Joana heard a tap on her window by 8:00 pm. She knew who it was as she had been expecting him and was beginning to get worried that he wouldn’t come and they wouldn’t have their private celebration together. She strolled happily to her window to let Andrew in, he hugged her upon seeing her.
“What took you so long?” She asked. “Grandma Jen said she invited you to the party but you didn’t show up.”
“I know, I’m sorry babe. I wanted to come but it turned out that my parents also threw their surprise party for me,” he said laughing.
“It’s ok my love, the most important thing is that you’re here now. I would have hated us not getting to celebrate in our little way.”
“Are you ready?” He asked.
“Yes, I had already gotten dressed before you came.”
“Ok babe, then let’s go.”
He held her hand and led her out of the window, with Andrew’s help Joana climbed onto the tree and got down. Then he did the same. Walking towards where Andrew had parked his motorcycle, about three houses away. They both climbed onto it, Joana sat at the back helping him clutch his guitar. When they had both settled on it, he drove off.
Within a few minutes, they had arrived at a small lake. The lake separated the town from the woods and here, you could enjoy the beauty of nature whilst hearing the froggies croak and the birds sing. This was their favorite spot as right here, where they had shared a lot of memories.
They sat on one of the many large rocks that bordered the lake, Andrew holding his guitar. They stared at the lake for a while, pausing to take in the fresh air and peaceful feeling that came with being here. Andrew then reached for her hand and gave it a small squeeze which caught her attention and made her turn to him. He looked at her in return, the both of them catching each other’s gaze as he leaned forward and took her mouth in his, giving her a long kiss.
“I can’t wait for you to make me the happiest man alive,” he said to her after the kiss.
“Calm down honey, it’s only a month away. We were saying before that we couldn’t wait to graduate, but look at us now.”
“Have you picked a date yet?” He asked her.
“Yes, I’ve decided to do it on my birthday.”
“That’s good, but I thought you hated big parties on your birthday.”
“I know, the reason being that it has always been a special day for me and my family, so I never really wanted anything loud growing up, except for when I was a kid. But since it’s my wedding day, and my wedding day is special, I want to celebrate my future birthdays knowing that it was the same day that I said ‘I do’ to you.”
Andrew reached for her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, making her lean into his chest.
“I love you,” he said. “And I support you no matter what, we can get married anytime so long as we still get married, and if you want it to be on your birthday, we’ll have it then.”
She smiled at what he said. Then after looking at Andrew’s guitar which was now on the floor, she remembered the reason why they were here.
“It's getting late, and you haven’t played me a song yet!” She mumbled as he had always played her a song whenever they came here.
“Oh! Slipped my mind, you tend to forget a lot of things when you’re with the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Such a tease,” Joana said, pushing him lightly.
Andrew loved to play the guitar and Joana had always loved when he played it for her, he was her favorite musician, and she had fallen in love with every single piece he wrote.
“I have been working on a new one. I want to sing it on our wedding day, it’s not finished yet but I still think you should be the first one to hear it.”
“I’d love to hear it,” she said.
He brought out the guitar from the bag, stood up, and placed it on his lap after lifting his leg with a stone. He held onto the neck with one hand while using the other to play the strings. Then he began to sing to his one-man audience.
I love my baby
And she loves me too
I’ll marry my baby
And she’ll marry me too
After Andrew finished the song, Joana gave him a round of applause. She had loved every word of it.
“It’s wonderful, and I think it’ll be perfect for our big day!” she said as she stood to give him one last hug before they both left the lakeside and went back to the motorcycle. Andrew started the engine and began to drive her home.
***
In a vampire coven located in a tall castle in the mountains, a messenger bat flew in, with new information about the one it had been sent to watch on.
The bat flew into the big castle and went to its master, Dana, to deliver the message.
Dana had just awoken, as the sun had set. The bat landed on top of her table in the darkroom where she slept.
“Hello, faithful one,” she said to the bat, “do you have any news for me?”
The bat made a squeaking noise, it was communicating with her in its language as she nodded her head.
“Ok then,” she said to it. “Let me look into your eyes, I want to see what you have seen.”
The bat flew to where she sat. She took the bat in her hand and brought it closer to her as she looked into its eyes. She then saw the image of Joana, the 200th descendant fixing a wedding on the day she was supposed to transform.
