Mary Never Had a Lamb, She Was the LambA Story by Cyndi Goodgame A paranormal twist on the nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb. M Mary had a little lamb, It’s fleece was white as snow; And everywhere that Mary went, The lamb was sure to go. He followed her to school one day; That was against the rule; It made the children laugh and play To see a lamb at school. There was something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery. But that’s not what worried me the most. It was the quiet sound of a baby crying though I knew it did not belong to anything human. I had no idea what the next day would bring. The story of it was written into the history books with much distortion. Half of the story is right.
That just leaves the truth hidden under a rock on the secret scribes of
Nowhereville. Somewhere along the way
the story was twisted. So here’s the real deal. My name is Mary. You knew this. The lamb did follow me to school on the day
of my eighteenth birthday. Why that day? Don’t ask me. I packed my lunch and
hurried out the door saying bye to momma.
I ran down the red dirt road kicking dust in every direction towards the
outskirts of Sterling, another type of nowhere city that easily gets lost on a
map. The smell of spring was in the air
all around me. I inhaled all of its
glory as I neared the main part of town and veered left to the Redstone
Schoolhouse. I was in a hurry only
because Millie Tomson ruined my best dress and left me to wear this drab brown
one when she ripped the other in a scissors “accident” yesterday. I would get her back. I heard a sound in the dewy
grass that was starting to peek up from the cold earth. Soft and like a baby’s cry. Stopping too fast, I stumbled forward and
then back to see a lamb so small. It was too small. It cried louder when I
neared just as something shuffled in the trees near me. I popped my head to attention searching for
the mother of the lamb that I was sure the noise belonged to. Nothing surfaced. Something like nectar
was on my tongue just as I searched for the body to which the shuffling
belonged too. Like honey. I wasn’t sure why I thought
or sensed it. I licked my tongue across
my front teeth and removed the saccharin sweet taste. I picked up the baby
lamb and took him to school when still no one stepped out. What choice did I have? Well, I should have
thought more carefully on that. Miss
Johnny would have my hide with an animal in the schoolhouse. And she did until the owner of the lamb
showed up. “Oh!”
“Ah!” “How cute!” “What is his name?” “Where did you get him?” Millie refused any
attention on the sweet creature until the door opened and tall and handsome
walked in, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let
me back up? After everyone was done
with their marvels of the little creature I looked at the not so happy Miss
Johnny. She wasn’t happy. “Mary, the animal can’t stay.
Please take it out.” I was just about to
protest with a “poor
thing” sob story when"the door opened.
In walked a guy. A real tall, guy
kind of guy. A man.
A really nice looking young man.
My hand stopped stiff on the neck of the baby lamb that was standing
now. Struck with a dumb pose in a
squatting position, I proved myself even more lame by the look on my face. Thankfully my brown like wheat field hair had
been perfect this morning and enveloped my face just the way my father says
makes me look like a doll on a shelf. The nectar sweet taste
was back on my tongue. I mimicked the
same with my tongue across my front teeth and the roof of my mouth. I didn’t eat breakfast this
morning so I knew it was not biscuit syrup.
The gentleman was easily
over six feet at least. Ice blue like
the sea eyes. I’ve never seen
the sea, but I’m betting their close to the same hue.
The light hair was part of his allure.
He looked back out the door and nodded to someone we couldn’t see. “Stone,” his voice was airy and calling to me.
I watched on not realizing I was soothing the bleating animal with my
hand. I trembled like the animal. Like a shiver of unease. Was it because of
me, or him, or the students surrounding us? And was that his name? As if he heard me, “Yes, Stone Rual. I am most grateful for the care you have
taken with my father’s lost. This wee one wandered
off rather faster than the rest.” His
accent was alone fascinating to here.
