LOST DAUGHTER

EVANORA’S POV:

I woke up with a start, my heart thudding rapidly from the effects of a horrible nightmare. 

My eyes roamed the room I found myself in and the frenzy building was beyond suffocating.. 

However, the sight of the familiar vintage walls of my designated room in the Giovanni Castle returned my heart to a regular pace and my panic washed away.

Oh, goodness. 

My hands reached out quickly for my neck and it was quite the surprise to feel no pain or blood oozing out of there. I let out a sweet breath of relief.

It had all been a dream.

A far too realistic dream.

I brought my forehead down into my hand, soaking in everything I thought had happened. From the man who’d attacked me - the man who’d bitten me - to the handsome stranger who turned into a wolf. I couldn’t help it; I laughed out loud. What sort of nightmare was that? I actually felt like I was dying.

It was crazy!

I laughed some more, like a maniac on drugs. Perhaps I was amused by the fact that for a moment, I actually believed that vampires and werewolves were real-

“Do you mind sharing what’s funny? I might be in dire need of some humour right now.” The sudden voice came from somewhere within the dark room, and with a jolt that threw me off the bed, I shrieked like a damn banshee. 

I landed on the cold marble grounds with a major thud and groaned in pain. Ow! Who the hell was that?

My question was instantly answered by the figure that shot up from a seat positioned in the darkest corner of the room and behold, an elderly man with a well-built frame stood before me, worry lacing his expression.

I knew that face.

King Demetrius Giovanni.

A soft gasp escaped my lips and I blinked to be sure I was seeing right. And sure as hell, it was definitely the legendary King of the Giovanni Dynasty before me.

“Holy shit! Y-your majesty…” I stuttered, quickly going down to my knees to bow at his feet. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were-”

“Stand up, Evanora. My bad, I shouldn’t have scared you like that.” The honorable man spoke in a tone that carried authority, his steel gray eyes briefly softening when I met his gaze. 

Clumsily, I picked myself off the ground, still making sure to duck my head to show my respect. Goodness, this was awkward as hell. I just fell on my butt infront of King Demetrius for crying out loud!

“Oh, please, sir. You’re the king; you can do whatever you want. That’s like your super power. Just a little bit of your royal abracadabra and you could build a castle on the moon if you wanted.” I rambled on like a demented woman, my nervousness getting the best of me. 

Shut up, Evanora You’re embarrassing yourself.

Much to my surprise, he gave off a hearty laugh, like I’d said the most amusing thing. The King shook his head and smiled fondly at me. 

The light in his gray eyes made him look younger than his age but then, King Demetrius had always been known to be ageless. 

“You’re an interesting one, I see. Just like Beatrice. You do look so much like her, and that’s such a beautiful reminder of the woman she was.” His words stunned me.

I froze and my heart seized to beat for a second, before the weight of his words fully settled in on me. Beatrice… That was my mother. He spoke so fondly of her, like he knew her well. Too well, infact. 

But that wasn’t …possible?

“S-sir… How…do you know her? Beatrice. How do you know my mother?” I stared at him with evident surprise and a million more questions.

King Demetrius’ smile wore off and his expression took a darker look, a much more tortured one. As if the next words he would be saying weighed heavily on his heart.

He looked at me with eyes full of regret, and sighed deeply.

“Sit with me, dear. We have a lot to discuss.”

Cautiously, I moved closer to the bed and plopped down on the bed. The air was pregnant with tension, similarly matching the wild beating of my heart. For some reason, I felt like I wouldn’t like wherever this was heading. 

“This feels like one of those crap soap operas; the ones where there’s always the dramatic tension before a bomb is dropped.” I said, hoping to ease the pressure with a small laugh.

But King Demetrius didn’t smile. He didn’t even blink.

“Evanora… My dear, what I’m about to say might be much more bigger than a bomb. But I know your mother raised a brave little girl.”

‘My brave little girl, Evanora. My angel.’ My mother’s last words.

I swallowed a thick lump. “I hope…”

The King sighed again deeply and sank into the spot beside me on the bed. 