“Oh no,” Dana said. “This is terrible news.”
The next few weeks became busy for Joana and Andrew as they were both caught up making preparations for the wedding. They had a lot of things to do, starting from planning the budget along with the other sponsors, getting a license- she needed granny Jean’s parental consent for this as she was still a minor, choosing a location, creating the guest list, sending out invitations, choosing the right wedding planner, planning the reception, the rehearsal dinner, choosing the wedding attire, amongst other things. And they only had about a month to get everything done. There was barely enough time for the couple to hang out alone anymore, as there were plenty of things that needed their attention. At some point, Joana thought that maybe she should have given more space to get things planned, but that would mean that she wouldn’t have her wedding on her birthday anymore. She had only one birthday in a year, and she couldn’t wait till the next year before getting marr
Dana had just arrived at the wedding venue, gorgeously dressed. She hoped she had come here on time as the transformation on Joana would begin anytime soon. She checked the gold watch on her wrist. The wedding was supposed to start at 6 pm and it was already 5:50. No sign of a vampire bride anywhere, she thought as she walked towards the tent. She spotted the groom at the entrance, along with some relatives welcoming the guests that were walking in. She began walking towards them. “Welcome Mrs.…... um,” Andrew greeted her at the entrance, trying to identify who she was. “It’s Miss Dana Smith,” she said, shaking his hand. “I’m a friend of the bride’s family.” “You are most welcome Miss Smith,” he said, indicating for her to enter. She went in and looked around the hall. Joana wasn’t here either. Where could she be? She wondered as she took her seat right next to the other guests. She couldn’t send her messenger bat here, as people would see her. And sh
Joana woke up with a slight headache as she clutched the side of her stomach, the wound was no longer there. Was it a dream? She noticed that she didn’t wake up in her room. This place looked different, it looked historical as there were a lot of ancient art and drawings on the wall and the roof. She got down from the bed and tried to look if she would see anyone who would explain what had happened to her. She also noticed that the room was very dark, the large windows covered by thick black curtains. Even though the room was dark, she could somehow still see. She walked to the window and was about to open the curtains when she heard a voice behind her. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. The sun will roast you like marshmallows.” She turned to see another strange face standing at the door. She recognized him; it was the man who had stabbed her at the wedding. “Who are you, and why am I here?” She asked. “My name is Derick, I’m sorry about the stabbing
Dana was waiting for them at the castle when they arrived. They landed at the gates and walked to the entrance where she was standing. “Where have you two been?” She asked them. “I was just showing Joana how to use her wings,” Derick answered the question for them. “Excited to be a vampire huh?” she said as she turned to Joana. “Not at all,” Joana replied. “I want to go back home. Grandma Jen would be worried sick by now!” “Don’t worry, I’ve talked to Grandma Jen, I told her you’re with me and that you’re safe. Although it did take a bit of brainwashing.” “You brainwashed my grandma?” Joana said loudly. “Don’t worry, she’s fine, only that she has no memory of the wedding and the plans you had made the past month. I did the same to all your guests, including your groom. And also, to anyone who could provide information about what happened at the wedding, for a little token of course.” “Why would you do that?” Joana asked
“Marylin returned to the castle to keep the peace, but for days she couldn’t sleep. She came here to the library, searching if she would find a way or a place for her and her lover to be together without causing any disruption. John had offered to run away and come and live here as a vampire, but Marylin knew that his family would never stop until they found him or even his dead body, as he was the only child. And if they ever came here, this coven will be finished. She didn’t want to endanger our lives by transforming John, so she kept on searching for another alternative and never gave up until she found one. “Luck shone one her one day when she found a book about where she could find the supreme council. Everyone knew about their existence and how they keep the law but no one had ever seen them, except of course for those who had incurred their wrath, and were never seen or heard from again after being summoned to their presence. “In her desperation to be with her
He looked at her eyes again and gave up. He would never say no to the one he loved, even if it meant she would leave him again. “Fine,” he said. “But I am only helping you for personal reasons.” She raised her brow at what he said. He then realized how weird that just sounded. “No,” he said, correcting himself. “I mean that I can’t tell you the reason why I am helping you, but just know that it has something to do with Marylin Lou.” Ok, she said with a small breath of relief. “We will go hunting now as we need to feed and store some blood for later. I will show you how to do it, Dana didn’t come back with the remaining members of the coven, Hillary and Edmund. They should be on their way if they are not already back. I’ll go and check for them and see if they are around, then we will all go together.” And with that, he flew out of the room quickly. He came back about two minutes later with a bowl and a cover. “They are no
