Prologue: New home
Valeriya was overjoyed when the apartment decorating was finally finished, it was better than she ever imagined and her room was huge. She let out a giggle as she jumped onto her new bed; Papa said she could have any bed she wanted since she was going to use it for the next few years at least so she chose a big one that came with a red lace bed canopy which hung from the ceiling, she even got to have her room painted red which was the best colour ever in her opinion.
She lay down and wiggled impatiently, where was papa to tell her a story and tuck her in, he said he would be in to do it soon and it had been a whole 5 minutes since then. As if on cue her bedroom door opened and her papa stepped into the room, red eyes glinting with amusement as he stared at his pouting daughter.
'Vat is wrong Solnyshko?" Dimitri asked his pouting daughter.
She continued to glare at him cutely, red eyes glinting with indignation, and Dimitri quickly brushed his hand through his shaggy black hair in an attempt to prevent himself from giggling.
Valeriya huffed 'You took age's papa, I was waiting forever'
Dimitri let out a deep chuckle and Valeriya squeaked in indignation as he gathered her into his arms and ran his hands through her hair, making the already messy black hair even messier.
He pressed a kiss to her head and began to tuck her into to bed ignoring her glare.
'Vat story vould you like to hear tonight sveetheart?' Dimitri asked with a grin showing off pointed canines.
Valeriya let our another huff before grinning at her silly papa 'Can I hear about the time you met the pixies again, please'
'Of course little one, now let's see how did zat go again ah yes, One day I vas told by your Nana to go out and gather some flowers for a centre piece ven I noticed some unusual lights in the bushes…'
Valeriya felt her eyes grow heavy and her head go fuzzy as her father twisted a tale of mischievous pixies with a large sweet tooth and soon fell into a deep sleep dreaming of forests and all sorts of amazing creatures. Dimitri smiled at his sleeping daughter, she looked so much like him some it was almost like staring in a mirror, it was odd sometimes.
Dimitri stood and stretched, feeling his spine pop as he did so, and then leant over to turn on the small star night light by his daughter's bed. Like most children her age she disliked the dark, but considering what she had seen she had better reason than most. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and left the room, brushing his fingers across the flowing symbols painted on the door. He smiled and returned to his room for the night, they both had a big day tomorrow.
Behind him the symbols on the door burned red.