“My guards found you in a ditch outside our borders yesterday morning. You were at the brink of death-”

“Wait, what?” I paled instantly. “That… that was real? No, that’s not possible. It was a nightmare. There had been creatures with crazy claws and…and fangs. I’d dreamt it.”

“Take a deep breath, Evanora. I’ll need you to calm down and listen carefully to everything I’m about to say. What you saw…wasn’t a dream. It all happened.”

Every wall I’d built to protect myself from those words came crashing down. Memories from that awful morning came flooding back in horrifying flashes - the blood, the agony of his fangs on me, the man with tempting eyes. 

My heart thrashed even more than before.

“I don’t understand…sir. I mean, no offense, Your majesty, but I think you’re highly mistaken.” I dared to scoff out a humorless laugh as I reached out to my neck. Nothing still. “I don’t buy any of these, cause firstly, I had bruises on my body, my neck w-was bitten by that…”

“Vampire. He was a vampire, and when he bit you, he injected a venom from his fangs that was slowly going to kill you. But when my guards found you, our best physician gave you the antidote and thank God for your nature, you healed fast. Look, Eva, all this is my fault, if I’d told you earlier about-”

I shot up from the bed. “What? My, what? I freaking had that ‘injury’ yesterday, sir. And did you just say vampire? Oh, god. What sort of delusional world is this? I don’t know what this is all about, maybe a sick prank, but I’m out. I’m going home now. You can cut the cameras and end the soap opera.”

My fingers trembled as I went about picking up my belongings littered across the room. Everything felt suffocating and by all means possible, I needed to get the hell away from here - castle be damned. I refuse to be a part of this madness.

“You’re not listening to me. I need you to take my words seriously, Eva. The faster that you realize that this world is running with creatures other than humans, the better for you. You saw it yourself! You felt the pain when that scoundrel attacked you.” He followed after me.

I scoffed, muttering quietly to myself. “If only the world knew that their beloved King is losing a few screws in his head.”

However, despite my own stubbornness in admitting what was right infront of me, some part of me knew it. 

Like he said, I’d felt it - the tremendous pain that had engulfed my consciousness when the ‘vampire’ had bitten me. It had felt too excruciating to be just a dream. 

Everything about yesterday had felt too real and perhaps, too scary for me to accept the bitter truth; vampires and werewolves were real.

My heart sank further at that thought. 

I spun around to the King abruptly.

“Let’s say I buy this whole…craziness for a minute. How does that explain why my injuries disappeared? How does that explain how you know my mother? How does that have anything to do with the fact that I’m here right now?” My heart drummed. 

The King’s gaze softened and he came closer to me.

“Everything, child.” He lifted his thumb and caressed my cheeks softly. The gesture both surprised and warmed my heart. “I made a mistake a long time ago and it cost me the woman I loved. Her name was Beatrice…Salvatore.”

My breath halted and icy skittered down my spine.

“W-what?”

“Evanora, your mother was my first love. My everything. We met when I visited the city for business and we made love. It was like an instant attraction. But I knew we couldn’t be together because we’re…very different.”

For some reason, his words angered me.

“Different? You mean she wasn’t up to your high-ranked royal ass?” I scoffed. “Well, you should have thought of that before you left her to raise a child alone for 16 years!”

“No, no. That’s not what I meant. I would never look down on a woman like Beatrice - she was like a rare diamond in the rough. Infact, she was everything I’d ever wanted in one person. But, you see, dear, we belonged to different worlds - my kind would never accept a human as queen. And by the time I found out she was pregnant with you, it was too late.”

His words, like brutal bullets following after each sentence, shot at me. It both felt overwhelming and constricted my heart. Questions and questions doubled within me, and a thickness formed in my throat. 

“What? You aren’t…human? I… What do you mean? What are you?” I edged backward now.

He seemed to notice my reaction and put up his hands in surrender.

“I’m not going to hurt you. You’re my daughter. My only child. You don’t know how much I’ve waited this long to-” He made a move to come closer.

“Stay back!” I flinched back, eyeing him warily. “You haven’t told me what you are yet. A wolf…man?”

He stopped.

“A vampire, Evanora, and you’re one too.”