Adam held onto his daughter for as long as her hug went on, and he
took a moment to remember her just the way she was. He was going to return
back to his home in London, and he would leave Madeline there with the
people she'd come to love. He knew she would be happier that way, but he
couldn't stop the tears that came along with having to give her up.
Madeline pulled out of the hug with tears in her eyes. Adam reached over to her and brushed them aside. "Don't cry, darling," he told her. "You'll be happier here without me and without your vampire powers anymore. You were never meant to be such a foul creature anyway. Your soul was never stained and battered enough to be cruel."
Adam stood up and went to the door. Madeline got up off of the floor. "Where are you going," she asked.
Adam turned to face her, his expression was melancholy. "I'm going home," he replied quietly. He turned and exited the room, but Madeline followed.
"Father," she called out to him.
He stopped where he was but did not turn to face her. Tears lingered in his eyes, and he couldn't bear to drag the pain any further. He just wanted to go home and clear his home of Madeline's things. But, he knew that her presence would never leave his home. She'd been with him too long, and she was part of him. Madeline called out to him again, and he turned with fresh tears on his face. Madeline's face darkened with pain.
Adam took a breath and said, "I'll send your things here once I'm home."
Madeline's sight went blurry as tears covered her vision. Her heart ached knowing that her father was going to remove all her belongings from their home. She knew she had a new life, but it hurt knowing her old life was dying away. She'd lived for eighteen years in that home with her father, and Madeline had known nothing but his company. She bit her lip and let the tears spill down her face.
Adam walked over to his daughter. "Madeline, look at me." Madeline looked up at her father, with eyes that were exactly like his. Adam saw so much of himself in his daughter, and that let painful stings in his heart. Every time he saw a mirror, he would think of Madeline because she resembled him so much. Her blonde hair and her green eyes, even her passion was like his. He spoke through tears and told her, "Madeline, it has to be this way. You need to live here with people you love."
"But, I love you." Madeline cried.
Adam held his daughter's shoulders. "You belong here, there's a future here. You'd have no future like this back in London. You'd be away from all your friends and Carl." Madeline knew Adam was right, but she was desperately clinging to the last bit of her old life.
"Why won't you keep my belongings?" Madeline asked sobbing.
Adam wiped tears from his eyes then set his hand back down on Madeline's shoulder. "I cannot see your room and everything in it every day and know that you aren't there. I just cannot do it, Madeline. I have to send your things to you. It is hard enough for me to know that room is never going to be yours anymore. Now, I have to go before the sun rises."
Madeline knew that the sun would rise in an hour, but she held on to her father's hand as he turned away from her. His eyes showed his broken soul, and Madeline couldn't let go of his hand. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he fought them off. "Madeline, please," he begged.
Madeline let her father's hand slip from her grasp, and she watched him turn and walked around the corner. She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. She saw Mae standing in the bathing room doorway. Tears streamed down her face, and Mae came over to her. Mae sat down beside Madeline, and stroked her hair. Madeline leaned over against Mae's shoulder. Mae had been her friend for months, and she felt Madeline's pain radiating out of her body like heat. "He's really leaving, Mae." Madeline said. "He's the last thing I had left of an old life."
Katalena, Carl, and Van Helsing went out into the hallway to find Madeline crying on Mae's shoulder. "I didn't think about how much it would hurt to let go of my past." Mae looked over at the others, who showed sympathy. Carl started to go over there, but Mae shook her head. Mae wanted Madeline to get over losing her past before she returned to the present.
Adam quickly collected all his belongs and woke up Monty. "Monty, we are leaving."
"Where's Madeline?" Monty asked rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Adam closed his eyes and held down his pain. "She's staying here," he said quietly.
Monty understood what was going on and didn't press the matter. He just collected all of his things and headed out to the carriage with Adam. Adam didn't even look back at the manor; he couldn't make himself look. He got in the carriage and shut the door. The darkness of the carriage was soothing to Adam. He heard Monty get up on the driver's seat and get the horses moving. As they began to move, Adam thought about how lonely it was there in that carriage without his daughter. Tears rose to the brim of his eyes, and he tried to blink them away. But, they didn't leave.
