The Vampires of Vigil's Sorrow

by Cassandra Duffy

  The night Grace’s body was officially laid to rest in the town cemetery, Annabelle found Debbie inspecting the locket she’d given Grace, retrieved from the bone field all those years ago, with two faded pictures still inside. Debbie offered to get rid of it if it bothered Annabelle. It didn’t bother her though, and Annabelle thought it was worth keeping as a reminder, albeit a sad one.

  They ultimately decided on New Haven as their destination, although both Annabelle and Debbie believed it would only be the first of many moves. They waited until summer, with Annabelle continuing her work at the ice cream shop while Debbie found she was actually quite the transcriptionist. Medical records was where she started, but she soon moved on to archival work, and even legal, able to work from home and telecommute the larger jobs from as far away as California and Florida. She’d taken a typing class in high school, excelled at it on the old type writers, and was masterful on a computer that could keep up with her inhuman dexterity. More than that, she was a fast learner and charming beyond reason over the telephone.

  That was to be their start, and Debbie seemed thrilled with the possibility of getting a first apartment with Annabelle, who was to transfer to a Baskin Robbins in New Haven for the time being. When Annabelle told Debbie with a wry smile and a wink that Connecticut was one of a handful of states that would allow them to get married, Debbie thought she might start saving for a dress, once she got over the shock of such a thing even being possible.

  Daphne Jensen retired early from teaching at the high school to write a historical novel about Vigil’s Rest. She saw Annabelle and Debbie off the night they left, proudly showing them the acceptance letter of the book being sold. She promised them a portion of the royalties if the book ever earned any as they were instrumental in knowing what truly happened. They hugged her and thanked her, thinking it was all nothing more than a sweet sentiment until checks actually started arriving from the publisher.

  They lived to become part of a community, learning the lesson of what seclusion did to Esther. They lived to love one another, learning the lesson of what anger did to Margaret. But mostly they lived for the tomorrow that Debbie hadn’t thought possible and Annabelle thought would never come.

  About the Author

  Cassandra Duffy spent most of her childhood being precocious, which stopped being entertaining or impressive when she grew into an adult, at which point she had to start being precious. After being an outcast child prodigy it was no surprise when she graduated from one of the many fine University of California schools a year early to follow her girlfriend in a cross country move.

  She writes a free-lance sex advice column found in various lesbian magazines and dating websites. Her short story collections and novels can be found on this very website!

  Two of her greatest prides are being a true California girl and author of some truly naughty things. She is a dutiful partially-Asian daughter who is beloved by her fairly traditional Korean father who thinks having a gay daughter is just fine as long as she keeps playing coed flag football. She is a stereotypical younger sister, and an adoring aunt of a hilarious little boy. Being a modern techno-freak, gamer-girl, she spent most of her childhood dreaming of being a video game designer, but changed her mind and brought her dreams of world building and story-weaving to writing unique romance novels.

  Cassandra is a gleefully monogamous girlfriend to an earthbound goddess who was once her high school bully, but has done a magnificent job of making up for all the school girl nastiness ever since. When she isn’t being an avid fang girl (vampire fan girl) or tormenting people in online gaming, she lives and writes in Winter Park, Florida with her partner and soul mate Nichole and their two cats: Dragon and Josephine.

  Table of Contents

  Part 1: The Witch of Vigil’s Grove – Summer 1955 – Debbie

  1

  2

  3

  Part 2: The Pariah of Vigil’s Rest – Winter 1955 – Grace

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  Part 3: Slumber in Broken Earth – Winter 1955 – Debbie

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  Part 4: Repentance and Revenge of the Father – Spring 1956 – Henry

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  Part 5: Angel of Solemnity – Autumn 1982 – Daphne

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  Part 6: Blood Red Riding Hood – Autumn 2005 – Annabelle

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  Part 7: Unburied Bones – Autumn 2005 – Annabelle and Debbie

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  Part 8: The Twisted Root – Autumn 1849 – Margaret

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  Part 9: Peace for the Fallen – Autumn 2010 – Debbie, Annabelle, and Daphne

  1

  2

  3

  Table of Contents

  Part 1: The Witch of Vigil’s Grove – Summer 1955 – Debbie

  1

  2

  3

  Part 2: The Pariah of Vigil’s Rest – Winter 1955 – Grace

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  Part 3: Slumber in Broken Earth – Winter 1955 – Debbie

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  Part 4: Repentance and Revenge of the Father – Spring 1956 – Henry

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  Part 5: Angel of Solemnity – Autumn 1982 – Daphne

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  Part 6: Blood Red Riding Hood – Autumn 2005 – Annabelle

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  Part 7: Unburied Bones – Autumn 2005 – Annabelle and Debbie

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  Part 8: The Twisted Root – Autumn 1849 – Margaret

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  Part 9: Peace for the Fallen – Autumn 2010 – Debbie, Annabelle, and Daphne

  1

  2

  3