Joana never believed that she would have this much fun going hunting with Derick and drinking from the dead body of a wild animal. At first, she refused to let her mouth touch its raw skin, telling him to pour the blood into the bowl for her before she would agree to drink. But as she saw the blood was rushing out from the deer, she felt it call to her. She didn’t know what came over her as she dragged it away from his claws and began to drink from it. She couldn’t believe it, but it felt better than drinking from the bowl as this was coming right from the source, still flowing, still fresh, it felt like heaven to her mouth. She didn’t stop until she finished it, she didn’t mind Derick who was looking at her, shaking his head. After she finished, she dropped the bloodless animal to the floor, licking the few drops of blood that stained her lips, she was still hungry, or still thirsty rather. Derick noticing how she felt, spoke to her. “You’ve got quite an appetite th
“The first thing that you will be learning from me today is how to control your affinity for blood. As a vampire, blood is the same as life for you, you will always desire it and you will always feel as if you cannot live without it. The truth of the matter is that you can, but for an inexperienced vampire like you, it’s impossible as it takes years to control one’s hunger.”Joana sat down in the study, listening to everything that Derick was saying. Tonight, was the first night of her training with him, she didn’t know how long it would take before she would be able to master her vampire powers but she hoped it would be soon enough, as it hadn’t been three days yet and she already missed the sunlight. She turned her focus back on Derick who went to the table to bring the bowl of blood they had gone to hunt for last night.“I will place this bowl directly in front of you, and I will cuff you in handcuffs containing bits of silver; not enough to harm you but to weaken you
Joana cuddled little baby Jennifer by the fireplace of the quarters she and Derick had moved into after getting married, she rocked her to sleep, singing her one of the lullaby songs grandma Jen used to sing to her when she was little.Being married to Derick, they still had their misunderstandings but now that they both shared a bed, they now had a place they where they could settle those little pending issues.After a few years of getting married, Joana was more than surprised to find out she was pregnant, she felt it was either the supreme council that just wanted to give her a gift, or the fact that she and Derick had had sex like a million times till the point she conceived, she didn’t care for whatever reason she became pregnant, all that mattered was that her little bundle of joy was right there in her arms, and had brought nothing but happiness into their lives ever since she came. She named her baby Jennifer, after her grandmother, because she kn
Six months later…Joana looked into the gift that the evergreen river had gifted her for her wedding day. It was a magic mirror that allowed her and any other vampire to see their reflection. She looked into it and saw how beautiful she looked in the magical flowery dress the pixies had made for her for her special day. This gift was truly a keeper and she sure would cherish it.“Are you ready to get married?” She heard a voice behind her. She turned to see Dana and Hillary in their bridesmaids dresses the pixies had made for them too. They went to get some flowers that she would hold to walk the alter, as if she didn’t have enough flowers on her dress already.“The more, the merrier,” Dana said.“You look stunning!” Hillary gasped, taking in the view of the beautiful white dress.“You two look amazing also, come and see yourselves in the mirror,” she showed the mirror, an
Back to the present…The news of Marylin’s suicide had the whole coven in silence for days. It killed the happy mood that had been brought about by Derick’s reappearance, and no one was able to eat or sleep during that period. Who would have thought that a story that everyone thought would be a happy ending, actually turned out to be a tragedy?Dana soiled her pillow with tears those nights while thinking, so her husband had lied? He announced to everyone that she died from a strange sickness, and yet couldn’t produce her body, she should have known something was up then. This was the most disheartening news she would ever take.John was truly a snake, she was even sure that he hadn’t bothered to go and look for her when he found out she was missing, he was a bigger bastard than Andrew, and she wished he were still alive so she could go and kill him herself.With all the bad news, she was still happy for Joana, she had
