Nathaniel led me up to his bedroom, barely saying hello to Bethany.
When we entered, he locked his bedroom door, and started pacing
around his bedroom. I was starting to fear that he was going to burn on
a hole into his floor from all the pacing that he was doing. I sat on the
edge of his bed and waited for him to start speaking to me.
I knew that Nathaniel didn’t really want to tell me about his past,
and I didn’t know what horrors had happened in his past life, but all I
knew was I wouldn’t let it scare me away from the man I loved. I would
force myself not to run even if my body was screaming at me to do so. I
felt that I had the right to know about Nathaniel’s past life.
“Nate, if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to,” I said, feeling
dejected at the thought that I wouldn’t know about his past.
“I promised you I would, and I have to. If not, someone else will tell
you, and I want you to know everything from me. I am just scared that
you will judge me.”
“You know that I won’t ever judge you on nothing. Even if you
slipped up, and drank human blood by mistake, I still wouldn’t be able
to judge you. That is your natural lifestyle.”
“Well, you know that I am nineteen forever and stuck in my youth
for the rest of my life,” he started.
“Of course I know that. Are you telling people that you are nineteen,
or a different age?”
“Nineteen, but that isn’t included in my horror story of Nathaniel
Monroe Norwood when he wasn’t a Pryor.”
He had a vacant look in his eyes, and that worried me. I wanted to
174
get up and comfort him, but I knew if I did that, we would never get to
the past. Nathaniel took a deep breath and stared out the window. “I
was born on September 29th in nineteen-forty in the city of Melbourne. I
was never close to my mother and father when I was a child and I could
never really understand why. It was like they resented me over some-
thing, but my relationship became even frailer when I was around
twelve years old.”
“Why?” I asked.
“There was this girl named Mary Thomas, and she was four years
younger than I was. She had black hair, ice blue eyes and was a spoilt
child and knew it. Everything she demanded, she got without a fight.
She had everyone eating out the palm of her hand; everyone but me
that was. Augusta reminds me of her, and that is the main reason I can-
not stand her. My parent’s craved wealth and met Mary’s parents one
day at the local markets, forming a friendship based on lies. I was
shoved with Mary, and disliked her straight away due to her cold and
cruel nature. She took a liking to me almost straight away, and thought I
was perfect boyfriend material for her, and treated me as such while I
tried my hardest to pull away from her. When I turned seventeen, I was
hit with a bombshell from my mother. Mary was to become my bride
and I had no say in the matter or of my future happiness. My family and
her family had decided that we were to be wed in the most lavish cere-
mony in the town and of that time.
“I had been tormented and forced to fake my happiness for five
years, and now I was going to be stuck with the girl I hated for my whole
life. I begged and pleaded with my parents to call off the wedding, but
they didn’t budge. “Nathaniel, this is the only way we are going to be a
part of the elite in this town and that is what I want. I don’t want to be
looked down upon any longer. Do you realise how much I hate it? You
don’t know,” my mother said countless times. They only cared about
wealth and status and couldn’t care that their only son was slipping into
a depression over what they had planned. It was only what they wanted
and not what I wanted. I wasn’t important,” he said, taking a deep
breath.
I got up from where I was sitting and walked over to him, placing my
175
hand on his chest. He took a few deep breaths and looked down at me.
“You don’t have to continue. I can see that this is causing you pain,” I
breathed.
“I have to. I have started to tell you, and I can’t stop,” he said, his
eyes glazed over with what looked like tears.
“Not if it’s going to cause you pain and I don’t want you to be in so
much pain from reliving the past.”
“Brianna, my love, I want you to know everything, and that includes
my past with Mary and my family and how I was turned into what I am
today.”
I relented and nodded, knowing that he was right. He took another
deep breath before speaking again.
“Over time, Mary forced intimacy in our relationship, and I had no
choice but to agree. Apparently, Mary didn’t want to marry with her
virtue in place. When our families found out, they were excited, thinking
that Mary would become pregnant with child who will be even more
spoilt than Mary herself and carry on the legacy of both families into the
future. My father decided to force me to give him a grandchild right af-
ter the wedding and he wanted it to be conceived on the honeymoon,
and I refused to give into his demand. I told him to his face that all he
cared about was greed and wouldn’t care if I was stabbed or mugged
because it didn’t involve money and that he would let me die in the
street if it was to save a dollar or two. He was left speechless as I walked
out of the room. I felt...pride as I told my father what I thought to his
face for once.
“It was nineteen fifty-nine when the date was set, November twenty
of that year. Over time, Mary grew more selfish and self-centred over
everything. When it came to the wedding, everything had to be done
her way. The flowers had to be tulips; the reception had to be in a gar-
den, I had to be dressed up like a doll, and she had to be the most beau-
tiful one and the only beautiful one, which was hard when she looked
like Augusta, and acted like her as well. It would have been like dressing
up a witch and trying to hide all of her warts. One day, I just had enough
and told her my thoughts about her to her face out in public.
