prologue

Prologue

England, 1622

"Did that good for nothing husband of mine go to the inn?"

"Yes Mistress."

"Worthless."

"I’m sorry ma’am, would you like me to fetch him?" I asked.

"I wasn’t calling him worthless you fool, I was calling you worthless. You need to go outside and clean the hog pen. I can smell it from inside the house again."

"Yes Mistress."

I walked from the house over to the barn. I hated my Mistress; she was such horrible old women. I couldn’t wait to leave this place. I didn’t know where I would go, but it would seem anywhere would be better than here.

I worked for several hours cleaning the hog pen, I hated pigs. Disgusting creatures, they ate and lived in their own filth. The thought made me smile, sounded like my Mistress and her wretched husband.

I wondered why the plague couldn’t have killed them the last time we had it. I was sure it was because the world loved cruel people; England sure seemed too filled with them.

I was sure the Mistress wouldn’t be expecting me back any time soon, so after I finished with the hogs, I went down to the river to clean myself up. I knew bathing was bad for you, but I hated being dirty. That was one of the reasons the people of my village thought I was a witch, I never got sick from bathing.

I sometimes questioned if you really could get sick from it; I washed in the river at least once a week and never did. My Mistress bathed maybe once a month after cycle, but her husband never seemed to bathe. It seemed to me both of them were sick and near death, but never dying. I chuckled at the thought; they were too mean to die.

When I was sure I was alone, I undressed and washed the pig waste off of my dress. After I was satisfied that I had cleaned it as best I could, I washed my hair and my body.

I let the sun dry my dress and my apron and I sat on the grass and ate two apples that I had picked earlier. I knew my Mistress would soon worry where I went off to so I dress and headed back to the house. She was waiting in the doorway looking angry.

"There you are you wretched girl, get two chickens and butcher them for dinner tomorrow."

"Yes Mistress."

"Come and get these chamber pots. They need to be dumped and washed sometime today."

"Yes Mistress."

I went inside the filthy small cottage and retrieved the two pots.

"Once you finish with them, get your lazy worthless self out in that barn and stay there. I’m tired of your filth sinking up my house. And be grateful I don’t sell you to some infidel Turk as a slave. I’m sure you would be worth something even to those heathens."

"Yes Mistress and thank you for your Christian charity."

I turned and headed back over to the barn. The barn was where I slept and did most of my work. I laughed at the thought and was grateful it was the one place that I was safe from the old hag. Up in the hay loft, I had made a little place of my own. She was too fat to try to climb the ladder.

I dumped the two chamber pots away from the barn and looked for a couple of chickens. One of them was sitting on a freshly laid egg. Perfect, I would eat it for dinner I thought grabbing the chicken by the neck.

I killed the two chickens, and hung them up with string to cure. I hid the egg in the loft; I would make a small fire later and boil it.

I took the camber pots, and headed to the family’s well. One of these days, that woman was going to pay for her cruelties. But in my heart I knew I wouldn’t get to see it.

As set the pots down, my mind reflected back on the strange carriage that had passed near the Mistress’ land. It was beautiful, black with gold trim. It was pulled by four of the most amazing black draft horses I had ever seen.

I had wondered what it would be like to live in such luxury. Who was the man

who rode like a king? Was he married? I couldn’t imagine how beautiful his wife would be. I bet she would go to fancy balls and wear the most gorgeous gowns.

I looked down at the disgusting pots, and wished I could throw their contents one morning into my Mistress’ face. I laughed at the thought.

I was suddenly startled by the sound of huffs coming towards me. I turned and there was a beautiful man on one of the large horses I saw earlier. He was dressed in all black, even his stocking were black. His dark hair was shoulder length, his eye were burning green that seemed to look into your soul.

"Come!" he said holding out his hand.

At first I couldn’t believe he was real. He was so beautiful; my mind couldn’t wrap itself around such attractiveness. I was surrounded by filth. The houses, the people, the animals, it was all so filthy. But he was everything that I wished for.

"Miss, you must come. There isn’t much time; they’re preparing a stake as we speak. You must come!"

"Who?" I asked barely hearing myself speak.

"Your village, they’re going to accuse you of witchcraft. You shall be burned." his hypnotic eyes were everywhere, "Please, we have little time."

I knew it wasn’t wise to go anywhere with strange men, but I knew I could trust him completely. I slowly reached up and took his hand. With incredible strength, he pulled me up onto the horse’s back and rode like the devil himself was after us.

"Where are we going?" I asked not really caring.

"Anywhere but here."

I inhaled the strange man’s scent; it made my head spin at the sweetness of it. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt safe.

As night fell, the stars came out and the moon rose. But the man whose name I did not know showed no sign of slowing. I watched as the moon drifted from one side of the sky to the other, but we did not slow.

The horse showed amazing endurance at the pace that was set, but even he was starting to falter. From time to time the horse would stumble. I was on the verge of falling asleep; it was only because of the man holding me by the arm I didn’t tumble off.

"Are we going much farther?" I asked.

"No not much. There’s a place hidden up here where we shall stay the night."

