7A/N: A strange one-shot. Not my best piece of work I admit; I haven't written in a while since my GCSEs are coming up.
Hospitals. I hate them. I hate everything about them. The white walls, the awful stench, the grief, the chaos and most importantly, the deaths of loved ones... Being a vampire, I never though I'd have to come here. Only breathers came here when they were severely ill. Only breathers came here to visit their loved ones. Only breathers came to say goodbye. So why did I never see this coming? Why didn't I know that I would be coming to a hospital myself, to say goodbye to my own father?
I was going to be alone. So alone. Mum had already been dusted a few weeks ago by some other vampires, in the name of revenge. Revenge on my grandfather who had apparently wronged them a few hundred years ago. And the worst thing was that my mother's death was all in vain. My so called grandfather didn't even care whether she was dead or alive. In fact, throughout her whole childhood he made it painfully clear that he was indifferent towards her. He treated her like dirt, favoured my uncle over her and never did anything for her.
I touched the 'locket' around my neck. It was actually a vial, containing my mother's dust, attached to a chain. I know this may seem weird, but I could feel her presence when I touched it.
On the surface, my mother was a typical cold-hearted bitch. Mean, sneaky and ruthless. However, on the inside, she was so much more than that. She was strong, independent and believe it or not, loving too. Thus, she turned out to be a great mother. Perhaps the fact that she was neglected by both of her parents (my grandmother was just as bad as my grandfather) drove her to be the mother her own mother could never be.
I shall strive to be like her. Strong and independent. I just hope I won't become deranged like she was in her childhood and youth. Unlike me, she had my father to support her. My father... My father who was dying right now.
"Excuse me, you asked to see your father?" the receptionist asked, bringing me back to reality. I merely nodded; I didn't want to risk speaking and then bursting into tears. "Room 131, East Wing."
I left without even thanking her. The journey to Room 131 was agonizing. My enhanced vampiric hearing didn't help much. All I could here was screaming, shouting and crying. The relatives - especially the females - of dying patients were yelling at the doctors, ready to fight them. Some were begging the doctors to do the impossible while the wealthier ones were offering up abundances of riches, as if money could defeat death.
Upon entering Room 131, I spotted him straight away. The strongest man I had ever known, lying helplessly on the hospital bed, with a graceful smile on his face. A smile? Unbelievable.
"Daddy..." I called out, running to sit on the chair beside him. He turned to me, eyes half open but open enough to know that he was awake. "Daddy!" I grabbed his unusually cold hand and held onto it for dear life. Ironic. He should have been holding on for life. Not me. I was already dead.
"You haven't called me that in years love," he simply replied in his Scottish accent, looking at me with a tired smile.
"Your hand is so cold... It's icy like vampire skin!" I cried, my voice full of emotion. Tears were threatening to fall from my eyes, as I gazed at my dying father. Be strong.
"Then you know what this means," Daddy stated, still smiling.
"Yes... I- I just wish it was different. Daddy, I could do it you know... I could turn you," I blurted out, instantly regretting it. Mum would hate me if she could hear me now. Despite being a vampire, she always threw a hissy fit when someone suggested she turn Daddy into a half-fang.
Daddy just gently shook his head. "Your mother wouldn't want it. And nor would I. After all, I'll see her again very soon. And I don't want to tell her that you've been a bad girl."
"But all vampires go to hell, Daddy. And you're a breather... you'll go to heaven. You and Mum will never be re-united. And that means I won't see you again either. Never."
"Not all vampires go to hell, love. And not all breathers go to heaven. Maybe your mother and I will meet in the middle. And as for you, heaven and hell are still far away."
"Aren't vampires already in the middle? Aren't we already in limbo since we're undead?" I questioned frantically. "I don't want to be alone! As soon as you go, I'll follow you without hesitation."
"Stop right there Valerica!" Daddy exclaimed. "Don't think like that. Your life is precious. You have a very special purpose in life."
"Special? Do you mean because I'm Dimidius, because I'm a half breed? I'm precious because I'm a mistake?" I asked bitterly. Well you see, according to certain VHC members, I was conceived through an 'inevitable mistake.' Hmm, apparently since my parents were two youngsters living under the same roof all alone, one night they just pounced on each other and created me. That was before they were officially together so it was classed as a one night stand rather than... love.
"You're not a half-breed or a mistake. Don't listen to what the VHC say. You... You were born out of love. Wow, this is embarrassing," Daddy chuckled nervously and appeared to blush a little. "What can I say? You know your mother was emotionally damaged when she was younger, right?" I nodded, remembering when my mother told me about her miserable childhood. "Well, when I bought the castle, I asked your mother to stay with me and of course she accepted because she always 'wanted a throne of her own.' But she stayed for another reason too. Me. But she would never admit it whereas I was always acting like a love-struck teenager around her. So because I kept pestering her and she kept holding her feelings in for so long, it just... burst free one night."
"The night I was conceived?" I queried, although I already knew the answer. "Didn't she freak out afterwards?"
"Yes, she did. She went back to being cold after I had worked so hard on getting her to open up and become friends with me. It broke my heart because I thought I meant nothing to her. She avoided me, I avoided her and things only got worse. I was thinking of moving out and leaving the castle to her while she was thinking of moving all the way to Transylvania and leaving it to me. And then one day, your mother finally spoke to me. She told me she was pregnant and that she was scared. And I couldn't believe what she told me next. She said she was a curse."
"Why?" I asked in shock. A curse? Sure, my mother wasn't the nicest person on Earth, but a curse? Never.
"Because she lost everyone she loved. Your mother had a boyfriend called Will when she was around sixteen. She bit him in the heat of a moment and he was dusted by a serial slayer a little while later. It haunted her for years; he had been the only in the world to make her feel special and loved. After that, she met her so called half-brother Malik. Only, they found out that they weren't related at all. She developed feelings for him too. Sadly, he was tragically dusted like Will. After two losses, your mother thought she was meant to be alone."
"So when she started loving you, she thought you would die too?" Daddy nodded. "And that's why she refused to turn you..." I realised. It was starting to make sense. Mum thought she was supposed to be alone for the rest of her unlife so she pushed Daddy away. And maybe she thought the situation with Will would be repeated. Since Will and Malik were both vampires, perhaps she thought Daddy would be safer as a breather?
"So I told her that I would stay with her until my death. I never imagined she would go before me. She was only 39, barely nothing for a vampire. Anyway, you brought us together. I hate to say it, but if she wasn't pregnant with you, I think she would've left me forever," Daddy confessed sadly. I could see that as the pain in his eyes was growing, the life in them was fading.
"Daddy! Stay with me! Please! I'll do anything!" I started to sob uncontrollably. The tears were running free. If only my pain and troubles could go away like that too.
"You can't do anything sweetie. Just let me go in peace. But please don't lose yourself. Always remember who you are. Valerica Teagan Davis, only child and daughter of Ingrid Dracula and..." Those were Daddy's last words before he fell into an eternal sleep.
"Piers Davis," I finished for him as I closed his eyes. I was alone now, completely alone.
A/N: IDK what Piers' surname is so I just gave him a random and pretty normal one. As for Valerica Teagan Davis, I chose a Romanian/Transylvanian first name and a Scottish middle name. Apparently Valerica means strong, which is exactly what a 17 year old orphan needs to be.
