Chapter 79 Another life

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 now.

I became a human the day I returned to my Johnnie’s house; I knew this because the call from the mortal blood that I always tried so hard to control was no longer there. The sacrifice had worked. I went out in the sun to see if anything would happen, and after so many decades, I could now bask in the glory of the sun’s rays without having to chug down on a whole bottle of vamscren. It was truly glorious.

I told my Johnnie all that I had been through just for us to be together again, and to celebrate our victory, he proposed marriage to me right there and then, it was the happiest day of my life.

We got married three days after, I even sent a picture of my wedding photograph to Dana through a messenger bird, I hoped she got it though.

Now in my husband’s house, I could now give an answer to everyone in Johnnie’s family who accused me of being a witch, I could now prove them wrong. I ate as much as my belly could take during dinner time, and I took long walks in the sun. I made them eat their words, including his mother, Agatha, I made them shut up about me.

Two years later, I had a daughter with Johnnie, I called her my princess, because that was all she was to me. Johnnie loved his daughter, and we were a happy family, princess had all she needed; a family, love from mummy and daddy a good life and a good house, none of which you could ever see in a cold vampire castle.

Things were going pretty well until the man I married, the man who I sacrificed my humanity for, the man who I left my family and everyone who had ever loved me for, the man who I had always loved, began to show me another side of himself that I never knew existed.

***

The first thing he did that I didn’t know about until after the birth of my daughter, was that he had married someone else during the two years I was away from him in search of the ingredients. I had always thought that he waited for me, but it turned out that he didn’t.

No wonder his family looked at me with so much pity, none of them told me anything because I was so mean to them. I later found out the truth through the townsfolk who were surprised to see that John had married another wife. The first wife he married, Cecelia, ran away from town with another man after duping him of a large sum, more than half of his wealth, I don’t know how it all happened, but I do know that was the starting point of his bankruptcy, the only thing he had left was the house, and that was only because his family didn’t allow him to sell it. He foolishly gambled away the rest of what he had, and that was how his business, his properties, and all his investments, went sinking into the ground.

Although I was disappointed, but I didn’t let any of that get to me, I had a daughter to care for now, so I had to do something to make sure I could always feed her. I got a job as a maid through one of John’s friends Paul, I knew that he gave me the job out of pity, but it provided enough money to take care of me and my daughter, while John gambled his life away.

Things got worse with him, he kicked me out of our matrimonial bedroom just so he would be able to bring in his prostitutes and I then began to sleep in my daughter’s room. At first, I would sleep on the cold floor beside her cradle but later I saved up enough money from my job to buy a small bed.

John would come home most nights drunk, and I had to avoid him whenever he did lest I get beaten up again, I never imagined that he would turn out to be that way but he did. Sometimes he would even sneak into my room and steal my hard-earned money, money I would keep to feed me and my daughter for a few weeks and either gamble with it, or spend it on alcohol and prostitutes. I dared not ask him for it, I was tired of the endless beatings and curses he would reign on me while his family watched. I just had to be more careful with my money.

He did those things to me because he knew I had nowhere else to go, he knew I had abandoned my family and that if I left this house, I would be in the cold streets with my daughter, with no roof over our heads and no one to care for us.

All those years, I battled with depression, holding on all because of my daughter, all because I didn’t want her to be without a place to stay, but I regretted my actions. I regretted becoming human again. I knew there was no going back, and I could never have the life I had taken for granted again.

At times I would see Dana’s vampire bat watching my daughter, I knew I could communicate with her through it, but I was too ashamed to do it. I could not let her or Derick see me like this, not after all I had said to them, not after I had hurt them, and besides, there was no way I could come back to live in the castle with them. I just had to make sure that the bat never saw me crying or never saw when John was beating me up.

I never thought I would say this, but I regretted the day I ever met john, I gave up my whole life to be with him, but in the end, he only turned out to be a snake.

I had a long life, I had someone to love me and take care of me. I knew I loved him too but I didn’t want to admit it because I didn’t want to live the life of a vampire, the life I had been forced into. I had a sister who loved me and cared for me, who would take me anywhere in the world I wanted to go, but I abandoned her instead. I had a family to love and care for me, but I never appreciated any of that, not until I lost it all.

Eighteen years after, my daughter had left the house and went on to marry the love of her life, cutting off from her father completely and wanting nothing to do with him. I was happy, at least there was something to smile about after living with regret for so many years, but it never took away the pain I felt in my heart, I knew that nothing in this world could ever take it away. Nothing in this world would ever make me feel better, nothing.

One day, while cleaning up my daughter’s room, I found my old dairy. I had left the first one in the castle, and here the second one was with me now. Mariana was right, it’s pages never withered and it was still as fresh as ever, even after so many years. I remembered how I wrote my story in it starting from the time I became a vampire and the times I spent with John, one would have thought that things would end well between us, but look at us now.

I hadn’t written in it in years, as I was too overwhelmed with the challenges I was facing to even think of writing. I picked up a pen and continued writing my story, making sure not to miss anything important that had happened to me in the previous years. Something in me knew that even though I was the only one who could read what was written inside, the story I have written here might still be of help to or impact someone’s life somehow, even if it wouldn’t be until thousands of years.

I spent days writing, but it was well worth it. I had always loved this diary because it was a safe place for me to share my thoughts without anyone intruding. When I finished writing, I began to think of the safest place I could keep it, the place that I know that would last for years, decades, centuries or even millennials to come, and I knew that a castle filled with immortal vampires would do the trick.

Ever since my daughter left this house, Dana’s bat stopped coming here. I knew that the bat would have followed her to her husband’s house, and from there it would count until they got to the 200th descendant. I had to find another way to get this diary to the castle, and even if I had to journey there myself, then I would.

I took the diary and hurried out of town, journeying for many days until I got to the mountains. I remembered the last time I went through this journey, when I had newly been converted, I passed through the town areas this time, for fear of the wild animals that awaited me in the forest. While I travelled, I still kept on writing about my experiences in my diary.

Finally, I reached the mountains and I knew that my journey had just began. The tall mountain that Dana’s castle stood on top would take me forever to climb, but I would climb it even if it were the last thing I did. I climbed for many days, wishing that death would just take me away instead, but I never lost faith. My food and supplies that I carried along with me had almost finished, but I was almost at the peak, so I just had to hold on a little while longer. I had no idea how I was going to get down, but I knew I would somehow, and then, I finally reached the castle.

I was happy I had made it. This journey seemed a lot easier when I was a vampire, even though I was still an amateur with no idea of my abilities then, but I thanked God for my strength.

When I entered the castle; no one was inside; they had all probably gone on a new adventure. I went to my room, opened the lid to the hatch on the ground, and placed the diary in it. I looked at it for one last time, and I felt glad it was finally home. It was now time for me to go home too, and when I said home, I didn’t mean John’s house.

I closed the lid and went outside the gates of the castle, looking down the mountain it stood on, I was very high up, and a jump from this point where I stood would be more than enough to cause a fatal fall, it was just what I needed. And so, I jumped down from that high mountain and returned home.