Of Light and Darkness: The Vampire's Daughter

The first voice boomed again. “We know you are in there!”

“Hurry,” Valek whispered. “Everything is going to be all right. Remember — do not come out. Go!”

Charlotte quickly ran into the other room.

She found her way into the large freezer. She shivered in the coldest, darkest corner, farthest away from the door, surrounded by lumpy, black, body bags. They sat like grave markers clumped too close together. The stench was light, but even freezing could not stop the rotting decay. She shivered again.

All her thoughts writhed and spun in her mind as she sat, clutching her head in her hands, imaging Valek being taken away. Her heart slowed down. It felt like it might just stop, frozen to death with fear. She buried her face in her knees and swallowed her scream. She began to quiet her mind and tune in to what was happening outside, trying desperately to hear the muffled voices.

* * *

Valek waited until he heard the office lock click before he started toward the front entrance. He made an attempt to relax his shoulders and then gracefully slinked to open the front door. He met five burly guards on his doorstep.

“Good evening, gentlemen. How may I help you?” He flashed a grin.

“The Vampire Ruzik?” One of the guards from the threshold of the house questioned.

Valek grinned. “Who’s asking?”

“We are under the impression you are hiding a human child in this home. Would you consider that statement truthful?” The guard — a tall fire Elf with a waxed head and slanted eyes — spoke officially.

“As is plain before your eyes, there is no one here but me.” Valek gestured to the inside of his house.

“You did not answer my question,” the officer grumbled. “Mr. Ruzik, are you aware it is against the Regime Code of Magic to keep human pets?”

“No.” Valek clenched his jaw at the notion anyone would refer to Charlotte as a pet. “A human child does not reside here. If one did, I can assure you it would not be in their best interest.” Valek flashed his pearly fangs.

“I do not find you charming, Mr. Ruzik.”

“Nor I, you,” Valek said.

“May we have a look around? As a formality?” The officer asked with erroneous politeness.

Valek tensed slightly but the guards didn’t wait for a response, shoving their way inside.

The squad bypassed the library, with only a few quick glances, and made their way into the kitchen, one of them parting from the group to stomp up the stairway.

Valek searched frantically through his mind for a solution. The evidence of Charlotte was everywhere.

The officer in command bent to pick up the bloody knife from the kitchen floor as he eyed the mess of food. “Making dinner this evening, Mr. Ruzik?” he asked, lighting the stove with the power from his hand. It created a dingy light against the dull sheen of the pots and pans. He sauntered over to Valek. “Funny. I didn’t think your kind ate carrots.” He brought the bloody end of the knife so close to Valek’s nose that the pupils of his eyes bled out the white like spilled ink. The muscles in the back of his throat tensed as the familiar burning flared again.

“I would advise you to keep your distance, Mr.…”

“My name is of no concern to you.” The officer ran his index finger across the bloodstain on the shiny blade and rubbed the gore between his index and thumb.

The guard who had gone to search upstairs ran into the kitchen clutching the sleek, white arm of Evangeline, yanking her behind it. “Look what I found.” The guard’s voice was rough like gravel. He shoved the Witch forward, causing her to stumble into Valek’s arms.

She looked up at Valek, who quickly tuned in to her thoughts.

“A Witch?” the first guard asked.

“Yes.” Valek wrapped his arm affectionately around her shoulders. “This is Evangeline.”

“I thought you said no one was at home with you, Mr. Ruzik.”

“I thought no one was at home.” He looked to Evangeline. “My love, when did you get back?” Valek suppressed a gag over those words and forced another smile.

Evangeline blinked at him, and then to the guards. “Uh…I um…just a little while ago. I was upstairs, obviously.”

“I don’t need to hear an explanation. I think this evidence will be enough for the Regime.” He held up the bloody knife. “But just in case—” He snapped his fingers, sending some of the other guards off in different directions of the house. “We’ll take the child, too.”

“You will not find what you seek, Elf. ” Valek ground his jaws together.

The officer started to pace. “I saw the sign out front. You are a doctor, Vampire?” he asked, coolly, the hint of laughter forming tauntingly around his words.

Valek hissed.

“Well, who knew a leach could be so intelligent? I’m sure this town is really going to miss you.” The officer smiled.

Valek said nothing.

“You know,” the Elf started again, “we are cleaning your kind out for good.”

* * *

Upon hearing their footsteps from the freezer, Charlotte shut her eyes tight. She remembered the drawers of clothes she left open in her room. The kitchen was a mess. She brought her hand to her chest to feel for the whistle that normally hung there, remembering the last time she saw it was just outside the Occult border.

If she and Valek were going to make it through this, if they were able to escape, she vowed to mend the falter in the relationship that divided them. She vowed it to herself and to him. She didn’t care what kind of creature he was, or what instincts he struggled with. He was the most important thing in her entire world, and nothing was worth doubting that.

Charlotte heard voices draw nearer and pressed her ear hard up against the icy door.

* * *

“What do you mean?” Valek asked through his gritted teeth.

“You…people, for lack of a better word, have been contaminating our air for too long. It’s Vladislov’s orders.” The officer leaned in close to Valek’s face. “Don’t you think it’s time you crawled back into your crypt and stayed there?”

Valek wanted so badly to rip out the Elf's jugular with his fangs but he quickly concealed them under his lips. He tried to cool the stolen blood that was now a river of fire under the ice in his face.

* * *

Charlotte heard the heavy footsteps getting closer to the freezer door and quickly scurried to the back corner again, trying to find the very deepest shadow to hide in. This was it. This was the end. She wrapped her arms tight around her knees in an effort to disappear completely.

A thin stream of sickly sterile office light filtered in as the door slid slowly open.

Chapter Ten A Smoking Gun

The fire Elf's beady eyes sifted through the clandestine corners of the freezer. “Vampire!” he called.

Valek nervously moved to the guard’s side, his eyes also scanning in the room for something human. “Yes?”

“What do you use this refrigerator for?”

Valek cleared his throat, relieved to not see any sign of Charlotte. He glanced at Evangeline, who now lingered in the office doorway watching.

“Medicinal purposes,” he answered quickly.

The guard stepped inside and squinted further at the black bags. He even kicked one so hard it skidded against the cement wall. Valek hadn’t experienced the illustrious attributes of nausea for years, but he was