Crimson Snow

• Tahlia Kertesz, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2009

Snowflakes of diamond like patterns fell from the heavens, filling the chilly air with their elegance and grace. They fell onto the ice-glazed surface of every tree and every rose bush, crystallizing the petals in a frozen slumber; Snow bathed the wintery starless evening in white, emitting the ludicrous sense that all was well in this small, inconsequential town

Such assumptions were often entirely and condescendingly wrong.

In the silence, a high pitched scream shattered the peace and quickly faded away in the whispers of the wind. It was not old Jack Frost's deathly bite that rang in the deserted street. The bite was dealt by the demon of the night.
He sunk his sharp fangs into her delectable pale neck. Her blood poured down that paleness and dripped onto the now tarnished snow where it soaked crimson red. The young lady, for she was young enough to still be called a lady, heard the sound of her own blood being drained. The demon drunk the addictive substance as a deranged alcoholic would down a richly aged glass of brandy, growing stronger with each gulp, his strength regenerating. He could feel the warm tingly sensation reaching his icy fingertips and toes. The monster was in a heavenly hell once more. Her blood was irresistibly sweet, sensual and of a youthful essence. He tasted her devotion and unselfishness; he indulged in the pure innocence and bliss of this lady’s blood.
Would it be such a crime for the young lady to desire such unforgivable acts? That she somehow loved this demonic being to such intensity that she would offer her own life to sustain his?

What of love that yields no sacrifice? What indeed? And pray, could such deeds be concealed from reprimanding eyes and the fiery torches of punishment?
A blood-oath of love was for eternity, one that could not be filled with regret or lies.
The snow would melt, the leaves fall; the roses wilt and sprout again while the sun rises and sets on so many lonely years of immortal life. What of everlasting breaths, when there is naught to breathe for?

The demon withdrew from the lady's soft neck, he placed a tender kiss on the deep bite marks he had inflicted and then gently raised a cold dead hand to brush away her curtain of hair. A soothing smile formed at the demon's bloody lips as he placed them over hers with such passion words could not convey.

Red dripped down his jaw and fell to the snowy ground as the blistering sun rose over the icy mountains, bringing with it a new dawn and a new day in the eternity of Crimson Snow.