British? He stepped closer to me,
or rather the lamb. I should have moved,
but I didn’t. “May I?” he asked if he could come even closer still, eyes sparkling with
danger for a girl like me. I couldn’t speak with the
way his eyes watched mine. So intent. Did he know my vocal cords were squeezing
shut to the point breathing was no longer an option? “Your name?” My name or the lamb’s? Oh,
mine. “Mary,” I
stuttered out just as lame as before. “Mary,” he
rolled off his tongue nice and slow, “I can’t thank you enough.” I huffed. It wasn’t meant to be
rude but he was just too much. He seemed
awfully attractive to me and intense in a way that one's body felt compelled to
react. He was not from around here. He turned to Miss
Johnny. “Might I know of her address so that I may thank her properly by
visiting her father?” My father? Why? The girls behind me
gasped in a unified way. I ignored it. Miss Johnny got one of
those hard looks about her face and said, “Mr. Rual, I know your father would ask of you to properly do that
without my consent. If you wish to thank
the lady properly, then visit with him in the lumber yard up the street.” Stone nodded his head in
a bow and turned back to me. “It was very nice to meet you
milady. Might I come call on you if it pleases your father?” Laura was behind me
poking my lower back. At the last poke
she shoved me forward onto my knees and forced me to rock back on my
bottom. I was livid and holy embarrassed
all in one. His hand outstretched to
my face. I stared at him feeling my
lameness. I looked at Miss Johnny for I
had never been helped up by a man other than my father. She nodded and I put my hand into his. Zip! The sparks that went
through my body were not something I’d ever felt.
He was touching my one hand still when I dusted off my backend with the
other. He smiled genuinely at me and
said, “Good day.” He nodded to each of the
girls in the class and Miss Johnny, then left with the lamb. My day was long, my walk
home never happened. I went straight to
the lumber yard to sneak information hopefully from father. He’d know my reasons and I’d know if Mr.
Stone Rual had come to visit him with one look.
I had to know. Into the front gate I
passed the first discarded wood chip pile and then another. I rounded the corner and stopped kicking the
dirt up not unlike the morning when I found the lamb. My father, Stone, and another man stood
together talking. I backed up so fast
and hid that they would have seen my dust if they’d turned my direction. I inched around the pile
in a crouched position, not at all ladylike, and listened. I was such a desperate girl. “She found it sir. I’d like to thank
her properly with your respects sir.” “How son do you wish for my daughter to be thanked?” my father had his
stern voice on like when I was in trouble with the barn accident last
year. I didn’t mean to fall
through the top loft entrance to the ladder.
If he'd only patched the rotten wood. “Sir, I have well beyond my means due to an untimely death of my uncle
in upstate Massachusetts. I was taken
with her from the very start of meeting her.
I wish to court her if you may.” His
smile was melting. The other man standing
there was as strapping as my Stone. My
Stone. When had he become mine? Young as I was, I was
not without sense or knowledge. I knew
very well men had other ideas when it came to a lady and I was aware that even
the very daring and gorgeous Mr. Stone Rual looked at me with hungry eyes. But the majority of boys who had looked that
way at me never had any ideas of courting me before. The other man who Stone
now turned to and called William faced my father and shook his head then said, “You would love for my son to
court your daughter. He is a fine
specimen.” Specimen? What did that
mean? My father then made me
queasy with delight. He said yes and bid
farewell to both men. I was so frozen
with my body still in the shock of knowing that I watched them walk by where I
hid. Oddly, Stone’s “father” looked my direction
with a smile before passing. He didn’t look old
enough to be his father yet his eyes said he was very wise. And we all know age makes us wise. At least my father always tells me it’s true. When I was sure they
were gone, I cut through the back of the woods and sped to the road that led
home. I didn’t waste a
moment. When I was there, I took an
unusually long time to bathe, change into my blue satin gown that would match
my blue eyes, and my black satin ribbon necklace that I only wore to church. My dark brown like tree bark stringy hair
could not be washed in time. It was
perfect in the morning time and lifeless in the latter part of the day. I didn’t know when my suitor
would come. I toddled back from
where I zipped through the bathing room into the kitchen with mother. She saw me and smiled wide. “Why Mary, you’re a sight. What brings this
fetching occasion on?” “Oh, mother. I just want to be
more like you. Beautiful every day, not
halfway.” My mother’s smile was as
wide as the ocean I’d never seen. I asked her if
she needed help in the kitchen before I headed to the garden to tend to
it. She declined and with that, I headed
to water my lovlies. The sunflowers were
for father’s fowl. The herbs were for
mother’s kitchen. The roses and
daisies were for me. My little piece of
heaven in a bleak world. Until now... “Hello Mary,” his voice called upon
me and I turned with jerk. “Hello Mr. Rual,” I said before I had
good thought. “Stone, please,” he smiled boyishly. I couldn’t help but smile
at his nice face and perfect hair shining at me. “Stone.” I looked at his one hand dangling beside his waist where he leaned
sideways with the other hand in a front pocket.
