She plunged into the woods just before twilight.
Tears of despair blurred her sight.
Unheeding of where she tread,
She was consumed by the images in her head.
All that remained to her was a drunken father.
Today they had laid to rest her beloved mother.
Isabella did not notice the dwindling light.
Further and further she walked into the night.
With no solace to be found,
She wandered far from familiar ground.
Peering through the trees at the night sky,
She continued to wonder why.
The moon slipped behind a misty veil.
The silence was broken by a voice distinctly male.
What seek you here at this late hour?
He spoke with authority and power.
Out of the shadows came a cloaked stranger.
She was too weary to fear any danger.
His eyes held an unnatural gleam.
She recalled tales of those who are not what they seem.
These woods are not safe at night to roam.
I shall see you safely home.
Now he will take me to his lair.
She should be frightened, but she did not care.
This hour would be her last.
She spoke freely to him of her past.
When she shivered he gave her his cloak.
He listened in silence to every word she spoke.
He led her back to the edge of the woods to her surprise.
For a fleeting moment she thought she saw amusement in his eyes.
The night had softened now just before dawn.
When she turned to thank him he was gone.
She returned home and quickly hid the cloak.
Her father would not see it when he awoke.
She thought of the stranger all that long day.
She would return the cloak as soon as she could slip away.
Isabella went first to her mother's grave.
Her tender company she did crave.
To her spirit now she spoke,
Telling her about the stranger and the cloak.
She waited until the sun was setting low.
Into the woods she again did go.
When darkness fell the stranger soon was found.
He was suddenly there when she turned around.
I did not expect your return.
Caution you did not learn.
Isabella handed him the cloak.
Her anger he did not provoke.
I came to thank you and to return this.
She spoke as if nothing were amiss.
I wanted to see you again, truth be told.
Her curiosity about him had made her bold.
For both of us this decision is unwise.
Yet I cannot turn away from your innocent eyes.
You charm me with your lack of guile.
You should know my name is Stefan if we are to visit awhile.
Being with him lessened her pain.
In small increments her loneliness did wane.
She came to see him for a few hours every night.
Soon in his presence her heart took delight.
A man in her village sought her as his prey.
She did not see him follow her that day.
The sun was sinking as he fell upon her.
Isabella struggled against the filthy cur.
He tore at her clothes
As she bloodied his nose.
A lively one, he sneered.
All was lost she feared.
Stefan advanced on him with fury, his face feral and wild.
He picked him up as if he weighed no more than a child.
Sharp fangs sank deep as he drank his fill.
Her attacker now lay pale and still.
Isabella began to thank him, but he stopped her dead.
He spoke with lips that were stained blood red.
You were attacked because of me.
You are in a place you should not be.
Now you know that I am a monster most vile,
A danger to all who linger here awhile.
Isabella pulled him into a fierce embrace.
A look of adoration was on her face.
You have been no danger to me.
Only one monster here did I see.
You have slain him dead.
Your company I do not dread.
Stefan sent her home to rest.
He would see her tomorrow at her request.
The next day her father told her she was to wed.
At nightfall back to Stefan she fled.
Stefan said it was probably for the best.
Isabella declared it was a life she would detest.
Emboldened by a love so rare,
She did that which she did not dare.
Stefan was the one who ended the kiss.
She said to him, I want only this.
You know not what you ask, Stefan said.
Sunrise brings me the slumber of the dead.
I know I want to be with you for eternity.
Nothing else matters to me.
What does a girl of fifteen know of eternity?
Begone! Leave me be.
I will not marry him. I would rather be dead.
All that night bitter tears she shed.
The next night she again went Stefan to find.
She had to make him change his mind.
I cannot abide your sorrow.
You are leaving here tomorrow.
Arrangements for you I have made.
The ticket for your journey has been paid.
I will stay with you until just before dawn.
By seven your train will be gone.
Do not think that you will find me here.
I lingered only because you were near.
This is not where I dwell.
I have remained too long under your spell.
You shall have a new home.
No longer these woods will you roam.
After much arguing, Isabella gave up the fight.
This was not how she wanted to spend their last night.
Now Stefan told her the secrets of his past.
Their time together was over too fast.
He branded her lips with a kiss that was less than chaste.
Goodbye my love, he said and left in great haste.
Her chaperone she met when she boarded the train.
She would not be allowed to be alone with her pain.
A motherly companion she had until her long journey was done.
Then she was deposited into the care of a greatly older one.
Servants brought in luggage she never knew she had.
Even such fine clothes could not keep her from being sad.
A companion she was to a spry old lady.
Every day they talked while sharing tea.
Lessons she had in reading, writing, and dancing, too.
She learned all the things that a fine lady knew.
Your benefactor desires that you be presented at a ball.
My benefactor! Has he come to call?
No, my dear, he has written to me.
A letter. May I see?
I'm afraid not. He values his privacy.
Come, my dear. Do not frown.
You are to have an exquisite new gown.
The ball would be her entrance to society.
Surely Stefan would be there to see.
Isabella became a sensation that night.
Her hair was the color of pale moonlight.
Many suitors she did attract,
Save for the one her heart lacked.
Stefan was not coming for her. This she had to accept.
After the ball she threw herself on her bed and wept.
In the months after that by many proposals she was not persuaded.
Her suitors gave up, but one fine young man was not dissuaded.
Of her new husband her heart soon grew fond,
Although she never forgot her secret bond.
Often in her dreams Stefan did appear.
Other times she gazed out into the night and imagined he was near.
Over the years four babies filled her arms.
She was content with her life's many charms.
When her youngest daughter turned fifteen,
She awoke in the night and felt a presence unseen.
Isabella slipped out of bed and found Stefan outside.
Her shock she could not even try to hide.
She was beginning to go gray.
He had aged not a single day.
No, do not thank me.
Stefan smiled bitterly.
I am here selfishly,
Although I swore to let you be.
What I do now I cannot defend.
It tortures me to think that your life will end.
I bring you a vial of my cursed blood.
It can turn back the tide of death's flood.
Once the change has begun,
It can never be undone.
Think very carefully.
The decision stands for eternity.
Isabella kept the vial hidden away.
This she would decide on a distant day.
Time brought her the joy of watching her grandchildren play.
Life drifted on in this pleasant way.
Now even her grandchildren were grown.
Since John died, five years she had been alone.
A lifetime they had shared.
He had been a sweet man who truly cared.
She was up in age,
Left to contemplate this final stage.
Staring at the vial had become her nightly game.
After all these years the scarlet liquid looked exactly the same.
Isabella thought about what countless lifetimes with Stefan would mean.
Although her body was deteriorating, her mind was still keen.
A monster Stefan had claimed to be.
He fed only on evildoers. She had long since had this epiphany.
Isabella opened the vial and drank.
Into a deep slumber she quickly sank.
When she opened her eyes she was wide awake.
She stood before the mirror a look to take.
She stared in shock, stiff as a board.
Her youth had been completely restored.
She realized that the room held no illumination.
She wondered if this was all her imagination.
Her eyes were unhindered by the dark.
Within her a curious energy did spark.
She felt strong and free.
Her blood sought her destiny.
Outside a brilliant light caught her eye.
The moon was blazing in the sky.
The stars sparkled like diamonds reflecting the light.
She stood mesmerized by this glorious sight.
Her legs took her where she needed to go.
He had told her that she would simply know.
He looked upon her with eyes that seemed to devour.
Welcome home, my midnight flower.