Que Sera Sera
an excerpt

Late that night, long after everyone had gone to bed, the old man lay awake. In the corner, he saw his Death personified. Just before the knife struck, he said: “Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita, mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, che la diritta via era smarrita.” After the knife had plunged deep into the old man’s chest and stopping the heart forever, the figure paused and wondered what the old man had said. It was not a language familiar to the figure, but it had clearly meant something to the old man.
Morning came, and the old man were quickly discovered; the boy was among the gawkers before the doctor took the body away to be stored until it could be buried properly. The remaining survivors on the train murmured among themselves; they had a problem now. Unless Thomas Johnson had suddenly developed magic tricks and was now capable of going anywhere he pleased while under guard in the makeshift prison, there was another killer on board.
But who?
And why?
The boy listened to the adults’ buzz of gossips, worries, and guesses. He wondered, now; who else was a killer on board? He decided to go find out. The boy strolled to the prison which still held Thomas Johnson. As he stood there watching an angry Thomas Johnson with his small hands casually in his pockets, the picture of childish severity. Thomas glared at this boy – this serious child with the too wise eyes.
“Tell me, Thomas, have you ever been guilty of murder?” he asked softly. Thomas blinked in surprise.
“What care have ye?” he asked gruffly. The boy smiled.
“I can discover the truth, if you will but allow a small amount of your blood to be drunk,” the boy answered.
“What?” Thomas sputtered, not believing what he had just heard. The boy smiled, revealing a pair of sharp fangs.
“Be calm,” the boy said, “I won’t hurt you. A small sip of your blood, and I will know if you are guilty or no, of the murders on board this train. Any other murders, I care nothing for at all. I will not reveal you to the others; this is merely for my own knowledge; I intend to out the murderer. What I will do with him, or her, I will decide once I find out the identity. Now, give me your wrist, and I will cause you no pain, and it will be done with quickly.” The boy held out his hand, a golden brow raised expectantly. Silently, still not sure if he believed it, Thomas reached out towards the child, and the boy grasped his wrist, turning the soft inner wrist up to his mouth. He leaned down and licked, sucked the wrist, startling Thomas. He drew in a breath, about to say something; then the gentlest of pressures, and then the boy was done, and Thomas felt conflicted. He wanted to boy to continue, yet knew it was not conductive to his own health if he begged the boy to keep on drinking. It felt so very good, though, and he suspected the boy knew how he had physically reacted to that sensation, since he was looking sidelong at Thomas, a smile that was almost seductive playing around his reddened lips. The boy, apparently deciding to stop baiting Thomas, he smiled and straightened up, rotating his shoulders in an attempt to loosen the tight muscles there. The two guards outside had no idea what was happening within the room, and both mortal Thomas and the vampire child wanted to keep it that way.
“You’re not entirely innocent, Mr. Johnson,” the boy said with an amused smile, “but for the murders committed on this train; of those, you are indeed innocent. Now to try and find out the true murderer…” The boy mused, lost in thought for a moment. Thomas’ eyes drifted to his still exposed wrist, and gazed at the wound that was no longer there. The skin was once again smooth and unbroken, just as it was before the boy had bitten it. He sighed through his nose, lightly running his fingers over the freshly healed wound; he discovered to his dismay and delight, that it was now hypersensitive and very much an erogenous zone for him. He closed his eyes a moment, letting the eroticism of stroking the newly sensitive area wash over him, he allowed himself to drown in it. Opening his eyes again, he jumped in startlement to realize the boy had been watching all along, and apparently throughly enjoying his brief episode at voyeurism.