Adam let go and sobbed there in the confinement of the carriage. 'She's gone,' he thought. 'My Madeline is no longer part of my life.' His voice was raspy as he cried out, "Lucy, why did you have to make her love so much?" Adam leaned his head against the lining of the carriage as he cried. Lucy's sacrifice for Madeline had caused Madeline to have what seemed to be an endless amount of love. That love had helped the lives of many people, Adam knew that. But, he didn't care if others were helped because he was left with a pain he'd felt when Lucy was first taken from him. Losing his bond with Madeline had awakened the bitterness in his soul.
Once Adam was home, his workers all gathered around him. They asked him, "Where is Miss Maddy?" Adam ignored them because he couldn't deal with the questions. He knew that Monty would tell them Madeline had stayed, so he fled inside. He didn't look at anything as he ran up the flight of stairs to get to his bedchamber. He shut the door and locked it. He wasn't leaving and no one was coming in. He needed to be alone. He laid down on his bed and fell into a deep slumber.
Adam woke the next night and stayed on his bed. He didn't want to get up. He was heart-broken again, and even his hunger could next exceed that. So, he laid thinking about his daughter. 'Why did I let her go? I could have brought her back with me and turned her back into a vampire.' Adam knew deep inside that would have been wrong to do because Madeline never liked being a vampire, but his entire soul was mourning.
Anita, the head maid in Adam's home, knocked at his door. "Adam, honey."
"Go away." Adam said miserably.
Anita used her master key to open up Adam's door. She went in and looked at him. He was curled up in the fetal position. She hadn't seen him so devastated since Lucy's death. "If ya didn't want her to stay, why didn't ya just make her come home?"
Adam turned to stare at Anita. Her dark skin was near impossible to see in the dark room, even for Adam's special vision. "She met new people, and she is pregnant by one of them. She wouldn't have come home. I couldn't have her come home a human anyway. It'd hurt just as bad to see her life fade away every day."
Anita walked over to Adam's bed and sat down. "Honey, Madeline wouldn't want to see ya like this."
Adam ignored her. "Anita," he said with pain evident in his voice.
Anita touched his shoulder. "Adam, what would Lucy think if she saw ya right now? Ya given up laying here waiting for death's sweet end."
Adam turned and looked at Anita. "Don't do this, Anita."
"She would not be pleased." Anita told him.
"My heart has been wounded, Anita. I'll decide how much time it will take to mend it. But, please pack up Madeline's things. I want them sent to her at the Valerious manor in Vaseria." Adam laid back down and closed his eyes.
Anita knew that he wouldn't say anything else. "Aight, Adam. I will have her things packed." Then, Anita left Adam alone again.
Adam got up the next evening and walked to his living room. He stared up at the portrait hanging on the wall above his huge marble fireplace. It was a painting of Madeline, and it was so lifelike. He'd paid a lot of money for that painting, but it had been worth every penny. It was an exact copy of Madeline's beauty, and Adam couldn't take his eyes off of it.
Monty walked into the room and asked, "How do you feel, Adam?"
Adam ignored the question because he was too distracted by his pain. "Take it down," he said.
Monty was confused by the request at first, then he noticed that Adam meant the painting of Madeline. "Sir, I don't think that would be--"
"I said take it down!" Adam bellowed.
Monty winced but nodded, "Yes, Adam."
Adam did not move until the painting of his daughter was off the wall. Then, he felt his body able to move again. The painting had stirred up too much pain for his soul to go on, but it was down and he could go on. "What do you want me to do with it, sir?" Monty asked.
"Store it away where I cannot see it." Adam replied as he went into the kitchen where Anita was.
Anita had been a priestess of an African tribe before she moved with a man to England. Adam had met her when he was a teenager, and she became friends with him. But, he had rarely seen her because she held rituals at night, when he could be outside. After Madeline was born, he had found Anita and asked her to be a nanny for him. She agreed and took good care of Madeline. But, she saw Adam walk into the kitchen with the look of a sad, lonely puppy. Anita opened her arms for Adam, and he accepted her embrace. Anita was an immortal, and she was much older than Adam, so she knew more than he did. He could feel her wisdom while he hugged her, and she stroked his hair. "You can let it out, honey. That's the only way to move on. Trust me, I know." Anita told him.
Adam cried in the arms of Anita, who held him tightly and supported him as the tears fell. She felt sorry for Adam because he'd had so many roadblocks in his life, but this proved to be one of the toughest to pass. But, Anita knew Adam would get past it as long as he had support, and she had supported him as long as she had known him. She wasn't about to leave him alone to deal with the pain he was carrying.
