1.) The Descent into madness

I woke up to something heavy on top of me. It took moments for me to notice the breathing. It was her; she was laying on top of me. My very first thought was to move, though it could mean the end of my life. I wanted to leave this room and to be free of this predicament. She was dangerous, and she was also my mother. It never stopped the horror of knowing what she was. I was making what little peace I had while fighting this horrific war but this... this was an entirely different concept.

This was no young woman this was a monster pure and simple. All I could do right now was fall into the safety of my mind, which made me want to melt away into my bed back in Baltimore. Sure it was never a good place but no place really was for a black American. I honestly never thought I would make it this far, I thought I would die on Utah beach, surrounded by gunfire and watching my brothers get mowed down like crops, the only real way I could ever describe that.

The machine guns tearing through us as we crossed the street to stop them. The fact that we even made across to the other building was a miracle in itself. I always thought that I would die there, but the war that I knew had ended. It was over when met this mysterious woman. She looks so beautiful and yet so...so vulnerable

She had pale skin so white that it was if she came out of snow. In contrast her was a fiery red; like the rage of a scornful soul damned to walk through hell. Despite the appearance, it was so soft and smelled heavenly. She was nearly 5 foot 3 and her petite physique was all a facade. The truth was, she was a monster.

My heart was trying its best to stay calm, and not run out of my chest and into the sky. She was still sleeping I am honestly baffled as to how. Surely she could smell my fear and know that I'm awake. My real question is; why come in this room of her mansion? I know it is her house. I was just shocked she came here. She was sleeping as if she was on the most comfortable mattress in the world.

She had 12 bedrooms, a large kitchen fully functional and a basement if you could call it that. To make it even better is that she had four bathrooms. This was something that only a negro like me could dream of. I would never see this in my lifetime unless I was the help. My fear of her, what you truly cemented when I saw what she did. She could tear me apart like she did that man in the basement. His screams will haunt me until the last moments of my life. He may have been my enemy, but no one deserves to be slaughtered as if they were a lamb.

Another harrowing thought had shot through my brain was; what am I? If this woman claims to be who she said she is, could she really be my mother? Was I ever completely human? Was I always an abomination? Even less than a negro? I then remembered my 1911. I could just put it to my temple and put an end to this nightmare.

God, I missed getting shot at by Germans at least then, it was a chance I would live. Though now that I really think about it; I would have rather died on that beach then live this nightmare. I knew my thought process was fucked in every sense of the word. This was not normal. As horrific as war is that is normal; this situation that I am in is completely different. I wish this was a nightmare, but I know this is no nightmare. In the end, a nightmare is just that; a fucked up dream and you can wake up from those.

I noticed something. It was a feeling that I hadn't felt; because I wasn't paying attention. Something I should've been doing. Instead, I was stuck in my thoughts. I looked down and my heart couldn't help but race. Her eyes were watching me. They were steady and focus I could feel them on me like I was prey. I took a moment to calm down and then willed myself to meet those eyes again. I don't know why I didn't notice her staring at me before, but I did now.

She was laying on top of me. Her chin right on my chest her facial features evermore apparent in the dimly lit room. A medium round face; with a slightly pronounced chin. A small nose with wide nostrils probably the only reason you would even notice her nose. Her eyes were something else they were bright as gold. There was a cold blackness in her pupils that lacked any sort of empathy. They were so black, you could feel yourself getting lost and never be found. Her eyes were shaped like oversized almonds. They were one of the few things that would catch you. She wore a beautiful pink nightgown, It looked smooth and elegant. What she wore earlier was a white button-up dress that went to her knees with puffed shoulders. She also wore black pumps with a white flower on the front of them.

She then interrupted my thoughts and said: "I am a vampire and you of my children...I told you this when you first came here wanted to reassure you this was very real." Impossible...was my first thought. Her voice was smooth elegant and sweet as ever. What am I witnessing? I could honestly say this woman cannot be my mother. The woman my father said was kind, beautiful, noble, and teacher. This woman was the farthest from my mother.

Something else had gotten to me, this lavish lifestyle, this mansion, it was beautiful. It was secluded even with the war going on a few hundred miles away from it. She was living peacefully. She was no ordinary person, and I had to believe she was a vampire. For the sheer fact that the man in that basement was not only torn apart but she bit him on his neck. She did many things to that man things that I haven't seen in this world. It was something only an animal could do. Believing she was a vampire was not too far out of the question.

"I wish I had never left you" she began to speak, "I wish I could've spent more years with you and your father. You and your father were a gift from God but also one of the biggest curses I've ever had."

My thoughts began to surface again I wanted to ask why. 'I know you're thinking, 'Why?' She said 'I had to go back to being Queen of Vampires.'

