Drake sat beside Jennifer, and Fiona sat in front of him, leaning against the tree. "What do you mean big brother? You were always a good person, ever since..."
Drake shook his head. "First of all. You know I'm not your real brother right? I rescued you back in Deborah, but I'm not your brother. Your brother's name is Nicola. I didn't know he was there at the time...and back then I didn't care. Those cultists, worshiping their dark god Ik'Tulthu were my targets. Your rescue...was a side effect. I couldn't leave you there. I may have been a killer, but I still knew leaving a child behind was wrong. You must have confused me with your brother. You were young...confused...and I left you behind at the next stop.
I met your real brother recently. He calls himself Geist now. He was very angry with me, and rightly so. I separated you. I didn't even ask if you had any surviving family. To me...once you were out of there, you were just a liability. I left you behind and thought nothing of it until you tracked me down. You called me your brother, and I barely even remembered you."
Fiona looked tearful already, and this wasn't even the half of it. "I.....I...I knew....but...everyone was gone....I just wanted to pretend..."
Drake patted Fiona's shoulder. "It's alright. You didn't do anything wrong. And I owe you better than you got. Right now your real brother is out there, and I will find him, and bring you together again."
"Now listen. There's more you don't know. That time you were kidnapped. The night you were bitten. Three days the count held you in what was then the ruins of Castle Dracula. You never spoke of what happened to you....I left you for three days. I could have been there in hours."
Fiona closed her eyes and trembled. "I don't want to think about that."
"Listen Fiona, I was a bad person back then. I was someone who used people if it served the purpose of killing my enemies. Magrid...Magrid told me I had three days. During that time I left you in his hands and used the time to prepare my attack. And because I waited...I took advantage of his thinking I'd run to your rescue. And I thought only of a chance to kill another vampire.
Because of that he used your blood and my own to resurrect another of his own clan, and regain his youth. I can't say for sure if my arriving sooner would have changed things. But...what I did was wrong. I did it for selfish reasons. I don't deserve forgiveness. But you know the truth now."
Drake began to get up as Fiona curled into a ball and wept.
"I know it doesn't change things now but...I'm sorry. If I could go back I'd beat the living daylights out of my former self, beat him until he saw right from wrong, and force him to do things differently I would. But the past isn't malleable. You are my last chance Fiona. Whether you forgive me or not, I can't change the past, but I can give you back your future."
Drake walked toward the fence, not even feeling worthy to step back inside the church at this point. "I doubt you want to see me right now. I'll leave you be."
Fiona lunged at Drake and grabbed his sleeve tugging on him, and then wrapping her arms around him tightly. She wasn't hugging him, she was clinging. Holding on for dear life.
"STUPID BROTHER! STUPID STUPID STUPID! Don't go...."
_________________ Character Name: Graham Drake "The Preacher in Black"
=============================== Character Name: Pious Augustine Hadrian "The Younger Hadrian"
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