22. It´s Not Too Late

"What?", Lily questioned, turning her head towards Dracula. "No, you´re lying!" Fresh tears welled up in her eyes at the memory of her father. Dracula had told her himself that he murdered him... but he didn´t kill him himself!

"Right", he said. He had read her thoughts. "I told the inquisition to end his life quickly but instead of that they prefered to... to... torment him."

Lily thought her ears were deceiving her. "No!", she screamed and jumped off the bed, which caused her more pain than expected. "You knew it and let it happen! Why!", she demanded to know.

Dracula walked over to her and placed his hands softly on her shoulders. "Lily, if I had known that earlier I would have been able to stop them."

"You´re nothing but a liar! You knew it the whole time!"

He shook his head and said very slowly: "It´s not my fault. Not that. I know that you´ve been through much pain just because of me, but I never said that I wanted your father tormented. Please, believe me." Lily turned her look towards the floor. Maybe he was right. But why didn´t he tell her that before?

"Because I visited the prison, where your father´s kept, just yesterday. I know that it hurts you to hear this but he isn´t well."

Dracula watched her raise her head again. He had missed seeing the beautiful eyes of his angel.

"Did you talk to him?", Lily asked as she blocked a sob that wanted to leave her. He nodded, resting one hand on the side of her face. "He asked me about you and if I treat you right. I had to say the truth: no."

Suddenly an idea crossed her mind. "Can I see him? Just for a few minutes that I can tell him that I´m alright?"

"But you´re not alright", came his reply, "He wouldn´t want to see you like that. It would only hurt him even more."

Lily stamped her foot. "But I want to see him! I can´t look that bad!" At least she believed. Dracula took her hand carefully and led her to mirror in his room. What she saw there made her cry out. That couldn´t be her: her eyes were red and swollen from all the tears she had cried; in her long hair were so many knots that she couldn´t count them anymore; her dress was torn and dirty and her body thinner than ever in her life.

"I´m sorry", he whispered, "I didn´t mean to scare you but you had to know."

Slowly she sank to her knees, hiding her face behind her hands. Through her fingers she could still see the mirror, which showed her but not Dracula (of course).

Before Lily even thought about what she wanted to do she did it: she rammed her fist in the glass that reflected herself.

The mirror came crashing down in a million pieces. She expected Dracula to get angry and shout at her but he just bent down beside her and helped Lily to her feet. It surprised her that he wasn´t disgusted of her body.

"Lily, it´s not too late. Your father is still alive. I don´t know how long but as soon as you have the strength you can go to him, ok?"

She just nodded and let him embrace her. She felt so safe that she couldn´t help but trust him.

"It won´t take long. You´ll get new clothes, you can take a bath and get as much food and water as you can eat or drink."

"Thanks", Lily whispered and just let him hold her. He wasn´t a monster anymore. And in Lily´s opinion he had never been one. No monster could ever be able to let her love and feel as good as she felt with noone else.

A bit sloppy, I know. But finally an update! Please tell me if you like it or not, thanks.