“If you go out to them, I won’t be able to resist,” she confessed.
I saw the haunted expression on her face, the circles under her eyes and the gaunt appearance of her flesh. She looked like an addict, someone found wandering the alleys of London, selling herself to men so she could return to the nearest opium den. “I will follow you. And you will become like me. In a day or two, you won’t be able to think about anything except how to serve them. You’ll give them everything. Everything.”
And yet, despite the evidence that her life had been a constant nightmare, I found myself wishing that Percy had been chosen as a vache too.
At least then, there might have been a chance of saving him.
Instead, he’d been invited to join the pack. For him, there was no turning back.
Thirteen
In an instant, day bled into night. The entire valley hung in violet shadows. Then, the moment Percy grabbed the sangsue King and dragged him away from us, darkness fell. Black. Impenetrable. No amount of light from our windows or doors could break it.
It was as if the Gates of Hell stood beyond our door.
One step outside and you’d be in the midst of gnashing teeth, forever cast out of heaven’s mercy.
The moon disappeared; the stars hid behind heavy clouds. A slow drizzle fell, pelting the windows, filling the house with a damp chill that soaked through our clothes and settled in our bones. The fires wouldn’t stay lit that night—they sputtered and turned to ash—so we shivered beneath piles of blankets and coats. Even the oil lamps gave off a pale light.
Darkness was winning. I feared the morning would never come.
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Notes From The Author
Many historical events have been changed for dramatic purposes in this story. They include, but are not limited to:
Mary and Percy: In real life, this couple had another child, William, besides the infant girl that had died, and this little boy traveled with them on their journey to Geneva.
Harriet Shelley: Her death actually occurred in December of 1816, after Mary and Percy went to Switzerland. Harriet was pregnant for the third time by her husband, Percy, when she drowned herself in the Serpentine River.
Fanny Imlay Godwin: She committed suicide on October 9, 1816, by taking an overdose of laudanum. It’s quite possible she became depressed in 1814, when Mary and Claire left her behind to run off to Europe with Percy. It’s also possible that she had fallen in love with Percy Shelley and that this was one of the reasons she took her life.
The use of first names: although it is more historically accurate to use Shelley as Percy’s first name in conversation, I chose to use Percy.
Claire Clairmont: She was pregnant with Byron’s child during their trip to Switzerland, but the pregnancy was not as far advanced as in my story. Also, Claire was traveling with Mary and Percy, not waiting at the villa.
Friendships: I made the friendship between Mary and Byron deeper than it had been during this journey—they were not close friends beforehand. Also, Percy and Byron were only beginning to know one another at this time.
Lodgings: While Byron and John stayed in the Villa Diodati, Mary, Percy and Claire stayed in another house nearby.
Allegra: Lord Byron and Claire did have a baby named Allegra, also called Alba. The little girl lived part of her life in a convent and died at the age of five.
The Year Without A Summer: 1816 experienced strange, winter-like weather caused by the 1815 volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora. I exaggerated the weather conditions for the story.
About the Author
Merrie Destefano left a 9-to-5 desk job as a magazine editor to become a full-time novelist and freelance editor. With twenty years' experience in publishing, her background includes editor of Victorian Homes magazine, Zombies magazine, and Haunted: Mysteries and Legends magazine. Her books, novellas, and anthologies include Afterlife, Feast, Fathom, Lost Girls, The Plague Carrier, Waiting for Midnight, and Cursed. She lives in Southern California with her husband, their two German shepherds, a Siamese cat, and the occasional wandering possum.
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Please check the author’s website for current information about her new releases.
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Copyright © 2018 by Merrie Destefano
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by Les Solot.
Image from DepositPhoto/Fotolit2.
Created with Vellum
Dusk: A Re-Imagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (The Frankenstein Saga Book 2) Page 7
