Her father's eyes

Four year old Victoria Nelson played in a park nearby her kindergarten, her mother watching close "don't you dare to stay out of my sight young lady" she had warned, knowing how curious and mischievous that little girl could be. In fact, Vicky had already spotted an intriguing set of bushes a few meters away.

To everyone else there was nothing out of the ordinary in them, but for one moment Vicky saw a bouquet of flowers grow from their branches, in seconds the beautiful flowers blossomed only to wither away as fast as they grew. No one saw them now, but Vicky knew they had been there, like a dream that became true. So when her mother looked away to speak to one of her friends she seized the opportunity to take off and as fast as a girl her age could be (which was a lot) she ran towards that particular corner, but those bushes were farther than they seemed, she took a lot more time to reach them than expected and by the time she did, the playground was out of sight.

Disoriented and a little freighted she tried to come back the way she came from, but nothing was in place anymore, the park became a thick forest surrounded by darkness. Out of the sudden a shade emerged from the trees, turning into a man. He was tall, his skin was of a deep bronze and his eyes were as blue as hers. She was scared and tried to run but he moved his hands and spoke in a language she had never heard before, in that moment her feet were frozen and she wasn't able to move, the mysterious man reached his arms towards her and told her in a gentle, mesmerizing voice

–"Come with me Victoria"-

Vicky gasped as she woke up, bathed in cold sweat and fresh tears falling from her eyes, it was a weird dream. She was used to nightmares, especially those who included a well known vampire telling her goodbye, a familiar detective turning his back on her or worse: Astaroth taking control of the city and later of the world, not before possessing her entire being. But a childhood based nightmare? What the hell? Oh well, her wrists weren't flaring or anything so it probably meant nothing, just a little joke from her fucked up subconscious.

She got up from the couch in her office, she should try to sleep in her own apartment for once, maybe those strange nightmares would go away leaving her alone to deal with the rest of her problems, such as her broken heart and the dread of facing an evil beyond her understanding.

-"Vicky, are you all right?"- Corinne asked shyly while offering a cup of coffee.

-"Yup, just fine"- She didn't realized her voice was shaking.

-"Maybe you should sit down, take a moment and let it go. It's okay to cry sometimes, you've been through a lot lately"- Her assistant told her sympathetically.

-"What are you talking about?"- and that's when Vicky realized she was still crying, she wasn't sad (not more than usual) but her eyes watered as if they had a mind of their own. To make things worse, there was a tightening feel on her chest, at first she thought it was a panic attack "way to go Nelson" she thought "You just lost the two men you cared for the most, why don't you lose your sanity while you're at it?" But it couldn't be a product of hysteria and sleep deprivation, there was no anger or dread, all she felt was an overpowering feeling of hope and relief, it was an epiphany of sorts.

-"It is time Victoria, you must come to me. I command you. But first, take my gift"- the voice from her dreams spoke.

Tears kept falling freely from her eyes, now coreen was sure her crying wasn't emotional, there were no sobs or anything, aside from the crying he boss seemed peaceful. She watched in horror as the tears went from transparent to gray and then became black in which point Vicky fell unconscious.

……………………………………………………………………………………

Mike's cell phone rang, in its screen the caller ID said "Vicky", and he ignored it. Because of her and the darkness that always followed his life was going to hell, she was strong, she could take care of herself and if not he was sure that bloodsucker of hers would be more than happy to help. Part of him couldn't help worrying but he decided it was best for every one if he just turned that infernal device off and resumed the paperwork in front of him before his boss finally loosed her patience and fire him.

……………………………………………………………………………………

It was official. Corrine HATED Mike. Her friend was lying limp in her couch with black tears on her face, there was nothing that ordinary medicine could do about it, Henry was not only out of town for good but he was probably asleep since it was noon and the only man they could come for help just decided not to answer the phone. Exasperated she tried to find the answer in one of her books until Vicky stirred and slowly woke up.

-"Vicky are you alright?"- Corinne squealed while she gave her a spine-breaking hug.

-"I would be a lot better if you weren't squashing my lungs"- she said forcing her friend to let go.

The PI stood on unsteady legs finding enough balance to walk a few steps, as she wiped the strange black liquid from her face she realized in awe that her vision was clear, not only her retinitis pigmentosa was gone leaving her field of vision completely clear but she wasn't shortsighted anymore. For the first time in her life her vision was a hundred percent perfect.

No one could guess the joy she felt at that moment, for a terrifying minute she thought Astaroth might had been responsible, but the marks on her wrists never reacted. No, evil could never be involved in something like this, it could never feel this pure and beautiful, she told Corinne about it and they spent who knows how much time jumping around like idiots in her office, but they didn't care. For once in a very long time a wonderful miracle had happened.

Later that afternoon Rajani called and asked her to pass by the coroner's office, she thought about declining and taking the day off, but the MD sounded distressed.

As soon as she stepped into the morgue Rajani greeted her with a grave expression.

-"What is it? you said it was important"-

-"It is Vicky, a badly decomposed body was found in the foundations of a building that was imploded last week. It appears to have been placed there at least ten years ago."-

-"Well, is there anything weird about it. I mean did it have fangs or anything?"-

-"There doesn't seem to be anything supernatural about it, the reason I called you is because I was finally able to identify him. Vicky, you should sit down."-

-"Just say it, what could be so serious about it?"-

-"The victim was identified as Frank Nelson"-

It was surreal, hearing those words. But the file in her hands was as real as her. Frank Nelson, the man that abandoned her when she was a little girl, her father, was dead.