“I am cursed!”

“A curse is a blessing that is not appreciated,” Vlad retorted. “I like you much better this way. Alive with English pomp!”

“You stole my purity!”

“And Christian morality! Tell me, Glynis, were you a good girl who said her prayers every night and attended church faithfully?” He was laughing at me, his rage fading from his features.

I felt my gut boiling with anger. “You stupid bastard! I hate you and I will never stop hating you!”

Vlad moved a few steps toward me, menacing and dark. “Your words mean nothing to me.”

“I will never come to you again willingly!”

“I do not care.”

“You will have to drag me in here!”

“Then I will drag you in here.”

“You will have to force me!”

“Then I will!” He grabbed my by my throat. “You do not seem to understand, my dear Glynis. You are my possession to do with as I please. How you feel about what I decide to do with your beautiful body is of no importance to me. I do not want your love or your adoration. It would be pleasant, yes, but I do not require it.” Vlad’s face drew close to mine. “But I do want you to give me the respect that I am due. If you ever ignore me again, I will tie you down and give you to the gypsy men. They know that there is no finer pleasure than lying down with a female vampire. I have done it to another.”

“I will kill you,” I voiced softly in a tone that was deadly as well as sincere. “I will find a way and I will kill you. I promise you that.” I stared directly into his eyes.

His eyes narrowed. “Many have tried.” Releasing me, he moved back to the bed and languidly lay across it. “Leave.” He gestured toward the door and I heard the audible click of the lock.

I needed no further order. I ran to the door and pulled on the latch. To my relief, it did open. Fleeing into the darkened corridor, I felt tears on my face. Dashing haphazardly up crumbling staircases and across rotting floors, I made my way back to the chambers of the Brides. With relief, I saw the firelight trickling into the hall and the sound of Ariana singing in her high soprano voice. I stumbled into the main chamber.

Ariana stopped in mid-verse and Cneajna looked up from her needlework. Only Elina did not turn to view me, haggard and panting, in the doorway.

“Glynis!”

I rushed to Cneajna and fell at her feet, burying my face in the folds of her gown.

Gently, she leaned over me, smoothing my tangled red tresses. “My dearest, do not cry.”

Ariana hurried over and crouched beside me. “What is wrong, sweet sister? Why do you cry?”

“She could not satisfy our husband,” Elina declared from where she stood. “And he beat her for it.”

“Is that true?” Cneajna smoothed my hair with her fingers. “Did he beat you?”

“He raped me! The monster raped me!” I raised my face to her, pleading for her understanding.

A look of bewilderment crossed over her face. “I do not understand.”

Ilona appeared in the doorway. “The Master is waiting.”

“I will not go back,” I screamed at her.

“He calls for Ariana and Elina,” Ilona answered me.

“I told you!” Elina looked triumphant. “She could not satisfy him. Come, Ariana, our husband awaits us.”

Ariana gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried out after Elina.

Alone now, Cneajna held me close, gently rocking me in her embrace.

“Was he displeased with you?”

“He raped me! He forced me to-to-“

“You resisted our husband?” Cneajna sounded absolutely horrified.

“I did not want him to violate me!”

“But he is your husband! That is his right!”

“But it is my body! What about my right?”

Cneajna tilted her head, her brows lowering. “I do not understand, my dearest. I do not understand how you could refuse him.”

I began to sob even more as I realized that Cneajna truly did not understand my degradation.

“There, there,” Cneajna whispered sounding very much like my poor dead father. “I am here. I will not leave you. You are not alone.”

I wept in Cneajna’s arms taking what comfort I could from the woman who was my vampire mother. But contrary to her words, I knew I was alone. More alone than I could have ever believed possible.

Chapter 12

The Journal of Sir Stephen Sheridan

18th of July, 1819

I am most distressed.

This morning as I strode across the fine marble floors of my offices, I felt that something was oddly amiss in the world. I approached my secretary with a certain sense of anxiety. He immediately presented me with today’s post. Retiring to my office, I began to sort through the letters with trembling hands.

Ever since I found out my wife posted a letter for Edric just before he and his family left for Count Dracula’s castle, I have lived in dire dread. It had been Dracula’s express desire that no one should know of the Wrights' destination. If Edric mentioned in his letter to his son that he was on his way to Dracula’s castle, it could cause complications.

As I feared, a letter from the Viscount came into view. I ripped open the letter and read at once:

Dear Father, Mother, May and Glynis,

Angeline and I miss you dreadfully. I do so hope you depart soon for home. We have just learned that Angeline is with child and we both would like it very much if you could be here for the birth.

All is well with the estate. We finished the addition to the stables and have begun digging the new well. Our businesses are running quite well and I will not bore you with the details.

How did things go with Count Dracula? Did he have a fine castle? I suppose there will be no marriage. No offense, Glynis, but I am sure you did something to displease him. Do not fret, Mother. Lord Nigel is asking after her again. See, Glynis, we will marry you off in good time.

I shall keep this short, but will write again soon. I shall await your response.

