The Vampire Anthologies

Caroline

     My life has always been tied with the sea, the coming and going of the waves as it rolled in against the shore. The shells forgotten and left behind by the water, the footprints in the sand forever erased like it never existed.

     The sea gives and it takes, it embraces the life of the shore and then the water abandons it. People are given the bounty of the sea but are also taken under by the same water.

     My family relied on the sea as merchants over two hundred years ago. And for a while, we reaped the sea and all its riches. Trade such as dried fish, tobacco, silks, leather, all of it were plentiful for a time.

     We became known as one of the richest merchant families by the time I was born in the year seventeen thirty six. That status is what led to my betrothal to Him.

     A noble boy of three summers at the time when I was but one winter old, I first became tied to Him by contract. Later as we grew and I became a woman and He a man, I became tied to Him by something much purer and many would say foolish : love.

     I became enraptured by Him, the way his full lips formed in a smile as he told stories. The way his icy eyes crinkled in mirth as he pranked the servants who served him. Or the way his coal black hair would be tousled from the sea's wind.

     Like a sailor drawn to a siren, I was drawn to Him. He was always there, through everything, dependable and strong. Any unwanted suitors He batted away. Any naysayers or angry sailors that hated my family's wealth, He stood guard against them. He became my best friend, my guardian, my love.

     But then the sea that had given us so much, began to take pieces of my life away. It took my father and brothers, our wealth and status with it. It took everything of importance. Yet I was blind to the sea's rage at first, too lost in drowning in Him I was.

     I dreamed of the home we would have together as man and wife. The warm, strong stones that would be able to withstand both the wind of the storms and the passage of time itself. The great, wooden doors that would be hand carved by the best carpenters of England and later our children as they would grow taller and taller with each mark made. The kitchen would smell of fresh bread, ready to be served to our large family and, best of all, the sitting room would always be bright and filled with laughter and joy.

     But it was not to be.

     "I must deeply beg for your forgiveness Caroline but I cannot go through with this union of our two families."

     His words had left me stunned into silence, so stricken as I watched my dream shatter before my eyes. I saw our home, our children, our entire lives fade away like the ocean mist.

     For what seemed like hours I stood speechless before I finally could bring forth the trembling words out of my mouth, "Why?"

     And there He stood, just as speechless, unable to voice his reason. His mouth opened and closed as he fought to explain why he would break the betrothal we both had grown to expect, and what I had once believed both of us had once desired to happen.

     My chest felt tight, my air taken away. And it became that it was I who had to leave that stormy night. I ran through the cold, thundering night, my feet carrying me away to a destination I knew not where. Tears poured down my face to the point I feared I would drown in the salty water. Only when my eyes were finally clear enough for me to see, I found myself at the ocean's edge.

     I collapsed on that cool, wet sand, the rain and wind beating at me as thunder and lightning crashed overhead. In the midst of the storm I was lost, without purpose. I was faced with the reality of this cruel world : my family's wealth that had once been so prized is all but gone, my father and brothers lay dead and forgotten in the sea, and now the one thing that could bring at least our honor back is gone.