Daughter
Always watching
The man realized
Of his little, adopted daughter
Always aware of him
“Sweetheart,” he said gently
“Yes father,” she answered
An exhausted, porcelain doll
He would heal her from the experiences of orphan life
He thought silently
He will be her family
“Aren’t you hungry?” he asked
Glancing at the barely touched meal in front of her
“Yes father,” she repeated, taking a bite of meat
He noticed she was still fiercely clutching her tiny silk purse,
That he knew harbored nothing but a shiny, silver rock inside
She never let go of it
It must have been her mothers
“Don’t look at my purse,” she commanded
In a startlingly authoritative voice
“No, sweetheart… I wasn’t.”
She slept deeply
In her newly furnished room
He was relieved she had finished her dinner
Even if she didn’t seem to enjoy a single bite
Her purse was right next to her
He shouldn’t go through her things
But still… such an unusual stone
He crept quietly up to her bed
Careful not to make a sound
He grimaced as the wooden floor creaked below him
He almost had it
He unfastened the little gold clasp…
One of the rocks from his garden?
He glanced at his new daughter’s trembling hand,
Fiercely grasping the gleaming silver stone
Before looking up into the deathly black eyes
Of the writhing demon in front of him
Before it reached over
In its little pink ruffled nightgown
And savagely pulled out his heart
~*~
“Father,” the little girl gently began
“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked
Gesturing towards the meal in front of him
“Yes daughter,” he responded, in a daze
Eating a bite from his plate
He felt the silver rock pulsate in his chest
Sharp and cruel
Beating only at his little daughter’s command
Controlled through her blackened eyes
“We are a family now… the three of us,” she said
A doll to a phantom
“Yes daughter… our family,” he agreed
As he swallowed the last piece
Of the heart he had pledged
Eternally
To her
