Lord Motte's Vampire Bride - Version 1

The Father

"Start from the beginning, dear girl." The Lord's voice was smooth and sympathetic. Strangely enough, I was nearly soothed by it and I wiped my tears easily.

"I left home with plans to have a small apartment and work for the local paper. They had agreed to hire me, but the whole arrangement was short lived. I never took the job seriously enough." I began simply. "I was a foolish child. I thought I could secure the job no problem as long as my photographs were up to par. They always were, but deadlines are deadlines." I shook my head, still regretting my past actions. The stupid choices I made that led me to where I am now. "I would give anything to change what I did. If I had just kept myself in gear and stop rebelling, then I would have gone somewhere."

"Didn't you grow to love the life on the road?" He muses.

"I did. At first, before it became a necessity." I sigh. "The plan was to do freelance until I could get a new job. Build my portfolio. Get a nice job at a nice place." I cover my eyes. "But then, soon enough, it was a necessity to stay in freelance when I had to change my identity."

"How old were you then?" He speaks up.

"Nineteen."

"So young?"

"Exactly." I nod in shame. "So young and foolish. I threw my whole life as Cynthia away. The dreamer and light-hearted traveller I used to be couldn't exist anymore." I try to put it simply. "I became Sara first. Unoriginal, I know, but I needed a simple, believable name. I used that name on my resumes, and even got a bank account and credit card."

"And then? Why all the others?"

"There was a close call at a hotel one day. My old ID slipped out of my wallet while I reached for my fake one." My heart beat so fast in my chest that day, just as it is now. "I lunged for it before the person beside me could pick it up, but their child grabbed it before I could. Guess they were a lot closer to the ground than I was." I laughed sarcastically. "I snatched it from that kid so fast..." I trail off thoughtfully.

He leans in again, popping the cork out of another bottle of red wine.

"Then I just became obsessed with being caught. If someone caught me with one ID, I wanted it to be impossible to figure out my true identity. After that, I also became Giselle Brown, Bianca Taylor, and Tina Turnbull." I add.

"And what mistake would lead to you being so obsessed with not being caught?" He smiles, clearly unspeakably entertained by whatever mistake I had made. It's bound to be juicy, that's all he needs to know.

"One day, when I was nineteen and still going by Cynthia," I sip more wine in an attempt to numb the horrible feeling growing in my stomach. "I was driving on my own on a back road. A man was lying on the side of the road. I stopped to help him, and he attacked me."

"I need more detail." He immediately interjects.

I groan and ball up my fists. "Fine," I say simply. "He looked familiar as soon as I approached him. I tried to help him off of the ground but he drunkenly shoved me away. He was out of his mind wasted. I pulled out my phone to call the authorities when I saw his car in the ditch. He had been drunk driving and crashed into a pole. He must have pulled himself out of the car..."

Lord Motte raises his index finger, silencing me. "Why are you lying?"

I stutter for a second, taken aback. "I-I'm not lying."

"You're leaving something out." He insists angrily. "Now, what is it?"

I stare back at him wide-eyed. I didn't want to get into more detail. It was irrelevant. He doesn't need to know.

I don't need to say it.

"Tell. Me." He hisses up close. "Even if you need to start over, you must tell me everything."

I hiccup out a sob and look away quickly to hide my sudden tears. "Fine." I murmur. "There is more to it."

"Who was he?" He inquires seriously.

"My father," I whisper remorsefully. "I knew who he was when I approached him because I had tracked him down. I searched everything I could to find out his name according to every detail my mother told me under the circumstances that they met, and he was easy to find once I found out the name of the family that was hosting the party she met him at. It turned out his older brother was the host." 

"Now it's getting interesting." He smirks.

"He was a rich boy, the son of the mayor. He wasn't hard to track down as he never left his hometown. He was running for mayor himself as it turns out to carry on his father's legacy." I scoff. "And as it also turns out, he never stopped his habit of drinking too heavily."

"And how did you happen to find him on the side of the road?" Lord Motte says, intrigued.

"I followed him there after he went to the strip club. It was a very public ordeal." I said with disgust. The idea of one's father enjoying a trip there was absolutely vile to me, especially at that time as my first impression of him. "I saw him get into the car and took off faster than I could catch up. When I got to him he had already crashed. I got out of the car and ran up to him while he drunkenly mumbled to himself." I wrinkled my lips as I pictured the terrible memory.

"Then what?"

"He saw me," I say with gritted teeth. "He saw me and he said..." I slam my fist down on the table, not even startling Lord Motte for a second. He simply watches, completely engrossed in whatever I was going to say next.

"And he said, so you're the girl?"