Rotten Apple

Chapter Four: Anger Rising

D stood over the weeping girl and deep down his heart broke but he knew that he couldn't keep her with him. Bending down to pull her to her feet, he was suddenly bitten by the young lady. He looked at her with an emotionless gaze despite the attack, "come now…we must be on our way," he told her.

She refused to heed his command and continued weeping in the spot she collapsed. After a few more minutes of waiting around, D lifted the teenager over his shoulder, "NO! NO!" she screamed.

"Rosalia enough!"

"No—you just want to abandon me like everyone else so FUCK YOU-FUCK YOU-FUCK YOU!" the dark-haired teen screamed as she thrashed about, "you don't love me-you don't care about me-I am just your little mistake!"

"That is not true," D responded indifferently as he grabbed the reins of his horse and began to walk down the road. After about an hour and a half of throwing a fit, D's daughter finally became exhausted and fell asleep. Afterwards, the dhampir placed the sleeping girl in his saddle as he continued to lead his horse down the road.

"Oh-WOW-she sure has a set of lungs on her, I couldn't even think, I-I don't know how you handled it" Left-Hand chuckled.

"It is not her fault," responded the dhampir.

"Sadly, she is a common example for someone who spent most of her young life cooped up within an orphanage. Most of those children grow up to be emotionally stunted, Borderline, or worse," remarked the parasite, "But you also must consider that she is still quarter vampire and unlike a full-blooded human, she is still quite young and immature at seventeen years old. I mean, don't get me wrong, HUMAN teenagers are not much better than her when it comes to emotions or maturity, but if you are looking at it from a vampire's standpoint, a seventeen-year-old is still a child—an infant almost."

Guilt rose within the Hunter as he thought about Rosalia growing up, alone and unwanted, within the Orphanage. Though her conception had been accidental, he began to rethink his decision, to take her to Krauhausen, and began to listen to what his heart wanted. Looking at her a very brief, fatherly, smile crossed his face.

LATER THAT NIGHT

The fire snapped and popped as the dark-haired girl awoken and looked around. She found D sitting next to her and watching over her. Scrambling to her feet, the girl gave him an angry and tensed look.

"Calm down…" he told her.

"No, you are going to abandon me!" she snapped.

Her father stood to his feet and approached her before pulling her into a tight embrace. Instantly, the hunter could feel the tension within her body melt away as she reciprocated the hug. His typical hard exterior melted away as he made his daughter look into his dark, blue-grey, colored eyes, "I know that you need me," he told her, "and as you slept I began to think…"

The seventeen-year-old kept eye contact with the man who looked no older than her physically.

"I want to keep you safe and I still feel that the life of a hunter is not the ideal life for you; however, you are my daughter and I cannot bear to leave you on your own. Especially when you have been alone for most of your life, so with that said you may accompany me until you are ready to venture out on your own," he told her.

Rosalia continued to stare into the "young" man's eyes, scanning for any signs of deception. Once satisfied with his truthfulness, the half-dhampir asked, "you promise me?"

D nodded.

"Thank you," she whispered before giving him another tight squeeze.

"You are welcome, Rosie," he told her before placing himself next to the campfire.

She joined the man by the campfire, "so dad, did you love mom?"

The youthful dhampir stared into the fire as he displayed the typical unemotional demeanor, "I cared about her," he told her.

"What was she like?" Rosalia asked.

"Strong, confident, and determined," D replied before pulling a blood tablet from his satchel to mix with a jug of water.

After taking a drink, he handed the jug to Rosalia, "this will curve your hunger," he told her emotionlessly.

Though his young companion was previously unaware of her nagging hunger, she soon realized that he was right and took a long drink from the jug. A satisfied sigh escaped her mouth as she handed the jug back to her father.

"That tasted good," she told him, "you were right—I don't feel hungry anymore."

D took back the jug and took another drink before putting it in his satchel for later.

"Dad…"

He looked at the girl with an unblinking gaze as he waited for her question.

"I know that you look about my age, but how old are you really?"

Such personal questions would have normally gone unanswered since he preferred to keep any aspects about himself a secret, but due to the circumstances, he chose to make an exception, "I am…over ten-thousand years old," he told her.

"WOW really?! So, how long have you been hunting Vampires?" the teenager asked enthusiastically.

"Countless centuries…" was his response.

"Do I have any brothers or sisters?" she asked.

D shook his head, "no—your mother was the only person that I slept with," he responded.

"Really?! In all the years that you've been alive? You have to be kidding me!" gasp the teen in disbelief.

"It was a momentary lapse of inhibition…" replied the dhampir.

"Did my mom love you?"

"Yes, she did," D told her.

As the night waned on, Rosalia continued to bombard D with tons of personal questions with which he answered without the slightest hint of hesitation or emotion. Once morning began to bathe the frontier with its warmth, D and his daughter began to head to their next destination.

"Thank you for not abandoning me," the girl whispered against his back.

Though he did not respond, the hunter glanced back at his new-found child before kicking his horse into a full gallop.

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER FIVE