MY SUGAR MUMMY IS A BEAUTIFUL VAMPIRE

[2 years later…]

Deep in the forest, a man was crouched down low to the ground. He held a gun tightly in his hands. He was aiming at an antelope in the distance. He peered through the scope on his gun, lining up the perfect shot.

Suddenly, something whizzed by him so fast he could barely see it. It was almost like a shadow zooming past him. Startled, he pulled his face away from the gun scope. He looked all around, trying to spot what had moved so quickly near him. But he didn't see anything unusual. The forest seemed still and quiet.

Shaking his head, he returned to aiming at the antelope. He put his eye back up to the scope, searching for the animal in his sights. Just as he located the antelope again, the same shadowy thing streaked past him a second time! Once again, he jerked back from the gun scope in surprise.

"What in the world was that?" he muttered to himself, scanning the trees around him. But like before, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The forest appeared just as peaceful as always.

His heart was beating faster now. Something strange was going on. He didn't know what the shadowy thing was, but it had sped past him twice. Hands shaking slightly, he lifted the gun scope to his eye one more time. He was determined to refocus on the antelope and take his shot.

But when he looked through the scope this time, he didn't see the antelope at all. Instead, he saw a single glowing red eye staring right back at him from the end of his gun barrel! Alarmed, he pulled the gun away from his face and looked at it with his own eyes. There was no red eye there. He quickly glanced around the forest again, but he still couldn't spot anything unusual.

Now the man was scared. His breaths came quick and short. His mind raced with confusion. He didn't understand what was happening, but he knew something was very wrong. Why had he seen a creepy red eye glaring at him through his gun scope? And what kept whizzing past him in the forest?

The man's instincts screamed at him to flee.

Without wasting another second, the man jumped to his feet. He grabbed his hunting gear with fumbling hands and took off running through the trees. His truck was parked not too far away at the edge of the woods. If he could just reach it, he could get out of this eerie forest and away from whatever was stalking him.

As he ran, he heard rustling noises in the branches above him. It sounded like something was chasing him, leaping from treetop to treetop! The man's heart hammered against his ribs. He pumped his legs faster, desperate to escape.

After what felt like forever, he finally burst out of the woods and spotted his truck. He yanked open the door, threw himself inside, and slammed the keys into the ignition. The engine roared to life. He stomped on the gas pedal and peeled away, speeding down the dirt road that led out of the forest. He didn't dare look back. He just kept driving until the woods were far behind him.

Back at the edge of the forest, a small figure dropped gracefully out of the treetops and onto the ground. It was a little girl who looked no more than two years old. She had pale white skin, ruby red lips, and long wavy hair as dark as night. Her eyes glowed bright red, like the scary eye the man had seen in his gun scope.

The little girl stared intently in the direction the man's truck had disappeared. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. Suddenly, her head snapped around as she heard a voice calling out in the distance. Her name rang through the trees.

"Celena! Celena, where are you?"

The little girl knew that was her name being called. Celena immediately started running towards the sound of the voice. Her red eyes faded back to a normal blue color as she dashed through the forest. The voice called out again and again, guiding her.

Finally, Celena spotted a tall man with black and grey hair standing by a large tree. He was the one shouting her name.

Celena slowed down and quietly crept closer, hiding behind the trunk of the tree the man was standing near. Giggling to herself, Celena climbed up the tree in a flash. She was just about to leap out of the branches onto the man's shoulders.

But at the last second, while flying through the air, the man moved aside, setting up an opening and reached up and grabbed her by the back of her shirt collar. He lifted her right off the ground and dangled her in the air. "Gotcha!" he said with a grin. "Nice try, you little rascal. I heard you coming a mile away!"

"Aww, Dad!" Celena whined, kicking her feet. "No fair! Put me down!"

Blake chuckled and set her on the ground. Then his face turned more serious. "Celena, your mom and I told you not to run off without us," he scolded gently. "And what were you doing chasing after that hunter? You know you're not supposed to let humans see you using your powers!"

Celena pouted, scuffing her shoe on the dirt. "But Dad, he was trying to shoot one of my forest friends! I had to stop him!"

Her dad sighed and crouched down to look Celena in the eyes. "Sweetheart, I know you love the animals and you want to protect them. But it's not your job to interfere with the humans, even if you don't agree with what they're doing. It's too dangerous for you, and for our whole family if they realize we're different."

"I guess you're right," Celena mumbled, still looking disappointed. "I'm sorry, Dad."

Celena's father hugged her tight. "I know your heart was in the right place. Just promise me you'll be more careful from now on, okay? No more chasing hunters."

"Okay, I promise," Celena agreed.

Hand in hand, Celena and her dad started walking through the forest towards home. Before long, a simple house came into view at the base of a tall mountain. Celena's mother was standing in the doorway. She hurried over to them, her forehead creased with worry.

"There you are!" Rose exclaimed. "I was just about to go looking for you two!" She looked down at her daughter. "Celena, did you run off to terrorize the humans again?"

"She sure did," Blake confirmed. "I found her right after she chased some poor hunter out of the woods."

Celena's parents exchanged meaningful glances. They knew they needed to have another serious talk with their daughter about using her supernatural abilities responsibly and staying hidden from the human world. It wasn't easy raising a child who had such powerful gifts. But they loved Celena more than anything and just wanted to keep her safe.

Shaking their heads in exasperation, Celena's parents each took one of her hands. They gently swung her up into the air between them as they walked to the house. "What are we going to do with you, silly girl?" Rose asked.

Celena just giggled, happy to be back with her family. For now, all thoughts of dangerous hunters were forgotten as the three of them went inside their cozy home nestled in the mountainside forest. The only sounds were their laughter and the cheerful chirping of birds in the trees all around.

***Author's note*

I'm sorry for the irregular updates. Exams got me by the neck. I'll try to reset the update time so you all get it as at when due!

Anyways, check the discord, I'll be dropping illustrations for Celena Shelton.