• tab Father just stared at me, and I could see that he was trying not to smile. It was strange to me, that my father would need me to yell at him before he finally understood, understood what he would have to do. I will never look at him the same way, I knew that, and I smiled, and as soon as I did, he broke into laughter, pulling away from me to stand up and walk off the platform. I just watched him, head to the side, and became very confused. I thought he was just going to smile, not burst into laughter.
    tab "Diavoletto, oh, my dear child...again, what would I ever do without you? Sad, that a grown man, a eight century old demon, would need his adoptive child's advice before he finally understood something. You are...I don't even know what you are, but I'm glad you are." Father's laughter died down a bit and he shook his head, waving to me as he left my room. I only stared after him, still very confused, but said nothing, just sat on my bed again. He closed the door behind him, and for some reason, I began thinking again:
    When I was a human, very long ago, I can't even remember how long ago, I was born, of course, to two human parents. But, even as a human, I was still very strange. At age three, I would tear my dolls to shreds, beautiful porcelain faces smashed against the wood flooring. At four, I was a tyrant, never doing my parents wanted of me. At this point, they just thought that I was being a child, going through a phase, you know, fearsome fours and the like. Then, at age five, my nanny, the one my parents had hired because they thought it would help me, walked into my room while I was ripping stuffing out of my teddy bear and shoving it into the fire that they had lit in my fireplace. She became very upset, said little girls don't do that, and came over to me, took the bear, and smacked my hand. That wasn't the smartest thing to do, on her part, because as soon as her hand touched mine, I went a little mad and attacked her, hissing and growling as she screamed, and ripped at least one finger off her hand. Needless to say, she quit and found herself a therapist. My parents, on the other hand, asked the priest from our church to come and try to exorcise me. Didn't work, all that happened was him freaking out because I started hissing and climbed up the wall and onto the ceiling. I refused to let my parents take care of me after that, and I died by the time I was six. My body burst into flames, which burnt the house down, though I know my parents were able to get away safely.

    tab I was reborn into the world of demons after that, because that's what I supposed to be, a demon. Father kept us in the other world for a while, until my little sisters came to us, and we moved here, to this house. We've been here for a very long time, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am a vampire demon, very rare amongst us, for I have all the powers of both a vampire, and a very advanced demon, so Father says he must watch me closely. I don't think I'm of any threat to anyone, but...he thinks if I'm not watched, I could be.
    tab I looked around my room again and shook my head, I was tired now. The clock said it was only 11:00 am, but it felt to me like three in the morning. And I usually gave up and went to bed at four. I stood up and walked to the bay window, and kneeled on the seat that stretched across it. The fourth floor, what a wonderful floor it was, I could see everything in our little neighborhood. The park, for example, was crawling with babies and children, yelling and laughing and running around their mothers, who sat and talked with other mothers. I pretending to be uninterested by them all, though I really did love watching them. They were all so cute, so care-free, I envied them. I couldn't be that way, couldn't run around all day being silly, unless of course I wanted our family to fall apart. My father needed me, for some reason, I was like the rock in the family. Everyone clung to me for support, came to me for help. I was almost like a mother, except that even my father came to me for advice, so I was more like a grandmother.
    tab It was fun, though, being who I was. My sisters all came to me for help, my father cherished my presence, and I was the favorite amongst them all. It was the only way I could think of living, and just as I was going to leave my room again, a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me into my closet, and then from there through the hidden door in the back behind my clothes. Next thing I knew, I was looking around at a red moon and black sky, hundreds of purple stars blinking at me. I was shocked for a moment, and then I saw two familiar faces.
    tab "Gabrielle, Albion, why am I here? Anyone like to explain this to me?" My sister looked at her love and frowned, he sighed and shook his head, staring at me. I could tell he didn't want to speak, but who could blame him. He was only 50 years older than my sister, and physically, only 18. Very attractive, if my opinion mattered, and I understood why my sister loved him, since he was a very nice man, very proper at times. He hated that my father didn't like him, he thought the two of them could at one point become close friends, but he knew that my father resented him every time he heard his name.
    tab Finally, Albion spoke, and his voice sounded somewhat hoarse. "Blair," he began, since both he and Gabrielle called me by my middle name, "we don't want to be separated anymore. I know she loves you all, but...I don't want to be without her, and she says she hates being away from me. So, we need your help: we were thinking of moving to the human world, both of us together, and we were also thinking about getting a small home closer to town, away from the school. Really, she only has one more year of pretending to be a student, and she can graduate and stay with me for however long. I need you to convince your father to let her go with me. Please."
    tab I looked at Gabrielle, who was playing with her hands, and she was nervous, scared that I would say no and drag her home. But I smiled and shook my head, laughing. "Oh, my dear Albion, you underestimate me. You just have to ask the question, not explain everything. You know I love you, and I love Gabrielle, but don't you think it's a bit early to be dragging her with you?" To this they smiled and held each other shaking their heads and laughing. "Obviously not. Look, I'll leave you two for the weekend, but...let her go for another month or so with the family, and you two can slip off while I break the news to Carmichael."
    tab I smiled and left while they were still laughing, and finally was able to leave my room. Father was in the hallway, about to climb up the stairs to my room when I walked down, and frowned at me. "I was calling you, where did you go? I was practically yelling, how could you not have heard me?" I blinked and glanced around, not sure how to answer, and he could tell that I had done something. "Where did you go? Did your sister talk to you or something?" I looked around again and played with my hands, unable to form words, so I just shook my head no. I pushed past him and hurried down the hall, but since he was much taller than me, his long legs were able to keep up before he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him. I gulped and looked up at him.
    tab He frowned and folded his arms over his chest, I could tell he was worried now, and I broke down. "I was just talking to her, God! Leave me be, Father, I didn't do anything wrong!" I covered my mouth and went wide-eyed, and his arms fell to his sides. He closed his eyes and sighed, turning to walk away from me. I shook my head and ran after him, throwing my arms around his waist, attempting to stop him, and I pressed my face against his back, holding him as tight as I could. "No, Father, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get mad, please forgive me! I'm sorry, really, it was an accident, I promise! I just talked to her, nothing else, please stop walking away." He stopped and pulled my arms free, and turned to look at me.
    tab He got down on one knee to be at eye level with me, and shook his head. 'I swear, her bad attitude is spreading to all the girls. It's fine, I was just being nosy, I shouldn't have pried anyway. But...what did she say?" I played with my hands and sighed. "She didn't say anything, Albion did." As soon as I said his name, my father scowled and folded his arms across his chest again. "No, Father, listen! I wasn't going to say anything to you, they were just talking about when she was coming back, that's all." He smiled and nodded, then kissed my forehead before standing and walking away.
    tab I sighed and continued down the hallway, headed down to the living room to lay around and be lazy. I usually did that, when I was alone, it made me feel more human. And on top of that, it was just more fun than attempting to find something to do.