Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 15

Without thinking, Benjamin pulled his hand away from Isabella.

"Dead?"

"You don't have to be afraid of me," Isabella assured.

"What do you mean you and your family are all dead?" Benjamin asked, quickly backing away from her.

"My family and I . . . we're . . . Benjamin please just hear me out. Don't be afraid."

"I should have never come with you," Benjamin said. He turned to walk away only to once again come face-to-face with Isabella.

"How'd you--"

"My family and I . . . we're cursed," Isabella responded. "That doesn't mean you need to fear us. It doesn't mean you need to fear me. Please. You can trust my family. . . . You can trust me."

Those words seemed to echo in Benjamin's head. Her family was cursed? And they're dead? How was he not supposed to fear that? He studied Isabella. She had a desperate look in her eyes. Her eyes. Benjamin found himself being drawn by them again. He quickly averted his gaze.

"Your family is . . . cursed?" he asked, staring at her lips.

"My family and I have roamed this world since the fourteenth century. Since the thirteen-hundreds. It's a long story but we . . . we're immortal. We can't die. We don't age. We're . . . undead."

"Undead . . . as in ghosts?" Benjamin asked.

"No."

"Monsters?"

"Benjamin, no!" Isabella sharply rebutted. She seemed deeply upset by his question. "We are not monsters!"

Benjamin shook his head.

"This doesn't make any sense. There's no such thing as curses or immortality. . . ."

"There's a lot about this world that we'll never understand, Benjamin. And that's part of what makes life beautiful. I speak the absolute truth. I know I sound crazy . . . and I don't blame you if you're afraid . . . I just ask that you believe me. . . . And give me a chance to prove that you want this."

"To be cursed?"

"To be free!"

"Free of what?"

"Free of life's curse," Isabella said, smiling. "Illness. Weakness. Death. You can be free from all of it. I can give you what I have. I can make you like me."

"There's something wrong with you," Benjamin said.

"Is there?" Isabella asked. "I haven't been sick in over six hundred years. I don't even remember what pain feels like. I'll never know death! I-If there's something wrong with me, it's the best thing to ever happen to me."

Benjamin hesitated. He wasn't sure what to say or what was happening. Was Isabella really undead? Immortal? Could she really be cursed? How could any of it be real?

Isabella smiled.

"Benjamin . . . I've seen things that would have been considered otherworldly in my time. Things I would have never imagined. Television. Automobiles. Aircraft." Isabella reached for the lustrous full moon above, her fingers caressing the star-filled night sky. "One day, we're going to make it to the moon . . . and I'll be here to witness it." She turned to Benjamin. "This is what it means to live." She moved closer to him and grabbed his hand with her icy fingers. "Come live with me, Benjamin. Experience everything life has to offer."

Benjamin knew he had nowhere to go. And this girl--this strange, scary, beautiful girl--was offering him hospitality. But why?

"You don't even know me. . . . Why are you doing this for me?" Benjamin asked.