ROTTEN APPLE
Chapter Ten: Reconciliation
"You do not understand, Rosalia, when I look at you and see how damaged you are, I know that I am part of the blame. If only I had known about you sooner," he responded, solemnly, as he wiped the last of his tears away.
A look of acceptance overcame her face, "I may be damaged but, I've survived this long," she told the dhampir, "if I wasn't strong, I would have been dead long ago. My strength comes from you…you passed it onto me, and I thank you for such a gift."
The youthful looking man gave the teen a smile, "I guess that I hadn't realized that," he replied.
"I may complain, lose my temper, and cry but…I am still here, fighting the good fight of life," she continued, "the only way to get through life is forward. Also, deep down, I do not blame you for the condition that I am in and I know that you were unaware of my conception and birth. And I know that you would have taken me in after mom died if you knew. Yes, back in Ransylva, I discovered that mom developed cancer and put me up for adoption before she died. At least I can now accept the fact that she did what she felt was right."
He hugged her tightly.
"We'll get through this, dad, I am sorry for everything that I've put you through in the short time that you've known me, "she whispered.
LATER THAT NIGHT:
Rosalia laid sleeping at the edge of the fire as D watched her.
"I never thought that I would see the day that you expressed emotion," Left-Hand stated, "it was refreshing to see your human side. That girl is changing you in more ways that I could have imagined."
"You are out of line…" he told the parasite.
"Oh, you're going to deny it now?"
"You didn't see anything," D responded apathetically.
Taking a frustrated sigh, the parasite responded, "you know, you are a real piece of work. "
His host did not respond.
"So, what is the plan to defeat your father?" asked Left-Hand.
The half-breed turned to the fire and responded emotionlessly, "lure him out with the baby."
"Yeah, that would definitely work," replied the parasite, "then what?"
His host refused to divulge any more details on the plan.
THAT MORNING:
D waited as his daughter finish vomiting.
"God, I feel like hell," she moaned before vomiting again.
"ug…disgusting," Left-Hand told his host telepathically.
Standing vigil over her, the hunter asked, "are you alright?"
She nodded, "fucking morning sickness," she remarked bitterly.
Moving to his horse, D pulled out some ginger root from one of his saddle bags before handing it to his daughter, "here, chew on this," he instructed.
"What is this?" she asked.
"This will help with your nausea," he responded.
Taking the root and chewing on it, she immediately spit out the contents, "it tastes like shit and it's hot!" Rosalia complained.
He remained emotionless before saying, "Come, let's go."
"Where are we going?" asked the teenager.
Her father did not respond.
The two rode off toward some unknown location.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER:
The sun shined brightly over the frontier as the two rode. Suddenly, D fell from his horse with a heavy thud.
"Dad?!" cried the girl as she dismounted her horse and ran up to him, "what happened?!"
"I TOLD HIM-DAMNIT!" the parasite moaned, "HE NEVER LISTENS!"
"W-who said that?!" the girl asked as she looked around frantically.
"Down here, girlie," responded the parasite.
"Where?!"
"DOWN HERE…LEFT HAND…GOD, YOU DON'T LISTEN WELL EITHER, SMH," called the voice.
Lifting her father's left hand, the seventeen-year-old was met with a face.
"What the fuck?!" she cried in shock.
"NICE TO MEET YOU TOO. See, D here, he is suffering from something that we like to call Heat Syndrome and you need to find a place to bury him," smiled the face.
"Heat Syndrome?! Bury him? Where? We are in the middle of no-man's land!"
"See that mound of boulders over there? Bury him in the shade and PLEASE-PLEASE hurry! I don't want to turn into a giant slab of beef jerky with this guy," cried the parasite.
"I don't have a shovel," Rosalia cried frantically.
"He has a folding shovel in his saddle bag! Hurry-hurry-I can feel myself drying out!"
Scrambling to D's horse, Rosalia managed to locate the fold-away shovel before running to the shady end of the boulders and digging a man-sized hole as fast as she could. Afterwards, Rosalia dragged her father to the hole and rolled him into it before burying him with unfettered speed.
"Oh, God," sighed the girl as she sat next to her father's exposed head, "that was exhausting!"
THAT NIGHT:
Rosalia was jilted away by her father's moans, "dad? Dad are you alright?"
He glanced up at her, "yes," he replied quietly.
"What in the hell is that thing on your Left-Hand?" she suddenly asked.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
She glared, "dad! I saw it and I talked to it. It told me to bury you!"
"Just think of it as my helper then," he responded as he began to unbury himself.
Rising from the ground, D gathered his things before looking at his companion, "how are you feeling?"
"I feel well rested and kind of disturbed by the thing on your hand," she told him.
"Ok then, let's go," he told her matter-of-factly.
"Um…dad, what are we going to do about…y'know…the situation with your dad? I've been thinking about that for a little while now," she asked.
Looking to her, he responded, "we stay ahead of him and, when the time comes, we deal with him."
"That sounds kind of vague," replied the young lady as she mounted her horse.
"It will be ok," he told her before riding ahead.
"I sure hope that you're right," the half-dhampir mumbled as she rode after her father.
TO BE CONTINUED…