Marylin’s POV…I returned to John’s house after breaking the news of the sacrifice and me becoming human to the members of my coven, they were all distraught by the news but that didn’t make me change my decision. Besides, the supreme council had already said the action was irreversible once I performed the sacrifice, so even if they succeeded in convincing me to stay, it wouldn’t matter anymore. The only thing that gave them a little comfort was when I told them that it wasn’t going to be permanent; my 200th descendant would return as me again with only no memory of the life I’m living now, and would become a vampire on her 18th birthday. Dana promised to always send her messenger bat to watch over my descendants until it reached the 200th, so she would help her return to the castle when it was time. I didn’t care whatever she tried to do in order to bring me back to the coven, all she needed to know was that I was leaving them
Joana searched and searched but couldn’t find the river anywhere, she tried to remember where she saw her the last time she and Derick came here, but in that same place where she met the river, there was nothing there but empty land. She then realized that she probably couldn’t see the river because the river hadn’t called her, but that would mean she would have to pray. Her heart sank, she remembered how long it took for the river to respond the last time she prayed, and she wasn’t sure she had that much time now that her spirit was here. She then got on her knees and began to pray, hoping that the river would hear her and respond quickly, now that she was closer.She hadn’t even begun praying when the river called.“Hello Joana, welcome back. I see you brought your spirit body here this time around.”“Hello river, please I need your help. I am sorry for how I acted the last time; I need to find the one I lo
Back to the present…Reading about Marylin’s experience with the gem piece made Joana remember something important. She quickly dropped the book and hurried over to her bag where she had gathered her own set of ingredients. She emptied the contents in it and lo and behold, amongst the ingredients in her bag, the gem piece was there. She remembered that she didn’t put the pieces back in their normal positions on the five stones because of the pack of wolves she encountered after leaving the supreme council’s presence.If Derick had truly gone to the supreme council to take his life, he wouldn’t have been able to summon their presence without this gem piece she had in her hand. Realizing this made her heart skip a beat, if Derick was still alive, then where could he have possibly gone to? Where could he have been all this while?She rushed out of her room and went to meet Edmund in his quarters, Hillary and Dana had gone hunt
I didn’t waste time in going into their presence as the book told me all I needed to do. I flew to the heart of mother nature, united the gem pieces thereby summoning them and poured my heart out to them when I did. The leader of the supreme council; the one who sat in the middle, then spoke to me.“We have a solution to your problem, we can take away your immortality and make you a human so that you can be reunited with the one you love, but keep in mind that once you offer this sacrifice, your decision can not be changed. You will begin a new journey and you will bring back five ingredients; the first is waters from the evergreen river, tears from the black dragon, earth from the volcano of life, a speck of pixie dust from the enchanted forest, and finally your immortal blood.“All these ingredients are needed to make a sacrifice at the center of the heart, where you first summoned us. If your sacrifice is accepted, then you will becom
After that weekend at Johnnie’s parents’ house, I tried as much as possible to distance myself from his family, even though they began to visit him more regularly to find out if I had any witchery going on. They always came during weekends and sometimes during the weekdays, his mom and his aunt most especially. I knew the reason why they were coming; to check to find anything that would confirm their suspicions that I was a witch or that I had bewitched Johnnie so they could go and report to the king. They gave up when they couldn’t find anything after a few weeks.Alas I was finally free from his family, and now I could have more alone time with my Johnnie. More good things started happening to us as Johnnie, with the whole of his life savings, bought a small land in the town as he was tired of his job, and wanted to go into pig farming. We would both run the farm together, and I even agreed that I would help with night duties while he slept. He would b
After Dana’s visit I became more wary about what people said and thought about me, I never trusted anyone apart from my Johnnie, I managed the vamscren she gave me to make appearances in many parts of the town during the day. It worked, and after a while, all the witch rumors about me stopped, people just assumed that I was heliophobic or something.Johnnie decided that it was now time for me to meet his parents, we were going over to their house for dinner tonight. I was excited at the thought of going to meet them, I only hoped that the fact that I wouldn’t be able to eat anything wouldn’t pose as a problem.We went to their house in the evening after he came home from work. Their house wasn’t in the same neighborhood as Johnnie’s and in this area, there were entirely different faces, they lived in the outskirts of the town. I made sure to look my best before we left and soon, we reached the house. It was bigger than Johnnies and