He was dressed the same with brown breeches and a shirt and coat. Nice clothes, nice hair, nice smile, even
teeth. He was perfect. He let me look as he did
the same. He noted my dress, my hair
that was down now out of the braid from the night to give it curl, my bare
shoulders and necklace. He noticed I’d changed. That kind of embarrassed me and excited me
all in one. “I have visited your father and gained permission to ask more of you,
if you would have me?” I gathered him a little
more as a whole picture and noted that he was indeed a year or two older than
me and most definitely better off with wealth than my family. My father probably first guarded him as a
swindler. I wondered then what part of
the conversation I might have missed. I couldn’t form a
sentence just then so I answered with, “Yes.”
Then after a few seconds followed with, “That would be lovely.” “Excellent,” he clapped his hands as if we’d just made a
business deal like father sometimes did.
He was surely a business man then. “Might I meet your mother for formalities and then I’d like to take
you to meet my father.” I nodded without
concern. I wanted to go anywhere with
him. He entered my home and waited for
me to go under his arm. This forced me
close to him and when I did the same sweet taste in my mouth came back to me in
an instant. I licked my lips and watched
his gaze stay on me. My mother greeted us both
nervously as she wiped her hands on the dish towel she’d just used to
put a loaf of bread in the oven. The
smell mixed instantly with the taste on my tongue. I was suddenly very hungry. “Mrs. Smith. I gained your
husband’s favor to court your daughter Mary and get to know her more. I just wanted to be sure you had the same
favor before I asked to take her to dinner with me tonight.” I stiffened at the dinner
offer. Never had a man, boy, whatever
asked me to go to a dinner and eat elsewhere from my house. My body erect, I scanned my mother’s weary eyes and
saw that she would say yes anyway because my father had. “When did you see Henry?”
“I met with him at the lumberyard with my own father. A most gracious and concerned father he
was. It was not without persistence that
I gained his favor,” he threw my mother one of his killer smiles that I’d seen not once,
but twice earlier today because of my sneaking. “How did you come by my Mary?”
my mother quizzed. “She is a light in the darkness.
You created a very kind, giving woman who saved one of my father’s flock without
want or gain.” “Then let it be so if Mary herself deems it,” she waited for my nod
of approval then continued with her stern voice, “She will be home before darkness.” I was floor
boarded. When had my parents been so
eager to send me off to be courted only to be close to the road of marriage? I left with Stone. Five or steps up my driveway I noticed the
vacancy of horses. “Where are your horses?” He didn’t seem nervous
like me. “Just up the road. I didn’t want to scurry
the dirt around and make a mess of your father’s lands. My phillies need a wide birth.” That was weird to
say. Okay then. I let him lead me to the end of the road
where a carriage, not horses stood. Like
Cinderella in the stories at school, I was handed up to a man in the carriage
to find my seat across from Stone. The
man who helped me in stepped off the other side of the round cage and I heard
him climb to the seat where the reigns would guide the horses. “You know, I don’t even know who you are really. You seem my age, yet so sophisticated and
independent.”
