When the Snow Ran Red
The sky was blanketed in pristine white snow, and icicles hung from the rooftops. Children built snowmen from the drifts and hurled snowballs at one another. Families decorated trees inside their homes and hung stockings above the hearth, planning to spend a warm, peaceful day together listening to the crackle of firewood. That was how today was supposed to go.
Then the monsters poured through the city gates.
Screams erupted from the streets ahead. The snow on the ground began to stain red. Even a small city was still a city. People who had come out early for work turned the streets into chaos.
What about the walls? What happened to the sentries?
No matter how small the city was, it sat dangerously close to the Demon Continent. The walls were always manned because monsters were more active there. The fortifications were old and somewhat weak, but they had never once allowed monsters inside. Especially not in winter, when food was scarce even for creatures with magic. They were still living beings. So why were they suddenly invading now?
There was no time to wonder. People were getting hurt.
I have to save them first…!
The blood magic unique to my family—the power only a vampire could wield. If I used it, I could save them. But blood magic was too powerful and too hard to control. What if I hurt someone else because I couldn’t handle it? What if someone died? Would I end up alone again?
No. There was no time for hesitation. Whatever the cost, I had to save them.
I bit down on my fingertip, drawing a small wound. Blood welled up from the torn skin. I thrust my bleeding hand forward and awakened the thing writhing inside me—the thing I never wanted to rely on, but had no choice but to use if I wanted to save lives.
I focused my mind and steadied my breathing. My hair turned as white as the falling snow. My nails and teeth lengthened and sharpened. My once-black eyes turned crimson, like jewels soaked in blood. A wave of dizziness and nausea rose, but it didn’t matter. The preparations were complete.
I drew up my magic—authority, really, something on a different level from ordinary spells. The blood flowing from my wound didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, it rose into the air, twisting together with my magic to form a crimson spear. The blood-forged weapon radiated a strange, swirling aura. It split into multiple spears and shot toward the monsters rampaging through the streets.
—Shhhk
—Boom!
The spears pierced through the monsters with a sickening sound, reducing them to dust. More monsters kept flooding in. The knights hadn’t arrived yet. Almost no one in this city could use magic, so I was the only one who could stop them.
I kept killing. Piercing them, exploding them, crushing them, tearing them apart, draining their blood until they withered into mummies. The slaughter repeated without end.
Screams rang out—whether from monsters or people, I couldn’t tell. The invaders had all lost their minds and gone berserk. But there were still far too many left if I wanted to protect the Director and the children.
Thinking about it made me angry. Why were they ruining our day? Why wouldn’t the world just leave me alone? All I ever wanted was to live normally.
Ah… the blood I’d consumed after so long must have excited me. Unlike other vampires, my half-blood nature meant the urge wasn’t usually this strong. I’d always kept it under control.
I have to stay strong for the children.
I kept killing. I’d long since stopped hesitating when it came to taking lives. Anything that threatened my family had to die.
Then a sweet scent began spreading through the air. It had been years since I’d smelled blood this fragrant. Monster blood was always bitter and unpleasant, but the streets were now filled with this cloying sweetness. My mood lifted. Excitement surged. I couldn’t hold back anymore. In my heightened state, I brought my blood-stained palm to my tongue.
“Ah… so sweet.”
The sweetness was intoxicating. But something felt wrong.
…Sweet scent?
Something was off.
When I came back to my senses, the surroundings were already drenched in blood. Not monster blood—something else had burst open. Human body parts lay scattered across the street. The snow was completely red. The ground was soaked, and blood trickled down my cheeks.
“Hah…! Wh-what… what is this…?”
A mountain of corpses. That’s what it was.
“What… what have I done…? Urgh…!”
Because I’d drunk blood after so long, I’d lost control for a moment.
“Huu… huu…”
I steadied my breathing and looked around. The monsters were gone. But I had killed people. I, who wanted to become human, had killed humans.
It had been snowing that day too. Just like today.
Snow only ever brought me nightmares. I ran and ran, trying to escape reality, heading toward the orphanage. My shoes came off. My coat flew behind me. I kept running toward the place where the Director and the children were waiting.
When I arrived, despair was all that greeted me. The door was broken. Blood stained the surroundings.
“Haa, haa…”
I forced my trembling heart to calm and stepped over the ruined door. The wooden floor creaked with every step, each sound tightening around my chest. Please, please let everyone be safe. I moved forward.
The living room was half-destroyed. Cold wind blew through the shattered windows. The fire in the hearth had gone out, leaving the inside freezing. Blood was splattered everywhere, but I couldn’t tell if it was from monsters or people. There was no sweet scent—only the metallic smell of blood.
I kept walking. I couldn’t think of anything else. Or rather, I didn’t want to. If what I feared had actually happened, I wouldn’t be able to bear it.
I reached the room where the children slept. With shaking hands, I opened the locked door.
—Creaaak
The door slid open. I didn’t have the courage to look inside. I was terrified. Terrified of being left alone. Terrified that the children and the Director might be lying cold and dead. Terrified of losing everything. Of ending up alone.
Maybe a half-vampire like me had been too greedy, wanting too much. I hated vampires. I hated myself. I wanted to be human. I wanted to be born normal.
I steeled myself and lifted my head.
Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.
The children and the Director were alive. The kids were huddled together, sleeping peacefully now that the danger had passed. The Director, however, was injured. She clutched her bleeding abdomen.
“Director!!”
“Dear… you came? What’s with that face? Are you hurt? And your clothes… aren’t you cold?”
“Director… don’t talk. What… what happened?”
“The monsters… I took care of them. I may not look it, but I used to be quite the mage back in the day.”
“……Hic. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I did something unforgivable. I’m sorry…”
Tears I hadn’t shed since that day began to fall endlessly. What were these tears for? Because I failed to protect the Director? Or because of the guilt of having killed?
“Dear, don’t cry… People make mistakes. You just have to fix them.”
“Hic… But I can’t fix this… I committed too great a sin. Someone like me… should never have been born.”
“No one is born who shouldn’t exist. You are more precious than anyone.”
“Director…”
Was it really okay for me to keep living? Could I live after committing an unforgivable crime?
“Luna… no, my daughter. My eldest. Take this. I understand your situation. You need to leave this place.”
“Wh-what do you mean…?”
“The Church will send knights soon. So you must go. I’ll explain everything to the children.”
“Mom… what about you…?”
“Heh, so I finally get to hear you call me Mom. Here, take it. It’s a letter of recommendation.”
She handed me a blood-stained envelope and a pouch of coins.
“A… recommendation?”
“It’s for the Academy. With this, someone of your skill will have no trouble getting in.”
“What are you saying…? How could I leave you and the kids behind…?”
An Academy recommendation? And leaving this place? What was she talking about? I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to stay with my family.
“If you stay here, it’ll become dangerous. So go. My beloved daughter.”
Mom, I don’t want to be separated. Being alone again is lonely and terrifying.
“It’ll be hard, but you have to endure. You can only survive if you leave. No matter what, you must live. Then someday, someone will come to save you.”
“I love you, my eldest daughter,” she said, gently stroking my blood-stained face.
Even though I’d hurt her, even though I’d terrified the children because I couldn’t control my power—why could she still love me?
I hugged her once, then ran out of the house. Past the pools of blood. Past the mountain of corpses. Out of the village.
It had been snowing that day.
Time passed. The snow melted, flowers bloomed, and leaves sprouted on the branches. The sun and moon rose and set dozens, hundreds of times. Two years went by.
When I turned seventeen, two years later, I entered the Academy.