Esther: Grace

1497 BC

It had been merely two years since my escape that I had found heartbreak again. It seemed to come to me in waves that destroyed everyone in their paths. After my escape I kept running, only stopping to let the hunger inside me take over. The first time I felt the hunger I remembered the sustenance the witches used to give me and tried to find it. I found it in animals around me, at first I didn't know how to stop killing them and then eventually I worked out how to only take enough so that they would keep living. By the time I had ran a thousand kilometres I came across a village with many kind people. I hadn't realised I was different until I met the humans I'd soon call my family. The first human I met was the first person I would ever love, by that I don't include my parents. They were sort of people you had to love, I had been born to love my parents but this was the first time I had felt love grow inside me and flourish into a fierce protectiveness. His name was Darius, he had been fishing on a beach on the coast of what now would be called Monaco, France. He was older than me at the time, I was physically only a child, it had only taken me a day to run the distance. My dress was torn and dirty and he turned to look at me from afar. I could only imagine what he thought of when he saw a small child with barely any clothing, dirty and stained with blood. He took me to his grandmother a woman named Grace. I was tired of running and both Grace and Darius were welcoming and kind. I fell asleep that day and experienced the last 6 months flash before my eyes in a panic. Those witches would still be after me. Could I really stay here and risk the lives of the wonderful people who took me in? No I couldn't. The next morning I found my new friends eating breakfast. Grace was a lovely woman, she had taken in her grandson when his parents died to sickness. Darius worked on the farm and fished to provide for them both and Grace made clothing from their animals coats to sell. They were considerably wealthy for the time and were happy considering the loss they had both experienced. Grace was an amazing woman who bathed and clothed me without wanting anything in return. I watched her closely the short time I was there, she loved her grandson fiercely and the love I saw between them both forever influenced my own capability to love. That day I told Grace I would go and help Darius on the beach, but in reality I started running in the opposite direction. They had both been so kind that they hadn't asked what had happened to me, after giving me a bath and clean clothes Grace had said that she would wait until I was ready to hear my story. I could tell they knew something was different but they didn't pry. I didn't get a few kilometres before I heard a horse coming up behind me. I hadn't bothered to run anymore but I should have done as Darius had easily caught up with me. He tied the horse quickly and ran over to me.

"Esther, where are you going?" he asked. I had tears in my eyes as he knelt in front of me.

"I have to go. I can't stay here, I will put you and your grandmother in danger," I explained.

"Sweet Esther, you must come back, I promise you I will keep you safe," he said and hugged me. I sobbed into his chest and let him carry me back on the horse.

Grace was waiting and opened her arms for me.

"Sweet girl I know what you must be thinking but Darius and I haven't had the opportunity to care for someone in a long time, we only wish to keep you safe," she explained.

"You don't understand, I will put you in danger, someone's after me," I cried.

"Esther, you needn't worry. You are different but you are magnificent, your power will protect you. don't you understand? They can't find you anymore," she said and waved her hand over the roof of the cottage, I saw a shimmer and what seemed like a bubble surrounding us.

"You're a witch," I gasped, suddenly her face became younger, the old woman before me became young.

"Yes my child and I will protect you. You are special and you need to live," she told me. I reached and hugged her tightly. I'd later find out that Grace wasn't just any witch, she was an immortal witch and a very powerful one too, she used a spell to mask her face and appear older to be Darius' grandmother but in reality she hadn't aged past thirty in a very long time. She kept me under a cloaking spell until she was sure the witches after me had died out. She had explained that the witches tried to recruit her into making something new and that the second Darius brought me home she knew that I was made of magic, that I was the thing they had created. Grace called me Luna Bambina, moon child, after I had explained to her all that I remembered. She helped me control my power to harness my ability in copying others and for the next two years I grew and developed into Grace's own prodigy. She taught me witch magic, introduced me to vampires in the area so I could borrow their power and trained me in the ways of good vs. evil. Grace was my mentor, my protector and my mother. She was the first person I ever loved and felt like family. The second of course was Darius. At the beginning we had a very brother and sister type relationship but I grew fast and he was as in awe of my growth as I myself was. I wasn't aware it wasn't normal until I realised that Darius had only aged slightly in the two years where as I had catapulted into womanhood. By the time I was physically fourteen he was still only sixteen, just a year older than the age we met. It was at that age that I fell completely in love with him. I may have been only fourteen physically but back then girls were married off at eleven and twelve, life expectancy was lower and the culture vastly different to now. Darius had meant to find a wife a year before but with my arrival he was delayed.

