NaStoWriMo - Day 1

[melworks]

The last girlchild died that morning, her little face scrunched up in red, squalling agony. Hempstead watched the child wail out her last breath and, even though it meant that humanity was another step closer to the grave, the old man breathed a sigh of relief.
“She’s gone?”
Hempstead glanced over his shoulder. Belasco stood in the doorway of the tiny cottage, his hands folded away in the sleeves of his voluminous black robes. The old man lifted the baby from the crib and turned with it toward the bloodsucker.
“Care to check for yourself?”
Belasco’s forehead did something complicated. If he’d had eyebrows, Hempstead would have had an easier time judging the creature’s emotions. As it was, he couldn’t tell if Belasco was angry or what.
The bloodsucker glided forward, and he brought a chill with him. He produced a hand, pale as chalk and cold as frost. He lay a long, slender finger on the dead child’s throat and grimaced.
“Dead as a doornail,” he said, nodding his head.
“The last girlchild in the settlement,” said Hempstead. He drew the tiny corpse back and looked down at it, sadly. In death, the child seemed to have found the peace that had escaped her during her brief life.
“Another failed settlement,” said Belasco. His hand vanished again. “We should tell the others.”
“You do that,” said Hempstead. “I have to run some tests on the child.”
The bloodsucker nodded his pale, hairless head and turned to leave. He paused on the threshold of the cottage. “Are the child’s parents still alive?”
“No,” said Hempstead.
The bloodsucker nodded. “When you’re done, leave the body for the Wolves, doctor.”
Hempstead nodded.