Five months later, on the 22nd of February, I come into a very quiet castle. I gaze around and find Dracula sitting at the table with a cup in his hand.
"Well, hello," he says with a smile. He dips the tip of his left-hand middle finger in the liquid that's in the cup he's holding. He lifts it up, looks at me, raises his eyebrows, and puts his finger in his mouth.
I roll my eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know what's in that cup."
"What is it then, miss smarty-pants?"
"Well, it's not wine considering you don't drink...wine. And considering you're a vampire and the liquid is red, I have a feeling it's most likely blood."
"Oh, well, look at you. You know logic."
"Shut up, smartass."
He smirks and sets the cup on the table. He sighs and clasps his hand together, fingers intertwined. "Well, we have an extra special guest today."
"Who?"
"Myself."
I look towards the sound of the voice and my eyes land on a tall, well-dressed man with some-what thick eyebrows and a slightly dark complexion.
I gasp. "Father?"
He smiles at me. I run to him and wrap my arms around him in a hug, tears streaming down my face.
"I missed you. A lot." I sniffle. "Mom's had a really tough time raising me and she's done everything she can to make me happy. Sometimes she gets so stressed out that she ends up drinking glass after glass of wine. She's gone so far as to almost losing her job."
"Shh. It's alright. I know my sister's with her, so she'll be okay."
I look up at him and he smiles warmly. "What do you say 'bout going back to America tomorrow?"
I let go and back away. I look over at Dracula. He must sense my looking at him because he looks up, directly at me. He gets up and walks over to me. He lifts my chin and gazes into my eyes.
"I told you," he says softly. "I have to stay here."
I hug him and bury my face in his chest. I hear him sigh.
"You've got your father now, Zoe."
I back away and look up at him. "I know. But I don't want to leave you."
"Here, I have something I've been meaning to give you for a while. I was going to give it to you in New York, but you left so suddenly." He hands something to me. "And I put my contacts on there, so you can stay in touch. But, my God, don't text and call me nonstop everyday."
I look down at the object he gave me, confused. "My phone. I forgot all about it."
"That's because you went so long without it."
I shrug. "I don't use it much anyway. I'm not a phone addict like a bunch of other people my age."
He smiles, obviously amused. "Ha! That's too funny."
"It's true. I mean..."
Suddenly, Dracula lifts my chin, leans in, and kisses me on my lips. I feel my heart skip a beat and I feel like I have a thousand butterflies fluttering in my stomach. He pulls away and I see him glance up. Then, I remember my father's presence and I blush profusely in embarrassment as I look away.
"That's embarrassing," I mutter and both Dracula and my father laugh. "That's definitely not funny," I say a little louder. They don't seem to hear me. I walk over to them and gently punch Dracula in the stomach.
"What was that for?"
"Stop laughing!"
He raises his eyebrows at me, amusement dancing in his eyes. "What about Andrew. He was laughing too."
"He's different. He's my father."
Dracula rolls his eyes at me. "Andrew, I think your daughter needs some mental help."
My mouth drops open. "You little...Grrrr."
"Oh, poor baby. What are you going to do? Huh?"
I sigh. "Nothing."
"Oh, okay. Then why'd you growl?"
"To keep myself from cussing at you."
He laughs. "Oh, goodness. That's not going to hurt me any."
"Fine. Undead asshole."
This time, me and my father laugh as Dracula mutters something under his breath.
*****
The next day, at four in the morning, my father and I get up and head to the airport in Târgu Mures. We get there at about seven in the morning and get on the quickest airplane to New York city, which takes thirteen hours and five minutes.
Once we get to New York, my father checks the time and says it's one a.m. He says we ought to get some sleep, then head for Memphis by plane in the morning. We find the nearest and cheapest hotel. We get into the hotel room and I collapse on one of the beds. I fall asleep instantly.
The next morning, dad gets me up and we head to the airport after paying the hotel for our stay. Three hours later, we arrive in Memphis, Tennessee. We manage to get a free ride to Jackson and once we get to the point to turn left onto Pinewood Road, father and I tell the driver to stop there and we can walk the rest of the way. We get out and walk home. Once home, I tell dad to stay in the kitchen and that he'll know when to come into the living room. I go into the living room and hug mom.
"Oh, you're back. I mean, you were gone longer than expected, but--"
"Mom, I'm fine. Really."
She sighs. "That's good." She turns around and grabs something. "Here. This is for you."
She hands me something wrapped in tin foil.
"I didn't have any present wrapping paper, so I just used tin foil. I hope you like it."
I tear off the tin foil and gasp. "Dad's journal."
"Yes. He had told me to give it to you on your sixteenth, but I forgot. And while you were gone, I did some cleaning and I found it. That's when I remembered. And I decided to give it to you when you got back. I guess you could say it's a family heirloom, but it started with your father. He got a hold of it. It's Agatha's. It's the notes she made on Dracula when she was in Budapest. At that convent that Dracula killed everyone in. He found it somewhere. I don't remember where, though."
"Thanks, Mom." I smile and set it on the couch. "Oh, um, I brought a special someone I'm pretty sure you'll be happy to see. I just think Susana should see him first, though. If that's fine with you."
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Where is she anyway?"
"Where is who?"
"Auntie!" I hug her once she comes to stand beside mom.
"Oh."
I let go. "There's someone waiting for you in the kitchen." I smile and lean in. "But don't tell mom who it is," I whisper.
"Oh, um, okay." She goes into the kitchen and I hear her gasp. "Oh my God!"
"Mom, you coming?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah."
I put a blindfold over her eyes and lead her to the kitchen. Then, once in the kitchen, I lead her up to dad. He smiles and I take off the blindfold.
"Surprise!"
Mom looks up and gasps. I see a tear roll down her cheek. "Andrew?" Her lip quivers.
"Hello Rosalina."
Mom hugs him and just by looking at her jerking shoulders, I can tell she's crying.
I smile slightly and look away. "Um, I'm going to my bedroom." I go back into the living room and grab the journal on the couch. Then, I go back to my room and shut the door. I lean against it and clutch the journal. I slide to the floor as tears stream down my cheeks.
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