406 Tears and anguish
Please go to comments in last and this chapter for fanart by our reader-artist- Ying_oo
—
Rosetta panicked when she felt Eugene’s hand let go of hers, and she called his name, “Eugene! Please stay awake with me!”
But Eugene was breathing his last seconds, where he had lost his ability to move or think, as darkness began to cloud all his senses. Not a sound reached his ear, and his body went still.
The vampiress’s lips trembled, and she refused to believe that the man she had fallen in love with was being taken away from her. Life couldn’t be cruel to them, and she shook her head, “Eu–Eugene please! Don’t die, I beg you!” More tears spilt from her eyes. She wanted to save him, and the only way to do it was for her to turn him into a vampire.
Rosetta quickly bit into her wrist and placed it above Eugene’s mouth for the blood to fall right into his mouth. Her anxious eyes searched for something sharp. She got up from his side and said,
“Wait for me, Eugene! I will be back soon!”
Saying this, Rosetta held the front of her dress and ran as quickly as possible towards her carriage. She searched through the things in the carriage and found a long iron stick. She ran along with it to where Eugene lay in the forest’s cold ground. On the way, the vampiress’s foot got stuck in the root of one of the trees, and she fell flat on the ground.
But Rosetta pushed herself, standing on her feet and reached where Eugene’s body appeared still. The weather was cold, and the vampiress hoped it would preserve and slow down his body from decaying quickly.
A human could be turned into a vampire even after the person died if the person had vampire blood in his or her body. It was a short window of time and had to be done immediately.
Rosetta prayed, “Please make this work.”
She dropped the sharp metal on the ground, and her trembling hands unbuttoned Eugene’s shirt. When her eyes fell on his wounds, tears fell from her eyes.
Rosetta had never paid much attention during her studies, and she cursed herself for not doing it in the past. If she did, she would know more about how to turn a human into a vampire. She murmured,
“One… two… It was two ribs on the left.”
Placing her finger on the point she believed to be the one she had to stab, she picked up the metal stick before placing the pointed end on Eugene’s skin. She apologised, “I promise to bring you back, Eugene. I won’t let anything happen to you. Nothing can happen to you…”
All these years, Rosetta had never killed even a fly and had only attacked people with her words. And now that she had to stab this man, her heart broke. She hesitated and took a deep breath before pushing the metal into his body.
Seconds passed, but nothing happened. She waited for him to return or react, and when Eugene didn’t open his eyes, she clenched her hands.
“I knew it…! I must have missed something!” Rosetta’s mind was turning numb.
The vampiress tried to remember anything that could help Eugene. Her mind raced she remembered the time when she had attended a soiree and had heard one of the men in there mention,
‘The human died?’
Another person, who stood in the same circle, remarked, ‘I heard the blood never reached the heart as the human had already come to his end. There was nothing one could do.’
‘Maybe the blood never reached where it was supposed to. It didn’t reach the human’s heart for it to start pumping and send it to the other parts of the body,’ stated the first person. ‘Anyways, it is good that the human died, there are too many filthy human turned vampires in…’
Rosetta returned to the present.
She quickly pulled out the sharp metal stick she had pierced below Eugene’s second rib. She used her blood to smear on the stick and then pierced the stick where she believed his heart was.
When one drop of Rosetta’s blood slid down her wrist and reached her elbow, it fell on Eugene’s open wound and shrivelled the muscle. The vampiress, on noticing this, turned scared. She whispered, “I–It isn’t worki–ing. What should I do?” She sobbed, and a hiccup escaped from her lips.
“Eugene, wake up!!”
Rosetta wiped her tears from her cheeks, not ready to give up on him. She got on her knees before lifting him in her arms. The vampiress struggled to carry him, while her face was scrunched in worry.
Eugene’s body swayed while Rosetta carried him to the carriage and finally got him on the seat. To her luck, the two horses that had refused to stand were now standing near the other two horses, and she tied them all to the front of the carriage.
Taking a seat on the coachman’s seat, Rosetta caught hold of the reins. She patted the horses back and got the carriage to move faster than before. Once she reached the town, the vampiress shouted at the townsfolk, “Out of the way! Make way!”
Some of the people were startled and jumped out of her way. One of them commented, “Who was that woman, and what was she thinking driving that recklessly?!”
“Did you not see her carriage? She probably is some wealthy man’s daughter,” said another person, while Rosetta disappeared from their view.
In Dawson’s residence, Eve hadn’t moved from the window as she waited for Marceline to appear in front of the house. On hearing the horses neighing and the wheels of the carriage stop, she quickly left the window and made her way towards the front of the house.
But it wasn’t Marceline, who had come to visit her.
“Rose?” Eve asked with a frown and saw Rosetta get down from the coachman’s seat. Her eyes widened when she saw blood on the vampiress’s hands and clothes. She made haste towards the carriage, “What happened to you? Are you alright?”
“E–Eve,” Rosetta sobbed and turned to look at the carriage. “H–he…please,” she cried.
Eve placed her hands on Rosetta’s shoulders and asked with concern, “Deep breath. Tell me what happened so that I can help you.”