"I searched endlessly through the day instead of sleeping, desperate to find anything that could possibly change her mind. I gathered all I could find at my desk, working through the night to present my argument. When she came down the stairs of my cave in the morning, I knew I only had one chance.
I wouldn't deny her if after all I had said she still wanted this life, but I would absolutely try to persuade her into a different direction. There were so many things about this life that I didn't yet understand and I was worried it would change her, that it would break her previously optimistic self. I wanted to keep her just as I had found her.
She came down the stairs with a lantern in her hands, a smile playing on her lips as she walked into the room. Without her needing to say anything, I already knew the decision she had made. Rosetta took a look around the room as she approached me by the desk. 'Have you rested yet?'
'No,' I motioned to the journals that lay open upon my desk. 'I've been searching for the journals that have more details about what you're getting into. I want you to be absolutely sure before this happens. Rosetta, this isn't something you can turn away from. Once it happens, you have to embrace it.'
She nodded, setting the lantern down beside the desk. 'I know.' As always, her voice was soft. There was no tremble in it, even as she was about to make a decision that would forever alter her future. There was no fear.
I waited for her to continue, but it never came. I motioned to the piles of journals I had gathered and began going through them. I picked up the first one, reading the area I had marked aloud. 'I have found that the food I once enjoyed is tasteless. Drinks that I used to look forward to now are bitter, even the sweetest among them. The only thing I can taste is blood. I don't know how to feel about it. I miss the pleasures of food.' I glanced up at Rosetta, watching as her face remained unchanged.
She shrugged. 'I already expected that. It will be nice to not feel hungry for food anymore, or to crave something that we don't have.' She remained unmoved.
It challenged me. I flipped ahead to another passage I had marked. 'Any amount of sunlight burns at my skin. If I want to go outside, I have to wear heavy garments that are thick and cover as much of my skin as possible. It burns at my eyes as well. I have to be careful with the amount of time I spend in the daylight.'
Rosetta held back a giggle. 'I won't miss it. I'll get to be with you during the night anyway. I think we will rarely be awake throughout the day.'
I sighed, moving onto another journal that had been one of the firsts that I had read in this life. 'By the end of the fire, I was a changed man. For the first time in months, I sat up and walked around the room. My throat was still burning and I couldn't fit my teeth in my mouth quite right. Something had changed. I was quicker than I remembered. Every movement I made surprised me and my vision had greatly improved. I could see for miles if I wished to. My hearing had changed as well. I could hear all the people moving around me, even with walls between us. When I went to examine myself in hopes of finding something different, I was surprised to find that there was no reflection staring back at me. Emptiness stood in front of me, as if I were not there at all.' I glanced at her for a reaction.
She seemed to hesitate. Rosetta took a deep breath. 'I know the transformation won't be easy, but it will give me an eternity with you. I will be able to spend the rest of my days peacefully beside you. We'll be in this together.' She vowed as she carefully took the journal out of my hands and placed it back onto the desk. Rosetta rested her head upon my chest, closing her eyes while she smiled and began to sway.
I quietly wrapped my arms around her, placing kisses along her head as I moved with her. 'I just want to make sure you're ready for this. It's a lot and it can't be reversed.' I tried not to think about if she really wanted this; if this really was a life she had imagined for herself. My mind drifted back to when I first met her and the promise I had made to Caelum. I had told him that I would keep her safe, that I would give her better. By doing this, was I really keeping my promise?
I forced the thoughts to the back of my head as I tried to focus on the present. Rosetta needed me more than my mind did. I had a feeling nothing in the journals would be able to convince her to stay as she was. 'Is there nothing I can say that will sway you?'
With her usual cheerful smile, Rosetta shook her head. She was determined. She wasn't about to give up.
Chills ran down my spine as I remembered my transformation again. The same would happen to Rosetta. I would have to witness every moment of it. There was no going back. I gently took her hand in mine and led her to the chair beside the desk. Once she was seated, I looked her over and took in her human appearance for the last time.
I examined each fiery curl and the way some of the strands frizzed out in an uncontrollable manner, and the way her eyes strained to see in the dark. I focused upon the glittering green eyes that tried to lock onto mine. I took in the circles beneath her eyes from the last few days of our struggle to get our schedules to match. I listened to the steady beat of her heart, and the child's. I would never hear them again. I waited several minutes as I memorized the patterns, vowing to never forget. 'It's going to hurt,' I warned again as I hesitantly began moving her hair away from her neck. The words of my grandfather echoed in my head. It was easy to transform someone, so long as you knew what you were doing.
'Not more than life hurt me before you,' Rosetta quietly reminded, her eyes briefly pulling away from mine. I didn't need an explanation to know what she meant. While I wondered what images were flashing before her eyes, she spoke again. 'I would give every pleasure of this life away if it meant I could stay with you. Vladimir, you're my family now.'
The words softened my heart. I didn't try and hide the smile that appeared as I carefully looked over her again. How lucky I was to have such a woman as a wife; to have Rosetta as my beloved. I thought of all the generations before me, specifically of Trevor Dracula and his experience with his wife. She had left him, taking the children. Mine embraced the change and wanted it for herself and our children.
