"On the twenty-second of July, year 1587 three ships carrying one hundred and seventeen English souls landed on northern Roanoke Island, in what is today called North Carolina," Henry began, swallowing- he knew his next words would cause Laure a great deal of pain. "Among the teeming mass of men, women and children was a man of twenty-and-three named Henry Fitzwilliam Sturges, average in height and build. Accompanying him was a woman named Edeva… Sturges."

Laure let out a great choking sob and he pitied her, knowing that her pain was his burden to bear. He knew the thoughts occupying her mind, his love knowing that she was not the first, that this faceless woman had had Henry in ways she as of yet had not been able to. "My… wife was but a day younger and an inch shorter than I, with hair of the finest flaxen and eyes a strange shade of green-brown. There had never been a more delicate, a more fetching creature in all the annals of times to rival her until I met you… We experienced a harrowing voyage, one plagued by bad weather and death- but we made it through, landing upon that island. And shortly after, Virginia Dare was born, the first English baby born in the New World- I only tell you this, because it is how Thomas Crowley came into the true fold of the colony. He was a plump, balding man of fifty-six, tall in stature with a kind albeit pockmarked face and a love of jokes. It was that man- that doctor, who cared for the young and the old, a healer- who was my maker.

"He was a vampire."

Henry swallowed against the knot in his throat before continuing with his story, unable to look at Laure as she continued to let the great shaking albeit nearly silent sobs overcome her, staring into the nothingness of his own mind's eye, "You know the story of how Governor White died with guilt for the loss of the colonists, but I believe that it is better he never learned the truth. After we settled and he returned to England, the people of Roanoke were beset by a strange illness, which produced an acute fever in its victims. The fever led to delusions, coma and eventually, death… Dr. Crowley seemed powerless to curb its effects- in the three months after our arrival, ten succumbed to the plague. Three onths after that, a dozen more. It was Eleanor Dare, the mother of Virginia and the daughter of Governer White who discovered Crowley's secret; her husband was the most recent victim of the fever the night the entire colony was decimated. She walked into the room where he was and was met with the sigh of Crowley with his mouth around her husband's neck. Her screams brought several men running, prepared to fight the Croatans, but instead finding the woman and husband slaughtered, and the infant Virginia in the vampire's claws. They perished there." He heard Laure moving and turned to see her attempting to stand, moving to support her in her weakened state. "Laurelie." Henry grasped the tops of her arms and she began to claw at him, trying to escape him, "I will hear no more of this!" However, he had no intentions of going unheard- especially when the most important part of the story was yet to be told- rather forcefully returning her to sit on the bed. "Laurelie, was it not you who asked me to tell you of my story? You owe me-"

She slapped him forcefully, her red-blotched cheeks stained with dried tears. Henry was more hurt emotionally by the fact that she would strike him than by the actual blow, refraining himself from acting rashly. Laure shook out her hurt fingers, surmising that there would be bruises there sooner or later- he was as hard as stone. "I do not owe you a goddamn thing Henry Sturges," Laure shouted shrilly, breathing heavily as she stared at him. He was quite for a few moments longer before attempting to relax his hands from the fists they had curled into, his voice strained.

"I heard the screams of those men, who perished at once; I dressed and told Edeva to do the same, thinking it an attack by the natives. I charged into the night with my pistol, determined to protect my home to the last, but as I reached the clearing in the center of the village, I was met with an incredible sight… a terrifying sight. Thomas Crowley- his eyes black, a pair of white razors in his mouth- tearing a man in half, spilling his innards everywhere. My friends were scattered upon the ground, some with limbs missing, some with heads missing. Crowley took notice of me and all the courage left me- I could only think of escape. Only of Edeva… and the unborn child in her womb."

It was then that Laure burst into tears, standing again before collapsing into Henry's arms when he moved to support her; it was a hard blow to her already fragile heart, knowing that the man she loved had lain with another woman, had created a child with a woman he had married. She could never be in God's eyes, truthfully, what Edeva had already been to Henry. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her head to his chest and kissing the top of her head. "We never made it to the coast- we ran until our lungs burned, until she slowed and I felt his steps behind us, breaking the earth as he went," Henry whispered into her curls, his arms tightening around her still trembling form. She licked her lips, attempting to speak before finally finding her voice, "Were… you in pain?"