“You are vain, selfish and self-centred,” I yelled. “You get everything
176
you want when you demand it, and your father can’t say no! You re-
pulse me, and I don’t care what you think.”
“If you have forgotten Nathaniel,” she started. “I have the power
and the wealth to ruin you and your family. What do you think of that?”
she asked.
“I honestly couldn’t care if you did that. My parents only want me to
marry into your family for your money!” I shouted, catching the atten-
tion of some people standing nearby.
“Mary gasped and couldn’t say anything. I glared down at her and
walked away, not caring who had heard our fight. At least everyone
knew the real reason for this wedding. I had hoped that it would be
cancelled, but it wasn’t. Mary took it in her stride to make me even
more miserable by forcing my affection towards her, and forcing me to
stay by her side in public outings. The months flew quicker than I have
ever known and before I knew it, it was the day before the wedding.
“Mother had forced me to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, saying
something about making sure everything is perfect for the wedding, but
I tuned her out straight away. I wasn’t in the mood for her or anyone
that day. Even at the dinner, I was withdrawn and not with it. My grand-
father, to whom I preferred over my parents, could see I wasn’t myself,
and said something to my father about taking me outside to smoke
some cigars he had brought for the special occasion like he normally
did.
“Nathaniel, my boy, tell me,” my grandfather started and looked
over to where I was standing. “What has got you in such a sombre
mood a day before you make an honest woman out of Mary?”
“I don’t want to marry her,” I admitted, inhaling the cigar smoke.
“Mary isn’t the woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I
don’t love her and I know for a fact that I never will love her.”
“Then why don’t you call off the wedding and save yourself from this
misery that you are about to inflict on yourself?”
“I tried, but no one would listen to reason. Mother and father only
want me to marry Mary for her money and status that she carries. I
have begged and pleaded, but they won’t listen. I have been forced into
this since I was twelve years old and have never had a say in what I
177
wanted to do in my life. That is all that I want for once. My parents
don’t care about what I want.”
“You are a wise boy Nathaniel, and for once, why don’t you do what
you want to do and not what everyone else wants you to do?” he sug-
gested.
“Your grandfather seemed very wise,” I said, grabbing Nathaniel’s
attention.
“He was a very wise man, and my grandmother was a very wise
woman. They never had much, which fuelled my mother’s yearning for
wealth and status. She didn’t like being at the bottom of the latter and
was willing to do anything to get the wealth that she wanted,” he said,
glancing towards me.
“Continue,” I stated.
He took another breath. “What should I do? Leave her and risk get-
ting the wrath of my parents or tell everyone the real reason for the
wedding and cause a scandal in the town and banish my whole family
back to the bottom of the social latter?”
“They both sound horrid, but yet, they sound excellent. You are a
wise boy, and I know you will think of something,” he said and patted
me on my shoulder, walking back inside.
“There you are,” I heard Mary say. “I have been looking everywhere
for you.”
“I turned around and looked at her, not saying anything. Her eyes
seemed cold and harsh, and I was getting a feeling what married life
would be like to this witch. “Did you need something?” I finally asked.
“Are you coming back in?”
“No, I’m not. I’ll see you at the wedding,” I said and walked away,
ignoring her calls for me to return.
“I spent the whole night in bed, awake, knowing that I would be kiss-
ing my freedom goodbye come twilight. I was still wide awake when
father burst into my bedroom when the sun was still rising. He dragged
me out of my warmth and demanded that I tried on my suit. I glared at
him and grabbed my everyday clothes, walking into the bathroom. I
came out dressed and grabbed my hat.
“Where are you going?” father asked.
178
“For a walk; I don’t know when I will be back,” I said and walked out
of my bedroom door.
“We are going to the gardens at twelve, so meet us there and don’t
be late Nathaniel Monroe!” father yelled.
“I slammed the front door and decided to walk to where the wed-
ding was being held. Everyone was setting up, and I saw Mary, giving
her usual orders. You’d think that she would be happier since it was her
wedding day, but she wasn’t. She was worse and I could sense it from
the other side of the garden. I walked away before she could see me
standing there. I didn’t know what her mood was going to be like to-
wards me since I left her at the rehearsal dinner.
“I made my way into the forest and used that as a chance to clear my
head. I leaned against a tree and thought I heard something. I looked
around, but couldn’t see anything as it was strangely foggy. A second
later, I felt something bite me on my neck. My body felt like it was burn-
ing from the inside out and I fell to the ground. I managed to crawl out
of sight and prayed for death, but it never happened. I spent the after-
noon burning, and when the sun started to set, people started to look
for me.
