Dracula's Daughter

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Dusk arrived a lot sooner than Valentina wished and soon they were walking back along the path towards the Hybrid.

They would soon be upon her father and Valentina would lose her chance.

Keeping at the rear of the pack, as Christian led from the front, Valentina had the opportunity to inspect Jessica.

She was a slight thing; barely reaching five foot seven and bones so thin they could be snapped in an instant.

And yet she had been the one to run a stake through Countess Elizabeth's back; a silver stake that was now nestled inside her boot.

Jessica's blonde hair had been tied back into a low hanging ponytail when she turned her head and glanced at Valentina who stood behind her, as if somehow sensing she was being watched.

Valentina did not adjust her gaze and remained staring at her as her ears continued to hear her mis-matched heartbeat.

Humans all had a similar heartbeat rhythm. A few of their hearts beat too fast or too slow but that was nothing unusual. But Jessica's heart was.

Valentina had never heard a human with such a heartbeat before.

Jessica tripped over her own feet as she focused too much on Valentina instead of concentrating on the rugged terrain they were walking upon.

In an instant, Valentina had travelled the distance between them and curled her fingers around Jessica's arm, keeping her from falling.

Christian and Lucius turned and watched them curiously but a simple look from Valentina and Christian created a gap between the two pairs.

Valentina waited until the gap between them and Christian and Lucius had grown sufficiently before she slipped her fingers from Jessica's arm.

Jessica gazed at her arm, surprised that Valentina could control her strength enough that her grasp didn't leave a mark.

But Jessica was further surprised that Valentina had aided her. Jessica thought Valentina would leave her to her death.

And yet, Jessica thought, she had saved her from Elizabeth the night previous.

"Um, thanks," Jessica mumbled, unsure of how to thank a creature she had been trained to kill, before she turned to take a step towards the others, they were already far away.

Valentina blocked her path.

Jessica frowned in confusion, why wasn't she letting her pass?

Staring up into her opaque eyes, Jessica felt her stomach knot with fear as her mind tried to comprehend that she was staring into the eyes of Dracula's daughter.

It was surreal.

"I think it's time you told me the truth about your past." Valentina spoke smoothly.

"My past?" Jessica squeaked, blood pounding behind her ears.

Valentina did not have the time for games, "We shall soon be convening with my father," Valentina made sure that Jessica knew the weight of such a thing, "And he shall not bother with civilities. He will kill you on sight."

Jessica swallowed around the lump in her throat but she kept to her story, "I do not know what you mea-"

Valentina's lips curled back to expose her crystal white fangs, a hiss sounding from deep inside her throat.

Jessica stiffened her spine, trying not to be scared but in the still night air it felt like her heart was wired into a speaker.

Jessica felt as if the entire world could hear her heart beat.

"If I am to protect you from my father," Valentina took the softer approach, "I need to know the truth. Why is your heartbeat so irregular?" Valentina snapped.

Jessica closed her eyes in defeat; she knew Valentina had heard it. The instant they had met, Valentina had asked her about the defect. Jessica had only hoped she had forgotten about it.

Jessica took a deep breath, as if she was about to impart with a long and telling tale.

Valentina tried to hide her enthusiasm for the truth.

"I'm an orphan," Jessica started the story, Valentina's enthusiasm drooped slightly, "I never wanted to know about my biological parents until just after my fifteenth birthday."

Valentina watched as Jessica paced around, her fingers pulling at the fibres on her shirt.

"I was knocked off my bicycle one day on the way to school and I broke my arm," Jessica's voice began to grow strained, "The doctors said I would need surgery to repair the break and it would take months until I would be able to use it again."

Valentina heard Christian and Lucius pause a few miles from their position. They were waiting for them.

"But when they got into surgery they found that my arm had already healed itself," Jessica spoke slowly, as if afraid.

Valentina frowned.

"It was as if my arm had never been broken," Jessica watched Valentina closely but she said nothing, simply allowing her to continue.

"The doctors couldn't explain it and neither could my adoptive parents. That's when I began to look into my past and I found out that-" Jessica broke off mid-sentence, her voice becoming broken and her stinging with the threat of tears.

Jessica kicked at the soft earth with her boot, mustering her strength before she continued.

"-I found out that my mother and father had been attacked by, what I now know are, vampires on the day of my birth." Jessica's eyes began to shine with unshed tears as Valentina soaked up in the information.

It still did not account for her heartbeat and strange healing abilities.

"The medical report stated that there were 'fang' marks all over her body, including her adomen," Jessica shut her eyes tightly, like she did every time she thought of her true parents. She could not imagine what they went through, the fear they must have felt.

"The vampires were disturbed and my mum lived long enough to give birth to me on the side of the road," Jessica flew her arms up beside her in a shrug, "That's it. That's all I know."

Valentina could only stare at Jessica as she absorbed the information, her body warped with shock.

She had heard tales of such a thing but Valentina never knew that it was possible.

"What is it?" Jessica saw the haunted and knowing look etched upon Valentina's expression, "What do you know?"

A few seconds passed as Valentina could only stare at Jessica in confusion; she was such a slight thing that it seemed impossible. There was no way that Jessica could be a-

"-Valentina!" Jessica shouted her name, her hunger for knowledge hiding her fear, "What is it?"

Valentina blinked, "When a vampire drinks from a human part of our saliva enters into the human's blood stream. The humans are fine and there are never any effects."

"But?" Jessica pushed.

"But when the vampire bit into your mother's stomach, he bit into the womb and, somehow," Valentina breathed unsteadily, "Your blood must have mixed with the vampire's saliva."

Jessica slowly began to get the picture that Valentina was painting.

"Your body, in its distressed state, took on the stronger parts of the vampires DNA and adapted it to survive outside the womb," Valentina looked up at Jessica, their eyes locking.

"What does it mean?" Jessica whispered.

"It means," Valentina's eyebrows drew together, "you're a hybrid."