Chapter 69 - FLASHBACK. A Dying Flower

We shared six great months. I took great joy in teaching Christina how to enjoy life. 

The young woman was told all her life that she should be grateful to her husband for keeping her around, as childless as she was. That her only value was that of her pretty face and sons she would give birth to.

I taught her otherwise. I showed her that there was value in her smarts, her kind heart, in her cunningness and her practicality. Christina only had to apply them, and I was glad to give her advice on how to.

Her biggest obstacle was her husband, of course. Christina couldn't do much of anything without his permission—such were the laws and customs of that time. But everyone could be convinced, it's just a matter of having right arguments and tactics. I gave them to Christina, and she applied them with great success.

She only required that little push from me to start her own ventures in life. With her husband's permission she bought and managed her own business… Oh, I don't even remember now what it was. Something related to food. A restaurant, or a bakery? I only remember that she ordered her staff to give the leftover food to the homeless instead of simply throwing it out.

It was only the first business of many. Christina truly bloomed, and I was glad to see her do so. Her ventures also gave us more opportunities to meet for the sake of purely physical pleasures. She could always use a business meeting as an excuse for her husband.

But as Christina shone brighter and brighter, so did the spark of emotion in her eyes whenever she would look at me. I saw it many times, on faces of many women. In fact… Well, that doesn't matter now, I guess.

As you probably imagine, I broke many hearts in my time, but I always avoided it if I could. It wasn't the fault of those I've met that I'm so irresistible, after all! But since I couldn't reciprocate, it was my duty to at least mitigate the damage.

At that time, I knew that Christina didn't need my help anymore, anyway. So one day I got a letter from the family of a man I impersonated, telling me to return to them and stay there, forever, for some family business I made up. Despite this entire ruse, I was honest with Christina as I bid her farewell.

Sometimes I would smooth the memories of the lovers whose hearts I broke, alleviate their sorrows and make it easier for them to remember only the good of our time together, but I had a belief that Christina was strong enough to not need it.

She cried on my chest, swearing that she will come find me even if I run away to the other end of the earth. I knew even then how serious she was in this, and took my time convincing her not to. It wasn't easy, but in the end Christina accepted that we had absolutely different lives to live.

I left her to live hers and moved onto mine. After the calm life in Paris I longed for the glory and the vileness of battlefields, the thunderous blasts of cannons and the smell of gunpowder mixing with the sweet aroma of blood in the air. Napoleon still fought wars whenever he could, and I decided to follow him even if I will have to dress like a leper and hide from everyone's sight.

Four years later I returned to Paris again to restore Napoleon to the throne after his exile, and this was when I heard a word about Christina again. Her businesses prospered, but the woman herself… did not. A year ago she had developed an illness that bound her to her bed. It was only a matter of months now until it would burn her entirely.

I outlived most of my lovers, except for my sire, whom I didn't see ever since the Circle gathered to execute Dragon. Yet, it was another thing to hear about Christina's imminent passing. While I didn't love her like she wished for, I did care for her like a teacher cares for all his pupils, like an artist cares for the work they poured their soul into. 

I would've been sad to watch her bright personality extinguish like that before Christina could enjoy all the gifts of life to the limit.

With that in mind, I decided to do a thing I've never even had an inclination for before—to make my own fledgling. Christina, in my opinion, had all the qualities a vampire had to live a long life without succumbing to neither foolish mistakes that get one killed nor the boredom. And the most important thing—in her core, she had a kind heart. I hoped then that it would stop her from becoming a monster many vampires turned into with time.

When I got to her that night, Christina was a ghost of her old self. She didn't sleep soundly, the poor thing, tossing and turning in her sleep. It was hard to recognise her with her once shiny hair dull and broken, her skin almost as pale as mine and her limbs thin as sticks. A thick smell of her illness permeated the room, making it hard for me to breathe (so it was a good thing I didn't need to).

I woke her up with a gentle shake of her shoulder. I didn't use glamour to hide my nature now. There was nothing to divert Christina's attention from my eyes, my fangs or the colour of my face. I even lit a candle so she had light to see them. But when her eyes opened and focused on me, she didn't recoil in fear and horror. Instead, her chapped lips stretched into a smile.

"Am I dreaming? I must be to see you again, my love," she said with wonder, reaching for my face. I leaned closer, wondering if she will back off from my cold skin. "Or maybe I died in my sleep and went to Heaven?"

Christina's fingers were barely warmer on touch. I knew instantly that Christina had even less time than I heard.

"You are awake and alive, dear Christina, and I will make sure that alive you will stay.. But first, I must confess to you who I truly am."