The demons in our blood

Fever seemed entirely unfazed by her grandsire's sudden shift in mood, contenting herself to picking up the fruit he'd spilled out of the picnic basket during his outburst. Such a good girl she was, speaking such horrific and awful things. Fever answered his question as nonchalantly as if Alastor had asked her how her day had been, replying that Moros himself had told her. She then pointed to a space of empty air nearby, earning her a perplexed head tilt from Alastor. What on earth was she talking about? Fe continued on, explaining that Moros was telling her stories but only whenever she was down in the woods and that he didn't go up into the mountains. Alastor's blood turned to ice in his veins. Of course he wouldn't go up into the mountains... That's where Alastor had killed him almost a decade ago.

Alastor stared at the empty space where Fe had said Moros had been just moments ago, but was gone now. When she started to tell him how his deceased sire called them abominations and monsters, Alastor's fur began to bristle. That certainly sounded like his father... Once upon a time, Al would have written off Fever's commentary as childish nonsense, but he had seen enough of the paranormal in his lifetime to know there was more to this world than meets the eye. "Yes, he is in trouble, darling. He will always be in trouble with me," Alastor answered the young girl's question, keeping his voice calm and level, but there was no denying the deadly edge to his words. Dark eyes turned back to the pup and his expression softened as his gaze met her soft, innocent eyes. Gods, he loved puppies!

Bringing himself back down to his belly so he could be eye level with Fever, Alastor reached a giant paw over to gently ruffle his granddaughter's forehead. "What else does Papa Moros talk to you about, little firefly? What kinds of stories does he tell you?" There was a grim and anxious concern to Alastor's voice. If the specter of his sire was truly haunting his family, what sorts of wretched things was he telling them behind his back...?

"Alastor Mendacium"