Sometimes I let my mouth shoot off too
much. He chuckled at my
innocence. I drew in a breath and
asked, “Will you tell me more or do I
remain aloof and as a pet?” I
was angry and now my unladylike words were tainting my sweetness. “Oh, my dear Mary. You are
nothing but beauty and grace. I hold you
in the highest. I am in fact young and
unusually independent. I am thankful for
that commodity and wish more than anything to share it with someone. I was taken with you from the first sight of
you in beauty and spirit. You never
hesitated to rescue what was mine and nurse it to health. You even guarded the lamb as I attempted to
retrieve it. Thank you for that by the
way,” he paused, “I do hope you are as intrigued
with me as I am with you or this is for naught.” Oh, he knew very well
how I’d reacted to him. “Mr. Rual" “Stone.” He took my hand in
his. A nervous jolt shot through me. “Stone. I am quite pleased to be
here.” What else could a lady say? I
want to leave my family, run away with you, and oh by the way will you dip me
and kiss me like the fairy tale I’ve dreamed about for years. I was taken with him from the second he
entered the school room. He smiled. “Great news.” He
clapped again in the businessman way as before.
“We have a while before we reach
the city, shall we get to know one another?” City? I spared a look out into the daylight behind
the curtain that hid us. “Um, sure.” “How long before you finish school?” I then realized he was
in fact out of school. “A month still. I will graduate top of my class.” “Naturally. I knew you to be
intelligent with your first words and even brow.”
We talked of a few
little details describing ourselves to each other. I squirmed in my seat
with another speaking of me. “What do you do for work, Stone?” I liked saying his name. It was
hard and mysterious like him. “I dabble in a few things,”
he said nonchalantly. Hmm! “Your silences show hints of doubt I see.” I didn’t mean to be so
readable. “It’s only, a man who works is what proves his worth. It shows that he can
take care of a woman.” I
said that like I might be a woman. Not
yet. He chuckled that sweet laugh. “I see then. I transfer funds between the three businesses
I own as well as move from each of them to check the standings. If the owner wants to prove his worth, he sees
that the workers take care of their own leaving me to focus elsewhere.” Where was that focus
going to be held? I swallowed hard. He seemed extra good at making me squirm and
I got the distinct feeling he wasn’t easily made uncomfortable. I wondered also how many girls had come
before me. My mouth shot off again at
the instant thought. “Do you do this,” I waved to myself and
then to him, “often?” “No, you are the exception,”
his eyes softened, “this is new for me.” Well, that’s a nice thing
to know. “Why this time then?” I was more than curious. “Miss Mary, you have to see how I see it. My own personal property runs away from
me. Lost. I searched for hours. Then like destiny, I find the most beautiful
creature attached to it when I finally do find the wayward runaway. She is feisty and independent and refuses
me. I find that very alluring.” “Because no one refuses you,”
I huffed.
He was making me angry. “Not usually, which is why I find you so refreshing.” He was different than
the boys from around here. He was a
man. Did he mean me harm? Stupid mouth.
“What do you mean to do with me?” He smiled genuine and
with a certain caution. “Only anything you mean for me to
milady. I mean you no harm. Contrary, I mean to please you in any way you
deem needed. Are you in deed hungry?” I hadn’t eaten since
lunch. “Yes.” What harm can be done in eating? “We will arrive in minutes madam. Will you require time to freshen?” I had no purse, but I
said yes only because I felt like that is what a proper lady would. He smiled, nodded, and the lurch of the
carriage stopping brought me forward to his hand. The people were a hustle
and a bustle in every direction. I found
delight in that I did remember my gloves even without a purse. My hair was down and though my pins were
tucked neatly in the bosom of my dress, I felt confident about it until I
stepped down the last step and looked around.
All were in bonnets and fancy lace.
I was a heathen. Faces stared in my
direction. Wives glared. Girls pinched their faces up. He seemed to sense my
discomfort, but said nothing. I’d pin it up in
the washroom. We slipped through a
crowd of people and up to a building with a sign labeled “The Light House” and light pouring out
each window even in the daytime. I kept
my shaking hand on his and watched as others made note of my lengthy hair, men
stared like I was the first girl they’d ever seen, and the
one waitress smiled at me. Wait. She smiled.
