Dracula's Daughter

Epilogue

Epilogue/Chapter 34

As the third anniversary of her father's death came and went, still with no sign of Christian, a depression overcame Valentina.

It seemed impossible for a vampire to become depressed, but that was the only name Valentina had for whatever it was she was feeling right then.

Jessica and Nicholas had gone their own way after Jessica had learnt all she could from her maker.

And Lucius, who had been denying his true heritage, found a new pack. They had been travelling through London when he found them on the night of a full moon. Some would call it fate.

And no matter how much Valentina loved Lucius, she could not live with a pack of werewolves for eternity.

So she left, with the promise to meet before the next century arrived.

She had wandered the streets at night, sleepwalking through her existence as she slept, walked and fed and repeated the process all over again.

There had once been a light in the world, a small glimmer of hope in the distance which promised that it wasn't all for nothing.

The more she went on the further that glimmer seemed to disappear until, one night, it simply wasn't there at all.

That was the night Valentina decided to leave this world.

She had lived over five hundred years, the world had changed around her so much that she felt she no longer had a place in it.

Travelling back to where it began, Valentina saw the destruction that five hundred years had brought to her home.

The castle, that stood tall and mighty in her memory, was reduced to rubble. A few stones remained showing where the walls of the castle had been but nothing more.

It was just earth and soil.

Closing her eyes, Valentina was transported back into her eighteen year old human self. She was stood in her room, lighting a lantern by her bed as night descended over the region.

She could remember standing on her balcony and watching her last sunrise however, as it did now, the feeling of warmth evaded her.

A chill had set itself up in her bones and there it had remained for hundreds of years.

As she focused on the fire in the lantern her thoughts turned to torches, burning fiercely, as they were rammed through a wooden cage.

Her eyes snapped open as she felt the pain of her skin burning with clarity.

Turning her back on her home, Valentina turned and headed west.

Her mind sharpened as a new purpose overtook her limbs. She had not made this journey in centuries but she remembered it as if she had walked it only yesterday.

Cutting through the trees, Valentina pushed an overgrown branch aside and stepped forward, her eyes widening as they beheld the ruins before her.

They had stood the testament of time better than her father's castle. Most of the structure remained.

The far eastern corner had been demolished, leaving a pile of rubble on the floor, and vines had grown up the walls, taking the building back to nature.

Valentina approached cautiously, memories flooding her body. The doors were held on by a single hinge, tilting dangerously to one side, until it appeared any movement would make them collapse.

Valentina ducked carefully beneath it and stepped inside.

'I am Count Christian Korzhakov.'