Madeline pulled out of the hug with tears in her eyes. Adam reached over to her and brushed them aside. "Don't cry, darling," he told her. "You'll be happier here without me and without your vampire powers anymore. You were never meant to be such a foul creature anyway. Your soul was never stained and battered enough to be cruel."
Adam stood up and went to the door. Madeline got up off of the floor. "Where are you going," she asked.
Adam turned to face her, his expression was melancholy. "I'm going home," he replied quietly. He turned and exited the room, but Madeline followed.
"Father," she called out to him.
He stopped where he was but did not turn to face her. Tears lingered in his eyes, and he couldn't bear to drag the pain any further. He just wanted to go home and clear his home of Madeline's things. But, he knew that her presence would never leave his home. She'd been with him too long, and she was part of him. Madeline called out to him again, and he turned with fresh tears on his face. Madeline's face darkened with pain.
Adam took a breath and said, "I'll send your things here once I'm home."
Madeline's sight went blurry as tears covered her vision. Her heart ached knowing that her father was going to remove all her belongings from their home. She knew she had a new life, but it hurt knowing her old life was dying away. She'd lived for eighteen years in that home with her father, and Madeline had known nothing but his company. She bit her lip and let the tears spill down her face.
Adam walked over to his daughter. "Madeline, look at me." Madeline looked up at her father, with eyes that were exactly like his. Adam saw so much of himself in his daughter, and that let painful stings in his heart. Every time he saw a mirror, he would think of Madeline because she resembled him so much. Her blonde hair and her green eyes, even her passion was like his. He spoke through tears and told her, "Madeline, it has to be this way. You need to live here with people you love."
"But, I love you." Madeline cried.
Adam held his daughter's shoulders. "You belong here, there's a future here. You'd have no future like this back in London. You'd be away from all your friends and Carl." Madeline knew Adam was right, but she was desperately clinging to the last bit of her old life.
"Why won't you keep my belongings?" Madeline asked sobbing.
Adam wiped tears from his eyes then set his hand back down on Madeline's shoulder. "I cannot see your room and everything in it every day and know that you aren't there. I just cannot do it, Madeline. I have to send your things to you. It is hard enough for me to know that room is never going to be yours anymore. Now, I have to go before the sun rises."
Madeline knew that the sun would rise in an hour, but she held on to her father's hand as he turned away from her. His eyes showed his broken soul, and Madeline couldn't let go of his hand. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he fought them off. "Madeline, please," he begged.
Madeline let her father's hand slip from her grasp, and she watched him turn and walked around the corner. She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. She saw Mae standing in the bathing room doorway. Tears streamed down her face, and Mae came over to her. Mae sat down beside Madeline, and stroked her hair. Madeline leaned over against Mae's shoulder. Mae had been her friend for months, and she felt Madeline's pain radiating out of her body like heat. "He's really leaving, Mae." Madeline said. "He's the last thing I had left of an old life."
Katalena, Carl, and Van Helsing went out into the hallway to find Madeline crying on Mae's shoulder. "I didn't think about how much it would hurt to let go of my past." Mae looked over at the others, who showed sympathy. Carl started to go over there, but Mae shook her head. Mae wanted Madeline to get over losing her past before she returned to the present.
Adam quickly collected all his belongs and woke up Monty. "Monty, we are leaving."
"Where's Madeline?" Monty asked rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Adam closed his eyes and held down his pain. "She's staying here," he said quietly.
Monty understood what was going on and didn't press the matter. He just collected all of his things and headed out to the carriage with Adam. Adam didn't even look back at the manor; he couldn't make himself look. He got in the carriage and shut the door. The darkness of the carriage was soothing to Adam. He heard Monty get up on the driver's seat and get the horses moving. As they began to move, Adam thought about how lonely it was there in that carriage without his daughter. Tears rose to the brim of his eyes, and he tried to blink them away. But, they didn't leave.
Adam let go and sobbed there in the confinement of the carriage. 'She's gone,' he thought. 'My Madeline is no longer part of my life.' His voice was raspy as he cried out, "Lucy, why did you have to make her love so much?" Adam leaned his head against the lining of the carriage as he cried. Lucy's sacrifice for Madeline had caused Madeline to have what seemed to be an endless amount of love. That love had helped the lives of many people, Adam knew that. But, he didn't care if others were helped because he was left with a pain he'd felt when Lucy was first taken from him. Losing his bond with Madeline had awakened the bitterness in his soul.
