Chapter 4: The Vampire Pirate's Daughter by Lynette Ferreira
I looked at the man whom I always believed was my father. He loved me and he often said I resurrected him after the death of my mother. I knew he loved her, and he still did. Over the last sixteen years, he had never gone out and always stayed home. I knew he adored me and would do everything for me.
The girl continued softly, “Your mother realised she had made the wrong choice the night she made the decision to stay with Francois. Years later, she chose to leave Francois and follow William into the night. On the ship, back from England to France, your mother and William made love and they decided to run away together once they were back in France.”
I heard the man who remained just inside the shadows sneer.
The girl ignored him, and she continued, “Francois returned unexpectedly and sadly your real father, William, died that day without even knowing about you. He did leave you a legacy, though—a choice you will have to make today. You see, your father, William, was a vampire.”
I shut my eyes and I opened my mouth to scream for help, but she put her hand softly over my lips. She looked into my eyes deeply and for some peculiar reason, this calmed me.
She continued softly, whilst holding her cold fingers over my lips, “There is an entire community of vampires and you should not be afraid. We are just like you.” She leant closer to me. “We have now come to the most important part, the part where you have to make a choice. You will either die before dawn or you can choose to become one of us.”
I whispered softly under her fingers, “A vampire?”
“If you want to live you do not really have a choice.”
I looked at Francois sadly.
“He is going to lose you either way, so I would not be concerned about him if I was you. If you choose to live, you can always keep an eye on him. He knows about vampires; he knew William well.”
I saw her take a knife from the fold of her dress and then she pressed it against the soft, pale skin of her wrist. I saw the way the knife dented into her flesh and then I saw the red drop of blood.
Just that one tiny drop made my nose tingle and my mouth salivate. She smiled down at me as if she knew what I suddenly felt.
She made a tiny cut on her wrist and then she held her arm out to me, her wrist only inches away from my lips and although she said I had a choice, the feeling was too strong for me. Nothing could have broken the urge, the overwhelming feeling and from that day, blood was my weakness.
I grabbed onto her arm with both my hands encircling her arm and her hand. I pulled her arm into my mouth and greedily I drank from her. As I felt the first drop of blood over my tongue, I felt like a different person. I could not stop, and it was as if my mind was on a leave of absence. I only realised what I was doing when she pressed her palm gently against my forehead and pushed my head away from her arm. When the suction of my lips separated from her wrist, it made a popping sound.
The weakness left me. Feeling better, I sat up while looking at Francois sadly. I felt a tear, my last tear, run down my cheek. This would devastate him, I knew.
I swung my legs off the bed and quietly I left the room and my life because I knew I was different, and I would no longer be able to continue my life in the château. I could no longer continue a normal life.
The moon outside was a bright crescent, there was not a cloud in the sky. Once we were a distance away from the château, walking into and then between the trees of the forest surrounding the sculptured gardens, they started talking again. They introduced themselves to me as Shayne and Amanda.
I asked them, “How did you know about me?”
Amanda replied, with a smile playing across her lips, “Shayne here is friends with Ethan. Ethan used to be a pirate a long time ago and sailed with William.”
Shayne agreed pleasantly, “Ethan told me although they never knew your mother was a stowaway on the boat, stories have a way of surfacing. Your father, William, is a legend within the vampire community.”
I asked uncertainly, “But how did you know I was sick? How did you know to come tonight?”
Amanda laughed softly. “We have been keeping an eye on you. I knew you would develop the fever because your mother was human, and William was a vampire. Boys develop the fever at eighteen though and we could not be sure if it would be the same for you. I have heard rumours girls sometimes get the fever when they are younger and so we stayed close to the château just in case.”
Shayne added, “We heard the servants talking amongst themselves that you were gravely ill, and Amanda knew the cause of your illness.”
At that very moment, I was not so sure if I was just as happy, they were nearby, but I was glad I did not die.
Those years we lived only by night.
My father, William, was a pirate, so that would explain my buccaneer spirit. I did not mind moving around and I did not mind always living in a different place. I took to hunting for the blood which sustained me eagerly and without any prejudice.
Never feeling guilty for taking what I needed.
Continue reading Chapter 5/23
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