And when he realized, his heart stopped.
It couldn’t be.
Standing there, before him, was his mother. His real mother, his human mother, before he was ever turned. It was the one person he loved most in the world, the one person who could recall what a kind person he had been before he’d been turned – and the one person who reminded him of his own humanity.
Kyle felt as if he’d been struck through the heart. Pangs of guilt and remorse tore him apart.
At the sight of her, he dropped to his knees, and wept.
“Mother!” Kyle yelled, weeping like a child.
She came closer to him, arms outstretched, a compassionate smile on her face.
Kyle could not comprehend what she was doing in this time and place. Had she come to ask him to repent?
“Come to me, my child,” she said, beckoning him.
Kyle rose to his feet, and took a step forward to her.
The second he did, he regretted it.
Suddenly, he felt his whole world turn upside down, as he went rocketing upwards into the air. This was followed by a loud creaking noise, and as Kyle swung side to side, staring down at the ground, he realized he’d stepped into a trap.
The silver rope had tightened around his feet, had propelled him high into the air, twenty feet off the ground, dangling upside down. Kyle reached up to tear it off, but realized it was vampire-resistant material, one he could not tamper with.