Of Light and Darkness: The Vampire's Daughter

more falling tears.

Valek held her by the shoulders, separating himself farther so he could look directly into her burning face. She denied herself from looking up at him, wanting so much to protect him from her horrible, weird, perverted thoughts. Instead, her gaze rested on the sopping skirt of her dress.

“Listen to me now, Lottie.” He spoke gently, though his words seemed to carry a current of electricity. It made her want to glance up, but she forced her focus downward.

“Not now, nor will I ever forsake you. Not under any circumstance. My love is unconditional. I hope you can understand that.”

Her eyes pricked, and she clenched her jaw tighter.

“We are going to go home now and give all of this up for tonight. This can be discussed a different time.”

She heard a smile on the last three words, and she knew he was trying to be nothing but comforting again. Her gaze finally touched his, her heart feeling like it had splintered. “But what about you? I didn’t hunt for you tonight.”

He smiled again. “I’ll be fine.” He stood. “Come. Let’s go home.” He held his arm out to her, offering to pull her from the thoughts she was drowning in.

Apprehensively, she took it and they started walking together, out of the abandoned garden. Her eyelids felt so heavy, she fought to keep them open. The world around her started to tilt in odd ways. Her teeth began to chatter again. She just wanted it all to be over.

The image of the Witch hovering over him branded itself into Charlotte’s mind, and she decided she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Valek’s hand enveloped hers, but things still felt a little weird so she tried to casually wriggle her hand free. He let it go, but Charlotte was sure he didn’t miss her motive. He rarely missed anything.

“I was actually just about to come and find you after our argument when she knocked on the door,” he continued.

She knew he was only trying to make things better, but it wasn’t working and Charlotte wished he had just left it alone. The earth started to tilt a little more under her feet. She blinked, stumbled forward, and caught herself on his arm.

“Lottie?” He stopped. “Lottie, are you okay?”

His liquid velvet voice reverberated around in her hollowed-out head. It almost sounded like he was calling to her down a long, steel tunnel. She opened her mouth to respond when her eyes rolled back into her head. The entire world disappeared from under her as everything faded to black.

* * *

Aiden was still awake, skimming over a crumpled set of parchment paper. Everyone else in the house had already gone to bed, and he found the solitude — something he rarely experienced with so many siblings — soothing as he read.

Before him, lit by a dim lantern perched next to him on the edge of the sofa, was a list of names, all employed by the Central European Magic Regime. Aiden was determined to find out who the assailant from the woods was. How dare anyone from the Regime try and attack him? After all, that Lycanthrope guard should have known immediately who he was.

He glanced up at the small, wooden clock above the mantle. The second hand ticked, like a metronome, a little too loudly. Father should be arriving any moment. Aiden had called on him the moment Charlotte left, not wanting to reveal to her the enormous secret he’d been hiding over the years they had been friends.

Danek Price was not simply a mere, woodland Elf. Aiden couldn’t help but grin in the dark room from the utter reverence he felt for his father.

Hearing the familiar sound, like a heavy gush of wind, of someone projecting just outside the front door, Aiden shot up from the couch. His father had arrived at last. A knot formed in Aiden’s throat just before he approached the door. It had been a considerable amount of time since they had last seen one another. The Regime didn’t always allow time for Father to return home. Then again, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to, Aiden admitted with a frown.

“Son.” Danek lingered in the doorway, a mere astral projection of his physical self. His bottom half was nothing but a swirling cloud of smoky mist, and any uninformed person might have thought they’d seen a ghost if they were lucky enough to catch a glimpse. Aiden guessed his father’s physical body must be somewhere secure within the walls of the Regime palace. Astral projection was considered very dangerous, and by law, something only a very skilled Wizard could perform. Aiden was not yet experienced enough.

“Thank you for coming, Father.” Aiden lowered his head and stepped aside, allowing his father’s astral body to enter the cottage. He watched Danek’s eyes shift around the room. Aiden guessed the small home seemed extremely modest in comparison to the lavish lifestyle of living in the palace.

“Where is your mother? Is she all right?”

A new knot tied in Aiden’s throat. He longed for his family to be whole again one day, but he knew that was unlikely. “Everyone is sleeping.”

“Why have you called on me, then?”

Aiden frowned. No matter what, this could not sound like some trivial schoolyard crush. That wasn’t what this was. “I need to speak with the lord, Vladislov, right way. It is…regarding something very important.”

Danek raised an eyebrow. “Something bothers you?”

Aiden’s hands trembled slightly, and he shoved them deep within his pockets. Even as a spirit, his father was intimidating. “Since I was very young, you taught me never to trust the followers of the dark—”

“Yes, Aiden, though you and your mother went against my word,” Danek interjected.

Aiden stopped pacing, looked his at his father directly. “No, Mother never went against you. Not for a moment! But if you were to banish me, of course she was going to follow. I am her child!”

Danek’s stern features tensed. “And I am her husband. Aiden, she went against me by befriending one of our natural enemies. Both of you did. You must make your point quickly. I have to get back.”

Aiden looked at the floor, choosing his next words carefully. “I understand now,” he said quietly. There was a moment of absolute silence between them. Aiden had to glance up to see if his father was even still there. “Valek Ruzik has what I want. He has committed a serious crime against the Regime.” Aiden continued to struggle to articulate. “What I mean to say is…I am finally ready to accept Vladislov’s offer.”

“Good,” Danek replied shortly, folding his ghostly arms behind him. “But Aiden, we already have a plan for the Vampire….”

* * *

Valek caught Charlotte and lifted her into his arms with ease. He began walking again and gazed down at the frail girl he carried her through the night. Her face seemed as peaceful as it had the night he first found her. It really hadn’t changed all that much, he decided. She was still the sweet, confused little Lottie who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. He hadn’t taken the chance to really look at her lately. She had grown into such a beautiful young woman, and he realized just how proud he had become of her.

As he continued through the quiet town square, Valek listened to her thoughts. He had never paid this much attention to her mind and found himself completely entertained by the mental war raging inside her, even as she slept.

But then, and not to his surprise, an overwhelming feeling of sadness came over him. This was his Charlotte—his Lottie. She was his child. But now, that which had been so peaceful for years was about to grow to a great complexity. This battle was not yet over. He could feel it.

Valek barely noticed the creatures gawking at him from inside the opened taverns, nosily wondering what he had done to poor, lifeless Charlotte in his arms. If it hadn’t been for their annoyingly curious thoughts aimed directly at him, he probably wouldn’t have been aware of them at all. They stared with their multi-specied eyes, and whispered things to one another, though with his keenness, they might as well have been screaming. They elbowed each other in the ribs, pointing their extended claws.

A Witch with an edgy, white, bowl cut, chic against her angular face, nudged Evangeline, who looked up from