Circa 1885

Fletcher was a fairly ordinary young man of his time. He was proudly taking over the family business, as expected. He would oversee his fathers textile factory and his investments in the ever expanding railroads. He would marry his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth.

But more often than not, in this world, things don't go as planned.

One balmy summer night, 26-year-old Fletcher Hornsby was out for a stroll. He had just walked his lovely Elizabeth home to her front door, and with a kiss goodnight he left. He decided to stop and sit for a spell in the quite meadow just down the hill. He sat on the rock he always sat on, and stared out over the meadow to the small pond on the other side. The moon cast a gentle shimmer across the water. Crickets were chirping, frogs were croaking. It was a peaceful night.

Fletcher would always remember that night, because it was the night he took his last breath. His last breath as a human that is. That night Fletcher became an immortal. That night in a terrifying moment of need and thirst a vampire stole the light from his eyes. It was a female vampire that ended him. That awoke him. He can still remember to this very day the feel of her long blond hair caressing his cheek as she drank his blood. Her eyes glowed white, to match the moons intensity. She took just enough blood from him to feed her thirst but not lose her mind to the frenzy.

She had drank his blood three times. Three nights they met under the stars. On the forth night he craved her blood. He drank it like it was the finest scotch. Then he turned.

Strangely enough, he never saw her again.

After drinking her blood his heart stoppedbeating. His body convulsed as he gasped for air. He died thinking of his beloved Elizabeth and the life he was leaving behind.

A day later he came back from the dead. He woke up in the local undertakers morgue. His mouth was dry. He felt like vomiting. He gagged but nothing came up. The Vampire that had made him was named Prudence. He left the morgue and went to her mansion on the hill. She wasn't there. All of her personal possessions were gone. Everything else was exactly as he remembered it. This would be his home now.

He had been compelled to meet her in the meadow. He remembered now. Over the next few weeks he regained bits and pieces of his memory. The memories would hit him suddenly. He missed her. He hated her, and he missed her.

Fletcher wanted life to go on like it had before, but he knew it couldn't. He couldn't marry Elizabeth anymore. He thought to much of her to ruin her life in this way. He would have to change her too for it to work, and he couldn't do that.

In order to continue to live a somewhat normal existence he used his new found power of compulsion to make sure certain people forgot that they had ever found or had ever seen his dead body. This way he could still run his fathers business. That way his mother and father wouldn't have to mourn him. He compelled Elizabeth to be agreeable to the thought that they were no longer suited to each other.

His life had become simple, almost normal again. He enjoyed the house on the hill that Prudence had left him. He roamed around the rooms looking at the things that she had left behind. He found the necklace that she wantedhim to have. It would allow him to be able to walk about in the daylight.

One night someone knocked on his front door. At first it was a light knocking, and he thought that they would leave. Then it became louder and more insistent. He answered even though he really didn't want to. Before him stood a beautiful young lady. She said her name was Lula Jane Purdy. He thought there was something really familiar about her.

"I need help. I'm lost, and I don't know how I got here," she told him. She was just the type that was easy for Fletcher to feed on. But there was something about her that told him not to. "Please, come in. Sit down. I'll make us some tea and we can try to sort this out," he said as he motioned her inside.

They sat down in the parlor to talk and Fletcher poured their tea. "What's the last thing that you remember?", he asked her. "Um, I'm not sure... I...was on the train," she said holding her head in both of her hands. She wiped away sudden tears that rolled down her checks. "And you got off the train?", he asked. "Well, yes...but I don't remember getting off the train," she explained. He noticed that Lula was dressed in a black dress. "Were you traveling to go to a funeral," he inquired. "I don't know, maybe I was," she said, sighing. "I think you need to see a doctor, Miss Purdy. It seems to me that something bad has happened to you that's caused you to have amnesia."

Lula agreed that she needed a doctor, so they went by carriage to the doctors home. "Good evening, Dr. Osborne, sorry to disturb you after hours, but I have a woman here who needshelp. She knocked on my door saying that she's lost and she can't remember how she got here." "Oh my, bring her on in," Dr. Osborne said.

