Twenty years have passed since the death of my beloved Nathan. Twenty years of raising our daughter single-handedly, only to see him again reflected in her porcelain face. I thought for sure my time for love had come and gone. But a recent trip to P...
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Beneath layers of fresh snow and frozen ice. Memories of the past laid just beyond the doors of what was once my beloved home. Correction: our home. Having risen from the ashes like a phoenix whose former shell had been so badly weakened by centuries of neglect. Castle Dracula was now a force not to be reckoned with. But in the twenty years since its reconstruction from the ground up. Someone had managed to break in and steal the crown jewel. A jewel that I valued more than anything else in this world.
The doors burst open upon my command as I stormed into the grand vestibule and headed upstairs. At the top of the landing was a giant painting of unknown origin or what should have been a painting of us as a family. Me sitting on the throne with Nathan by my side and our daughter Astrid. I stepped forward and pulled the painting aside revealing a hole in the wall that leads down a short tunnel into the catacombs. It was here in this place that I laid buried in a stone coffin for centuries, caused by a witch who turned me into a vampire.
But all of that changed when I was risen from darkness and brought back into the light. A single drop of blood. And not just any old blood. Blood that showed me the memories of my beloved mate and my once former queen. His blood restarted my heart. And it's because of that, that I'll always be grateful to him. The endless torches around the catacombs came to life as if by magic, illuminating the stone coffin that stood in the center of it all. My heart roared in my ears as I took another step closer, my hands trembling.
I placed my hands on the lid and with a fragile heart, pushed it off to one side. Inside, the coffin was empty. And had there been any traces of Nathan ever been taken from here, the thieves were smart in covering their tracks. In a bit of rage, I shoved the lid off as it broke in half on the ground. A roar sounded that turned into an uncontrollable sob as I sat on the floor with my head against my knees. For years I thought I was done shedding tears after losing the love of my life. But now I know these tears are something else.
"Daddy?" Astrid asked softly, kneeling in front of me. "What's wrong?"
"He's gone. Someone has taken him. I don't even know where to begin."
"What are you talking about? Who's been taken?"
I looked into her eyes then, seeing for the first time the spitting image of Nathan staring back at me. My heart ached once more. "You were only a child so you probably don't remember what I told you. The body of another vampire was put to rest inside this very coffin twenty years ago. But before that he was once human until he met me and we fell in love. And together, we made you. And you, Astrid, are our greatest creation."
"But why would somebody break in and steal his body? It doesn't make any sense."
"Because whoever they are, they're trying to force me to come after them. They want to see me dead for the things I've done."
"And you don't have any idea who might've done this?"
"No. But I'm hoping the security cameras might have caught something."
