MADELENA
The moment she walked through the door, I both loved and hated her in equal measure. If I had known then she would be the catalyst for all that my life would eventually bring me, I may have been more forgiving of my assessment. Others would have staked her immediately.
The years trudged along after Mary left the Salvatore family. There was no longer a counterbalance to the dour lord of the manor. Even the pinch-faced governesses who rotated through our ranks on a regular basis brought no Mary Poppinsesque sugar and spice. Any that showed even an inclining of motherly love towards the two boys, especially the one with the azure eyes, were summarily dismissed and replaced post haste by an even more unforgiving spinster.
Stefan seemed to take it all in stride, never having had a brighter past to compare it to and still having the unwavering admiration of his father. Damon did not fare as fine. He remembered well what it was like to be loved by a mother and had taken it upon himself to ensure Stefan never felt the wrath of their taciturn old man. Any time the younger Salvatore would engage in mischief, Damon found a way to take the blame for its outcome. The saddest aspect of this was it eventually led to Stefan believing Giuseppe’s side; Damon was the bad brother and Stefan the good. Damon deserved all the ill that fell upon him. Even sadder was that Damon began to believe it himself.
And so it came to that moment when a girl with a brash laugh and bouncing curls graced our presence. She was imbued with more life than the rest of the town combined, the irony of which of course is that she was dead.
Katherine had arrived.
Damon was immediately determined to claim her and was quite stunned when a traditional courtship turned to bouts of insatiable love making. He was no virgin when he went to her bed, but she also was not as repressed as other women of that time. She freely took whatever pleasure she wanted and in return opened his eyes to the power of the flesh. He would use that tantalizing sexuality to his advantage for decades to come and for that I thank her as well. Things may have continued indefinitely in that manner until Katherine eventually turned Damon and then moved on to complete her seduction of his bother to join her in a very beautiful and sinful threesome, but a small civil disagreement between the states disrupted her plans. Although not gone for long, Damon’s absence set in motion the events that lead us to today.
Damon returned from the war with an off-hand story of how he missed his family and allowed all to believe it was his shallow homesickness and lust for Katherine that made him a traitor to the cause. I was the only one who bore witness to his midnight treks up into the attic where he would sit with his mother’s things when the nightmares awoke him. Able to see into people’s dreams, I once slipped into Damon’s to see what vexed him so and saw images of death and destruction that still haunt me; torn limbs, raped women, dead children, and all for the cause of keeping other humans as property. It was more than he could bare and he was willing to face whatever would befall him in order to no longer be a part of that travesty. It was understandable then why he fixated on Katherine with her sparkling eyes and wit. He needed that light to chase away his dark thoughts, not knowing the true darkness she would bring.
When he left, Damon was sure Katherine was in love with him and would be waiting eagerly for his return. A romantic at heart, he believed it was impossible for there to be more than one epic love and if she left the same, they would fall into each other’s arms and face the world together. The discovery of her vampiric nature did nothing to disabuse him of that belief. It was even more beautiful in that they would have an eternity together. It is too bad that her true secret nature she kept hidden wasn’t the blood lust one, but the very insecure girl on the run who had a plan A, B, C, and so on. It is just that for her, the plans had the names of men attached to them. Without Damon there to play the role of suitor, Stefan most ably stepped into the part. Stefan also bought into the idea of a singular epic love and I don’t need to tell you all how spectacularly wrong they both turned out to be. No matter, because for once in his life Damon was not going to step aside and defer to his brother’s happiness. This time, there was only a single-minded determination to get the girl.
I have been asked again and again who Katherine truly loved. I am not her, so I cannot say what was in her heart, but I am a skilled people watcher from all those centuries trapped and unable to interact or intervene. I would mention it is true that Katherine probably loved herself the most, but she loved both brothers in equal and different ways. Stefan spoke to her fairy tale desire to still be that innocent young girl, falling in love with the dashing prince, and living happily ever after. Damon was her cynical belief the entire world was nothing but a serious of traps to navigate and no matter what she did she would never be good enough. So she decided to have them both and try to appease both sides of herself.
It is why she made sure both brothers always had her blood in their system. For that selfish act, I forgive her everything. If not for her determination to have neither brother taken from her, Giuseppe would have been successful that night and killed both of his children as surely as he killed their mother. Instead, they met her fate. Little did they know it would now be possible to reunite with the one who could finally show them the true meaning of unconditional love. The only one who held all the possible pieces of the puzzle to unlock that secret was still trapped mute within the walls, unable to communicate. It would be nearly 150 years before I had my freedom and by then there was little point in re-opening old wounds. Or so I thought.
When word reached the Salvatore household, those of the staff who remembered the impish boy being chased by his doting mother and the more broody babe, took to finding quiet nooks to allow the tears to flow unbidden. The master and war could limit all commodities that entered the house but grief. That we had in abundance.
A single servant girl, one so like the many who came and went over the years, slipped away into town to post a letter to her true employer.
She penned a simple missive: “Mary’s boys are dead.”
