The Vampire Princess

Chapter 4

"Dad it's OK you do not have to keep going I can tell it from here." Brooke said wrapping an arm around her father as he hung his head in shame.

"No Brookie, just give me a moment and I will finish my side of the story." He got up disengaging himself from her and walked to the sink. His anger getting the best of him he picked up the ancient vase he kept on the counter and threw it at the wall above Michael's head.

"Easy brother." Michael said moving Abby away from the debris

"Why are you so angry Lucian?" Abby asked not understanding why the anger was still so fresh

"I let my daughter end her life because, I never connected with her on the level that Amile did. I loved them both but Amile was not my true mate and Lilah died as a result of it." He said taking deep breaths. "Shall I continue to tell the story so that Brookie can get to hers?"

"Please Lucian, sit with me it gives me comfort." Gabby said holding out her hand. Lucian without a second thought walked to her and sat down throwing his arm around her shoulders and holding her hand.

While walking to the bar he now frequented Lucian heard a young girl scream. He turned from the bar and walked toward the sound of the young girls voice.

"Daddy, I do not want to be a slave, this is not fair."

"Do you want me to live or do you want them to kill me girl. The only way they will not kill me is if I give them a young girl. You are the only thing they will take from me and if it keeps me alive than I am going to do it. So, get your things girl your leaving early in the morning.

"I am your daughter. Do I mean absolutely nothing to you?" The girl cried her pain as deep as Lucian's.

"Of course, you mean something to me Brooklynn. You mean that I can keep living and breathing, as long as they have you for the payment, I owe them I get to keep living. Don't you want me to live child?"

"Not if it means I must be someone's slave, that is not a father, fathers are supposed to protect their children not sell them to keep themselves alive. I wish you had died instead of mom."

The man slapped the young girl and Lucian lost his cool. He walked out of the shadows and his eyes glowed red. The man grabbed the girl off the floor and held her in front of him as a shield.

"Put the girl down, you are not a father and you deserve to die." Lucian growled in his low gravelly voice and pounced on the man.

The man screamed and dropped the child. Lucian drank until the man was near death. As he dropped the man, he spoke again to make the man understand just how close he was to death, " I will be surprised if you make it to morning. I am taking your daughter and she will live forever with me and be my daughter, you do not deserve to be a father."

Lucian turned around and scooped up the child and walked out of the door. He looked down at the child only 6 years old and he smiled, she reminded him so much of Lilah. She was beautiful and he almost cried. The child was still passed out in his arms as he carried her down into the tunnels where he resided until Markus could get him on a ship to America. Now he had someone to take the long journey with him.

The child woke up and looked up wide eyed at Lucian.

"You are one of the Vampires that terrorizes the city." she stated matter of fact. Her voice did not betray any fear as most did when they realized what he was.

"You are correct child, yet you are not afraid of me, why is that?" He smiled at her his nicest smile, something he did not do anymore. Not since he lost his family.

"You saved my life, why should I be afraid of someone who saved me from a fate worse than death?"

"Death can sometimes be a welcomed sight child." He spoke low and sadly, Brooke smiled up at him and crawled to him and hugged his legs.

"You are so sad; you have lost someone close to you. That is why you saved me, because you could not watch someone go through what you went through."

"You are much wiser than your years child." He picked her up and sat her on his lap and she hugged him.

"Brooke, I like to be called Brooke or Brookie."

"Well Brooke you should get some rest we are leaving for the new world in three days."

"Are you going to turn me into a Vampire to?"

"Not until you are 21. That is when I was changed and that is when you will be changed if you want it."

Brooke yawned and walked to the bed she was laying on before. She smiled at Lucian and laid down.

"Good Night, Dad."

Lucian smiled and laid down as well. His thoughts as always turned to Amile and Lilah, the pain they had lived through just being with him. He tried not to remember the pain his young child had gone through watching her mother die in front of her. He thought about her stabbing herself in the heart to be with her mother. Now his thoughts turned to Brooke and the story she had to tell. He had at least done some good by saving this child's life, he had honored his daughters life by finding this girl and saving her. Now maybe he could get some rest at night.

Brooke stood next to the sink and cried. The pain her father lived with every day was not something she herself could comprehend. She turned back to everyone and sighed slowly.

"Now it's time I tell my part of the story. Trust me when I say that this is going to be something none of you will be able to unlearn, so please be sure you want to know all of this before I tell you."

"We are listening Brookie." Abby said smiling at her best friend.