She put it so bluntly that it felt like a baseball bat and hit me in the back of the head. I was beyond belief; not only was this woman who claims to be my mother a vampire, but she was also the queen of the vampires. I shot back and said: "Impossible my mother left after giving birth to me." Her face shifted to guilt. 'I know it was what I told him to tell you.' As she began to rise and sit on me for someone claiming to be my mother she was awfully friendly with me a little too friendly. She also made it easier to breathe so I couldn't complain too much. "Prove you are my mother." I said it without thinking.

'You a cafe-au-lait birthmark on your inner thigh almost like someone spilled coffee there. You were born on March 14, 1921, it was a rainstorm outside of our small house. Your last name is Roberts.' I was beginning to believe her but I needed one more detail the only thing that my dad told me. She got up entirely and sat on the bed. I followed her lead and stretched a bit. "My father told me something, The only thing that my family would know. It was about my grandfather." I was nervous to bring it up but did so anyway. "What happened to him?"

She took a minute as if gathering all her thoughts together. I had a bit of confidence in me while sitting on the bed. I was sure she would not know. She then spoke. 'Your father had been born in a post Civil War era in the deep South of Alabama.' She was...right he grew up in Baltimore. 'If I'm not mistaken in the 1890s...1893 to be exact your father was seven at the time but he had a friend a young white boy to be precise.' I was more surprised then I wanted to let on. 'The boy's name was Thomas. Michael's parents wanted him to stay away from Thomas. Unfortunately, Michael didn't listen.'

She then looked around the room as if trying to avoid showing emotion, she began to speak again. 'The thing about children is that they don't see hatred, they don't see color all of that is taught...Their parents though all they saw was a nigger boy hanging around their white angel.' She knew the story, the thing that plagued his conscience for years. I hardened my resolve. I looked at her and said; "What happened in a more demanding voice." I don't know how I could pull that voice out of me after seeing what she did, but I did it anyway. 'One day the boys went to go play together again, This time they were playing for hours having the time of their lives. His mother and father were in the house they were worried but they believed that times changed, they did not.' Lilith said plainly. 'While he was playing with Thomas, they came into the house and took Michael's father.' It wasn't just about the boys. His father served in the Civil War and fought in a few battles.

'They left his mother right there crying and praying to God that they would bring him back in one piece.' I look down at the carpet I knew this part of the story and it still gave me chills. 'What was sent back to her; was what was left of her husband.' I remember the sadness on his face, and the sadness on her face. 'Was a mangled head... if you could call it that.' Dad only knew so much of the details because he begged his mother to tell him. 'It was wrapped in his plaid shirt that he was last seen in.' My father cried a different kind of cry that day when he told me this story. 'It also came with a small a note attached on top saying: 'get out of town or we'll do this to your nigger boy.'

'I knew it was hard for your father growing up, but this was one of the few things that haunted him for his entire life.' He would always tell me to learn from his mistakes. 'Within that week your grandmother took his father's head and what little money she had and traveled all the way to Baltimore Maryland. She wasn't even able to give your grandfather a proper burial. So she just buried the head in a small cemetery on the way to Baltimore.'

"You really are my mother." I said still in disbelief, my mother would have been in her 40s at least. I then said: "My dad was too afraid to name me after him, He was afraid that they would find me. So he named me something close to it." She then started walking around the room and turned on a lamp. It is rare to find houses with electricity so the fact that he's had such a thing was a blessing, especially in this war. The room was dark when I entered so I didn't see what was around me. The room was large larger than any room I ever had. It had one window with White fluffy curtains.

It was still dark outside I'm thinking that it was around one or two in the morning. The floor itself had carpet and it was soft. I was still in my military uniform and still dirty from the day before. But even I could recognize the quality, this is a place that you would only find in a rich home or at the very least an expensive apartment. The walls were a nice white color, with purple flowers a beautiful color. The room was beautiful but it was a guest room. It lacked any form of customization other than the fact that you would be a guest in this room.

The bed itself was comfortable. I don't know how many people have laid on it before me. That was quite redundant though, considering I would be sleeping on the ground until we established a base. The pillows were thick and fluffy something that I have never had before. I don't know how I slept so long but I guess it's because of the comfort of the bed. She then said. 'This is the best I could do for you.' She sat next to me again and said 'I wanted you to know your father was a good man but he was a fool.' Those words stung but they were true.

I shot back in a semi angry tone. "If he was such a fool then why did you leave? But better yet why did you stay? Why did you have a child with a black man?" She then said: 'Weren't you listening? I am the queen of the vampires; I had obligations to maintain.' Hearing her said that infuriated me but I don't know why. "I get it I said, interrupting her, You know he died six months ago." She looked at the ground and said, 'Yeah I heard.' His last moments still stuck with me. "He died thinking of you, he hoped that the woman that left him had found peace. I was barely 10 months old when you left."

'Gabriel she said this is not what I wanted for you this is far from what I wanted for you. I just wish I could've pretended to be normal a little longer...'

End of Chapter 1 Descent Into Madness.