My Beloved (2 page)

"Evil shall perish in the depths of hell," she whispered to herself as she read the barely visible engravement on the stone. Her heart thudded irregularly when she realized she might have found it. With clammy palms, she brushed away stray debris and leaves, and her eyes got bigger when she confirmed that she’d indeed found what she was looking for. Looking around wildly, she cursed herself again when she realized she hadn't thought to bring any tools with her.

"Idiot!" she hissed to herself. Then her eyes spotted a long piece of wood that seemed perfect, so she started digging with it. The ground in her town was always soft from the constant rain and she knew it wouldn't be too difficult. She just didn't know how deep it was. After thirty minutes of constant digging, Wendy found herself out of breath and her clothes and skin caked with mud. The hole was now about three feet deep. She gave a small laugh, thinking what her mother would say. Her arms burned from the strenuous activity and she was close to giving up and coming back tomorrow, with a shovel this time, but she knew she wouldn't sleep tonight if she did that. Looking up, she knew it had to be around twelve or so since her stomach had been rumbling non-stop. She lifted the piece of wood once more and struck the earth.

Thud. 

Her pulse quickened at the sound. This must be it! she thought with a huge smile. To anyone else she must have looked like a crazy person with how she was now dressed and the fact that she was digging up a grave. She could imagine Jamie trying to talk her out of it now.

With the wood, she scraped around the large box-like coffin so she could have enough room to open it and not stand on top of it. It took another thirty minutes, but she eventually succeeded when her feet were no longer on the wooden top. Her eyes widened when she saw a cross engraved on it and traced the carving with her dirt-caked fingernails.

Her guilt began to come back full force. This was someone's grave, not her way to help her family out of debt. At the thought of her family, her mind drifted to her sick brother. He has a heart defect that the doctors had only detected this past year. It was fatal unless treated with the right surgery. A surgery that costs more than a four-year tuition to Harvard, which is exactly what her parents were trying to pay with only a community college graduate kind of salary. With that thought in mind, she pushed away her guilt and started to pry open the lid.

She pulled too hard at first and sliced her index finger on a loose splinter. She cried out and stuck the bleeding finger in her mouth, but not before drops of it landed on the coffin and seemed to seep into it. The taste of iron and earth flooded her taste buds as she tried to suck the pain away. She shuddered from the taste, but it did help with the sting. Heaving a big sigh, she thought of how beat up she'll look tomorrow at school. With her limping from a bad ankle and probably bruises from the fall, it won't be long before rumors start to fly about. She tried to open it again, with her heart sprinting at the thought of what lies beneath, but she had to shove her fears aside for the time being. Finally, she pried the lid open with a loud creaking sound, which she thought only happened in horror movies.

She gasped and screamed as she scrambled to not get so close to the rotting corpse before her. There was still flesh on the bones, remarkably, but it was spotty as most of it was gone. The smell made Wendy gag and she gasped again when she saw what looked like fingernail markings on the inside of the lid. It was then that she came to a startling realization, that it truly was Lord Vincent, and that he was really buried alive! His clothes were tattered and torn but still looked to be in semi-decent shape, almost as if it was a zombie costume for Halloween, with its few holes. With a shudder, she realized there was dried blood on them as well. Her conscience came to the fore and she cursed herself for thinking this could possibly be justifiable!

Her eyes caught something shiny, and it was then that she saw what was left of the body was lying on a small mound of silver, just like in the story. Wendy bit her lip at the temptation. This could help solve her family's problem. Help save her brother's life.

With shaky hands, she reached in and grabbed a hold of a very old looking necklace that had a red ruby ensnared in the center. Her heart did reach out to the poor man with rope still wound around his body. Since she ignored her conscience from the time she started to walk here, she decided the least she could do was untie him as an 'I'm sorry' of sorts.

