20 A.D.
Six-year-old James Johnston was lonely. His parents had decided that they weren’t going to have any more kids after him, so he was the only child. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. James and his family were Mystics – vampyra shape shifting witches. They were the monsters that the other monsters were afraid of. They killed without remorse or preamble. A longstanding tradition of inbreeding secured pure bloodlines. Mystics were fanatics who would stop at nothing to produce a continuing line of pure-blood Mystics. His parents’ decision to have a single child flew in the face of tradition and everything they believed in.
James wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do after his birth his parents refused to try for a girl for him to grow up with and marry. He and his sister were supposed to be bound so tightly that they would become an extension of one another. But it wasn’t going to happen. He was going to be alone for a very long time. At six this was a hard reality to face. While his cousins were running around hand in hand with their chosen he only had himself to keep him company. With all his cousins already spoken for, there was no one left for him to marry. It was something his six-year-old mind wasn't capable of comprehending. All he knew was he should be paired up, just like his cousins.
James looked up from the dirt piles he was playing with at the sound of someone shuffling up the valley. The midday sun was hot, blinding him with its light. Through the sunbeams, a small boy ambled to where James knelt in the dirt. He had never seen this boy before and James was wary. Mystics were the top of the food chain, and his father would kill him if he let someone get the better of him. It didn’t matter that he was only six or that the boy appeared smaller than him. It wouldn’t do to be taken by surprise by this stranger. He stood, baring his tiny fangs.
“Who are you? Why have you come here?” James growled, voice tiny but fierce. Even at six, he was a trained killer.
“My name is Kain. Our parents were talking down towards camp. They said you were here playing. I asked if I could come join you, so here I am.” Kain’s tiny hands curled to his side and his head cocked.
“Are you new here?” James asked, fangs still visible. He wasn’t ready to retract them just yet.
“Yes, we walked about two weeks time to get to this part of the hillside,” Kain said. “Would it be alright if I played with you?”
James eyed the strange boy suspiciously.
“Are you a Mystic, too?”
Kain smiled, his top lip pulling back to reveal his own set of small, pearly fangs.
“You don’t have a sister?” James asked.
“No. It’s just me.”
“Me too! Want to be bestest friends?” James withdrew his fangs at this unprecedented prospect.
“Yes!” Kain shouted while bouncing up and down, hands waving wildly.
“Good. We will be friends forever and ever.” James said with confidence.
To secure their blood bond forever, the two boys each nicked the tips of their forefingers with their fangs until blood bubbled at the slight wounds. When their bloody fingertips touched, an instant, unbreakable bond was sealed. They would be best friends forever, even as long as they both still lived and even passing into death. A bond between two Mystics could very well last forever. If nothing came between them, then James and Kain could be blood bound for an eternity.
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