Of course, I could never tell the true story of what had happened. Instead, I went back to my original story, the one I began back in that Swiss villa, when surrounded by my writing companions, on that night when we challenged one another to write a story filled with horror.
I wrote a story of a man created by another man, made from bits and pieces of dead bodies—it really made more sense than what had truly happened—and that when this creature rose in life, it was rejected by its creator.
My book, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus was the beginning of my success as a writer. John, too, had published a tale written during our journey, a story titled, The Vampyre. Many critics thought it had been written by Lord Byron, while others thought it was a veiled description of Byron’s romantic adventures and how he exploited the women he seduced.
Only our small group knew the truth.
It was based on the sangsue King himself.
I found myself wondering, when it was late at night and I had the distinct pleasure of being alone, how the sangsue King had been made. Had he been made by God or was he formed by man, like I had done with Byron? Had his creator loved or despised him?
And did he have peace now in his dark afterlife?
I like to believe that the legends about him were true, and that someday he’ll cut off another one of Cerberus’s heads and use it to gain his freedom. He’ll find a way to escape Hades and cross the River Styx, entering the land of the living once again.
And so, I pretend that I’ll see again him some night, standing outside my bedroom window, a smile on his face and a kiss on his lips, his arms open wide for me.
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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Also by Merrie Destefano
Please check the author’s website for current information about her new releases.
The Dark Heart Boxed Set
Dark. Twisted. Addictive. One girl battles the dark world of the Afterlife, her fate forever linked to the boy who murdered her.
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Fairytale Christmas:
3,000 years ago, a legendary Faery Queen lost her husband and her homeland during a war. But the real fight begins when her children are threatened. Sleeping Beauty meets Outlander in this fresh take on fairy lore, shifters and vampires.
“Love, action, adventure and magic. I devoured this book,” 5-star Amazon review
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Fathom
Turning 16 should have been wonderful. It wasn’t. That was when Kira Callahan found out all her family secrets—and one of those secrets had already killed two people in her family. Now she’s next on the list...
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Lost Girls
Yesterday, Rachel went to sleep listening to Taylor Swift, curled up in her grammy’s quilt, worrying about geometry. Today, she woke up in a ditch, bloodied, bruised, and missing a year of her life.
She’s not the only girl to go missing within the last year…but she’s the only girl to come back. She desperately wants to unravel what happened to her, to try and recover the rest of the Lost Girls.
But the more she remembers, the more she realizes—there’s something out there that still might get her killed…
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The Plague Carrier
She’s a runaway. He’s an enemy soldier. Together, they might be able to save the world—if they don’t kill each other first. A thrilling YA Post Apocalypse novella.
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Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles:
Bladerunner meets Jim Butcher in Afterlife, a thrilling urban fantasy set in a near-future New Orleans. Chaz Domingue is a professional Babysitter who guides the recently deceased into their new and improved lives. Nine lives are all a person can get—still a powerful group of desperate, high-level Nine-Timers will stop at nothing to possess the keys to true immortality...
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Waiting for Midnight
Written to keep you reading all night long, this combination of short stories and flash fiction contains a ghost story, a werewolf story, and a science fiction story, as well as two stories that feature characters from her novels, AFTERLIFE and FEAST.
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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
Dawn: A Re-Imagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (The Frankenstein Saga Book 3) Page 10