I could see that the dawn would soon come. I hoped that he was not planning on leaving once the sun was up. I couldn’t imagine how mad my Mistress was going to be when I did not return. I wonder if she even looked for the chamber pots.

Her fury would be taken out on everything that walked, crawled or slithered. I smiled at the though, I wouldn’t be going back.

The man slowed the horse; off in the shadows ahead I thought I could see the outline of a small cottage. I sighed a sigh of relief that we wouldn’t be going any farther.

As we approached the cottage, the man slowed the horse to a walk. I could tell he was being very cautious, though I knew not what danger waited. As the man approached, he jumped down and pulled a pistol from his belt. He walked slowly up to the cottage.

He quickly pulled the door open and went inside. A few moments later I could see light coming from inside. The man came out with his pistol back in his belt and his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"Come." he said helping me down.

"Why did you save me?" I asked.

"All in good time. My name is Nelix."

"Penelope, my Lord."

He turned and led the way back into the cottage. When I entered, it looked like every other place I had seen. One large room with a fire place, a small kitchen, and a single bed in the corner.

Nelix shut the door and started a fire in the fireplace. He sat there looking at the fire saying nothing. Not knowing his reasons for saving me, I remained quiet.

I stood there looking at his back as he knelt warming himself. I wished I could get myself moving, the fire seemed so inviting. It was cool in the morning with the harvest so close.

Finally the man stood; when he turned I thought I was looking at a living nightmare. His face was horribly deformed, he had turned into a living monster that history had told us to always fear. Here standing in front of me was a creature of the night, the undead.

I screamed and tried to flee the cottage. Though the thought of escaping him was ridiculous, I had to try. He grabbed me with a strength I had never felt and threw me to the ground. I felt the wind whoosh from my lungs as I bounced off the dirt floor.

"Let’s have no more of that nonsense." he said gently.

"Please don’t kill me." I pleaded.

"Don’t kill you? My darling, you’re already dead." he laughed.

I didn’t know what he found funning about that, but the thought angered me, "You dare mock me? Is not killing me enough for you?"

"What I mean little one, if not for me you would be ash. And because I saved you from certain death, your life belongs to me."

"What do you want from me?" I said fearing the worse.

He smiled, "Not much. I shall make you beautiful. You shall never get old, never get sick, and the world shall be yours. But remember, you belong to me. You shall belong to me willingly for the life I shall give you. If not, I shall destroy what I have created."

Before I could respond, the monster approached with complete confidence of time. I tried to scoot away from him on the ground, I knew this was it. This was what I had always feared; I pulled my knife out of my apron to defend my chastity.

The man quickly disarmed me with a laugh. He threw the knife, grabbed my hair and yanked my head over to expose my neck. The man sunk his teeth into me; the crunching sound it made resonated in my head. In a matter of seconds I could feel myself fading away.

To my surprise he let me go. I was so weak; I couldn’t place my hand over my neck to stop the bleeding. The ringing in my ears blocked out everything but the pain.

"Are you ready to live again?" he asked from far away.

I couldn’t answer; all I could do was lie there on the edge of oblivion. I didn’t quite understand what he meant, nor did I really care. Life was nothing but pain; there was nothing new to me here. But I could feel the darkness coming, and with it, the pain was subsiding. Death was moments away, and I was grateful.

I felt warmth in my mouth, the salty taste was consumed everything that I was. It brought me back from the darkness into the pain. I had almost escaped life into peaceful death. Eventually the man pulled his wrist away from my mouth and fell backwards onto the floor. He panted heavily holding his wrist; he wore a horrible smile on his distorted face.

I knew the stories of the undead; I knew I was destined to walk the endless night.

"Soon little one, soon you’ll be like nothing you can imagine. I have tasted your blood, now I will taste your flesh."

The man pulled himself to his feet and came towards me. What else could he do to me? He has already taken my life, now he will violate my body? I felt despair crashing down on me. There was nothing I could do, I would be his slave. He had taken my soul, so death would hold no comfort for me.

The man threw himself onto me and used unnecessary force to try to take my body. I wouldn’t fight him, there was no point. I closed my eyes and wished for death. As he pulled on my dress, the unexpected happened.

The door to the cottage exploded and men with weapons rushed into. Nelix jumped up from where he had landed from the force of the blast. It had blown him off of me and he had crashed into the wall. The explosion had left me dazed, but I had my wits enough to know that anyplace was better than where I currently laid.

Nelix exploded with anger and rushed the men with his sword. I crawled towards the door trying not to be stepped on by the rush of men. They had quickly filled the small cottage and a horrible fight ensued. One of the men looked me as he ran by; I could see the fear in his eyes.

As I crawled out of the cottage, I saw horses everywhere. I wondered if this was the danger Nelix feared. Listening to the men fighting and dying inside the cottage, I climbed onto Nelix’s spooked horse. How any of the horses remained after the powered keg blew was beyond me, but it was only a passing thought.

I knew I had to get away. To where, I had no idea. I couldn’t go back to the village, I couldn’t stay here. I kicked the large horse that seemed all too willing to leave. I didn’t need to push the horse; he understood the necessity of speed. For

the first time in my life, I was master of my own destiny.