Chapter 1
I, Queen Levianna, am Ruler of the Vampire Realm. The realm consists of 5 Territories. The Ether's Territory, The Witch's Blood Territory, The Half Moon Territory, The Gray Mouse Territory, and lastly the territory I live in, The Pure Blood Territory. I have been queen for 200 years. My rule has grown to become the most successful rule of the realm's existence and no one is surprised. My mother and father knew right away that I would be a fit ruler when the time came and I did not disappoint.
But I've grown empty. While being a ruler of the second strongest realm has its benefits, I failed to realize how lonely I'd become. I still had yet to find a mate and have a child. I had yet to go on a vacation. I had yet to make friends with whom I could connect or vent to. And at night when the Moon was high I could only stare at it from my bed and wonder what success had really given me. All I could see was loneliness.
That was until the morning of April 17, 2018.
It was early in the morning and I decided a nice walk through the forest could clear my mind of the hurricane of thoughts in my head. I believe this is depression. From what I've learned, it takes a lot for vampires to get depressed. Usually, if we're feeling down we just need to drink blood and we're fine. But not me. There wasn't enough blood in the world to fill the void that had grown in my soul.
I walked for a long time. So long that I knew by the time I returned to my castle it would be far past lunch hour. I ran into a small stream and drank its pure water, but I stopped when I heard something. I wiped my hands on my black pants and stood, trying to find the source of the sound. My ears pricked for a moment before turning to the south. So that's the direction I walked.
I walked for only a minute before I identified the sound as what could only be a child's cry. I kept walking until I spotted the child, her back turned to me as she wept into her knees barely covered by a peasant's dress. I stopped a good distance away from her and waited, but her crying didn't stop. She cried so long that I grew tired and sat down against a tree waiting.
Hours must have passed before her crying turned into sniffles. She slowly stood up and hugged her arms. That's when I realized three important things.
One, She was from the Fox realm, the least powerful realm of the five. I could tell from her scent that I hadn't bothered to pick up until that moment. Two, she must have been 6 or 7 years old, alone in the middle of a thick forest, nowhere near her own realm. And three, the back of her dress was torn, and there was dried blood on the back of her left leg.
I heard a squeal and my attention snapped back to the young girl. She stared at me with horror and fell backward trying to get away from me. She fell onto her butt and whimpered, grabbing her leg. I slowly walked up to her.
"It's okay, little fox, I'm not going to hurt you," I said softly, kneeling down in front of her. She whimpered at me anyway and tried to crawl back but cried out at the pain from her leg. I sighed and pulled my satchel over my head and opened it in front of her. I pulled out some numbing creme, hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin, and bandages. She looked at them with fear but kept looking at my hip as well.
I looked at my hip with her and saw my dagger. I took off the belt with the holster holding my dagger and threw it far behind me. I turned back to her and motioned for her leg. I looked at her with a kind smile but her not trusting me wasn't surprising. I'm a vampire and she is a fox. It's the instinct for foxes to be scared of us.
I sighed softly and scooched closer to her. "Your leg will get really infected if you don't let me clean it. Once I clean it, I'll leave, okay?"
She stared at me with the same fear but looked down and fiddled with her fingers, finally nodding in agreement. I nodded as well and she pulled up her dress then turned her leg to the side, showing me a horrible scratch on her leg. "Did a werewolf do this to you?" I asked softly.
Tears welled up in her eyes again and she started crying all over, nodding her head. I smiled reassuringly at her and pat her knee. "It's only a scratch, you'll be okay. Did you pass through the Werewolf Realm from your Fox Realm?" I asked. She didn't stop crying but nodded her head again.
I nodded as well. I knew she couldn't have been attacked here in my Realm. Wolves wouldn't dare step into my territory to kill a fox. My realm is a safe haven for all realm types. Foxes, Humans, Werewolves, Demons.
I cleaned the child's leg and wrapped it up, patting her knee again. "There you go, all patched up." I stood up and held out a hand towards her. She hesitantly took it, barely containing her cries, and I helped get her on her feet. She tested her leg a little but winced when she put too much pressure on it. "It's going to take some time to heal, but you'll be okay."
She nodded slowly. I crouched in front of her. "May I ask you a couple of questions?" I asked.
She sniffed and nodded her head again. "What's your name?" I asked first.
She didn't respond for a moment, just staring at the ground sadly. she played with the side of her dress before she took a deep breath. "Rose." Her soft voice cracked but I made out her words enough.
I smiled. "That's a beautiful name. How old are you?"
She furrowed her eyebrows at the question before her face lit up and she held up 6 fingers. "I'm six. M-My birthday is May 27th." She said, and she sounded proud of her own response.
I smiled and nodded my head. "You must be a very smart girl. Were you in school before you came here?"
She nodded her head. "I'm in homeschool," The small grin that was on her face slowly faded, and I noticed tears starting to form in her eyes.
I licked my lips and prepared for the last question, having a strong feeling of what the answer would be. "Little one," I began, softly grabbing her hands. "Where are your parents."
Then she was sobbing. Without thinking I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly. She gripped the front of my shirt and sobbed into my chest and I let her. "The-The Wolves!" She screamed. "They ate them!" She sobbed even harder and fell onto the floor out of my arms. I picked her up and sat down against a tree, holding her in my lap letting her cry.
She cried for a long time, and it surprised me. I'm sure she's been crying for hours and should be very dehydrated. I reached into my bag and pulled out a water bottle, uncaping it. I sat her up a little more and held the water in front of her. "You need to drink some water," I mumbled.
She shook her head but I could see how tired she was. I put the rim of the water bottle up to her lips and tilted it, and she drank it despite what she wanted. She drank until all the water was gone and it helped her calm down. I wrapped her small body in my arms again and rocked back and forth slowly, calming her down more.
Her crying eventually ceased and her eyes drooped down in exhaustion. I kept rocking until her eyes closed all the way and her body grew heavier. I let her fall asleep before I stood up with her and grabbed all my things. I picked up my belt and managed to put it back on before carrying her with me on the long journey back to the castle.
This is the story, long as it may be, of how I, The Vampire Queen. adopted a fox.
