Once upon a time I was mortal, but that was many, many years ago. I remember the south fighting for it's independence, and before that, the 13 colonies. But perhaps the most painful memory of all was when I was mortal, when I was simply Ashton Drake, fled to the New World for peace. That was before I became a creature of the night.
I still posses the last letter I received from my beloved Emily:
When I received this letter I returned home immediately, but alas, I was to late. The letter was dated 16 May, sixteen hundred sixty-five, one week before her death. It seems Emily's suspicion that the judge's wife had been watching her was correct, along with the other elders.
Much of the colonies were in an uproar at this time over the devil communicating with people. The colonies followed the Europeans in finding a solution to these "witches," a short trial and then death, if a confession could not be gotten. With a witness as reliable as the judge's wife, Emily never had a chance. Her strange activity and the spirit she had been communicating with convinced the towns people that she was the devil's bride. Burned alive, she was, never mind that she feared that creature as much as the rest of the town.
It came to me that night. I could sense the evil through out the house. I shouted to the room. "Haven't you done enough? Leave me in peace!"
A deep laugh echoed off the walls. "Emily can still be yours."
A quiet fell over the room, then Emily's voice quietly pleaded. "Join me, Ashton."
I wept, knowing that this was only a trick of the demon. My Emily was gone forever. Yet this evil creature persisted to taunt me with her voice. As the moon was setting, fatigue and depression got the best of me and the creature was able to step in.
Morning came, and as the sun streamed through the window, I felt extremely weak. Looking back, I realize the transformation had begun. What had I done? Memories poured back, of Emily, of the demon, and my promise to somehow make contact with Emily again. Had I been so foolish as to make a deal with the devil? What had I done?
Slowly my thirst for blood became stronger and I became less tolerable of the sun. As the years passed I was forced to move on, as my body no longer aged. I left the town Emily and I had called home.
Those first years after I lost my beloved, I saw many other woman suffer the same fate, while I who had actually made a pact with a demon remained undead.
Three hundred thirty years it has been, and I have returned to the town my Emily and I believed was home. The east coast is actually best for me. No one seems to notice when I must fulfill my thirst for blood. Why have I returned? Because Emily has. My beloved has come back to me. She is here again. My suffering must end. I can not keep the masquerade up much longer and others like me will see me destroyed before the secret is revealed.
After all these years, I must see her. She will not know me, yet she will. All mortals have at least one or two disconnected memories, those of times past, other life times. I know Emily's are of me.
And so my search begins...
URL: http://www.oocities.org/melanie0971
E-mail: Melanie Liden
Revised July 31, 2001