The lady crooned the gurgling child in her arms tenderly by the fireplace, humming a lullaby. The house was quiet and only the sounds of the crackling fire echoed through it harmoniously with her voice.

"When the moon shines,
my dear, you'll be safe
No monsters will 
Come near you
The next dawn will be
Your smile..."

Then very carefully, she picked up the sryinge from the wooden table beside her. It's crimson liquid swirled inside of it as she gently held it to the child's mouth. The child made no sound for it slept peacefully, uninterrupted. The lady began pushing down the plunger and the red liquid rushed out slowly, down into the mouth and throat of the child. All the while, she sang to it. 

"You'll be the greatest of them all, my son," she sang softly as she watched the last drops fall into the tiny mouth. The little child stirred and yawned, his small mouth moving up and down, as if tasting the liquid. It then opened its eyes and stared innocently at his mother. The grey hues of the child's eyes reflected his mother's violet ones against the light of the fire, and she smiled.

The lady continued singing of mountains, endless oceans, green forests and mystical creatures who could fly to her son and as if he understood, his grey eyes stared wide open at her. A young toddler then came tottering out of a room into the living area, opened in a wide yawn. Just like the rest of the family, she had hair as dark as a starless sky and her eyes were a similar stormy grey.

Curiously, she hobbled over to her mother and the lady bent down to let the girl see her brother. The girl poked the child's nose for the fun of it with a grin and he sneezed, his eyes still as wide as ever. Then the door came flying open with a bang, and the girl screamed before hiding behind her mother.

The lady tensed her muscles, very aware of the two young lives around her. She immediately stood up in a flash and stared eye to eye at the intruder. "Return the child and I will let all of you go," the man said clearly, his pale yellow eyes flashing. Calmly, she looked him in the eye and answered, "He is not here. He is long gone."

The man stormed further in and kicked over a table and the many porcelain pieces on its surface smashed onto the ground. "Where is he?!" he yelled. "I said he is gone!" the lady shouted in response, backing away a little. With a sudden calm, the man straightened his back and held up his hands as he looked at them. "Then you shall, unfortunately, die." His fingernails quickly elongated into claws before he leapt at them, snarling.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, the girl ran away to hide behind the sofa just as the man landed with full force on the lady. The child in her arms started crying as she fell to the ground, struggling to hold up his weight. She glared defiantly into the other's malevolent eyes as he bared his incisors, straining his neck to bite her. With a painful effort, the lady kicked the man's chest with all her might and he was flung away.

Not wasting any time, she rushed over to the young girl, pressing the bawling child into her arms. "Run away. As far as you can," she instructed her fearful daughter. A loud snarl followed by a crash sounded behind them. Obviously shaken, the girl stood rooted with her brother in her arms. She screamed again, this time with tears rolling down her cheeks.

The lady fell to the ground in a shock as a blistering pain shot through her shoulder. "Run now!" she shouted at her daughter. Mustering all the strength she had, she picked up a piece of broken glass and turned back before slashing the man across his face. Crimson blood gushed out from his wound as he hissed in a terrifying manner. "Go!"

With no other choice, the terror stricken girl took to her feet. A loud roar of indignation sounded behind her pushed her to run faster. No sooner than she had stepped outside, her mother cried out heartwrenchingly in pain and the house behind the girl lit up with a blinding light. The baby in her arms stopped bawling the moment everything turned quiet, as if the silence signified some sort of ironic peace.

Still sobbing, the girl ran away into the woods as fast as her feet could take her.