"I remember none of it," he replied untruthfully, somewhat easing her pain. "Only that I woke on my stomach and knew at once that my wounds were mortal. My body lay shattered- my limbs all but useless- dried blood over my eyes rendering me half blind. I could hear Edeva's labored breath, knowing that she was even closer to the end than I… she called out for mercy, for Jesus… for me. She lay on her side, her yellow dress stained with blood, her yellow hair matted with it. I dragged myself to her with two broken arms and stared into her eyes, running my hand through her hair. I told her not to be afraid. And then she went."

"What of the others?"

Henry pulled away to look at her face, wishing that he could somehow comfort her, "By sunrise, Crowley had dragged all of the settlers into the woods and buried them; explaining a plauge was easier than trying to convince some one hundred men and women that he was innocence of any wrongdoing. They would have questioned him, discovered him… Of his one hundred and twelve fellow settlers, only one person had been spared his wrath- Virginia Dare. She was sentimental to him, a baby he had personally delivered, the first English soul born in the New World. I saw him holding her as I stood at a tree, carving the letters 'CRO' into the trunk- I daresay he was surprised to see me still alive, but it was my dying effort to expose the identity of my murderer that kept me on my feet. The murderer of my wife and child. He laughed and having a brilliant idea from my carving, moved to scratch the word 'CROATOAN' into a nearby post to place the blame on someone else. The bastard… I spat at him and Crowley chuckled- he must have seen something he admired in my biting anger even to the last of my breath, moving towards me. He- I cannot speak of it in detail, only to say that when I had awakened in this life, that… Virginia Dare was no longer with us."

"Did you partake in her death," Laure asked quietly, swallowing.

"I am afraid… yes."

She untangled herself from his arms and took a steadying breath, folding her arms over her chest as she looked at Henry. "Take me home at once Henry," Laure demanded quietly, an unnatural calm seeming to surround her. "Please."

"Of course," Henry said, wrapping a heavy coat around her shoulders before lifting her into his arms. If she was uncomfortable- which he did not doubt was the case- she did not give any indication, allowing Henry to carry her home. Laure was silent the entire journey, which disturbed him immensely, only opening her mouth to ask him stiffly to set her down on the porch. She opened the door before taking off Henry's coat and handing it to him, starting into the house. He made to move after him, caught off-guard by his betrothed's scathing retort, "I will be damned before you step another foot inside this house Henry Sturges!"

Avaline came running at her shout, her brow covered in sweat as she looked at her young charge. Never before had she seen Laure so angered or so serious, her jaw set and her entire body tensed like an animal preparing itself to leap at another's throat. Laure continued on as if she did not even notice the fact that they were joined by another, her hand tight on the doorknob. "You have lied to me from the very first moment we met and that is unforgivable. Because you decided to covet what was not yours, you have cost my mother her life and us our future, you soulless bastard! How am I to ever attempt to love another how I have loved you," she shouted at the top of her lungs even as her voice broke, burning tears in her eyes. Henry was speechless, every word another knife wound to his long dead heart. "You have ruined me! My family! My life! I hate you Henry- I never want to see you again! Get out!"

Laure snatched off her engagement ring and threw it at Henry's face as hard as she could before slamming the door in his face, the heartbroken man looking at the cool wood of the door. He could sense her warmth behind it, reaching out to place his hand against the house and sighing as he took his leave. Henry turned away, returning to his home and packing the rest of his belongings. Looking at the cross on his wall, he pressed his hands together and swallowed back bile, trying to keep his nerve. "You have only punished me in this life- you took my wife, my child, my humanity- and for the longest time, I have hated you. But I cannot hate you, especially when you gave me Laurelie. I have learned not to ask you for anything, but I must request… I must beg of you to take care of her. She is the only woman I can ever say I have truly ever loved and you have taken her from me as well, but I realize now that it is only for the best. Thank you," Henry said, his head bowed in prayer.

He pulled Laure's engagement ring out of his pocket, staring at it mournfully. "Thank you for her."