“Someone from Mary’s family came close to finding me, but only
took the hat I was wearing and left. I spent two days there, hoping for
death. My heart stopped beating and the pain stopped at the same
time. I felt...different. I looked around a few times, but the sensation
never left. I couldn’t even feel my heart beating. When I got up, I smelt
something sweet but bitter at the same time. I saw a trail of blood on
the ground and felt hungry. That was when I realised I was a vampire
and it was my blood I was looking at.
“I made my way back home, but kept my distance from them so I
wouldn’t be seen. I saw mother and Mary sitting outside on the steps of
my old home.
“Why did he have to go missing for? I mean, it was our wedding day
after all. Did he have this planned or something?” I heard Mary asked,
glaring down at her engagement ring.
“I don’t think my son would do something like that. Your father has
gathered a search party, and we are all going to look tonight in the for-
179
est. Nathaniel could just be lost and waiting for us to find him. I know
my son,” mother said.
“And I know him also. When Nathaniel doesn’t want to be found,
you can’t find him. We need to let him come back to us, and when he
does, the wedding will be back on.”
“I waited until they left that night and broke into my home, and
went straight for my room. It hadn’t been touched; expect that Mary
had now moved into my room. I looked around it, taking in the scent I
had when I was human. My stuff caught my attention and I wanted it. I
didn’t want to travel empty handed. I grabbed a duffel bag, and took
what I wanted; my clothes, shoes and valuables. I also stole money from
the safe so I could get as far as possible.”
“How much did you steal?” I asked.
“Over two thousand dollars,” Nathaniel replied.
“And did you leave town?”
“Yeah I did. I forced myself to leave, as I didn’t want to get caught. I
changed my clothes, and ripped the top I was wearing right down the
middle then left it in the forest for them to find. For six months, I was
alone, until Bethany found me one day. She took me back to Jack, and
he taught me how to behave when I was around a human. Over time, I
started to class him as my father and Bethany as my mother. They were
more of parent figures than my own parents. Two months after being
with them, Jack came home with a sombre look on his face. He in-
formed me that my mother and father had been killed, but I couldn’t
find it in me to feel any pain. After everything they put me through my
whole life, I just felt pain and anger towards them and I know that this
will sound cruel and cold, but I am glad that they died and I hope that
they are looking down on me and seeing how happy I now am and not
like I was when I was human.
“For some reason, Mary didn’t give up on looking for me. She loved
me in her cruel, twisted way and because of that, I hated her and I still
do hate her,” Nathaniel snarled, making me jump.
“You really have a lot of hidden anger and betrayal from your family,
don’t you?” I asked.
“Of course I do,” he said.
180
“How much does everyone else know about all of this?”
“They know everything about my past. Each and everyone one of us
have a troubled or haunted past that we try and forget about, but when
simple things in the news reminds you of what happened when you
were human, it hurts and threatens to break everything you have built.”
“At least you had two parents. I only grew up with one that struggled
to make ends meet,” I said, staring towards the ground.
“It couldn’t have been that hard. I have seen people without a par-
ent and it doesn’t affect them,” Nathaniel snickered.
I looked up towards him, laughing without humour from Nathaniel’s
snicker. One minute he was nice and charming, and now he was cold
and different.
“My mum never wanted a child, and it was my father that wanted
one. Everyone had to convince her to have one, and look what he did.
He left without a second thought. Most other people have contact, but I
didn’t. I was forced to get a part time job to help mum save for a house
so we could leave that town and leave all the bad memoires behind.
Now the cause of all the pain is back in town and I don’t know what he
even wants.”
“He can’t be that bad.”
“You tell me Nathaniel. Should a father abandon his child? Should a
child spend most of her life trying to find the man who was meant to
save her from the monsters under the bed or be the person a girl is
meant to look up to for guidance, love and protection?” I asked.
“I guess,” Nathaniel replied.
“Since I was thirteen, I spent each night in bed, lying awake wonder-
ing if I did something wrong that made him leave when I was little, and
he hasn’t forgiven me for it and feels like that I should be punished for
it. All my friends had two parents, while I didn’t. They never asked ques-
tions, but I always felt different to them for that reason. Mum had to
work two jobs to save for a house and to make sure I was getting things
that I needed; like clothes, shoes, food and stuff for school. She didn’t
want to live off my grandparents and she thought since she had me so
young; she was going to be a good mother and not force her parents to
look after a mistake.”
181
“I was being a bit harsh, wasn’t I?” he asked, regret seeping into his
voice.
“You were. You haven’t lived my life Nathaniel, and I haven’t lived
yours, but that still doesn’t give you the right to judge like you were. I
was going to tell you more about my father, but I changed my mind,” I
said, and walked out of the room, leaving him standing alone.
Bethany was sitting at the kitchen table with a blank look on her
face. She looked up when I entered the room and smiled weakly. Some-
thing was bothering her.
