(1914)
Ben
As I lay there that evening doubt crept into my mind about joining Darcy and her family, they have given me the gift of the future and I needed to act on it for the good of my family’s future happiness.
I told myself I would find a way to stop my father and I crossing the channel, maybe shoot myself and him, just a little injury that would render us unfit to fight. That was the plan in my head as we walked out of the gate that misty morning. As we walked along the lane and passed the walls where my sister waited on summer evenings. I didn’t speak to my father as we walked I was deep in thought and he was humming a tune to keep his mind off the road ahead. But I knew the tune and it tugged at the guilt in my gut. The words bounced round my head…
And we'll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
From around the blooming heather…
We would never be together, if I didn’t act and do my best to save him. I told myself they could get over the loss of me; I could still join Darcy once I had saved him. But her cold hand did as she promised and pulled me from the road before I could plan anymore.
She was too strong I couldn’t fight her; I couldn’t call out and warn him. I watched through blurred eyes of tears, as my father carried on walking down the road to war, oblivious that I was no longer at his side.
She whispered in my mind as she pulled me into the carriage. “His death has purpose Ben. He dies saving his captain, a good leader of men.”
Her words didn’t help ease my pain. Once in the carriage and we were moving I felt her bite. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to the pain of shame I felt now. As the world went black as my human life ended it was like falling asleep in my sister’s arms the night before and with the last beat of my heart, all I felt was remorse for the end of the happiness my family once knew.
I know I will soon forget about my old life before and embrace my new world helping Darcy stay safe.
Darcy talks of vampires who plague the world and says her kinds are culling them. Tells me they are not the enemy because they are vampires and vampires are evil. They are evil because they were once human and now with the power of vampirism they fight on a different level.
She talks about other purebloods who, if they knew of her existence, would destroy our happiness. She tells me they don’t care who they trample to get what they want. They are the reason she is a prisoner in her own home and why she is so protective of her forest.
Darcy is my sire now and so is my world. I know soon my past family will be eclipsed by that bond and when that happens I will no longer feel the need to save my father. At the moment the guilt still tugs and that is fine, because that reminds me I was once human, but have made the choice to use my gifts for a just purpose.
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