Tayanna: A Vampire's Tale

Chapter Eight: Bigger secrets

Dracula had been gone the rest of the night. I did not see him before I climbed into Verona's old coffin that was now mine.

I always woke up last and I had began to wonder where everyone had gone when I woke but I looked and saw Aleera in the courtyard. She just stood there, still and sad, letting the gentle wind blow her dress. Her long orange girls cascading down her back.

I looked around but Dracula was no where in sight. I climbed the stairs to the room where Frankenstein's monster's ashes were but found the room empty but the room looked messier than normal. I guessed that Dracula was going thorough them yesterday, looking for the reason why he's experiment failed. I felt a pinch of guilt in my stomach. I found a crumpled up piece of paper and I unfolded and examined it. It was hard to read and looked like a letter from Dr Frankenstein, addressed to Dracula. It read;

Dear Dracula,
I feel my death is approaching fast and am leaving this letter for you after I pass. After my creation I realized that creating it was too dangerous and I went against your wishes. My creation will be destroyed along with myself after you have read this. I will take it's secrets to the grave.

Signed, Dr V. Frankenstein

So, I had never failed at all. It was Dr. Frankenstein who made it not work, or maybe he never made it work before, I thought. It wouldn't work now if it had never worked before.

But now Dracula could never have his children and personally I was kind of happy. I was now technically his daughter and I didn't feel like having siblings, but I still felt guilty for their deaths.
I went up to the highest part of the castle and found him staring sadly into the darkened sky, hands in front of him. He stood more slouched then usual, he always stood tall and proud but seemed crouched and depressed. It was one of the only times that he had shown emotion that I had ever seen.

I slowly walked towards him and came to his side. He seemed to glare at me a bit but look away from me,

I looked up at him and he slightly tipped his head down to me. His eyes were faded with sorry and sadness, I gave a little smile to reassure him I was okay. I understood that anger is powerful and makes you do bad things but I was still trying to figure out if it was his anger or just the way he was?

I felt he needed more assurance and closed my arms around him, closing my eyes as my head rested on his chest and I felt his hands on my back.

We stayed there for a while and he whispered to me,

"I'm sorry"

I breathed and hugged in response. Dracula leaned and kissed me on head. Suddenly he pulled away, startled.

"What?" I asked and then I could see.

Suddenly I felt things changing in me. My bones cracked, my skin went as white as snow and my auburn curls straightened and turned black as coal. My fingers became longer and my fingernails sharpened, my nose shrunk a bit and my lips thinned slightly.

The transformation hurt and I was on my knees with my hands clenching head. I felt as if I was a new person and everyone part of my body had changed in a big or small way.

When the pain finally died, I slowly rose up and looked at Dracula, concerned. He looked at me in complete shock.

"I knew it was not a coincidence you had the same name" He said.

"What?" I asked.

"You're the same person" He ignored my question.

I noticed the Dracula's eyes shifted to my right shoulder. I looked down at my shoulder and lifted up the tulle of my dress and unveiled a dark birth mark, in the shape of a bat.

I knew exactly what it meant and wonder if Aleera and Verona finding me in the orphanage was just a coincidence or luck. He might have felt like a father to me before but now I knew that he was my father.

I was the daughter of a vampire. His daughter, his real daughter.