The doctor looked her over thoroughly, but was unable to find anything physically wrong with her. "It seems that you have suffered some sort of trauma so bad, that is making you forget what exactly happened," he told her. "I don't know what to do, she said. I still have my purse, but I don't have my belongings. I must have lost my baggage on the train." Do you remember where you were traveling from? Do you have any family that you can recall?", the doctor asked her. "Yes, I have a brother and sister in Breckinridge." "Okay then Miss Purdy, that's a good start. We'll send them a telegram to let them know that you are here", he said.

They thanked Dr. Osborne for his help and determined that it was a good idea for Lula to remain at Fletcher's home for the time being.

A couple of days later Fletcher received word from Dr. Osborne that Lula's brother and sister were deceased. They had died about five years earlier. Fletcher wasn't sure what to make of it. Maybe Lula had lost contact with them, or the fact that they were dead was part of her amnesia.

"Fletcher, is there any news?", she asked when she saw him close the front door. "Lula, I'm sorry, but your bother and sister are dead. They've been dead for quite some time," he told her bluntly. Lula had a troubled look in her eyes. Fletcher could tell that she was having trouble holding herself together. "I'm so sorry, Lula," he said again. "I think I'll go make us some tea," she finally said, and turned to leave. Fletcher followedher into the kitchen and watched her as she put water in the kettle to heat up on the stove. She sat down in the chair across from him and cried with her head in her hands. "So, how long has it been since you've last seen your bother and sister?", he asked her. "I don't know," she answered, "seems like yesterday, really." "What am I going do now? I've got no one.. I've got nothing," she cried. "That's not true, Lula. You've got me," he said kindly, taking her hand in his.

It was in that moment that Fletcher realized that he was falling in love with Lula. He struggled with his emotions. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't fall in love with a mortal.

What Fletcher didn't know was that Lula wasnt a mortal.

"Thanks for taking me in and being my friend, Fletcher. I don't know where I'd be without you," she told him. She looked into his eyes. He started to lean in to kiss her when they heard someone knocking on the door. "Don't answer it," she said, sounding nervous. "Why, not? Are you expecting someone?"

Fletcher answered the door. It was a lady looking for Lula. "Lula is here, isn't she?", she tried pushing her way in but Fletcher blocked her from entering. "Wait a minute! Who are you?", he asked. "I'm Lula's family," she told him. "Lula it's time to come home, you don't belong here," she said. "Lula isn't going anywhere with you. She didn't even want me to answer the door," he said, still blocking her from Lula. "Lula, who is this woman? If you have some problem with her, or owe her a debt, I can help you. You don't have to go."

"She's my sister, sort of," she told him. "I'mstaying here, Gwen. I'm in love with Fletcher. I have free will, you can't make me go," she said.

"This is not right, Lula. You have no place here among the humans, or the undead, like this God forsaken creature," she said, looking at Fletcher.

"How do you know about me?", Fletcher asked. I haven't told anyone the truth!"

Fletcher began to panic as he tried to use his power of compulsion on Gwen and it didn't work. "Your powers won't work on us, Mr. Hornsby," Gwen told him. "We are Leimoniades Nymph. He turned and looked at Lula. "She's telling you the truth, Fletcher," Lula said. "We are nature spirits that live in the meadow. We are immortals.

The meadow where Fletcher had been bitten by Vampire Prudence was Lula's home. She had watched in secret as the vampire compelled Fletcher to go to the mansion, and to her meadow over the last few months. She had become lonely being in the meadow for such a long time. When Fletcher was away she haunted Prudence relentlessly and eventually scared her away. She had fallen in love with Fletcher and meant to have him for herself.

?"I tricked you into thinking that I was lost and needed your help that night. For that I am truly sorry, but the fact that I love you is true. I'll understand if you want me to return to the meadow, but I hope that you want me to stay," Lula said.

"You have to come back, Lula. You can't stay. We need you, Lula. The meadow needs you. If you stay with him the natural balance will be disrupted," Gwen insisted.

Moments later, more of Lula's sister Nymphs began to arrive outside. Fletcher and Lula could hear them repeating in unison that they needed her. "We need you, Lula.The meadow needs you." Their eyes glowed brightly as they all joined hands and continued to chant.

