Burning the Home Fires — Michael Mounts

Life can be difficult. Life in the dark, alone, can be more difficult. This is the story of Veris Vesta, a resident of the darkness for long ages. Veris Vesta is the first Vampire. Taken captive by the most diabolical entities for their experiments, Veris Vesta is altered and marked by the Watchers after their descent to earth. Veris Vesta becomes a creature of the night for all of the millennia since. From the Antediluvian era to the present day Veris Vesta has been here, hunting. For time longer than most can reason, Veris Vesta has been among us, stalking men for their blood. Here we see Veris Vesta over the countless ages. She imparts vague recollections of her earliest days, when she was happy, and when she was subject to nothing but torture. Veris details her struggle to survive after the great deluge, and then reveals the terrible, tormented nightmare that was her time of living night, as the Pilot of the spectral vessel known as the Noctu Vivus. Veris relates to us her experiences in late nineteenth century France, and the joy she had there. We learn about the grim period a Vampire went to work, becoming Night Nurse Veris, a posting that doesn't end well. Veris tells us of her time as House Mother for the college fraternity Delta Zeta Omega, and how that led to the titanic confrontation that almost destroys the first vampire. This is the dark tale of a sole survivor, a lonely woman, a murderous monster compelled to become a killer of men. This is the story of Veris Vesta, a child of an age we know almost nothing about. She is the last remnant of another epoch, and yet she persists to this very day, among us, hidden away in the dark. This is the story of a woman, transformed by the acts of those guilty of heinous evil, and she is the only remaining artifact of their forbidden practice. This is the Veris Vesta.