I had just been swimming and was sitting on the beach to dry off when Darius turned his head from his fishing to watch me. It was the first time I thought he saw me more than a sister. He watched me sitting there and I gave him a smile back. He had grown into a slim but muscular man, he seemed small but he had a hidden strength. He had messy blonde hair that often fell over his eyes and they were piercing green. It was that day when he stopped what he was doing and came over to sit with me. We talked for hours, over everything, what I was, what I could do, what he did, his jobs, his future and then our future.

We kept us a secret for a while, at least from Grace but I knew she knew, she knew everything. Darius was the first boy I ever loved, the first boy I gave myself too, body heart and soul and he was the first after my parents to be ripped from me.

I often wondered what it would have been like if he lived longer, if he grew older, would we have sought out a vampire to turn him? When it was evident I wasn't aging anymore he would quickly have outgrown me, would we have been together forever?

I'd never know.

Two years after finding Grace and Darius I was fully grown, I was about twenty and Darius was eighteen. We planned to marry and the night before I was going to become his wife we decided to take a walk in the forest together, something we often did to kill time in the day but that night it was beautiful, there was a full moon and the stars were shining in the sky. We decided to take one last walk before we became husband and wife. We were walking hand in hand, often stealing kisses, touching and playing around. Darius tripped and I caught him with a whip of my arm, I was already vastly stronger than my human lover, something I had learnt to be very wary of when we were intimate. The first time wasn't as bad since I was only young and not fully grown but as my strength grew I had to be careful because he was ever increasingly fragile to me. He laughed as I pulled him onto his feet next to me and we carried on walking. I was never sure why I didn't hear them coming, I was so engrossed in my husband-to-be that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, if I had I probably would have been able to save him but as young as I was I had no experience fighting, Grace had taught me defensive magic but she had also taught me to be a lady, made me dresses and braided my hair. I wasn't a fighter, not then. I had Darius for that, he was my protector and the day he needed me to be his I couldn't. I froze and I watched the love of my life bleed out in front of me.

We had separated only for a moment, I wanted to pick berries to bring back to Grace, knowing blueberries were her favourite and Darius kept going because he thought he saw something shining in the trees in front of us. I had a handful of berries when I looked up to him a few feet ahead of me. My heart fell into my gut as a feeling washed over me. Something wasn't right.

"Darius," I called just as I stood up. He turned to look at me, his angelic smile appearing on his face before I saw it. A wolf, only it wasn't a wolf it was bigger than that.  This creature was different than the wolves I had hunted for blood. Later I would find out it was a child of the moon.

The wolves jaws clamped onto Darius's arm before another wolf jumped out to do the same to his other. He screamed out in pain and I was stood there frozen as I watched the wolves pull him to the floor. It felt like hours before I managed to move, but it was merely a few seconds. I began running to him and beat the first wolf off but the second had already bit into his neck and the scent of blood hit me like a rock. I took deep breaths as I reached for the second wolf. It had already detached and ran into the forest by the time I got to it. I stood there covered in my fiancées blood looking after the wolf that was long gone.

"Esther," I heard his weak voice behind me. Suddenly I couldn't smell the blood anymore, I couldn't feel the anger anymore or the adrenaline rush I got from beating off the wolves. I felt horror as I turned to look at Darius bleeding out on the ground. I fell to my knees and crawled over to him, tears falling from my eyes and landing on his mangled body.

