legs, three eyes and an expression of extreme personal importance walked past them.
Arohi stared.
The creature stared back.
Then it sneezed.
A bubble floated out of its nose.
Arohi pointed.
"Did that thing just sneeze a bubble?"
It sneezed again.
Another bubble floated away.
Arini smiled.
Rayan sighed.
"Welcome to Planet P."
But something was wrong.
Every creature was staring at them.
Arohi noticed first.
"Why is everyone looking at us?"
Nobody answered.
Then a figure emerged from the forest.
Tall.
Covered in a silver cloak.
Its face hidden behind a mask.
It stopped before the two sisters.
Rayan bowed his head.
The figure looked at Arini.
Then at Arohi.
Its voice was barely louder than the wind.
"You brought them back."
Arini stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The figure removed the mask.
Arini stopped breathing.
Arohi grabbed her hand.
The woman before them had Arini's eyes.
And Arohi's smile.
Tears filled the woman's face.
"Arini."
She looked at the younger girl.
"Arohi."
Then she whispered:
"My daughters."
CHAPTER NINE
THE THING THEIR MOTHER COULD NOT TELL THEM
The truth, Arini discovered, was not something that arrived neatly.
It did not knock.
It did not wait to be invited inside.
It crashed through every door at once.
Their mother was called Elara.
Seventeen years earlier, she had sent Arini and Arohi to Earth with their grandmother.
Not because she did not love them.
But because she loved them enough to let them go.
Planet P had been in danger.
Scientists had discovered an energy hidden within memory itself.
Every living creature carried traces of it.
Fear.
Love.
Hope.
Grief.
The stronger the memory, the stronger the energy.
They called it the Remnant.
But someone had tried to remove pain.
The experiment created something else.
Something hungry.
The Hollow.
And the Hollow had wanted the twins from the beginning.
"Why us?" Arini asked.
Elara looked at both girls.
"Because together, you carry the memory it cannot destroy."
Arohi frowned.
"What memory?"
Elara closed her eyes.
"The memory of how it was created."
The two sisters looked at one another.
Neither remembered.
But somewhere deep inside them, something stirred.
A door.
A laboratory.
Two little girls crying.
A man shouting.
Their grandmother running.
And behind a wall of glass...
something beginning to wake.
Arini whispered:
"We were there."
Elara nodded.
"You were."
Arohi looked towards the dark mountains.
"And it followed us."
"Yes."
"For seventeen years?"
"Yes."
Arohi considered this.
"That's extremely obsessive."
Rayan almost smiled.
Elara did not.
"Tonight, it found Planet P."
CHAPTER TEN
THE LAST KNOCK
That night, the sisters stood outside the Palace of the Silver Forest.
Planet P spread beneath them.
Beautiful.
Impossible.
Terrifying.
Arini looked at Arohi.
"What happens now?"
Arohi folded her arms.
"We save the universe."
Arini blinked.
"That was fast."
"We have two choices."
"Which are?"
"Save the universe."
Arohi pointed towards the mountains.
"Or let that thing eat our memories and possibly destroy reality."
Arini nodded.
"When you say it like that..."
Rayan joined them.
His face was serious.
"You can still return to Earth."
Arini looked at him.
"And our family?"
Rayan said nothing.
Arohi looked away.
The Hollow had touched Earth.
Perhaps their parents remembered nothing.
Perhaps somewhere in their house, two empty chairs waited at the table.
Perhaps their mother sometimes felt that there should have been four plates instead of two.
Arini's eyes filled with tears.
Arohi took her hand.
"Not yet," Arini said.
Rayan nodded.
Then—
Tap.
Everything stopped.
Arini slowly turned.
Nothing stood behind them.
Tap. Tap.
Arohi's fingers tightened around hers.
The sound came from below.
The ground was perfectly still.
Then a voice whispered:
"Hello, Arini."
A second voice followed.
"Hello, Arohi."
Rayan stepped forward.
Elara appeared at the palace entrance.
"Inside. Now."
Nobody moved.
Because another voice had spoken.
A girl's voice.
From somewhere beneath the ground.
"Don't listen to him."
Arini froze.
Arohi went pale.
The voice came again.
This time, both sisters recognised it.
It sounded like them.
Two voices.
One like Arini.
One like Arohi.
The ground cracked.
A thin black line appeared between the silver stones.
And suddenly Arini remembered.
Arohi remembered too.
Not separately.
Together.
A room of glass.
Two little girls.
One standing outside.
One trapped within.
But there should have been only two.
Instead...
there were four.
Two Arinis.
Two Arohis.
One pair screaming to escape.
The other pair being taken through the portal by their grandmother.
Arini looked at Arohi.
Arohi looked at Arini.
Neither needed to speak.
They both understood.
The Hollow had not followed them to Planet P.
It had been waiting for them to return.
Because seventeen years ago...
their grandmother had not saved both sisters.
She had saved only two.
From beneath the planet, the other Arini whispered:
"Where did you go?"
The other Arohi began to cry.
"Why did you leave us here?"
The crack widened.
Rayan stepped between the sisters and the darkness.
His fangs appeared.
Arini grabbed Arohi's hand.
Arohi squeezed back.
Then something below the ground laughed.
Not the Hollow.
Something else.
Something older.
Something that knew the sisters' names before they had been given them.
The two moons disappeared behind the clouds.
The silver trees bent in a wind that had no direction.
And far beneath Planet P...
a door began to open.
Arini stared into the darkness.
For the first time in her life, she understood that the most frightening monsters were not always the ones chasing you.
Sometimes...
they were the ones waiting for you to remember them.
THE END.
For now.
Because somewhere beneath Planet P, two girls were still waiting.
And Arini and Arohi had only just discovered...
that they might not be the only Arini and Arohi in the universe.