Of Light and Darkness: The Vampire's Daughter

“I’ll haul you over my shoulder if I have to.”

She stopped and looked at him in disgust. “Why are you crying?”

“I am not crying.” He quickly wiped at his face with his sleeve.

“You’re acting like a baby.” She sneered. “I’ve never seen Valek cry. I want to go home!” She started to tug away again.

He did as promised and threw her over his shoulder, and started walking in the other direction toward his own house. She kicked and pounded on his back with her fists.

“What are you doing? ” she demanded.

Some merchants in the area stopped and stared.

“At least let Mum fix you up before you leave,” he said, clearly not affected at all by her tantrum.

Aiden had never trusted Valek. He made it very clear how he hated Valek for sending her out nightly to hunt for him. Aiden had been there when Valek brought her home from Prague that cold night. Aiden was around when his mother took care of her when she was little. He’d been her best friend through the years, and she knew how stubborn he was. Which was why no argument she had in her arsenal would have an effect on him. He was taking her home to be stitched up by his mother, and that was final.

At last, Charlotte grew tired in her struggle and let her body go limp as he transported her through the busy town square to the Occult's residential district.

Aiden carried her up the steps to his family’s cottage on the outskirts, between the suburbs and downtown. Various picks of wildflowers and shrubs, and a rickety old fence that kept nothing out or in surrounded the house. It was merely a tool the vines used to stretch toward the sun.

He opened the front door with the hand that wasn’t holding her secure to his shoulder, and went in to find his mother in the kitchen, as usual.

The scent of cabbage and carrots filled the room. Steam from the pot made the small amount of sunlight filtering in through the windows hazy. Small doorways in the brick walls led to other parts of the house, where bedrooms for Aiden’s many brothers and sisters were. Mr. Price was probably in the forest, still working, Charlotte suspected. Aiden rarely discussed his father. Actually, she never recalled meeting him before.

Meredith Price was another Earth Elf, like Aiden, with the same autumn-colored hair, and a warm smile with gigantic laugh lines. They also shared the same soft blue eyes. The Prices previously belonged to an Irish Occult. This explained the Celtic knickknacks adorning the house, as well as their last name, which obviously wasn't native.

Meredith’s stout frame jiggled under her apron as she stirred something in a large brass pot over the black potbelly stove. She stopped when she saw her son walk through the door, Charlotte draped over his back like a hunting trophy. “Oh, Aiden! What do we have here? I think we already have enough for dinner tonight.” She laughed her hearty belly laugh.

Charlotte squirmed to peer around Aiden’s shoulder. “Hello, Mrs. Price. How are you?” She smiled politely through gritted teeth and dug her nails into Aiden’s back so he would let her down.

“Yeah, Mom. I was really hungry, so I brought back an entire cow,” he joked.

“Aiden!” Charlotte slapped his arm.

His mother burst out with another thunderous laugh. “Oh my. It's always a comedy when you two get together.” She smiled as Aiden set Charlotte down, the smile fading when her gaze fell to the gash in Charlotte’s leg. “Oh, Charlotte! What happened, dear?”

“Aiden’s horse chucked me off when we were riding, after he promised it would be safe.” Charlotte glared up at the boy, whose confident smile immediately dissipated. He looked wide-eyed at his mother. Charlotte instantly realized what she had done.

“Aiden….” Meredith’s tone heated. “Now, I told you never to take those horses out of the town stable. Those are for when you are working! And where could you possibly have been going with a horse, anyway?”

“Thanks, Charlotte.” Aiden groaned.

The realization hit his mother like a stone. She gasped. “Aiden Price! What did I tell you about leaving the Occult? It’s dangerous! Don’t you understand? What would your father say?”

“It was my fault, Mrs. Price. I’m the one that left this morning. He only came looking for me,” Charlotte confessed.

Meredith looked at Charlotte, and then at her son again. A different emotion conflicted with worry when their eyes met. The three stood looking at one another in silence. Charlotte nervously dropped her gaze to the floor, shifting off of her wounded leg. She wanted to go home now more than ever. “Excuse me, but what time is it, exactly?”

“It’s around seven o’clock, dear. The sun will be setting very soon. Just enough time to get you cleaned up and sent home without Valek ever knowing you got hurt,” said Mrs. Price. “Come on.” She waved Charlotte into the den. Aiden followed.

The Price’s den was a simple, warm room with a few bookshelves, enormous, sunken armchairs, and one small radio in the corner. One of Aiden’s little sisters played with a rag doll on the floor by the window.

“Excuse us, Molly. We have to get Charlotte cleaned up. Can you please take that into the other room?” Molly must have been around eight or nine, with blonde pigtails that hung all the way to her knees.

“Hi, Aiden!” Molly chirped, and hugged her brother before running into the next room.

“All right, dear. Now just sit here a moment while I get the medical aid,” Mrs. Price said, and bounced out of the room.

Aiden sat next to her on the couch. “Are you okay?” he asked, staring at the floor.

“Yes. Are you?” Charlotte looked at him.

“I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. It was just an accident.”

“I know.” He sighed. “Can you not mention the Lycan to my mum?”

“Mum is the word.” Charlotte giggled, always finding Aiden’s Gaelic accent charming.

Mrs. Price walked back into the room with a large, wooden box. She set it down on the ground, took out some herbs, and began crushing them in a small ceramic bowl. “This will have you fixed up in no time.” She worked the leaves into a fine pulp. “This is a remedy that has been in our family for generations.” She handed Charlotte a wet rag.

“Thank you.” Charlotte started mopping up the dried blood from her leg.

Aiden’s mother started to apply the green mush onto the wound. “Now this stuff will stop any stinging or aching you might feel, and it’ll completely take away any smell of blood. You know…just in case.” She smiled up at Charlotte as she finished. “You know we all trust Valek with our lives, but you can never be too careful around a Vampire,” she muttered as she started to wrap Charlotte’s leg in white gauze.

“What do you mean?” Charlotte frowned at her, stung by the slightly prejudiced comment.

“I meant no harm, dear,” Meredith said. “It’s just…very easy for them to lose control once they smell blood. They can’t always handle their instincts, if you know what I mean.” She dropped the subject and continued what she was doing.

Shocked, Charlotte refrained from any sort of reply. Nothing like that had ever come out of Mrs. Price before. How could she think Valek would ever harm her in any way? She forced a smile after Aiden’s mother finished with the dressing. “Thanks again.”

“Not a problem, love. Now you need to take this off right when you get home. Can you remember that?”

Charlotte nodded.

She bid Aiden and his mother a quick good night, and finally set off down the road toward her own house. The sun was far in the West now, the light swirling fusions of red and gold. It would only be a few minutes before it would set completely behind the mountains.

Charlotte made her way out of the suburbs and into the noisy town square. This was the time of day when it was busiest. The Elves were wrapping up their day shifts and returning to their families, while the Witches and other nocturnal creatures were arriving for another night at the taverns and shops. Charlotte tossed a hellar on the street near a self-playing fiddle.

She made her way down the narrow footpath up to the large home and quietly opened the front door. She peered inside, not sure if Valek was awake yet. It was dark and silent inside, and the evidence of a long day’s rest still lingered in every room. She hung her bag on the coat rack by the door, bypassed the library, and crept up the