Once Adam was home, his workers all gathered around him. They asked him, "Where is Miss Maddy?" Adam ignored them because he couldn't deal with the questions. He knew that Monty would tell them Madeline had stayed, so he fled inside. He didn't look at anything as he ran up the flight of stairs to get to his bedchamber. He shut the door and locked it. He wasn't leaving and no one was coming in. He needed to be alone. He laid down on his bed and fell into a deep slumber.
Adam woke the next night and stayed on his bed. He didn't want to get up. He was heart-broken again, and even his hunger could next exceed that. So, he laid thinking about his daughter. 'Why did I let her go? I could have brought her back with me and turned her back into a vampire.' Adam knew deep inside that would have been wrong to do because Madeline never liked being a vampire, but his entire soul was mourning.
Anita, the head maid in Adam's home, knocked at his door. "Adam, honey."
"Go away." Adam said miserably.
Anita used her master key to open up Adam's door. She went in and looked at him. He was curled up in the fetal position. She hadn't seen him so devastated since Lucy's death. "If ya didn't want her to stay, why didn't ya just make her come home?"
Adam turned to stare at Anita. Her dark skin was near impossible to see in the dark room, even for Adam's special vision. "She met new people, and she is pregnant by one of them. She wouldn't have come home. I couldn't have her come home a human anyway. It'd hurt just as bad to see her life fade away every day."
Anita walked over to Adam's bed and sat down. "Honey, Madeline wouldn't want to see ya like this."
Adam ignored her. "Anita," he said with pain evident in his voice.
Anita touched his shoulder. "Adam, what would Lucy think if she saw ya right now? Ya given up laying here waiting for death's sweet end."
Adam turned and looked at Anita. "Don't do this, Anita."
"She would not be pleased." Anita told him.
"My heart has been wounded, Anita. I'll decide how much time it will take to mend it. But, please pack up Madeline's things. I want them sent to her at the Valerious manor in Vaseria." Adam laid back down and closed his eyes.
Anita knew that he wouldn't say anything else. "Aight, Adam. I will have her things packed." Then, Anita left Adam alone again.
Adam got up the next evening and walked to his living room. He stared up at the portrait hanging on the wall above his huge marble fireplace. It was a painting of Madeline, and it was so lifelike. He'd paid a lot of money for that painting, but it had been worth every penny. It was an exact copy of Madeline's beauty, and Adam couldn't take his eyes off of it.
Monty walked into the room and asked, "How do you feel, Adam?"
Adam ignored the question because he was too distracted by his pain. "Take it down," he said.
Monty was confused by the request at first, then he noticed that Adam meant the painting of Madeline. "Sir, I don't think that would be--"
"I said take it down!" Adam bellowed.
Monty winced but nodded, "Yes, Adam."
Adam did not move until the painting of his daughter was off the wall. Then, he felt his body able to move again. The painting had stirred up too much pain for his soul to go on, but it was down and he could go on. "What do you want me to do with it, sir?" Monty asked.
"Store it away where I cannot see it." Adam replied as he went into the kitchen where Anita was.
Anita had been a priestess of an African tribe before she moved with a man to England. Adam had met her when he was a teenager, and she became friends with him. But, he had rarely seen her because she held rituals at night, when he could be outside. After Madeline was born, he had found Anita and asked her to be a nanny for him. She agreed and took good care of Madeline. But, she saw Adam walk into the kitchen with the look of a sad, lonely puppy. Anita opened her arms for Adam, and he accepted her embrace. Anita was an immortal, and she was much older than Adam, so she knew more than he did. He could feel her wisdom while he hugged her, and she stroked his hair. "You can let it out, honey. That's the only way to move on. Trust me, I know." Anita told him.
Adam cried in the arms of Anita, who held him tightly and supported him as the tears fell. She felt sorry for Adam because he'd had so many roadblocks in his life, but this proved to be one of the toughest to pass. But, Anita knew Adam would get past it as long as he had support, and she had supported him as long as she had known him. She wasn't about to leave him alone to deal with the pain he was carrying.