A Different World

Patricia stood with her mouth open as her father finished telling her about the last eighteen years from his point of view. Her eyes bulged in their sockets as she absorbed everything slowly. After a few moments, she closed her mouth, and then opened it again to speak but no words came out. She closed it again.

She walked backwards and fell back on the bed as it was better than falling on the floor on her ass. It was hard to stand after her father had dropped such a big bomb on her. Everything he said had left her reeling and she had so many questions yet she didn’t know where to start.

"So", she finally spoke after a long silence. "You are my father, a bloodsucker, a supernatural, and so am I."

Her father shook his head and answered, "you are a half-blood. And bloodsucker is too harsh a term, don’t you think? Blood is not our only form of nourishment, even if it is necessary for our survival. We eat and drink like humans too."

She gaped at him and again, there was a long silence as Patricia let it all sink in. I’m a vampire. A half-blood, yet a vampire all the same; because of my father. Her mother had been a human, she was sure about that. Her thoughts halted as one question emerged urgently from among the rest.

“Did mom know?” she whispered.

The pain in her father’s eyes at the mention of her mother was unmistakable. He sat down heavily on a nearby chair and sighed. “She knew what and who I was, yes. But nor I or her knew, or considered, that you could be a half-blood. It was just so… Unlikely.”

Patricia looked at him in disbelief. Mary had known what her father was and why he had left them all along and she had never even bothered to tell their daughter about it. Suddenly she was looking at her mother in a different light, and she did not like how it made her look.

Mary had always been honest and told her everything-Or so she had thought. But hiding the identity of her father didn’t seem like the mother she knew at all. And now, Patricia was learning all about it on her eighteenth birthday, after her mother’s death- the hard way, by becoming a vampire.

It was hard to believe that her life had changed entirely in a single day. First, her mother had died in an accident. Then, her father showed up. And now she was a Vampire. She tried hard to keep in the hysterical laughter that threatened to emerge from her mouth. She was numb to her feelings and it felt like she was witnessing everything from a different perspective like an out of body experience.

She had to drink blood to survive now. Blood. Even the idea of drinking it was revolting, but her throat burned and her stomach grumbled all the same at the thought of it. There was also a throbbing in her gums and it occurred to her that she might have fangs. Another thought came to her with it, do I have supernatural abilities like the ones I’ve read about?

Her heart jumped in excitement and she regarded her hands curiously. They’re probably only myths though. Or what if I won’t possess them due to being a half-blood? Instead of thinking further about it, she decided to ask her father who had been looking at the different emotions flashing across her face in rapid succession.

“Do Vampires have any powers?”

Anthony pursed his lips in consideration. "Not powers, per say. But we do have many abilities like moving faster, as well as our hearing, vision and sense of scent being advanced. We also have better instincts than humans. Half-bloods are similar to ordinary vampires; the only difference is that they live as humans for a period of their life, with their vampire blood being dormant during that time," he explained.

She nodded, slightly deflating in disappointment due to the myths of vampires possessing powers being untrue. "How long do vampires live?" she asked, and then added on second thought, "How long have you lived?"

“Usually Vampires can live for hundreds of years since we cannot die of natural causes. However, we are not immune to the classic stabbing or shooting with silver,” he answered good-naturedly, with the corners of his eyes forming crow’s feet as his lips quirked up. It was the first time he had smiled in her presence. She was captivated by how much it suited him as his dimples showed-the dimples she had inherited from him.

She, however, noticed him not answering her second question and repeated it.

He sighed at her persistence. “I’m around three hundred years old.” As he noticing her shocked expression, he tried to reason, “It’s not that old; there are many vampires older than me.”

Just so she didn’t end up accidentally hurting his feelings, she nodded and tried to smile. It felt strange seeing and talking to her dad for the first time, and that too about vampires, to say the least.

"So," he spoke up as he tried to overcome the sudden silence, "tell me about yourself."

As she told her father all about herself, he listened intently and did not interrupt even once. She couldn't help but think about all the things he had missed in her life and how much she had missed him herself. Even though the years had led her to feeling bitter and maybe even loathe him a little, a corner of her heart longed for a father. Someone who would protect you, treat you like an angel and care for you. And although her mother had done all those things, and had become a friend as well as a father to her, some gaps could only be filled by the person meant for them.

When she finished talking about herself, a comfortable silence filled the room until Anthony suddenly spoke up in a tight voice, as if he was choked up on emotion.

"I am really proud of the woman you have become. I cannot put into words how sorry I am for missing all those years of your life. If you could only forgive me, we could start over but I know that's not easy-"

Patricia teared up at his words and she interrupted him by going over and hugging him.

"I feel sorry too for all the years you missed but i think I can forgive you with time because I know that you did it only to protect me and mom. So, yes, I would like us to start over," she said as she pulled back.

She would try her best to start over and give her father a chance to make things right. After all, he was the only one she had left. She had her aunt too but she couldn't go back to her, at least not yet; God knew what danger that would put herself and her aunt in.

Her father's smile lit up the whole room at her words. As he got up, he hugged her and walked towards the door of the room and opened it. He then turned around and motioned for her to follow him saying, "now how about I give you a tour of our house?"

---

Her first thought as she stepped into the foyer was that Anthony’s definition of a house was NOT the same as hers.

The mansion-as it should be called-was grand and beautiful. As she walked on the gleaming polished floor, she couldn’t help but feel like she was in a dream. With its high towers, whitewashed walls filled with magnificent paintings, many floor to ceiling windows hung with long drapes and luxurious furniture that filled each room, it was a dream estate indeed. She had a hard time believing it belonged to her father, and thus to her too.

It had acres of land surrounding it, consisting of the fruit and vegetable gardens at the back, a ground for playing different sports on one side, and the flower garden on the other side. And at the front lay a long pond with a fountain in the middle and a winding road surrounding it leading to the estate.

Patricia could see a barrier with metal wiring far in the distance, no doubt for the protection of the Duke of Denzopia.

After the tour of the estate was finished, her father showed her to her own room which was down the hall from his own. It was easily twice the size of her previous room-in the human realm of course-and equipped with a huge bathroom and a walk-in closet which was strangely already filled with clothes of her size.

Her father asked her to be in the dining room in an hour and simply left closing the door on his way out. Patricia let out a long sigh before flopping down on her bed. Her legs hurt from walking around the manor and she was already exhausted from going through the hell Anthony had called a transition.

Looking at the opulent ceiling with gold trimmings above her, she briefly wondered how she would get used to living so luxuriously. She had absolutely no idea what her life would be like now that she was a vampire and the daughter of a Duke. She wondered if she would have to work, or continue her studies, if there were even regular colleges in Clandestine.

Suddenly, she let out a giggle. Regular colleges in a vampire realm, who am I even kidding?

All of a sudden, she became aware of a smell of perspiration coming from herself. She made a face as she smelled under her arms and almost became overwhelmed with it due to her newly heightened senses. She really hoped her father hadn't realized how bad she smelled.

In her embarrassment, she jumped out of bed and ran straight into the bathroom to shower without further ado.

As she stepped out from under the showerhead ten minutes later and wrapped a towel around herself, it occurred to her that in haste, she hadn't brought any clothes with her to change into.

She unlocked the door and stepped out... And nearly had a heart attack when she saw that she wasn't alone in the room.