C8 Revelations

I hadn't really blackmailed Lucia, I had only given her to think and in the end it had taken me one step further; the girl's education had been granted to me. Ephraim liked that thought very much. It was only in my own circle that I encountered a contradiction. It wouldn't be possible to teach a vampire the great art of witchcraft. I'd soon teach them better. But until then, I simply observed my future protégée. Almost every day I visited her and her mother and although I initially had my difficulties with Lucia, I quickly noticed that her daughter changed Lucia's character. She wasn't as arrogant as she used to be. The development of the girl proceeded at a rapid pace. After only one month she was able to hold her head independently, she started crawling at the age of four months, went seamlessly into sitting and was able to walk after another eight weeks. Vampire kids are amazing. They remained in the womb for a whole year, but later developed much faster than human children, which is why they should never be brought together. And before you knew it, they were adults.

When the girl, who by the way was christened Larissa, which means the Invincible, was one year old, I came to her again. She had grown into a sweet thing, with hair as dark as ebony, a pale complexion, a radiant, innocent smile and those unmistakable blue eyes. Lucia was in the garden with her children; Tim and his sister were busy catching butterflies. It was autumn again, but the butterflies still romped around in the courtyard garden and shone in the richest colours. Watching the two children push themselves off the ground lightly, jump up to get to the butterflies above, was like magic itself.

I went to Lucia, who was sitting on a bench near her children. She hadn't noticed me. All the greater was her joy when she saw me.

“Emily, good to see you. Please have a seat. I've missed you, you haven't been there in a while, what happened?"

“I had some matters to settle“, while I was pronouncing, I sat next to her.

“I've been thinking about the tribal fathers a lot lately. I'm sure they would have loved it, that you already have two children.“

“Yes, I often think of them too, especially of the day they left. Just like that, without an explanation. When I‘m lonely, I often go down to the big halls where a monument has been erected in their honour, kneel down, talk to them and ask them where they are. And then I ask them to forgive me for what I did.“

“There’s nothing to forgive, Lucia. Your daughter is who she is. If you hadn't been her mother, someone else would have. But your will was too weak at that moment.“

She swallowed, stared into the distance. The mistake she once made had come to life and was just romping around in front of her nose. Yet she loved her daughter idolatrously and would never wish her sorrow.

“I never asked you that, but why couldn't you say no? Why did you fall into his arms? You had everything you wanted. Wealth, power, a loving husband, wasn't that enough?"

She looked at me with cold eyes, but behind this cold lay a certain restrained anger.

“A loving man, yes. Who woke me up late at night when he came back from his business just to live out his sexual urges. Who only took me for the sake of taking. You're right, I had everything but love and affection. And that's what a vampire needs.“

I was completely surprised by this confession. That thought never occurred to me. The thought that Lucia would no longer be happy with Ephraim. For me, they have always been a perfect couple. So Lucia's acting was very good.

“I'm sorry, Lucia. I didn't know it was so bad between you and Ephraim.“

“No, it isn‘t either. Don't get me wrong, I love Ephraim, I'll always love him. But he lost his passion, that glow from when I first met him.“

The approaching children interrupted our conversation.

“Emily, Emily, can you show us a magic trick?", Tim asked me excitedly.

“Of course. Be so kind and give me that stone over there.“

He picked it up and dropped it in my hand.

“Now look closely.“

I closed my hand around the stone and when I opened it again, a small brownish frog sat in place of the stone, croaking wildly.

“Great, how do you do that?"

“I'm a witch, I can do these things.“

I put the frog in Tim's hand. “You can keep him if you want.“

“Go into the house now, children. I'll be right behind you. I have a few things I need to discuss with Emily.“

Tim took his sister on his back and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The girl visibly enjoyed fooling around with her big brother. The intimate connection between the two warmed everyone's heart. Then I turned back to the mother.

“Your daughter is really amazing, barely a year old and she's able to jump in the air like a cat.“

“Yes, she's something very special. When will you teach her?"

“Be patient, there's still time. Now I'll let her be a child.“

I didn't like Lucia's behaviour, so distant and yet that questioning look, like she was asking for help; something burned on her soul and she broke her silence.

“One day my daughter will turn into a werewolf. Then what am I supposed to do? How should I behave? What if someone gets it out?"

“No one will know as long as you make sure she doesn't tell anyone.“

“Does she know?"

“No, the girl has no idea what powers she's got, and that's a good thing.“

“Do you want me to tell her?"

“No, not at all. The girl's gonna turn into a werewolf either way. She won't know what's happening to her, so she'll come to you and only to you. You‘re her mother, you have an influence on her.“

“And then what do I do?"

“Well, what do you think you must do? Tell her she can't tell anyone else about this secret, especially not her father. For one thing is certain, if your secret is ever revealed, then your status at court will be ruined, and hers as well. I wouldn't know if I could convince mine to ignore this and accept the child.“

She nodded weakly. “When will she transform?"

This ignorance got on my nerves. Did this woman know nothing but to make herself pretty and to live into the day? I can't believe this.

“Jesus Christ, Lucia. Don't you know anything about werewolves? You grew up with one.“

“I don't have much to do with them. Well, except for these few times.“

“The young werewolves first transform at the age of sixteen, then they‘re sexually mature.“

“I may not even think about it. Just the thought of someone touching my girl makes me go crazy.“

Lucia's fears of the future were unfounded, I tried to make that clear to her.

“Listen to me, you don't need to be afraid of it, it's perfectly normal. Your daughter may still be the cute doll in your eyes, but one day she won't be anymore. Then she's a young, mature, deadly vampire woman. In any case, you have to be there for her, even when it comes to issues you may not like.“

She took a deep breath. It would be hard for Lucia to let her little girl move once.

“Anyway, we still have some time until then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.“

“Goodbye, Emily.“

I made a small, sweeping bow, of courtesy's will, and moved away.

Three times Spring came and three times it was gone again. And when Larissa was four years old, I decided to start her training.