I smiled back and nodded
a thanks. He led me to the
washroom where I bid him a thank you and disappeared behind the door. Once in, I leaned on the wall and closed my
eyes. I was out of my element. Fancy everything was not where I was
from. This fairy tale will end soon, I
was sure. I thought of Stone as I
pinned my hair up carefully letting a few strands hang down by my ears. He was strong. He was not easily made nervous. He was well off and without care of
money. I was only a year
younger I knew now though our worlds were far apart. I was not with money, but a good dowry of
fine linens and silver my father saved for me.
I had a good upbringing where I knew how to be a lady and speak my mind
when needed. I may not know how always
to act with men, but I was quick enough to see this man was giving me his every
attention and that was all I had to play on. Besides, my father sent
me with him. How dangerous could this
be? I emerged from the room
and he was there. He frowned with my
hair, but continued on. We were sat at a
table near the fireplace and given a glass of water and tiny crackers with
little chunks of cheese. I watched to
see what he would do first, but I was certain that he would wait on me. I gained the courage to take one cracker and
he followed suit. A man came near us. “My, my Stone. A lady on your
arm. It’s about
time. Might I have the pleasure of the
name of the only lady who has ever caught this young man’s eye?” I smiled rather fake and
unnervingly, “Mary. Might I inquire just why you assume I have
caught his eye? Dinner hardly means I’m caught at all.” So my snarky attitude was unladylike but no one would claim me. The man standing here was a manager of the
sort and trying to make me uncomfortable.
“Sorry miss. Meant no disrespect.” Harrumph. “My dear Mary. You are quick
tempered.” I glared at him and sat
up straighter in my chair. He was too
smooth. Another man
approached. This man I knew
already. It was the man with Stone at
the lumberyard. “Ah, Miss Mary. The one who has
caught my son’s eye. I find it quite
refreshing to see my son can’t seem to get his own duties done for the time
spent watching such a beautiful sight.” Compliment, yes. Falling for it, no. I shifted in my seat and
never answered his comment. “Ah, she has a voice. Silent but
deadly. Good job son. Perhaps you could take her somewhere she
might be a little more comfortable and not in the public eye for scrutiny.” I’d read stories
about vagabond vampires and such kidnapping girls and taking them to places
less public where they would be more comfortable. Where would he take me? “I rather like to show her off, but if that is what the lady wants, so
be it.” I still never commented
but followed his mystery entrance into the room off the back of the
kitchen. A private dining area. We sat at a small table
across from each other and were served again.
The waiter asked what we would eat and Stone looked to me. “Have you a fancy for anything?” I was here right? So I told him the one thing I felt like he’d never have, “Cheese and bacon bread with
butter please.”
And I had never had it before. Stone nodded to the
waiter who opened his mouth in protest, but Stone’s hand shot up
and he was silenced. “The lady wants, the lady gets.” Wow! After Stone was sure the
waiter was gone, he turned to me. Gulp! “So, you are upset with me or don’t like what I give?” No. “Yes!” Did I say that? I couldn’t read him
entirely, but he did let his eyes fall a little with my admission. I decided to let my
guard down long enough for some honesty.
“Look. I get that you haven’t brought a girl
in here before and I am honored. I get
that you thought me brave with the lamb and even a little forward with you at
my house. I don’t do this
usually and it scared me to wonder why I am here and what might happen
next. I would just like to know what you
expect to happen next so that I may let my beating heart have some comfort in
knowing that my rules are still my rules and not yours.” “You speak you mind well beyond your years.” “And you speak yours like your thirty, not nineteen.” “Agreed. I have been thrown into
a life I did not choose but embraced nonetheless. I am only nineteen at heart and have found a
girl that makes me want to spill sonnets, drop everything that holds me to the
ground, and take her far away for only me to have. I think you are very brave and getting
dressed in your finery did not present to me as you being forward. I don’t know what will
happen tomorrow, but I know that I would like to get to know you better if you
will allow me.” “Then take me somewhere that people will not ogle me and judge me. You’re obviously someone
of importance even at nineteen.” I
took a breath. I was fascinated, but I
didn’t want to show it. I was on the
line about the attention he brought about for the two of us. I wanted to know him better before I was put
on a showcase. “If you mean what you say, then
take me out of here and not in the public.” He stood, ready to
go. “What would you like to do?” He
seemed eager to please. “Do you really mean it?” I asked. “Yes, Mary. You lead the way.” I led him back to
through the front and out into the throng of people. The waiter was there and saw us. He held a finger up, disappeared, and
returned with a blanket wrapped scent of sweet goodness. The bread I ordered. Well... We traveled back to my
farm where I proceeded to show him what I wanted him to do. If he was serious, he would enter my world
first. At the entrance to the barn I pulled the latch and looked up
at his perfect face, “You
ride?” The horses were not
saddled. I would have to do it myself
with father still at the yard. “I did once as a boy.” Something he wasn’t smug
about. Good. After I finished the prep work that he tried
to help, but mostly watched, I went to mount.
