// MARSCAPONE SCHOOL OF MAGIC //


In the years following my captivity, I had become finally close to my parents. The secret of my father’s curse lifted, a barrier eliminated.

The truth of my existence was setting in fits and spurts. Each day the sun moved in the sky, I moved further from the silence that’d kept me locked in a child’s fear.

I could not find true rest. I lay in my bed, curtains drawn, mind awash with adrenaline.

Soon, I tried to console myself, these feelings would be beyond me.

I spend a day in isolation until the evening rises.

Cedric is sitting outside in the garden when I find him again.

KEVIN

HEY CEDRIC.

He pauses and wordlessly acknowledges my entrance.

CEDRIC

HEY KEV.

KEVIN

HOW IS IT?

I’M GLAD YOU’RE STILL HERE.

CEDRIC

…I FEEL TERRIBLE.

I wish I had some solace to offer him.

KEVIN

YOU’LL FEEL A LITTLE BETTER SOON.

IT DOESN’T LAST.

CEDRIC

WHAT, UNTIL I FEED FOR THE FIRST TIME?

SO I’M A RAPIST NOW?

Cedric never minced words.

KEVIN

WE DON’T KILL.

CEDRIC

GREAT.

WE JUST LURE THE UNSUSPECTING TO BECOME OUR VICTIMS?

COAX INNOCENTS TO BECOME OUR MINDSLAVES?

KEVIN

…I DON’T LIKE IT EITHER BUT IT’S OUR CURSE.

CEDRIC

WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?

KEVIN

I…I WAS BORN THIS WAY.

CEDRIC

HAS YOUR FATHER ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS?

KEVIN

FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE.

CEDRIC

WELL I HOPE YOU CAN FORGIVE ME FOR BEING TREPIDATIOUS.

I GUESS IT’S TRUE; YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH, YOU’LL SEE YOURSELF BECOME THE ENEMY.

KEVIN

THERE ARE WORSE THAN US OUT THERE.

CEDRIC

HOW DO YOU KNOW?

KEVIN

A FEW YEARS BACK, I WAS KIDNAPPED.

THEY TRIED TO GET ME TO JOIN THEM.

THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT HUMANITY.

THEY WOULD BE FINE TO SEE EVERYONE REDUCED TO SLAVES.

CEDRIC

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?

KEVIN

BECAUSE WE TRY TO RESIST.

AND WHEN WE FAIL, WE KEEP TRYING.

THIS WORLD ISN’T OURS TO TAKE.

CEDRIC

ISN’T THAT WHAT VAMPIRISM IS?

KEVIN

IN A WAY.

BUT WE KEEP TRYING TO RESIST.


Cedric looks toward the flowers, bright in their prime.

CEDRIC

I WISH SHE’D LEFT ME FOR DEAD.


There is little I can offer him.

KEVIN

WE CAN’T HELP OUR INITIAL CONDITIONS.

BUT WE CAN MAKE THE CHOICE TO RISE ABOVE THEM.

CEDRIC

AND HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RISE ABOVE THIS?

KEVIN

STAY WITH ME AND MY FATHER.

LET HIM TRAIN YOU AND TEACH YOU HOW TO BE MORE THAN A MONSTER.

CEDRIC

HOW DO I KNOW HE’S NOT A MONSTER?

KEVIN

YOU DON’T.