“Are you okay?” I asked and walked over to the kitchen table.
“I heard what Nathaniel told you about his past, but I am shocked
that he thought your life wouldn’t be hard living in a single parent
household,” she said.
“People make it look easy, but it wasn’t in my life. Mum was lucky
that she didn’t have to pay for childcare as my grandmother offered to
do it for free,” I said and pulled out a chair.
“So you were mostly raised by your grandmother?” Bethany asked.
“Yeah, but when mum could find the time, she took over. She didn’t
want to work two jobs. She only wanted to work one and spend most of
her free time with me, but she couldn’t. We wouldn’t have been able to
live on the money dad gave her as it was not even two hundred dollars.”
“When I spoke to your mum yesterday, she seemed like a tough,
strong willed woman that doesn’t let anything get to her, but when she
spoke about your father, there was this bitter edge to her voice.”
“Both mum and myself have got to the stage where we never want
to see him again, but now he is back in town and I don’t know what he
wants,” I said, slumping my shoulders and sighing.
“How did he even find you here?” she asked.
“I think Augusta found him and invited him into town. She is hell
bent on making my life a living hell and this is the best way on doing it,”
I admitted.
“That wouldn’t surprise me if she was behind this. Augusta is always
trying to get her claws into Nathaniel, but nothing works. Nathaniel
learned from Mary.”
“Nathaniel said Mary was like Augusta. Is that true?” I asked.
182
“Augusta is worse. Mary had limits and she was sweet when she
wanted to be. Mary loved Nathaniel in her own way and she did want to
marry him, but she felt like she was forced also and I know this because
of my vampire hearing. Augusta is obsessed with Nathaniel and she is
always saying that when they finally start dating; she will get everything
that she is always wanted and being able to rub it in the faces of every-
one else.”
“Is that the main reason why she wants me out of the picture?” I
asked, starting to put the pieces of this twisted puzzle together.
“Yes it is. Has Nathaniel told you about my past?”
“He said they aren’t his stories to tell,” I replied.
“Well I will tell you more another day, but to give you the short ver-
sion, I was in an abusive relationship when I met Jack. He knew some-
thing wasn’t right when he saw me in the streets after our meetings.
One day, he followed me home and saw everything that was happening.
He admitted everything, including that he was a vampire and that he
loved me. I felt the same and asked him to change me into a vampire.
We ran away and have been together ever since.”
“At least you got your happy ending. I don’t think my mother will
ever get that and that is what makes me even sadder,” I said.
“You never know about that Brianna,” Bethany said and looked to-
wards the hallway.
Nathaniel slowly walked around the corner, looking guilty. I sat up-
right, knowing that Nathaniel was in the hallway, listening in better than
he could from his bedroom.
“Were you listening in?” Bethany asked her son who was still not
making eye contact with either of us.
“Answer the question Nathaniel,” I said when he didn’t speak.
“I was,” he admitted.
“You will never learn Nathaniel,” Bethany said and left the room,
only leaving us in a pin dropping silence.
“I’m sorry Brianna. I was thinking that everything was still like it was
back in my era, but it isn’t. Everything has changed a lot in the years and
I telling you about my past forced me to slip back into the cold, harsh
would that I was forced to live in.”
183
“Things aren’t easy for me Nathaniel and you are thinking every-
thing was and that I was making things look worse than they were be-
cause they aren’t,” I spat and got up from the table and walked over to
the back sliding door. I crossed my arms and stared straight out into the
elements.
“I said I was sorry Brianna. Do you want me to get on my knees and
beg forgiveness because I will do that,” Nathaniel said behind me.
“You don’t need to do something stupid like that.”
“Then why does it feel like I have to?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. I just stared out the door, looking at the lightning
that was now able to be seen in the distance. I lifted my eyes up and
saw Nathaniel’s reflection staring back at me. I thought vampires didn’t
have a reflection? I slowly turned around, looking at Nathaniel in shock.
“I do have a reflection Brianna. I guess I just forgot to tell you, but
there are a lot of things that you don’t know about my lifestyle,” he said
and walked out of the room, leaving me alone.
The front door opened and voices came from the hallway. Dakota
and Amylia walked into the room laughing with shopping bags. Amylia
looked towards me and slowly made her way over. James, Chase and
Jack did the same, but the look on Chase’s face told me that he didn’t
want me here.
“Nathaniel told you about his past,” Dakota announced.
“Maybe she didn’t want us to know that Dakota,” Amylia said,
glancing over her way.
“He was fretting over it yesterday, so it is about time he told her,”
she said and pushed her way past Amylia and grabbed my hand. “Now,
if you don’t mind, I am taking Brianna and we are going to have a nice
heart to heart talk. Amylia, you are welcome to join,” she finished and
led me over to her bedroom.
She shut the door and turned around to face me. I looked aroun