Two years later, I'm still in my room. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. And mom's gone. I sigh. I get up and grab a hair tie. I open my door and put my hair into a messy bun as I head to the front door. I stop once I get to the kitchen. It's really dark in here. Ah, well. That doesn't matter. I walk over to the door and open it carefully. Oh, good. The sun's almost down. I stand out of the sunlight and just stare at the man.
"What do you want?"
"May I come in?" He smiles.
"No." I slam the door shut and pull myself on the counter.
He opens the door and I jump down and away with a shriek. I stare at the sunlight.
He chuckles. "It's just sunlight. It's not going to hurt you. It's 94.19 million miles away."
I glare at him. He smiles. He steps into the house and shuts the door. I turn around and go back to my bedroom. I shut the door and lean against it. I sigh.
**********
The next morning, the guy from the day before, is leaning over me, smiling. I jump up. He chuckles.
"Not funny."
"Hilarious." He walks out of my bedroom.
I follow him down the hallway and to the backdoor. He opens it and I stare at the backyard. He steps outside and beckons me to come out. I shake my head. He comes in and grabs my wrist. He drags me outside and I stand in the shade. He shuts the backdoor and steps out into the sunlight.
"Come on," he says.
"No."
"It's fine. It's not going to do anything. It'll be fine. Come on. It's perfectly harmless. You'll be alright. I promise." He smiles reassuringly.
I look at the grass, back up at him, and at the grass again. I close my eyes and step out on the grass. I peek my right eye open and lift my hand up. I gasp and open my other eye. I look at my hands. I look up at him and he smiles.
"See? Perfectly harmless." He smiles.
That's when I realize. I gasp. I point at him and say, "You're the man in my dream that I have every night. Who are you?"
"Count Dracula."
I gasp again and race in the house. I run to the drawing room and pull out a drawer. I dump everything out of it and drop the drawer. Nothing. I do the same with the second drawer and the third. I yell out in frustration. He's standing in the doorway.
"You alright?"
I gasp. I climb up on the sofa and grab a box on the shelf. I take it down and jump off the sofa. I open the box and finally I find it. I pull out a folded piece of paper and drop the box. Then, I slowly open the paper and look at the man sitting in a chair. I flip it over and read the back.
Date: 11/15/32 To my Beloved Nikki Van Helsing
Take care of Dear Nightingale for me. Please give this picture to her. She deserves it. And don't forget to tell her about me. She deserves to know who her amazing father is. But please don’t come visit. Move as far away as you can. France, England. America even. I'll try to find you when I get the chance.
Love,
Count Dracula
I flip over the picture and gaze at it. I look up at the man standing in the doorway. Tears blur my vision and I drop to my knees. I watch as a tear drops to the picture. And another. I let the picture float to the floor. I sob. I feel an arm wrap around me and pull me close. I snuggle closer and bury my face in his chest. He strokes my hair.
"Shh. It's alright."
I pull away and look up at him. He smiles.
"Who are you?" he whispers.
"N-nightingale Starr D-d-dracula."
"You are not." He pulls my face up to look at him. He gasps. "Oh my God. You are." He looks towards the door and back at me. "Where's your mother?"
"She's at work. Or, at least, as I know of. She never calls me and lets me know when she's on her way home."
Suddenly, the door slams shut. "Nightingale? Nightingale, where are you?" I hear footsteps approaching. I look up in time to see mom. She gasps. "Nightingale, what did you do?"
"Mom, I found—"
"Dracula?"
He stands up and walks over to her. He brushes a strand of hair off her face and pulls her close. "Nikki," he whispers. He pulls her into a kiss and she wraps her arms around his neck. He sighs. "Oh, Nikki. I've missed both of you so much. When I found out that you had left, I didn't know what to do."
"Well, at least you got to see each other on her first birthday."
I look up. "Is that why I have the same dream every night?"
"Do what?"
"My dream. It's the same exact thing every night."
"What is it about?" Mom lets go of dad and comes over. She sits on the sofa and pulls me up onto the sofa. "Tell me."
"I hear the sound of a baby giggling and then a man comes into view. He looks just like dad." I sigh. "I've had it every night since we moved here. But I didn't want to tell you."
"Oh, sweetie. You know you can tell me anything."
"Why didn't you tell me everything?"
"I don't understand."
"You didn't tell me who my father was. Or that I was able to go out in the sunlight. Or anything else. Like how you said when I was twelve that there's no telling what the Harker foundation would do if they caught me. I have no clue what the heck they are or what they do for a living. I don't know anything." I sigh. "I just now figured out who my father is."
"Sweetie, I didn't know you didn't know any of those things. I thought you knew."
"No. You didn't tell me anything about them as I remember."
"Oh. You poor thing." She pulls me close and kisses my head. "You'll be turning fifteen soon, you know."
"When's daddy's birthday?"
"The same day as yours."
"Really?" I look over at dad. He smiles. I point at him. "How old are you turning?"
"I'm turning 615."
I look at mom. "What? Mom! You did not! He's 600 years older than me? Mom!"
"Sweetie, calm down. Yes, I did."
"You said you were eighteen when you gave birth to me."
"I was."
"So you were seventeen when you made me with a centuries old vampire?"
"Yes."
"MOM!!"
"Sweetie, stop screaming and yelling."
"That's wrong! Do you not realize how wrong that is?"
"Yes. I know. It probably wouldn't have mattered if I told him no or not."
I look over at dad. He's smiling. "NOT FUNNY."
He chuckles. "So? She's telling the truth. I still would've done it."
I groan. "You weirdo."
"Oh, shut up."
I get up and ball my hands into fists. I growl. "Make me."
"Sweetie, don't start."
I grin and let go of my fists. I run up and hug him. "I wouldn't. Not with daddy."
He smiles. "She still calls me daddy."
I watch as mom gets up and joins us. We have a group hug. I smile. Best parents ever.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
