Romeo & Juliet & Vampires by William Shakespeare

Author:William Shakespeare
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Juliet always loved being in the orchard in the evening. Usually, the sweet smell of citrus and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind would carry through the evening air and relax her. But tonight was different from any other. Hour after hour, Juliet’s body continued to undergo a slow metamorphosis, the hunger pains inside making her ravenous and almost crazed. She could only imagine how bad it was going to be tomorrow at midnight. However, she still could not fathom committing the act that would end this agony once and for all.

Juliet sat on a bench with her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth to prevent herself from succumbing to anxiety. Although she was thankful to have returned to the castle without any of her relatives suspecting a thing, she was still a worried newlywed. Tonight, she and Romeo should have been celebrating their marriage with a romantic honeymoon. But instead she was trapped—inside this wicked fortress, and within her own skin.

Romeo said they had to wait to escape, that it would be easier to disappear once she had finished her transformation. But her husband did not have all the facts. And he could not feel the intense physical anguish that Juliet was experiencing. Juliet shuddered as she remembered how deliriously happy Romeo was when they parted at the monastery. But how would he feel after tomorrow, when she became a full member of the undead?

“Miss Juliet! Miss Juliet!”

She looked up and saw her nurse galloping toward her with her arms raised in the air. Juliet could tell that something was wrong. She sprang up from the bench and greeted her nurse with a warm embrace.

“Has something happened to Romeo?” Juliet asked.

The nurse’s breath was quick and shallow, her eyes filled with tears. “Yes, my child. I come to you with terrible news.”

“Go on,” Juliet said, clenching her jaw and bracing herself.

The nurse began to sob and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her blouse. “I don’t know if I can bring myself to tell you this. You are in such a delicate state.”

“My state is more dire than delicate. Now I must know what happened,” Juliet said, her voice tense and agitated.

“It is such a tragedy. Words are escaping me,” the nurse whimpered.

All of a sudden a powerful bolt of anger ripped through Juliet.

“My patience is at an end!” She grabbed the nurse by the shoulders, shaking her so hard that the nurse’s bonnet fell right off her head. “You must tell me what you know!”

“He is dead, my lady!” the nurse blurted out. “Gone from this earth forever.”

Juliet dropped the nurse and crumbled to the ground. Her red eyes burned as tears formed, and all of her muscles became twisted like the vine of a rope.

“My husband is…dead?” she said in a faint whisper. “Now I despise God just as much as He despises me.”

The nurse crouched down and lifted Juliet’s chin up. “No, Juliet. Romeo is among the living. You should mourn for your cousin Tybalt.

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