"I love you, Lula," Fletcher told her, but you better go." Lula's eyes were filed with tears as she turned and said goodbye. "I'll never forget you, Fletcher," she said and kissed him tenderly.

She grabbed Gwen's hand and her eyes began to glow as she faded into the night with her sister Nymphs. She went back to the meadow ready to live out her days in solitude with her sisters.

Fletcher was determined to do something about this. Surely there was something he could do to get her back. A few times he went down to the meadow at night hoping to see her but she wasn't there.

Prudence had left behind an extensive library. Fletcher spent a lot of time there reading just to pass the time. He tried to forget about Lula, but he couldn't. He read many old books and lost manuscripts. One day he came upon an old travel Journal. It went into great detail about a mans expeditions over seas. The explorer was convinced that the Greek myth of Medusa was real. The journal ended with a map showing the next leg of his search. Apparently the he had died before he could complete his quest. Fletcher decided he wanted to follow this map and see where it went to. He had always wanted to travel. He had nothing better to do at the moment. All he did was sit around thinking about Lula. It was a good idea to be on the road, and finding strangers to feed from than the locals anyway.

Six months later, after traveling across Europe, Fletcher was at the end of the map. He was deep in an underground tunnel somewhere in Rome. He had startedhis journey with two other men that had agreed to be his guides. He paid them well for their help. They were holding torches and slowly making there way through the narrow tunnel. They made sure to mark the cave walls with paint so that they could find their way back out.

Fletcher wasn't sure if he could survive Medusa's stare if she did indeed exist. But if he did, he knew what he was going to do.

He could hear something ahead. It was the sound of a woman singing. "You two don't have to go any further," he told his friends. "Go home." They nodded thankfully and left, not knowing that they were actually compelled to do so.

Fletcher continued in the direction that the singing was coming from. It was the most beautiful and intriguing voice he had ever heard. He stood quietly and watched as Medusa slithered her milky green form around a cavern filled with jewels and gold and statues. Statues that used to be people. All of these people used to be alive, but had turned to stone under Medusa's lethal stare. He was already dead. He reasoned that that would make Medusa's stare useless against him.

He was right.

She turned and stared at him with a smile on her face. Her blonde locks suddenly came to life with slithering hissing snakes. Their beady eyes glowed red. Medusa blinked her eyes and revealed her hidden snake pupils that glowed red with her power. She became frustrated when Fletcher didn't turn to stone right away and blinked a few more times. When it didn't work she came towards Fletcher with her warms outstretched. Her hands had incredibly long claws that were made up of rows of scales. Fletcher moved at a hyper rate of speed. It was oneof his favorite abilities that came with being a Vampire. He came up from behind and bit her neck. He drained his fill from her scaly neck, then let her drop in a heap to the cavern floor. A look of frightened dismay was frozen on her face. Now she matched the poor souls that she had killed down in her lair. Fletcher chopped her head off and took it back home with him.

Fletcher wondered if he would ever see Lula, or her sisters again. He supposed that the other Nymphs were forcing her to keep herself concealed from him. He walked down to the meadow every night for a month after he returned home, but he eventually gave up hope. Things had become mundane again, and he had returned to managing the family estate.

?One morning Fletcher awoke from sleeping in late. He heard knocking on the door. When he went down to answer it, to his surprise, it was Lula. "Lula, what are you doing here? I thought I'd never see you again," he said. "You know I couldn't stay away forever, Fletcher," she said, smiling. As they stood there talking in the doorway, the Nymphs showed up again like they had before, to take Lula away again.

"No, don't leave again, Lula," he pleaded. "I don't want to go, Fletcher. Please don't let them take me."

Fletcher still had Medusa's head. He ran into the library and got it out from its hiding place. He pulled Lula inside and told her to stand back as he pulled the head from the leather bag and showed it to the Nymphs. They stared at it not understanding what they were looking at or what was about to happen.

The Nymphs ran away in fear, but it was too late. By the time theyreached the meadow they had all turned to stone.

Fletcher and Lula lived happily ever after. Their favorite place to spend time together was in the dark meadow amongst the statues.

THE END