His hand caught my shoulder and his voice behind me asked, “Can I help you milady?” I didn’t need it but
resisting his touch was getting harder.
We rode far. He wasn’t so
unpolished. He picked up on it
fast. We stopped by the water,
dismounted, and laid on the grass to laugh the day away. I had the best time
ever. Back at home, he walked
me to the door where father and mother were both inside waiting. Their silence meant they were listening. “Might I call on you again tomorrow?”
he asked me. “Yes, only if it means we do something quiet.” “As you wish.” He
moved closer to me and I wondered if he would kiss me. I’d kissed Mike Harrell once on a dare and learned
that it wasn’t what the older girls made it out to be. But somehow, with Stone it sounded like
something sweet and warm. Soft. He didn’t kiss me. He hugged me gently and whispered in my ear, “Sweet Mary, I will cherish this
day forever.” The next day, he did
kiss me. The same taste of honey was on
his lips like I could sense him near with it.
I yearned for it. The kiss was everything
I’d hoped for. We had a picnic by
the same riverside with wine that only he drank and the bread he’d had made for
me. I learned that he was indeed wealthy
and once we were alone, he didn’t act the haughty smug man he did in town, but a
gentle teenage boy...more like myself. I
came to like him more and more and after a week he and I were inseparable in
the afternoon hours. He was in charge of the
family businesses and felt he would never have a choice to be anything
but. He was motherless. She died right after his birth. He liked the color
blue. He’d never courted
a girl before. His favorite pastime was
archery. And he liked certain kinds of
red wine. He told me each day before he
left me that he enjoyed our time together.
After the second day together he asked me with his parting words if I
was sure this was what I wanted. I
always self doubted at the back of my mind, but I always assured him I would
welcome him back the next day. He smiled
and say thank you. The only thing that
really concerned me was that he never ate.
When we were together, he would watch me eat and drink his wine. He would drink water, but mostly his bottle
of wine. I preferred the water anyway. And with time, I came to
fall in love with Stone Rual. He was
perfect in every way. One day, after a few
weeks of solitude, he asked me to return to his father’s eatery. I gave easily since he’d given to
me. It was a compromise. My father approved and
my mother adored Stone. We were all
taken with him. On the eve of the dinner
at “The Light House” my parents bid me
farewell and allowed me to be gone past dark.
After meeting Stone’s father a week ago, though dad already had, I
was even allowed to spend the night at Stone’s father’s discretion. Oddly, my father didn’t react like he’d met him before
but I let that slide only because I shouldn’t have known
myself. If father wanted that quiet for
my benefit, so be it. We went through the
front of the eatery and to the back room again.
I was dressed in my very best finery for which my mom had made for me a
week back for just such an occasion.