"Dairus, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I cried. He lifted his arm and rested his hand on my face as I pulled him onto my  lap. I was lost, I didn't know what to do. I knew from meeting vampires that they could turn anyone by biting them so I gently bent down to kiss the other side of his neck and prayed that if I bit him he would come back to me. I did so gently and he barely flinched but nothing happened, he didn't improve, he didn't change he just lay there in my arms slowly losing blood. I cried as the light in his eyes died. I lay there sobbing over his body for as long as I could remember before finally lifting him in my arms and carrying him back home. I entered the house to find Grace asleep. I lay him on the furs in the sitting room and walked over like a zombie to where Grace was sleeping. Upon walking past the table I saw something shining. They were pure silver bracelets. Extremely expensive and rare for that time. They were resting on a piece of parchment, written on it was Grace's writing.

For my grandson and granddaughter, you two are my life and I wish you happiness forever. Wear these bracelets as a sign of your love and it will forever keep you alive and safe.

I lifted the floral designed bracelet and couldn't bring the tears to form. I left it on the table and went to find Grace. As I turned I saw her standing there in the doorway. Her eyes on her grandson in the middle of the room.

"Grace I'm sorry. I couldn't save him," I sobbed. She walked towards him and fell to her knees before sobbing into his chest. I couldn't move I just stood there watching her. I turned and picked up the bracelet intended for Darius before putting it around my wrist and walking to the door.

"Esther," Grace cried after me. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To find what did this," I said holding back the tears. "Then I will leave you, before you lose anything else precious to you."

"you are precious to me Esther, please come home," she told me. "We will bid farewell to him together at sunrise," she said softly. I nodded before leaving the house I called my first home. Rage overcame me as I ran back to the place I last heard his voice. There was blood coating the ground, foot prints of both me and the wolves. I began following the paws until I found a dead wolf by a tree. I assumed it was the one I fought off, having died from the injuries, the second was harder to find but I did eventually. It was roaming the forest sniffing the ground. I stalked it like my prey before using my instincts and pouncing before snapping the wolfs neck. I didn't expect it to suddenly turn into the body of a boy. Maybe only fifteen not much younger than Darius. He lay there dead at my feet and I realised that they weren't just any wolves, they had been humans that turned into wolves at night.

Emotion refused to come as I knelt next to the dead boy. I wanted to feel regret, remorse, guilt, anything for what I had done but I couldn't. I stood and went to find the other wolf again, wondering why he hadn't turned into a human too. I found the wolf against the same tree, I was sure he was dead the first time but as I came closer he snapped and reached for me. His teeth penetrating my forearm and I screamed in pain.

My skin hadn't hardened as marble yet, I was still young and the teeth of vampires or supernatural beings could still hurt me. I shook the wolf off and in doing so Darius' bracelet came flying off with the wolf. I momentarily scanned the area for the handmade silver but was distracted by the wolf coming at me again. the wolf was weak from its earlier injuries and I easily beat it off with my unwounded arm and he flew into a tree, I heard a snap and I realised that it had been the animal's back. It lay there whimpering in the silence. I slowly walked over to the wolf and gripped the head in my hands. I hadn't known what to do with the first wolf. I let my instincts take over and I did everything involuntary but now I knew you could kill them by snapping their neck and so that's what I did and suddenly a girl lay before me.  It hit me that the wolves had been possibly mates, fighting for survival in the forests like Darius and I were, the boy had only bitten Darius to protect the girl. I lifted her up and brought her over to the boy I had killed and lay them next to each other. If I could die next to my mate I would and so I showed what little compassion I had at that point in my life and let them lie together.

I went back to find the bracelet before finding my way back home. I found Grace wrapping Darius' body in white cloth. She tried to lift him but I could see her struggling. I walked over and helped her lift his body onto the pyre.

"Thank you my dear," she whispered. "I fear I may not make it through this heartbreak," she said softly. I turned to frown at her. "I have lost all my children sweet girl. I have now lost what was left of my grandchildren. I have no one."

"You have me," I managed to say although I knew it wasn't enough.

"And that is why I remain alive now," she said to me and took my hand. She saw the wound on my arm healing and the bangle on my wrist before looking up at me.

