Melodia Plot

“Papa!” she cried as she ran through the moonlit hallways of the Victorian mansion, tears streaming endlessly down her porcelain, doll-like face. The figure was that of a young girl, not old enough yet to be of womanhood. Arms flailing at her sides, she emerged into her father’s bedroom with a shriek of surprise mixed with horror. The bedroom window was ajar, the pale blue curtains flapping freely in the midnight breeze. She looked all about her, searching for her father, or any hint that might lead her to him, but it was hopeless; she found nothing. Furrowing her brow in confusion and sudden anger, her eyes drew her once more to the window where now sat a small, hunched figure with attributes she could not determine in the darkness. An eerie howl filled the silence, and it chilled her to the bone while she tried hard to concentrate on her father’s whereabouts.
The figure spoke now, a spot of mystery in his voice, but made no sudden moves, as to not frighten the girl. It was smooth and caressing, his voice, but it gave the girl no clues and she strained to pay attention.
“I’m here, my doll.” She winced at the pet name, but remained silent to hear his reason for appearing here at such an hour in her father’s bedroom window. “You don’t know me, but I know you. It’s been awhile, you must understand, but I’ve come back for you.” Now the girl wondered if he had found the right person, and stepped back toward the door.
“No!” cried the boy, or what she thought was a boy. “I’ve waited too long for you to leave without a glance.” She hugged her teddy bear tight, but kept listening.
“You’ve kept me going when I thought all was lost. You’ve saved me from what I would have become, Melodia, and for that I owe you my life.”
The girl’s eyes started to tear again-- she had stopped crying when the boy appeared-- at the mention of her name. It troubled her the way he spoke like he knew her; this talk of old relationships and saving lives made her uneasy with fear, and made no sense to her young, eleven year-old mind. Was he a predator, and she the prey? Surely she hadn’t done anything wrong, but why else should a strange boy be perched in her father’s window, waiting for her to come close? With a firm hold on her strength, she begged him to leave. Golden ringlets bounced as she spoke, her head and hands gesturing the way out. “Please, forgive me, but I don’t know you and never have, so if you will kindly leave, I won’t mention a word of this to my father.” In the excitement and shock of all that had happened, she had nearly forgotten about her father’s disappearance, and said before the boy turned to leave, “Wait. Have you seen my father? He was asleep in this room, and now it seems he’s gone.” She managed to stifle a sob as she asked the shadowy figure this, wiping fresh tears from her glassy eyes.
The boy looked back at her, then to the bed, and finally back to the girl. He wished to please her, but he said with a sigh, “I have not seen such a man.” The girl’s face fell, and it tore his heart in two to see such a familiar and loved girl in such despair.
Trying to lighten the mood, he offered, “But this window was open before I arrived. He may have escaped through it.”
The girl’s face grew deeper, and she whimpered with her eyes fixed on the wooden floor, “Escaped? What should he need to escape from?” She looked up at the dark figure and questioned with a quiver, “Me?”
Instantly the boy felt foolish for choosing such horrid words, and tried to salvage what hope of hers was left. “No, I simply meant something took him through the window, from his slumber, against his will.” The girl still looked plenty solemn, so he took a risk and offered with a gentle tone, “We could step outside and look for him.”


Upon stepping outside through the window, the moonlight shone upon the unknown figure, illumination features that the girl could onlyt imagine; never expect to see upon anyone.
Blood red eyes met the girl’s, and his mouth was dripping with fresh blood, though he tried to hide as he wiped it away with a sleeve of his pearly nightshirt. Long black hair fell down his back in long curls, and seemed to glow in the white moonlight. The girl gasped when she saw his gory appearance, and felt rather embarrassed  when she realized she was only in her lightweight, frilly nightgown, and standing next to a stranger. But all the same she was willing to find her father, no matter the cost.
“Melodia?” spoke the boy-- well, what she now could see was a young man of no more than seventeen years-- and the girl’s eyes widened in fear.
“Pardon?” she managed to cough out.
“Melodia is your name, correct?” He spoke with such eloquence that no man of even thirty years could withhold, they must have years of training, years of learning every word and its pronunciation, meaning, history, and the like. It was all puzzling to the girl, a mystery yet to be solved, but she nodded her head softly in answer.