Bright royal blue satin and cold to the touch. I also knew dad had sold a hog to get it. I ventured to wonder a
few times why the lamb had strayed from Stone and why he would have been
chasing it so far from his home or even why at all. I never asked, but it stayed on the back of
my mind. One day I would inquire. The dinner was
delicious. Afterward Mr. Raul joined us
and I watched Stone and he stand by the fireplace hearth with their wine. A woman entered the room and joined me at the
table. Stone saw my nervousness and
nodded for me to sit with her. She had a
glass of red liquid that she sat in front of me. I looked to Stone again and he nodded. I wasn’t a wine drinker, but
I was curious. As I picked it up, I
caught the same sweet scent swarm me that I’d come to
associate with Stone. I even deemed it
in my head as his own unique aroma. When I tipped it up
Stone flew to me with a scream, “NO!” I sipped it at first
finding it thick and just like the nectar I claimed it as. As I leaned my head back, both Stone and his
father watched me with abated eyes.
Stone was in some kind of pain.
Once he looked away from me to his father, I took another drink suddenly
craving more of its honey sweetness. It
tasted like his kiss. It was him in a
drink. I wanted more. I felt him near me taking
more of my personal space than normal in public. In fact, I really felt him. I sensed him with some kind of awareness like
nothing before. Every noise was
louder. Every smell was stronger. “Are you okay Mary,” his voice sound like tingly bells.
I stood and then dropped
losing my footing. I was woozy. “I’m not myself.” Mr. Raul, Stone’s father said in
his same smooth voice like his son’s, “Take her to lie down son.” I
don’t remember anything else. When I awoke, my body
ached. My eyes felt like they were glued
shut. Finally they opened and the sight
I saw was eerie and mesmerizing all in one.
I was in a room, all red. The
walls were even red. I tried to sit up. Hands were there to center me right. “Slowly, my love.” I knew the voice, but it
was sweeter than ever before in sound and scent. I found his eyes in front of mine. Oh yes.
The aroma was the sweetest fruit on the vine. It sent a hunger up through me that I couldn’t register. And heck if he wasn’t better looking
than even before. “What happened?” My own voice startled
me and I scooted back against the wall behind me. “You are safe. I promise.” Why did he say
that? “From?” “Yourself.” Huh? “The change will be complete before the night ends. For now, just rest love.” He was calling me his
love. I darted my eyes to him and the
room. My throat burned. “Can I have something to drink?”
I grabbed my throat. He chuckled like before
but with more clarity. It was like I
could hear his vocal cords vibrate. It was very odd. The door rattled and an
older woman stepped inside. I jumped
like wildfire and shot over the bed. I
only thought, HUNGRY! EAT! The woman screamed and
jumped out the door. I fell against the
door wanting to get through it. “What is wrong with me?” “You are hungry. It will
subside. Come, eat with me.” I just attacked a person
and he wants me to act normal and eat? I
turned back to him and that’s when I saw them. In his sweet mouth. I screamed and backed up against the door I
was already half climbing. He reached for me, “Don’t be afraid.” I bit down on my lip in
anger. Ow! A whiff of something caught my very aware
nose. I licked my own bottom lip and
rolled my eyes back into my head in ecstasy.
Oh no! I searched the room quickly for a
mirror. Across the other side by the bed
was a dresser. I leapt around him and
over to it. Sure enough, there in my
mouth, were fangs. I screamed again yanking
at my own face. He came behind me trying
to calm me. “Mary, it will all settle well. I promise.” “Promise. PROMISE! You promised
to not hurt me. I trusted you.” His face was
fallen. “I didn’t do this to you. I did protect
you. This was the only way I could save
you.” “Save me? What was the
alternative?” I
was hysterical. Crazy with dread for
what I was. “Yes, I saved you. That day,
with the lamb, my father wanted your blood.
He found your scent so appealing that I had to stave him off with my own
taken lure to you. He allowed me to make
my own way. I obliged you of your rules,
courted you, fell in love with you, and could no longer bring myself to do my
father’s bidding.” “You didn’t do this to me?” His
eyes fell around his feet. “But you still lied. You are one of those creatures. You didn’t tell me.” “Would you have still seen me?” No. Hunger panged my throat. “You turned me into a killer.