Black hair that could rival the color of a raven lay in a heap behind the head and had cobwebs and various bugs crawling through it. It disgusted her, but she was also disgusted with herself, grave robbing this poor soul. His eyes were long gone and that image will forever be burned in her memory. With eyes shut, she forced herself to untie him, if only to appease her guilty conscience a little. Without her knowledge, her bleeding finger dripped ever so lightly into the open jaw of the lying corpse. If Wendy had opened her eyes, she would've seen the two very pointy canine teeth that lay behind the rotting lips.

After that was done, she felt a little better despite taking the treasure back to her home. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain it. Maybe the truth, she wasn't sure. All she knew now was that this was the ticket to save her family. Gathering up all the silver that lay behind the body, she heaved it up and out of the hole before climbing out. Wendy knew she shouldn’t just leave the grave open so she shoved the rest of the dirt back in. She carried as much of the new treasure as she could in the gym bag she had the forethought to bring, stuffed the rest in her school bag, and walked back home.

Wendy

"I-I don't understand!" Wendy's mother stuttered as she looked upon her only daughter with almost frightful eyes, taking in the mud and dirt that caked her clothes and hair, but most importantly at the fortune of silver that lay in front of her. When Wendy had finally made it home by walking a different path through the woods so she would end up in the backyard of her house, she called her parents and told them to get home immediately. She should have taken a shower, but she was far too busy looking through everything she had taken.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. Listen, we can go a few towns over and pawn this stuff or something. Or say we found it in our backyard and get the money needed for Markus."

She had already explained to them what she had done. Wendy has never lied to her parents before and didn't want to start now. It was what made them so trusting of her. Her father, who had lightening blond hair and a slight protruding belly, eyed her with a torn expression. Her mother, Debbie, had tears welling in her eyes at the new hope that lay before them. She would commit murder if it meant saving her baby boy, so this option was much better in her eyes. She looked up at her husband, Jim, with hope-filled eyes that he knew he couldn't refuse.

"I'll go grab that old metal detector out in the garage. Wendy? When people ask, say you got curious and decided to do your own treasure hunt in our backyard. That's when you found this stuff, okay?" Jim hated that he was about to deceive the town that held most of his close friends. But this was for his sick boy that lay in a hospital bed an hour's drive from their home.

"After this is all said and done, we never speak of this again. Oh honey, thank you!" Debbie hugged her daughter to her body and didn't mind the dirt and mud on her own clothes. This was the type of thing the family has been hoping and praying for. It killed her as a mother to see one of her children so sick.

Wendy felt beyond tired and heard the tub calling her name. Letting her mother go, she sniffled, her nose running from the cold walk home. "I need a hot bath," she explained when Debbie looked at her with concern. That made her grimace as she looked down at her daughter and was reminded of how dirty she was.

"Go, go. I'll sift through this. We'll drive over to Vancouver tomorrow. I'll call the school tomorrow morning, excusing you."

Wendy felt relief at that, walked down the narrow hall, and slipped in the decent bathroom.

She sighed when she turned the silver-colored knob to hot and waited for the water to turn the right temperature. It would take a few minutes, so she began to undress, making goose bumps erupt all over her body the more clothes she took off. Steam curled up from the porcelain tub, giving her the signal the water was ready. Plugging the tub stopper, she took the rest of her clothes and underwear off, waiting for the tub to fill. She bent over to open the bottom cabinet and took out the sweet pea oils and poured some in, making the bathroom fill with the sweet smell.

"Ah..." she sighed when she descended into the hot water. It was borderline painful, but it felt too good to move. She lay back and closed her eyes and noticed for the first time since the whole ordeal that she was exhausted.

*****

About an hour later, Wendy woke up with a start and noticed… first, the water was now very cold, and second, the lights were off but there were candles on every surface possible. She felt confused. Then her back stiffened beneath the cold water when she felt that someone else was in the room. Her eyes searched the small room, but came up with nothing. She couldn't shake the feeling though. Was she going crazy?

"You are more beautiful than any dream my mind could conjure."

Her head whipped to the side and saw a man standing in the dark corner. The only corner in the entire room that was poorly lit. She was very aware of how naked she was and desperately tried to cover herself. "Get out!" she shrieked and briefly wondered where her parents were.