"It would have saved him," she said to me. "My gift to you both on your wedding day was protection. For my grandson. If he was wearing that bangle he would have survived this attack. He would be here now and you two would have had until he died of old age." she said softly.

"How?" I asked in awe.

"A spell I created. Although useless now, you could have decided together, he should have had the choice to live forever by your side," she said before moving over to light the torch. I didn't say anything. I let Grace say the farewell.

"Darius, I wanted you to live forever, I wanted more for you than this tragic end. I am sorry I couldn't protect you sooner. I love you sweet boy and will spend an eternity missing you," Grace said before turning to look at me.

I was suddenly lost for words. The last two years had been perfect for me, the incarnation of heaven. I had a mother and I had a friend and finally a lover in Darius and it had been ripped away from me.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. We were meant to have forever but we only got a slither of that time. You will always be with me. I will forever carry you with me as I live the rest of my forever without you," I said before resting my hand on Grace's on the torch and we both set alight to the pyre.

We watched as the man we both loved burnt into the sky.

We moved on as little as we could. I took over Darius' job, farming the land and fishing for food. Grace was never the same. She lost her light, her will to live and I felt guilty I was the one keeping her here.

One night I lay a blade by her bed while she was sleeping as I left her room she woke and turned to see the blade.

"Esther what are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm letting you go. you can be free. join your family," I told her.

"You are my family Esther."

"No your family is dead, Grace." I said and came to sit by her bed. "I cant watch you in this pain anymore. I must live on, for whatever I was destined to do and I will, for you and for Darius but you don't need to stay not if you don't want to," I told her.

"Sweet girl. I must stay to protect you. You are so special. There is nothing like you in the world and I will spend my life keeping you safe."

"It's been a year now, I am already stronger than I was then. I can protect myself," I told her.

"Only because I have spells covering you. They will disappear with my death."

"Then I must leave. I can't stay here any longer Grace. The memory of him haunts me."

Darius was angelic and sweet but he had not been cut out for this world. He would always be my first love and I would always carry a part of him with me in that bracelet but I had to move on. I had to live my life so that one day my species could flourish and I may feel loved by a family again.

"I understand. Very well." She said and knelt up to hug me.

"That's it? You won't even ask me to stay?" I asked.

"You are a free woman Esther. Everyone leaves home eventually."

"I will come back. Every year on this day," I told her and kissed her forehead.

"I look forward to it," she said and hugged me tightly.

I left that home with a heavy heart and did not return for a year. In that year I explored the country, forever moving on when meeting new people and never making friends again. The day drew close when I was due to go home. It had been a year and I wondered as I walked up to the familiar house as to whether Grace would still be there, had she lasted this long on her own without falling into grief?

I knew by the look of the farm and lack of animals that no one had been active around the house in a long time and as I stepped into the house I found Grace lying on the furs where Darius had been two years before. At first I thought she was dead and had finally killed herself but there was no blood and her body would have turned to a skeleton by then. She was merely sleeping and as I came closer I saw parchment resting on her torso. I picked it up and read it.

Dearest Esther,

I couldn't take it any longer, the grief was too much. I don't blame you for leaving, I am so happy you found the will I could not find to live a new life. I have cast a spell, one that puts me into a long sleep. I can only be woken by your blood but do not wake me for comfort my dear. I wish only to be woken when you have no other option. When you are in danger and you need me. As long as I am asleep my spells will work, the protection spells I put on you when we first met will follow you where ever you go and as long as I remain alive here they will never be broken. You cannot be harmed or found and you can live your life in peace. I hope you find love again my sweet girl and maybe one day I may meet you again.

Live Esther, live for me and live for Darius.

Yours forever, Grace.

I felt a tear fall and land on the parchment in my hand. I understood what she had done, she couldn't live with the pain anymore but she couldn't leave me alone either. She had made a decision to protect me and I would be forever grateful and bound protect her too. I kissed her forehead and put the parchment under her shoulder. 

I left the cottage I called my first home and made a vow to return every year for as long as I could to ensure that my guardian angel remained.