Chapter 72 - FLASHBACK. The Last Nail On The Lid

She stalked me for a while. Researched my rest places and my habits. She came at me when I was least expecting it, didn't even know she was in the same city despite being on the lookout for her.

Even her madness didn't take away Christina's cunningness.

It wasn't the first time she temporarily gained an upper hand, but I knew that something was wrong when she pulled out that amulet. I felt the magic coming from it, and I knew it meant nothing good for me.

A single touch of the amulet made my limbs feel heavier than stone. I couldn't even blink, no matter how hard I tried. A helpless watcher in my body as Christina executed her terrible plan.

She had everything prepared for me—the coffin, the silver chains to put around it, the heavy locks. She rambled all the while she put me in it. "Oh, my love, I know the chains won't stop you, but I felt like it was a nice touch. I spent so much money to order this coffin made, I could spend some more on the rest of the package! These witches will truly bleed a person dry, ha-ha-ha!"

I felt trepidation at her words, but it was just the beginning of the storm of my emotions. For once, Christina appeared almost sane again, her touch on me loving even as she put me in this cold, metal box.

"The witch assured me that no one besides another witch can open the seal on this coffin, not even you, my love. Aren't I am a genius? With you safely away in this coffin, we will able to be together forever. You wouldn't need to fight anymore. The seal will protect us from each other. Isn't this amazing, my love?" She sighed. "Ah, you can answer me later, when the spell on you wears off. It cost me another fortune, you know. But one can't put a price on love."

And then she closed the lid down and I felt with my skin how the seal closed. My world plunged into a pitch-black darkness where even a vampire can't see a thing, and yet I couldn't even scream my rage because I was still bespelled by Christina's amulet.

I will spare you the details of my next couple of days. I tried everything I can to get out, broke my hands trying to break my prison open, but it was all for naught. Besides, my hunger became to cloud my mind. There was no way for Christina to feed me while I was sealed.

Then a ray of hope shone on me. My servants, some of them travelling with me for decades—I had more need in someone to deal with humans as their ways of confirming identities became harder and harder to bypass—found about my plight and launched a rescue attempt.

Christina never expected such loyalty from them, and to be fair, neither did I. The money I paid them wasn't worth what Christina would've done to them if they fell into her clutches. What she did to them, eventually.

My servants couldn't open my coffin, but they took it away from Christina, intent on bringing it somewhere safe and finding a witch who will open it after I explained to them that it was the only way.

I forgot many people in my life, but I swore to never forget these mad lads who risked their short lives for mine. Igor, Abram, Constantine and Osman. 

They had a horse carriage to put me on and drove like mad, like all the demons of Hell followed them. We were midway to the safe hiding place when Christina found their trail. Osman was the first to notice her. It was a sunny day, and she had to hide from sun and from people, who were alarmed already as it was.

The country was still in the middle of Civil War. The sights like these weren't uncommon, but never meant good things for the common people.

Abram, Osman and Igor died first. They separated from me and Constantine to slow Christina down. I never heard about them after, but I know without a doubt that she could've only killed them. It wouldn't take her long, too. They were only humans. They knew vampire weaknesses, but our strengths far overcome any that we have.

Constantine and I both knew that Christina would be going for us soon. He asked me what what to do, and I wish I knew the answer. If only… but I didn't. I could only ask Constantine one thing: to do everything he can, no matter what the cost, to not let Christina get to me.

I wouldn't be able to bear it, and there would be no hope. But then, there wasn't hope for me, anyway.

Moved by despair, Constantine did the only thing he had time for—he threw me in my coffin out of the carriage and into a lake. A lake! And then he rode away, giving a false trail for Christina and, I'm sure, sacrificing his life for it.

I knew then that yes, I would be out of Christine's grasp—out of anyone's. It was… not a good realisation. Worse than that, I was still hungry. A vampire won't die without blood for a long, long time, but it only takes days for thirst to become maddening.

Eventually, resignation came to me. "I might've just as well died," I told myself, and closed my eyes to the darkness outside. I fell asleep, not believing that I will ever wake up again.

And yet, I did! It was truly a miracle. And I will thank you for bringing it again and again, though this isn't the point of this story. You know the rest. It had been a century, but Christina never stopped searching for me. It's only my luck that some humans found me faster than she did. 

She won't stop now that she found me. It will take her time and preparations to attack—she'd never defeat me in that fight if not for the explosion that weakened me, and she knows it—but she will attack again.

So I will have to strike her down first.