With much love and great affection,

Andrew and Angeline

And then, to my dismay, I saw a letter with the distinctive red wax seal imprinted with a D. Ripping it open, I felt a great burden of fear descend upon me. For it read:

My dear friend,

Meet me in Bistriţa in a fortnight. There is much to discuss.

Your Friend,

D.

Somehow, he knows. I feel it. All is doomed and I know not what to do!

The Journal of Lady Glynis Wright

The Castle

23rd of August, 1819

I am caught up in my journal now. I have reached the point where I shall now record events as they occur. Sadly, this does not bring me much peace, for I am still trapped in hell.

Tonight, I stood beside Elina on the decaying battlements of the castle. The Carpathians spread out before us in all their dark majesty. I was hungry and my vision was no longer as sharp as it had been.

Vlad has not made an appearance in the chapel for several days. None of us has seen him when we retire or when we rise. Of course, I have been off secretly writing in my journal, so I was avoiding the lot of them. It was not until Elina stood in the ruined chapel and said in a frightened voice, “He is not here” that I realized Vlad was missing. Cneajna and Ariana had woken before us and were not about. Alone, we gazed at each other warily.

“We should look for him,” she said to me.

I had agreed.

Elina and I searched the castle only to realize he was no longer with us.

“When did he leave I wonder?”

She glanced at me. “A few days ago. At least that is what I assume. That is when the gypsies stopped entering the castle. We should have realized then. They always lock the doors and stay away when he travels.”

I smiled, joyful at the thought of being rid of Vlad for awhile. I utterly despise him and this was absolutely wonderful. “Well, that is fine with me. But, why do they not enter to serve us as they do Vlad?”

Elina eyed me with disdain. “Because they fear us. Soon the hunger will come and we will go mad. The gypsies know they will be in danger.”

My eyes grew wide at the thought of starvation. We had fed four nights ago on an unlucky hunter. The hunger pangs were already beginning to throb and my heartbeat was sluggish. I felt the life draining away and knew we would have to feed soon. I realized that without Vlad bringing us some luckless mortal, our confinement within the castle would only bring us starvation. I had been so relieved to discover that Vlad was gone I had not realized the full implications his absence had wrought upon us.

Ariana emerged from the stairwell and danced across the cold stones. The night sky was breathtaking tonight. Not one cloud hid the stars from our view. Ariana was humming a lullaby to herself, but when she saw my expression, she stopped dancing.

“What is wrong?”

“We searched the entire castle. Every room. Every hallway. Every hidden room. Everywhere. Our Master is not here. His traveling cases are gone,” Elina responded.

“I went and peered down at the stables. The carriage is gone. That is why we have not seen him for days,” I added.

“I just thought he had not the desire to love us,” Ariana said softly.

“How long will he be gone?” I looked to Elina.

“I do not know. He comes and goes like this often. We never know when he will return,” she answered, her face drawn and fierce.

Ariana began to wail and fell to her knees. Sobbing hysterically, she pummeled the floor with her tiny fists. “I do not want to starve!”

“He shall return before then,” Cneajna said confidently from behind us. “He promised me before he left.”

I whirled around, my eyes glowing with unspoken anger. “Why did you not tell us he had left us?”

Elina hissed with anger. “How could you keep this from us?”

Ariana just wailed.

“He promised that he will return tomorrow night. There was no reason to worry you.”

“He does not always return when he says! He has starved us before! Why did you not ask him to release us to roam the valley below?” Elina’s voice was ripe with fury.

“He did not want Glynis to be away from the castle, therefore, none of us could leave.”

All three looked at me, and I stepped back. “I do not understand any of this.”

“Usually, he releases us as far as the valley so we can hunt for ourselves. But because you are his new prize, he did not free us this time. And we will starve.” Elina folded her arms over her breasts, frowning deeply.

“He will return. He promised me.” Cneajna lifted her head haughtily. “I am the First and he would not lie to me.”

“He has before and he will again. We are going to starve.” Elina brushed past the blonde vampire and disappeared into the darkness of the castle.

Cneajna looked down at Ariana, who was grunting and sobbing at her feet, then up at me. “He promised me. He will return.”

I began to laugh at her blind devotion. I could not believe this miserable world. Scant minutes before I had been exhilarated at the thought of being free from the dark moods of Vlad, but now I yearned for his return. I was terrified of the hunger slowly blossoming within me.

“He will return,” Cneajna insisted, but her own doubt was creeping into her melodic voice.

Ariana mumbled to herself as she crawled across the floor. She reached out to Cneajna and grabbed hold of her skirts. “Mother, Mother, please, call him back! Call him back!”

I shook my head in disgust, turning away. Crawling on top a pile of rubble, I stared down at the silvery sparkling waters of the river that wove its way through the valley below. The cool breeze flowed over my flesh, calming my soul. I could still hear Ariana crying behind me, but I ignored her.

When the hunger comes, there will be plenty of time for tears.

For now, we wait.

The Journal of Sir Stephen Sheridan-- Bistriţa