0239: The Vampire's Daughter Book Three

Sitting on a nearby couch, Sol said, "So Gan is off somewhere doing something and you can't tell me what or where."

"Nope," the little girl said.

"Can you show us around the inner castle?" Sol asked.

"Sure, if you want," Car answered.

"Please," said Sol, getting up and extending a hand to the girl.

She took his hand, stood up, and then curtsied to thank him. "We'll start at the top," she said.

"Jamie, are you going to join us?" Sol asked his friend.

"I would prefer to stay here and sulk, but I'm afraid her little sister would pop in and kill me," Jamie answered, following behind as they walked out of the room.

"A valid concern," Car said.

The first place she took them was the highest tower. It overlooked the entire castle and a large lake behind. The castle was actually situated on a shallow peninsula that thrust into the lake. The water effectively protected about half the castle.

While they were in the tower, Gan's clan could be seen training in the outer court. Car explained what they were doing and how the clan was structured into three teams.

Each team had a different specialty. One was for assassins, another for thieves, and another for mercenaries. The final group was the largest.

She also noted that there was a fourth, elite group that rotated through the others. Her and her sister were in that group.

While they were talking, a limousine with two large trucks behind it pulled into the outer court.

"Who is that?" Sol asked.

"I don't know," Car answered. "Let's keep moving."

"Not yet," Sol said, watching as a woman dressed in white was helped out of the limo by vampires from the trucks. She spoke briefly to one of Gan's men, and was then quickly escorted into the inner castle. Before she disappeared into the castle, however, she looked up at Sol.

"We can continue now," Sol said.

From there, they toured the rest of the castle. It was mostly bedrooms in the inner sections and workrooms on the outer walls.

While walking, Sol asked Car about her creation.

"It's not something I normally talk about, but the details are very simple. My mom was raped. She had twins. A few years later she was killed attempting to protect us.

"With no mother or father, we had nowhere to go so one of the old townsmen took us in as servants for his master. It turned out that he worked for a vampire that had a thing for little girls.

"I was made pretty quickly, but he just kept drinking from Belinda. I didn't know what was going on, so I did nothing at first. After twelve days, though, Gan and a troop of men came and started slaughtering our sire's coven. I made Belinda that night. I don't know why I did it, but it saved her life.

"We ran and hid, but Gan himself found us. We were so afraid after seeing him kill so many of the others that we just cowered before him. When he saw us, though, he fell to one knee and said, 'How could he have done this to children so young?'

"But he didn't kill us. He took us in and taught us. We are women in children's bodies. We are the perfect cover for others, or as assassins ourselves.

"A sick, twisted mind sired us, but Gan made us what we are."


[The Vampire's Daughter: An ongoing vampire story. Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.]