Mi corazón cenicero

Para siempre

1965, New Oreleans, Louisiana 

Her parents had never quite been there for her. When they would go downtown and party, they usually just left her to do what she pleased, once she got old enough. Little Primrose was just 5 years old now. 

She was perched on a barstool, watching the crazy-haired man curiously as he worked on cleaning up around the club. It was after closing hours. And usually, this is where she slept, if she didn't end up following him home. "How come you drink that drink all the time?"The little girl's voice chimed out, noticing the , ahem...Blood martini, in his hand. He blinked, pale eyes flickering over to meet her's. He smiled and set his glass down on the bar. He strolled up closer to her. "Well, i'm not like you, baby."The soft Hungarian accent chimed out. "I'm not a human. What i have to drink is what helps me stay alive."

The girl crinkled her nose. "Whaddaya mean, not human? Like an alien or somethin'?"She asked, a short giggle following her words.  "How would a drink keep you alive, silly?" 

He smiled warmly. "Kind of like that, i suppose. But not quite."He chuckled. "You've heard about the major issues with Covens here in Nola lately, haven't you? The bloodsuckers?"

She nodded. "They're in tha' paper all the time." 

"Well, you see, i'm the leader of one of the biggest in this city, babygirl."He explained softly to her. "We're dead, but alive. Undead, if you know what that means. We don't age or die like humans do. We don't eat what humans do, either"He went on. 

Her eyes widened a little at what he had to say. Just being a child and all, she had no idea how serious it was to be around those that had been considered to be the biggest killers in New Oreleans. She was blinded by a child like love for this man. He was, after all, a parent to her, seeing as she had never had her biological parents there for her.  "Thas' cool."She mumbled. And for a few moments, she was quiet, just staring up at him. This man was like a cartoonish figure to her. Tall, lanky, and his hair --- By the goddess, his hair was as wild as could be. It stook up in all kinds of directions. Not to mention his facial features. Who would've ever heard of a man wearing makeup like him in their time? It was unheard of. But this had always fascinated little Primrose from the start. 

"I wanna be like you."She chimed out after a few moments of silence. 

He smiled. The vampire picked up his glass and carried it to the sink behind the bar, as he usually did before they closed up. He walked to the other side of the bar and held his arms out to her. She happily obliged by hopping into his arms from the barstool. He shifted the little girl to his hip and picked up the keys. He walked towards the door of the night club with her in his arms. 

"Tell you what. Maybe one day when you're older, you can be like me."

"I sure hope so."She smiled. "I love you, 'Tias." 

This man's name was Mattias Kaiser  . And he had always been there for her. 

"Hi, 'Tias."Her voice must've sounded so child like to him, even now, just hearing the little girl that he practically raised up all on his own. 

His eyes did light up upon hearing who it was. However, knowing it was a pay phone, he knew that it couldn't have been good news. He rose from where he had been sitting in his lovely velvet red love seat on the upper floor of his club. He glanced between the important figures whom sat before him. He covered the microphone on his phone for just a moment to speak to them. "I'm terribly sorry, i have to go."He spoke promptly before he brought the phone to his face again and strolled out of the room. 

"The apartment burned down...We lost everything."She stated, a shaky sigh following her words. She twiddled with the cord attached to the phone between two fingers, and she watched anxiously as Silas spoke with the firemen. From what they had heard so far , there wasn't all that much inside that they could have saved. Al that they did have proofed from chaos like this was in one big drunk. Some of her clothes, Silas's tools of with craft, and old pictures from the past. Everything else was burnt to a crisp. 

"It's a damn miracle y'all are still alive." Mattias heard the Southern tone of a fireman chime out from the other line, among much of what he was sharing with them. He felt his heard sink in his chest. He sighed , leaning against the doorway leading into the back room of his club.  Her voice is what broke his heart more than anything. He'd been with this kid since she was a a wee child back in the early sixties.  He'd  never quite seen somebody struggle from the moment they were born as much as he did with her. But he was there for her the entire time, and that was damn clear. Even now, what, nearly fourty years later, he was still right by her side. "What the hell happened?"He asked, shock and distraught clear in his tone. 

"A cigarette caught the curtains on the fire at some point last night..."Primrose replied , her voice small. She sounded like a child that was afraid of getting in trouble with her parents, the way that she was talking right now. That child-like guilt was prevalent in her tone. It was like she almost didn't grow up, even now. Not to him, anyway. "It..It didn't burn down the entire complex, though."She tacked on. She let out a shaky breath and bit down on her lower lip. 

Mattias sighed deeply. Spidery fingers combed back from his mane of dark, messy hair. Gods, he'd be damned if he kept picking up for this child for the rest of his days. But he couldn't help it, no matter how hard that he may have tried.  He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before he spoke up again. "I'll be there soon, alright....?"Is what he said. Nearly begrudgingly. It was like he was still having to follow around a little toddler, making sure that she didn't get into trouble or making too big of a mess. Even centuries later, he was still having to pick up after his little Primrose Dalia Alamilla. After all, she was the only child he had ever had, and would ever had. After all , if he hadn't wanted her with him forever and always, why did he give her the bite all those years ago? This was his child by choice. 

He loved his rose ,and he would eternally.