I squeezed Rosetta's hands, finding myself more nervous than I had expected. Trevor had changed several people in his lifetime, only failing once by draining the person. I hadn't yet tasted human blood and I feared that once it was spilled, I wouldn't stop. I hadn't told Rosetta of my concern. I didn't want her to be frightened of me, or think that I would kill her. I wanted her to feel safe.
But would she be?
Moving as carefully as I could, I pushed her hair off her shoulder. I slowly got to my knees, our eyes completely level. There was silence between us, but it was oddly comforting. Her heart began to race and guilt swelled over me. She was doing this for me, for what my family had been cursed with. Her words had been spoken bravely, but even now she was afraid.
Yet, she said nothing.
I continued to move slowly in case she changed her mind. I adjusted myself on my knees to get comfortable, unsure how long it would take. I braced myself with one hand upon the side of the chair, the other holding her shoulder in peace. Chills moved throughout me as I lowered my face into the crook of her neck, placing light kisses against her skin. Trevor had stated in his journals that the neck was one of the easier spots to change someone. Any part of the body that had a main artery or vein would work. I had to trust that he was right.
When I found the spot I was looking for, I inhaled her sweet scent one last time. It would be gone for the rest of eternity. I would miss it dearly. The memory of the pain resurfaced, but I reassured myself that she had agreed to it and that I would be here for her the entire journey. We would do this together. I needed to be as strong as she was.
I listened as her heart continued to beat quicker, showing her nerves. It would be over soon. I shut my eyes as tightly as I could manage, unsure if I wanted to focus on what was happening. I relaxed my mouth against her neck, a sudden unnatural instinct taking over.
I had never felt anything like it before.
My fangs broke through her skin and intercepted the vein. I could feel the rush of blood that began to pour out and fought to ignore the taste that was far better than any of the animals I had ever had before. I focused on my goal. I wanted to change her.
According to Trevor's journals, one bite was all it took. Already when a vampire had settled upon a victim, venom would come from the fangs to numb the area and make it easier to drink from. In cases where the victim wasn't drained, they were instead changed.
Rosetta's hand suddenly grabbed onto the arm that I had placed against the arm of the chair as her eyes went wide. She gasped out as she held onto me, soon after clenching her jaw shut as she tried to suppress muffled screams.
It was enough to bring me back to reality. Judging by the reaction, I knew that it had begun. I was quick to pull away from her. I carefully pulled her out of the chair and onto the ground with me, holding her tight in my lap as I cradled her against my chest. I kissed her head, muttering apologies as I wished I could have taken the pain for her. I would have lived through it a million times if it meant she never had to suffer it.
While Rosetta went through the pain of transformation, I went through the pain of witnessing it. The entire night, I listened to her scream and cry. I wiped the tears from her cheeks when they fell, hoping that it would end much sooner than my own transformation. Throughout it all, she never once begged for it to stop.
I was in awe of her. I had cried out for hours, asking anyone around to make it stop. I hadn't been able to handle it as well as she was, though I hadn't been expecting what had happened. She had wanted it. Still, I knew my own transformation shrunk in comparison to hers.
When I could tell she was close to being finished judging by how her reactions began to soften and weren't as frequent, I decided to go out into the forest and find her the very first meal she'd have in this life. I could remember how thirsty and uncomfortable I had been and wanted better for her. She had suffered enough. I had only been gone for an hour or so, as dawn was just starting to break as I returned to the mansion with a deceased animal in tow.
'Rosetta?' I called as I entered the cave again, already noticing that she no longer laid where I left her. I stepped closer towards the desk, relief filling parts of my chest as I hoped it was finally over for her.
'Vladimir?' Her voice came from the side. It was different, but it brought me chills with familiarity. It was crystal clear like the ponds in our gardens and it echoed through the walls of the cave. It was more confident than I had ever heard it before.
I looked in the direction of her voice and found my knees, despite being strengthened by the curse, threatening to give out. I was brought back to the moment I had first laid eyes upon her, not even a full year before then.
I had long feared that the transformation would destroy the beauty of my Rosetta, my sunshine, that it would take away all the things that made her herself, but I was wrong.
Her hair had become more vibrant, shimmering in the dull candlelight that still flickered by the desk. Rosetta's skin had lightened into a similar color as my own, transforming her face into one of a porcelain doll. While I was used to her emerald eyes lying upon me, I saw now that they had transformed into rubies that held a piercing stare. Her beauty was unmatched. Rosetta smiled at me, exposing the two fangs that now rested in her mouth. She took one step towards me and suddenly was directly in front of me.
Confusion flickered across her face, but then she began to laugh.
It would take a while for her to get used to, but now we had nothing but time.
I watched her laugh, examining the new details about her. I focused in on her face, in awe of how fragile she appeared. It was like she was made of glass.
I knew that was the furthest thing from our case.
My Rosetta was strong.
Always had been.
Always would be."