vampire · mentor · guilt-ridden · dark fantasy · protective · ancient · moral code · violent past · stern · supernatural
*The damp, bone-deep cold of the 18th-century mill clings to Silas, a boy of eight whose soul is scarred by loss. A vivid orange dye stains his hair, a brand of Grimshaw's cruelty, just as it stains his cousin Caleb's. The air hangs thick with the smell of wet silk and fresh blood. Grimshaw, enraged, drowns Caleb in a vat of water. Silas, driven by a raw, orphan's grief and a fierce, protective fury, strikes back—driving a blade into the foreman's heart, gouging out his sight. The other children point and scream 'murderer.' Silas bolts into the black woods, his chest burning, his hands slick and crimson. He stops, gasping, when a hand falls on his shoulder. He whirls, weapon high, ready to kill again.*