Lucinda & Tallulah

I will try telling my story as good as I can, the most of it is told to me by my sister Tallulah.
After my turning I didn’t remember me anything about my former life.
I hope she will correct me if I tell it wrong or forget something.1

My sister and I, we were born on September 25 of the year 1860 in the south of the Netherlands near the city Breda.
Our parents, the Jenkins, came original from America; our father was the owner of a cotton plantation near Charlotte, North Carolina.
They sold their property and moved to Europe in the year 1859. It was already rumbling in the region, I think they knew there was trouble coming soon in America.
They named us Tallulah and Lucinda.2

We grew up like any other child, played, went to school, there was nothing wrong, and our parents gave us everything we wanted.
In the Dutch City Breda was a small American community. There we lived, and had friends.3

When we reached the age of twenty we were invited for the great Christmas celebrating, what was every year a highlight in the community. It was comparable with Thanksgiving.
The Dutch were unknown with this, so we did celebrate Christmas on a larger scale.
Our parents did introduce us to the Harlow family. With them was their son, Leo Wald Harlow - the devil may have his soul now I know what he did to me - a good looking young man, twenty-eight of age, well educated, and at that moment very polite and helpful.
My father liked him from that moment, and he treated him almost as his son. A son he never had, except a young guy, Herb, who was adopted by our parents.
His parents worked for our family and were killed in a fire, a fire what was caused by a lantern in the stables. They were totally surprised by the flames, when the fire reached their house what was build against the stable.4

It seems that I fell for Leo, and for his smooth talking.
A half year later we were engaged, and the wedding was planned on my 21st birthday.
That day was for me the most beautiful day of my life, Tallulah told me. She still reminds me that I married to quick, she didn’t trust Leo. And she was right.
It was the last beautiful day of my life.5

Leo worked at that moment for our father, as his bookkeeper. At his job he was polite, but as soon he came home, he was rude and soon he started to mistreat me, mental and physical. Tallulah saw me almost every week with new bruises or black eye.
She knew it was Leo who was beating me up.
This continues till I had enough of it.6

The following we can only guess, I don’t remember, Tallulah doesn’t know, and Leo can’t tell it anymore.7

March 5, 1882, Leo came home very angry again, start beat me as usual, except this time I had made a plan. I saved some money, so I ran away.8

Next day, March 6, 1882, I was found ‘dead’.
They found me in a crypt on a cemetery near our town. The local police told my family a wild animal attacked me. There was no further investigation.
Tallulah didn’t believe this, she knew I was good with animals, but she said nothing about it.
Three days later the family and friends gathered for the funeral.
It was a cold day, a few raindrops fell down, and wind blew from the south.
The ceremony in the church, and later by the grave was beautiful, although it was short.
After the people left, the grave was directly closed, and completed with slab and tombstone.9

March 10, 1882, our adopted brother went to the cemetery for visiting my grave.
We always had a good relation with him. He was even jealous at Leo, and certainly never trusted him. Herb hated Leo.
The moment he came near the grave he saw it was opened and empty, my ‘dead’ body was gone.
He passed out. Hours later, it was almost dark when Herb ran into the police-office.
He was shaking over his whole body, could hardly say a word, and was covered with mud and dirt.
Later when he told what happened that day, two policemen checked the grave and warned the family. Herb was arrested, he was a suspect.10

Tallulah visited him the next day. She told him that Leo was disappeared after he heard the news, taken with him all he could find of money and securities. She listens to his story and said to Herb she would search for me.11

The same day my grave was restored, people in that part of the Netherlands were very superstitious and a body that vanished would scare them.12

I figured out I’ve must been awaken that or the next day on that grave, I can only guess.
I found next to me a gunnysack, in it was some money, a picture of the grave and a note that said ‘As we did agreed’. Not signed, a name, nothing.13

Everything was strange for me. I looked around, didn’t know where, who or what I was.
I saw the tombstone, ‘Lucinda J.’ was written on it.
I said to myself, maybe it’s mine, maybe not, so I called myself ‘Luci’. My last name did I found about a century later in Italy. There I saw one times a couple of red sport-cars, I like them. So I became ‘Luci Ferraris’.14

On March 13, 1882, Tallulah was found ‘dead’ in the same crypt.
She knew what was happened with me. She had searched and found a vampire, made an agreement with him.
Tallulah never asked his name or if he had turned me, neither did he told her, he would turn her and the next day he would took her ‘dead’ body out of the mortuary.
At first the vampire promised her a better ‘life’, never get old, forever beautiful. My sister was not interesting; she only wanted to find me back.
When I later discussed this matter with my sister, I think now it was the same vampire who turned us. Probably I believed his story, and let him turn me. What naïve was I, but I think I would at that moment believe everything what was better than the life I had with Leo.15

After mine awaken, I was very curious in the world. I travelled all over it, has been almost everywhere. Never did I stay in the same place for a long time.
I've seen many places, meet many people. My sister and I, we are day walkers; so they never knew I was a vampire. I figured this out soon when the hunger begun.16

My first feeding was terrible, I didn’t know how or what. But nature will finds its way, as your hunger is big enough you don't have to think, your instinct will do the job. Later it did go better, I learned fast. Tallulah did have the same problems.17

The world was changing during my travel, some things were good, and other things were bad.
For a short time I found a girl, Markode, she was human, and she loved me.
She knew my secret, offered her neck to me. That was the time I found out I preferred women. This was strange to me, couldn’t explain why, till Tallulah told me my story.
Since my marriage I don’t trust men, and this must has been put away deep in my mind. Markode travelled with me, we did have a great time, but my staying with her was not good for her health. I left her behind in a small village in France; she told me she would always love me. I told her I loved too, kissed her and walked away. Never saw her again, I cried many tears for her. If I had known how to turn her then, she would be still on my side.18

Decennia went by, I decided to go back to the place of mine awaken.
Then I found out I didn’t know where it was, couldn’t find it back. It became a quest for me.
Now I was travelling over the world for clues, showing the old picture to anyone, asking for help.
One day I came in a city, it was an old and dark part of it.
My idea was to stay in this place for a few days, have a good rest, and go on my way again.
I saw in that city vampires and other races, this was new for me, beings of my own kind.
It did feel like a home. I was in the City. City of Lost Angels.19

About three months later Tallulah arrived in the City.
That day, I had flashes, I saw in those flash things that were on the other side of the City. The flashes became worse till I met my sister, then they stopped.
Tallulah had it too, she saw through my eyes, I through hers.
We think it’s a kind of bond, maybe because were twins, maybe we inherit it from the one who turned us.
We trained this gift, now we can use it when we want. It works only in a short range; maybe we can train this too.
Tallulah feels the same about the City. It’s our home.20

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