The man in the shadows chuckled and the sound sent shivers down Wendy's spine. "Cold, little one?" the man asked with amusement in his voice. She looked over and grabbed a small towel before wrapping her nude body under water.

"I said get out! Mom! Dad!" she screamed, trying to call for help. The man began to walk into the light and it was only then that she noticed the smell. It smelled like the open grave she dug up earlier that day. Her heart sprinted in her chest as she tried to catch her breath. With every step the man took, her pulse was steadily rising. A bloodcurdling scream ripped its way out of her mouth when his face came into the light. It was the corpse she had seen in the grave! Although this time he looked less decayed, but still extremely dead with his bony fingers. He had eyes this time, although they were pitch black and shone in the candle light.

His lips were pulled back in a smirk, but it cracked because of being unused for so long. She clutched the weightless towel tighter to her body when she saw pure black fangs that glinted like metal in the darkened shadow. "My Beloved," he murmured and stepped closer. Wendy began to shake with fear and shut her eyes tight, trying to escape this horrible place, however futile.

"Wendy?"

She shook her head in denial. This monster knew her name!

"Wendy?!"

*****

Her eyes snapped open and she let out a relieved cry. It was only a dream! She calmed herself, but only slightly. 'My guilt must be in overdrive,' she thought with a frown and quickly got out of the tub.

Not wanting to be in the room any longer, she wrapped herself in a towel and quickly fled to her room. She forgot her window was open, and shut it fast and closed the curtains. After slipping on her pink cotton nightgown, she got on her pillow top bed and snuggled under the covers trying to get warmer. She heard a knock on her bedroom door and peeked out from under the covers.

Her mother came in and sat at the foot of her bed. "Honey, I can't… thank you enough. What you did may have well saved your brother's life." Debbie's eyes watered and Wendy could see pride shining in her eyes – which was ironic considering her daughter went grave robbing.

"I feel so guilty, Mom! I even had a dream in the tub of the dead guy coming back for me!" Wendy felt a shiver pass through her at the thought of her scary dream just minutes ago.

Her mother gave her a comforting pat on the knee above the covers. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. But this will all blow over soon. I just wish you could've told us beforehand so we could have helped you out."

Wendy gave her mom a look that said she wasn't buying it.

"You would have walked with me to a grave of some ancient evil creature and dug it up to steal the silver that the body was laying on. Really?"

Her mom let out a laugh and shook her head. "Okay, maybe not. I wouldn't have believed you. But if I knew it was true, I'd be right down in the dirt with you. And this has to be enough for your brother,” she paused for a bit. “Well, I better get off to bed soon. I love you, honey." Debbie swooped down and kissed her daughter's forehead and walked out of the room.

*****

All through the night, Wendy couldn't fall asleep. She somehow knew that if she closed her eyes he would be there waiting for her. So instead, she looked at her gauzy curtains and waited for the sun to come up. Her eyes felt droopy by the time she could detect light on the horizon, but felt safe enough to finally sleep. Through the night, she thought she could feel eyes on her, but as soon as the sun started to come up, the feeling dissipated. Looking at her clock, she saw it was just past 5am so she took off her glasses and, with some reluctance, fell asleep.

"Sweetheart? You need to get up!"

Wendy groaned when her eyes refused to open, feeling beyond exhausted. Her eyes barely peeked open to see it was only three hours later with blurry numbers staring back from when she fell asleep, making it just past eight in the morning. Her eyes burned from lack of sleep and now she felt silly for not going to bed earlier. She wasn't going to let some dream control her sleeping pattern now.

She didn't want to alarm her mother so with great reluctance, she got up after slipping on her glasses, feeling more like the corpse she found yesterday than a human being.

"Oh, honey, are you alright? You look sick." Debbie was concerned for the paleness in her daughter's face and checked to make sure she didn't have a fever. Finding nothing else wrong, she still kept a wary eye on her, since it seemed she was about to collapse any moment.

