Of Light and Darkness: The Vampire's Daughter

The stairs thudded under Charlotte’s relentlessness. “They won’t come into your room during the day, Valek. They know it would kill you!”

The two of them got to the second story landing.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind at all if that happened,” he grumbled.

Charlotte stopped walking and frowned. “What do you mean? I thought they only wanted to arrest you.”

Something suddenly caught Valek’s attention as he looked beyond where Charlotte stood. She looked to see it, too. Her bedroom, or what was once her bedroom, completely scorched, as though someone had set the place on fire. It made the entire hallway smell like burnt wood and smoke. The curtains were singed, her clothes and furniture all completely condensed to ash. Charlotte looked to Valek, her mouth falling open.

“Evangeline had to do it,” Valek said quietly. “She heard them walking up the stairs. They were going to figure out that room didn’t belong to her.” He grabbed Charlotte’s hand and started leading her down the hallway toward his bedroom.

But when the two of them passed the long, arched window a small, single beam of morning light escaped through the curtains and thrashed across his face. He cried out, releasing Charlotte’s hand, recoiling quickly into the shadows, clawing at his scorched skin.

“Valek!” she cried, unsure of what to do next.

“Come!” he roared, and swung open the door to his bedroom; the two of them running in before he slammed it shut again, locking it.

She blinked feverishly in the pitch black, struggling to see. She opened her eyes as wide as she possibly could, feeling around in the dark for something she might bump into. Valek’s cool hand wrapped around hers, and he pulled her into the room.

“I am grateful you will not have to see this at least,” he said grimly.

“Are you okay?” She brought her free hand up, searching for his cheek, but he quickly pushed it away before she could touch him.

“You are to remain in the exact spot I place you. Do you understand?”

“Can’t I be next to you?”

“No. It is bad enough you are even in the same room with me.” He grabbed her shoulders, careful of her bandages, and gently pushed her down to the floor.

Charlotte could tell she was in a corner; she felt two walls meet behind her. She could smell the sweetness of him grow greater as his face lingered nearer to hers. It was more concentrated in this room — warm, like hot molasses and something clean, like the smell of freshly fallen snow.

“Listen closely to me. No matter what you hear, no matter what I say, you are to stay right in this spot. If I come close to you, you must try to get away. Do you understand?”

“But—”

“I am serious, Lottie. I have never done this with a human present. I am unaware of what I am capable of, for I am the most dangerous to be around during this particular time. It is going to take everything I have not to—” He dropped the sentence quickly, as if not wanting to even say it aloud. “I’m serious. No matter what I say to you, no matter how convincing I am, I want you to stay completely still.”

She could feel him back away from her, though his pretty scent remained everywhere in the room. She didn’t hear another move until it finally began. The sound of his nails tearing at the sheets as he moaned. He cried out agonizingly.

“Valek—” She began to step forward.

“N-no, L-lottie….” He struggled.

She heard bedclothes thrashing, glass shattering on the wood floor, and something like a hunk of the bedpost going to splinters. He wailed out her name, harrowing enough that she shoved her back up as hard as she could against the wall corner. Her eyes welled up.

“Lllottttiieeee,” he said in a sinister tone.

She was going to die. There were so many chances for that to have happened already these last few days, but this time it was real. There was nowhere for her to escape; neither was she about to open his bedroom doors to risk his life. She clung to the walls, digging her nails into the floor molding. She could see nothing in the thick darkness, but she shut her eyes tight, anyway.

“Come here, Lottie…I won’t hurt you.” The voice that now stroked the raised hairs on her neck didn’t even associate with the Valek she knew. “I promise.” He laughed maniacally.

A sick feeling crawled up her esophagus and made her feel like she was choking on fear. Charlotte pulled her knees up and buried her face. She could have sworn there was an entirely different monster in the room with the two of them. Don't even move, she reminded herself. Don't even breathe.

“I can smell you, Charlotte….” The voice was edging closer to her now. “Charlotte….”

She shrieked softly, bringing her palm over her lips to remind herself again to be quiet and still.

“Char—” The voice stopped dead, and something cold and rigid smacked down on her leg.

She wailed and shot up, sprinting clear to the other side of the room, not caring what she smashed into. Don’t open the door, she reminded herself. If you open the door, he’ll die. She crouched down when she found another wall and cowered in the opposite corner of the room.

She listened for a while, searching with her ears for any sign of him, for something, anything, like footsteps or breathing. Anything that sounded like it was getting close to her again. After living eighteen years in a town with things other people considered to be scary without any sort of problem, this was by far the worst nightmare she had ever had.

“Valek?” she whispered.

Nothing replied.

“Valek?” she said again. She slowly got to her feet, something that proved to be an intricate task with her knees quaking like they did. She gripped onto the wall behind her so they wouldn’t buckle. “Valek?” she said a little louder. Upon hearing nothing again, she crept back toward the direction of the corner he originally put her. She carefully toed her way around on the floor. A few feet in, the edge of her foot nudged against something.

Her pulse leapt into her throat, but nothing grabbed her. She bent down next to whatever it was, placing her small hand on what she figured out was his back. Thankfully, it did not move. She sighed. “It’s okay now, Valek. We will be safe,” she promised, resting her cheek on his shoulder blade. Grabbing onto his arm, she turned him face-up and pulled his upper half into her lap like a giant doll, holding him there, stroking his hair.

Abruptly, the door shot open, streaks of deadly yellow light blazing in across the floor. She screamed at the vision of the tall, solid silhouettes at the threshold and the sight of the blazing corpse, howling on the floor next to her.

Charlotte raced to the bed and tore off the thick, black, velvet comforter. “Close the door!” She hurled it over Valek's melting body. “Close the door!” Her own voice sounded distant, echoing in her head like she was screaming through a tunnel. Her vision clouded. She turned again to the figures at the entryway. “I said, close the—”

Something hard slammed over the top of her head.

And then there was nothing.

Chapter Eleven Nightmare

The sun scorched high over Prague, setting the city spires aflame in the early October morning. The High Wizards sat in tented booths with the finest black robes hugging their backs. Thick-rimmed sunglasses masked their faces, which were so sullen it was impossible to see the amount of joy built up behind the facade they created while they watched the most hated creatures slaughtered in front of a million curious eyes. The Regime had sent out invitations to Elves and lesser creatures from all over the Czech Republic to come watch the first taste of justice be served.

Before sunrise, the first group of apprehended “criminals” had been dragged deep into the dungeons of the