bloody rose

The dim white light of morning broke over the horizon and settled on the plains below. A lone soul walked out across the grassy plains, carrying with her only a bucket and a stool. As she walked, Evangeline hummed:
\"Over in Killarney,
Many years ago,
Me mither sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low.
Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And I\'d give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
Hush, now don\'t you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
That\'s an Irish lullaby.\"
Evangeline walked into the barn where the families stubborn milk cow, Bess, stood warily watching Evangeline.
\"Morning, Bess\" Evangeline said to the ornery cow. Evangeline busied herself for the next hour
with her usual chores: milking Bess, feeding the chickens, bringing in buckets of slop for the hogs, finally closing the large barn doors, she headed back to the farmstead, sweating and tired. Her brother, Eric, was just leaving the house heading for school. Evangeline parents worked hard so that Eric could go to school while Evangeline staid at home and helped them tend to the farm. Evangeline looked at her smug brother and fought the urge to deck him. He walked past her and she stormed into the house. Setting the bucket and stool that she had carried back from the barn down by the door Evangeline trudged up the stairs to her room and fell asleep...

\"No, no, you can’t be serious?! Don’t lie to me, Peter! You didn’t?\" Evangeline awoke to the
sound of her mother yelling at her father, yet again. It was dark and without her candle, Evangeline was left in total darkness. She rolled over on he bed and looked out the window on the far side ofthe room where a bit of moonlight glowed softly, illuminating the tree branches just outside the house. Evangeline stared for a second, not sure of what she was seeing. There was an odd pale face in the window, a dark form in the tree. Eyes of the purest sapphire fire burned in that face as it peered at her. Evangeline wanted to scream, but the thing in her window raised one arm and put a finger to its lips. She felt a warm tingling sense of security wash over her. She lay back on her bed, calm and at ease. There were suddenly steps on the stairway and her parents’ voices grew nearer, louder. The thing seemed to grin, and leaned forward slightly, Evangeline got a glimpse of a man\'s face, but he was more handsome than any other man shed ever seen. His hair was black as midnight, not an Irishman for sure. He jumped and the spell that had been cast over Evangeline broke; she rushed to the window to see if he was all right, but no one was there and there was no sign he had been there. Her mothers unintelligible words floated through her door just before her mother burst through the door.
\"Evangeline!\" her mother shouted. \"Evey, ya lazy girl, get up and come down to dinner\"
\"Yes, ma\'am,\" she said quietly, if her mother was in a bad temper, heads would roll and Evangeline didn’t want to be the one she took it out on. Evangeline climbed off her bed and walked slowly down the stairs. Her brother had just walked in and looked bewildered at the happenings of the house. Evangeline’s father was a large man and always looked intimidating, now he cowered at her mother’s anger and fury. \"Sit!\" her mother barked at everyone present. \"Your genius of a father has managed to get us all on a boat to America.\"
\"What?!\" Eric shouted. \"Mr. O’Leary said it won’t do to way here and we\'ll be going next week.\"
Her mother’s fury had settled into smoldering embers. \"Go pack your things after supper children.\" That was all. No other explanation. Evangeline ate quietly, wondering what had happened that her parents would make this sudden move. She continues in silence as she washed her plate and cup in the water pump. And it was also in silence that she walked back up the stairs and began to pack her treasured belongings and prepared to leave the only home she had ever known.

Tristan watched as the young Irish woman packed her belongings. Because of his overly sensitive hearing, he had heard the plans laid out by her parents the night before. There was a plague spreading quickly over the country. No, it would not do for the chit and her family to stay. They would be dead before winter fell. As he thought on their leaving, he recalled the look on the girl\'s face. She was an unusual girl, to be sure. Her eyes were as deep a green as his were blue, and her hair as red as his was black. She enchanted him, though he knew it had been his eyes that were supposed to capture and enthrall. She was strong willed, he had felt her spirit inside her.
Well they were leaving soon.
Only thing to do was to go to America, too. With the plague coming soon, his prey would disappear and it would become obvious that he was immune. Of course, in America there would be a wide variety of blood; American immigrants came from all over. Plenty of selection. Yes, he thought, America was a perfect change of pace. It was a young country; he could drink to his fill without pesky guards and watchmen hunting him down. Even as he thought this though, Tristan felt deep in himself a longing for only one persons blood, not a thousand; he longed for only one kind of blood, he had a craving for Irish blood.
Tristan strolled down to the warfs; the sun had barely set and he had plenty of time. It was a long way from the girl\'s house, he thought to himself. His crypt was much closer. He wandered around until he found a ship called the Green Dragon; it was a small ship and was still accepting passengers for a voyage next week. Tristan continued to wander around the docks, quietly inquiring when each ship was due to leave and where it was destined. The Green Dragon was the only ship bound for America in the next week. He spoke briefly to a sailor and gold changed hands. He had a cabin on the small passenger ship, no questions asked about his personal belongings and no disturbance during the voyage. He slipped back into the darkness and returned to his crypt.


Evangeline opened her eyes and jumped out her skin when she saw two large green eyes about an inch from her face. \"G’d morn, sis,\" came her brothers voice.
\"Eric, sweet lord you scared me! What do you want?\"
\"Why do you think mother wants us to leave?\"
\"I don’t know! Ask her yourself!\" Evangeline was quite irritated. She and her brother rarely spoke, so it was very odd and discomforting for him to be leaning over her as she woke. \"Now
get out of my room,” she added when she saw that he wasn’t moving away.
\"Evey, I’m scared,\" that stopped Evangeline in her tracks. Eric never admitted anything like that to her. As far as she knew, the only thing he was afraid of was their mother. Eric was scared? What could be in this New World that was so frightening? Oh yes she was sad to leave her house, it was the only home she had ever known. But still, she wasn’t afraid of the New World.
\"Oh don’t be such a pansy,” she said, regaining her. She didn’t know what to say to him. So she went with an insult.
Yes, Evangeline did get along splendidly with her brother.
Pushing past him, she did as she had for the past 16 years, Evangeline went downstairs once she had gotten dressed and grabbed the bucket by the door before heading out to see to Bess. The old milk cow wasn’t happy to see her. She nearly kicked the bucket over twice before Evangeline calmed her down. As she sat milking, Evangeline considered what could be scaring her brother so much. Yes, it would be a big change, and yes, it would be hard to adapt. But it wasn’t impossible. Life would simply go on, nothing really amazing out there anyway.