"What every girl wants to hear, mom," Wendy joked, trying to detour the attention from her. Unfortunately, it didn't work when Debbie gave her the look. Wendy sighed and rested her face on the heel of her palm once she sat down at the table. "I didn't sleep well last night. It's fine though. I'll sleep on the way to Vancouver." She pushed up her glasses like always since they always seemed to want to slip off her face. She was surprised they weren't covered in dirt from yesterday's ordeal.

Her hair was a frizzy mess from not combing it out from the bath last night, but she had wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Her mom looked more worried when she saw her daughter had only thrown on her biggest, most frumpy, grey sweat-shirt with black sweat-pants to go with. Her dad, Jim, walked in with a grunt as a 'hello' and headed straight for the coffee machine. Debbie has been and always will be a morning person, while her husband and children barely talked for the first few hours of waking up.

"Jim, you can take your coffee with you in a thermos. We need to get going. I placed the items in the trunk so let's go," Debbie instructed and looked ruefully at her loved ones when they walked to the door with shuffling feet. Soon they were all on the road in the family car, and Wendy wasted no time leaning her head back in the backseat and falling asleep.

"You cannot escape me, little one."

Wendy jerked and saw she was in the forest on the steps of her sanctuary, only this time it felt like a prison when she couldn't move. Her eyes searched frantically for the face she knew was there.

"I apologize for my last appearance to you. You must have thought of me as evil. That was not my true form, My Beloved. You see, I have not seen myself for what seems like eons, and I grew ever anxious to meet you." His voice now covered her inner being like warm honey and made her feel safe even if a voice inside her was screaming at her to run, knowing what beast lay in the trees. His voice echoed not only off the forest trees, but in her head as well.

"Where are you?!" she yelled out, feeling frustrated and still slightly scared, even if his voice had soothed her biggest worries. She heard his smooth dark chuckle and felt a hot shiver race down her back.

"I must say, the clothes in this time are rather peculiar. Although, I seem to find, you can look ravishing in anything, Love."

She heard his footsteps to the right of her, making her head swing to catch a glimpse of the dead man. What she saw walk out from the hidden tree line made her breathing stop, but her heart starts up in a dead sprint.

His clothes were no longer tattered, but different. He looked to have stepped out of a movie set in the early 1800s. His coat was tailored to fit his large, tall frame and was the color of cobalt. Underneath was a ruffled kind of white dress shirt that was stretched to its limits over his expansive chest. His pants were wound around thick corded legs, and all in all he looked powerful. But what really made Wendy's breathing stop were his ice-blue eyes.

They pierced her soul and even though the color was icy, they couldn't have been more warm looking at her. His long black hair hung near his eyes, almost obscuring them from her view. His hair reached near his shoulders and normally she was against having any man with a long  hair, but to him it fit, and it made her want to run her fingers through it. "I see this appeases you more than our last visit?" He smirked at her and daringly walked closer.

Her fear came back to the forefront when she spotted those sharp canines again, only this time they were no longer like black metal. Now they were pearly white. They looked sharp enough to pierce titanium if they needed to. He saw the fear come back in her eyes and realized why. "You need not be afraid of me, My Beloved. I could never hurt you."

She felt the invisible grip on her fade away and she was once again able to move. He was only an arm's length away now and even though she was no longer a captive, she felt she couldn't move.

Something within her refused to let her flee like she wanted to. The larger half of her was beyond afraid, while the other smaller half - the one that seemed to be in control of her motor skills - refused to let her do so. He walked even closer and she could see the slight stubble of his unshaven strong jaw. She no longer smelled death, but only a sweet kind of smell that made her dizzy and want to smile.

His hand came up and cupped her jaw, sending little zings to her very heart. Her lips parted, ready to tell him to leave. She did not feel comfortable with what she was feeling and felt more and more like a slut with each passing minute.

Then he spoke. "Your lips look so soft, I must have a taste. Forgive me in advance, my Love, but I cannot resist your beauty." Without waiting another second, he swooped down and captured her lips with his own.