The moment she walked through the door, I both loved and hated her in equal measure. If I had known then she would be the catalyst for all that my life would eventually bring me, I may have been more forgiving of my assessment. Others would have staked her immediately.
The years trudged along after Mary left the Salvatore family. There was no longer a counterbalance to the dour lord of the manor. Even the pinch-faced governesses who rotated through our ranks on a regular basis brought no Mary Poppinsesque sugar and spice. Any that showed even an inclining of motherly love towards the two boys, especially the one with the azure eyes, were summarily dismissed and replaced post haste by an even more unforgiving spinster.
Stefan seemed to take it all in stride, never having had a brighter past to compare it to and still having the unwavering admiration of his father. Damon did not fare as fine. He remembered well what it was like to be loved by a mother and had taken it upon himself to ensure Stefan never felt the wrath of their taciturn old man. Any time the younger Salvatore would engage in mischief, Damon found a way to take the blame for its outcome. The saddest aspect of this was it eventually led to Stefan believing Giuseppe’s side; Damon was the bad brother and Stefan the good. Damon deserved all the ill that fell upon him. Even sadder was that Damon began to believe it himself.
And so it came to that moment when a girl with a brash laugh and bouncing curls graced our presence. She was imbued with more life than the rest of the town combined, the irony of which of course is that she was dead.
Katherine had arrived.
Damon was immediately determined to claim her and was quite stunned when a traditional courtship turned to bouts of insatiable love making. He was no virgin when he went to her bed, but she also was not as repressed as other women of that time. She freely took whatever pleasure she wanted and in return opened his eyes to the power of the flesh. He would use that tantalizing sexuality to his advantage for decades to come and for that I thank her as well. Things may have continued indefinitely in that manner until Katherine eventually turned Damon and then moved on to complete her seduction of his bother to join her in a very beautiful and sinful threesome, but a small civil disagreement between the states disrupted her plans. Although not gone for long, Damon’s absence set in motion the events that lead us to today.
Damon returned from the war with an off-hand story of how he missed his family and allowed all to believe it was his shallow homesickness and lust for Katherine that made him a traitor to the cause. I was the only one who bore witness to his midnight treks up into the attic where he would sit with his mother’s things when the nightmares awoke him. Able to see into people’s dreams, I once slipped into Damon’s to see what vexed him so and saw images of death and destruction that still haunt me; torn limbs, raped women, dead children, and all for the cause of keeping other humans as property. It was more than he could bare and he was willing to face whatever would befall him in order to no longer be a part of that travesty. It was understandable then why he fixated on Katherine with her sparkling eyes and wit. He needed that light to chase away his dark thoughts, not knowing the true darkness she would bring.
When he left, Damon was sure Katherine was in love with him and would be waiting eagerly for his return. A romantic at heart, he believed it was impossible for there to be more than one epic love and if she left the same, they would fall into each other’s arms and face the world together. The discovery of her vampiric nature did nothing to disabuse him of that belief. It was even more beautiful in that they would have an eternity together. It is too bad that her true secret nature she kept hidden wasn’t the blood lust one, but the very insecure girl on the run who had a plan A, B, C, and so on. It is just that for her, the plans had the names of men attached to them. Without Damon there to play the role of suitor, Stefan most ably stepped into the part. Stefan also bought into the idea of a singular epic love and I don’t need to tell you all how spectacularly wrong they both turned out to be. No matter, because for once in his life Damon was not going to step aside and defer to his brother’s happiness. This time, there was only a single-minded determination to get the girl.
I have been asked again and again who Katherine truly loved. I am not her, so I cannot say what was in her heart, but I am a skilled people watcher from all those centuries trapped and unable to interact or intervene. I would mention it is true that Katherine probably loved herself the most, but she loved both brothers in equal and different ways. Stefan spoke to her fairy tale desire to still be that innocent young girl, falling in love with the dashing prince, and living happily ever after. Damon was her cynical belief the entire world was nothing but a serious of traps to navigate and no matter what she did she would never be good enough. So she decided to have them both and try to appease both sides of herself.
It is why she made sure both brothers always had her blood in their system. For that selfish act, I forgive her everything. If not for her determination to have neither brother taken from her, Giuseppe would have been successful that night and killed both of his children as surely as he killed their mother. Instead, they met her fate. Little did they know it would now be possible to reunite with the one who could finally show them the true meaning of unconditional love. The only one who held all the possible pieces of the puzzle to unlock that secret was still trapped mute within the walls, unable to communicate. It would be nearly 150 years before I had my freedom and by then there was little point in re-opening old wounds. Or so I thought.
When word reached the Salvatore household, those of the staff who remembered the impish boy being chased by his doting mother and the more broody babe, took to finding quiet nooks to allow the tears to flow unbidden. The master and war could limit all commodities that entered the house but grief. That we had in abundance.
A single servant girl, one so like the many who came and went over the years, slipped away into town to post a letter to her true employer.
She penned a simple missive: “Mary’s boys are dead.”