Blood-streaked sleeves flapped in the wind as the mysterious man motioned Melodia further along into the night. The girl whimpered softly, worry attacking her thoughts, convincing her that her father was somewhere dead, or dying, or kidnapped, or--
“Melodia!” the boy called, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up and he tugged on her arm, leading her swiftly into the forest of uncertainty. “I think I see footprints ahead, follow me!” The girl’s eyes grew big with hope, and she hurried behind him with fear always on her mind.
The man was lying, though, and led her straight into his hidden lair, deep in the forest, where any lumberman would never dare to venture. Lush pelts adorned his entrance, and he pulled them aside to step further in. The girl could not see why they had come this far, but truly believed that this young man wanted to lead her to her father.
The young man sighed as they stepped inside, and turned to face the girl. It pained him to lie to her, to lead her somewhere so strange, but he had long awaited her return, and, well-- this was his last chance. He’d been hunting down this reincarnation for so long that if he lost her again he would give up hope. He took her soft little hands in his and looked into her amber eyes as he explained.
“My sweet Melodia, there is something I must confess.” The girl withheld her horror and confusion so that he could go on. “I have lied to you. You see, I have no clue where your father may have gone. I have lead you here so that I can claim you again. I have missed you for so long, and I cannot wait another moment.” The girl spoke now, her impudence finally beginning to show.
“I’m afraid I don’t know you, and I never have! I do not see why you have brought me here!” She stamped her foot on the hard-packed soil to make her statement urgent and enforced. The man stepped back at her outburst, but laughed all the same.
“Now I am sure you are my lovely Melodia! Always rising up against me. Have a seat,” he gestured toward a lavish chair strewn with various hides, “and I shall explain.” The girl hesitated a moment, but finally obeyed and sat cautiously in the chair. The man strode across the room, pulled another chair of the like near the girl and finally sat.
“From the beginning, shall we start there?” He asked, with a sigh. When the girl did not respond, he continued. “I am called Romancy Lake, a brother of the night, a vampire, you might say. I am not from this decade, nor this century. My history goes very far back in time, but that is not of importance to you. It was early in Rome that I met you--well, your first life. Her name was Rosa, and she had long golden locks like yours, and her face was soft and delicate, much also like yours, and she had the sweetest voice in all of Italy. We met in the streets one night, and I was about to feed upon her father, when--” the man was interrupted suddenly by Melodia, whose sharp tongue spat out a curious question.
“Feed on her father? What should such words mean? Did you feast upon his skin like a dog?” Her eyes were wide in fear now, but with a hint of curiosity.
The man smiled and reached a slender hand out to brush Melodia’s cheek. She winced and he chuckled a bit before answering with a sweet tone. “No, dear, I was about to drink the blood from him--that’s what we vampires do, you see: we need human blood to live. So, I was about to feed upon her father when she appeared in shock, running to her doomed father. That was when she commanded me to take her instead. I considered this offer for awhile, but decided to do something else with her. I was to make her mine. My eternal companion, my forever love that would feast beside me in the night. We rode off together that night on my horse, and spent three wondrous years together, loving and feasting and again and again. But then one night her father appeared outside our hidden cove in the forest, with the intent to kill me and take his daughter back. Just as he was about to plunge a stake through my heart, Rosa leaped in front of me, and in the effort, she was killed by her own father. He then tried again to kill me, but I stole away into the night, never again returning to my beloved Rome. At the time I was a young vampire, but now I am very old, in fact, one of the oldest to date. But now I have found you! You are Rosa’s reincarnation, the same girl in a new body, and I must claim you before you are gone again.” His face grew solemn as he described the death, and he hung his head with hands cupping his face, but Melodia reached out a hand to pat his shoulder. His story was very sad, and she could not keep from letting a few tears escape from her weary eyes and spill down her face. She did not speak a word, but the very touch of her made the man at least a little bit happier.
She finally pulled away and said something in her soft, comforting voice. “But I’m only eleven years old. I’m not who I was. And I’ve got years before I’ll be mature enough for you. If I were Rosa in a previous life, then surely I’m not the same as I was…. Right?”

END of Chapter 1