Will I kill my own parents?” His hand dared to near
me again. I didn’t move away, but
I didn’t embrace it either. I would
never be human again. “I’ve never killed a human.” I rounded on him putting
only an inch or two between us. We’ve been close,
kissed, let our hands wander even, but this was more intimate than all of those
times. His sad eyes bore into mine, “I never wanted this for you. I fell in love with you Mary at the first
sight of you but I saw what was in my father’s eyes. I tried to make you see. Make you turn away from me. But you always welcomed me back. I couldn’t have come if
you hadn’t invited me.” Oh! “You were so easy to love. I
couldn’t stop seeing you. I hoped you’d find out by
accident and want me still. I
hoped. But who would love this?” he motioned across
his amazing body. He was gorgeous. He was a vampire. “We eat animals and their blood only.
We don’t need human blood accept each others.”
“Each others?” Animals are better right? He blushed. “Your mate’s. If you take a mate you feed each other.” Oh! “Am I your mate?” My voice was unsteady yet still rang like a bell. “Yes, Mary. You are my mate, my
lover, my future. I don’t want or need
anyone else.” How could I hate
him? Yet, could I forgive him? “So I am a" “Vampire.” I let him say it. I wanted to scream, hate him, and run away
all at the same time. But I couldn’t. Something in the way his eyes said what he
told me was somehow the truth. He’d left out one
small detail when we were sharing about our lives, but I couldn’t go back
apparently. “Are there any more lies or truths I need to know before I say what I
want to say?” He looked scared. Rare
for him. “No. My father is vampire, my
mother was but killed by having me. The
woman who you gave you the drink is my aunt and she gave you a glass of my own
blood. I thought it was something
else. By drinking
the amount you did, it started the transformation. I am really only nineteen, but my father is over
a hundred. I am not as confident as I
make myself out to be and I really do love the color blue.” He looked at my
dress. It was mine. My favorite.
The one I’d worn on the day I’d met him, not the one I arrived in. I sighed loud and felt
my nerves calm. I saw the glass on the
table. Taking it in my hands and
watching him all the while, I tipped it up and swallowed the whole glass in
four gulps. I felt extremely
better. I licked my lips of the thick
liquid remnants and walked back to him.
I knew this man loved me though he lied to me. I knew this man was a vampire. I decidedly didn’t care. “I will embrace it. It is not
what I would have picked for a sign of some type of contract between a man, but
it is final and I have nowhere to go if I leave.” He didn’t budge. “Does that mean you hate me but
stay because you have to?” “I don’t have any idea
how you feel Stone. I only know that
before today I fell in love with you.
But I was different then.” I
felt my fangs with my tongue. Ouch! “I love you Mary. That didn’t change.” “You can love this body?”
I asked. He smiled then realizing
my line of thinking. “Oh Mary, I loved you that day and
today. Your body calls to me no matter
what it craves as long as it also includes me.” Oh, I think I could
crave his body twenty four hours a day.
And without the need to eat, I could enjoy it more. On second thought, maybe vampires knew
something we (they) don’t. “Am I immortal?” “Do you want to be?” he looked hesitant. I still
couldn’t adjust to this less dominant, more vulnerable Stone Raul. “If it means I get to be with you, then yes.” He pulled me to him,
arms wrapped tightly around my waist.
His sweet mouth covered mine and I was lost. After a minute he pulled softly on my bottom
lip and said into my mouth, “Then
yes.” He devoured my mouth
again and when his hand went to my side and fell dangerously across the top of
my skirts I jumped back into human girl mode.
“Does that mean...I want to
ask...uh" I blushed so red the
blood I just swallowed swished in my belly.
I had a thought. “What blood did I just eat?” “Mine.” Oh. “In answer to you unfinished question,”
he bent down on one knee, “I know we’ve only known
each other a short time and I promise to not hold another secret from you ever
again. I know it is human custom to ask
the woman you love a question to honor her in mind and our bed. Will you marry me?” Not quite the fairy
tale. The whole vampire part kind of
messed that up. “Yes.” I would embrace the oddity of this dark prince and his happily EVER
after with being his vampire bride.
© 2014 Cyndi GoodgameFeatured Review
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Added on April 17, 2013Last Updated on March 27, 2014 Tags: paranormal, vampires, fairy tales, nursery rhymes Author
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