Annabel Ravenloft had always had an inkling suspicion that vampires had existed, especially when people would flock to her home town during the month of night they were blessed with. But never having seen one up close and personal, she would always dismiss the strange behavior of the visitors as being that they were from far away and that was just how people who weren't from her town behaved. But as she considered the fact she was still imagining vampires as characters like Count Dracula and the like, she wouldn't really know how to recognize a vampire even if he were sitting right next to her. One thing she did know was that she never would go looking for a vampire intentionally, for when looking for the damned you may end up damned as well. But as she sat on the plane flying from Juneau, Alaska to Jackson, Mississippi only one thought kept running through her mind. "Did a vampire really kill Uncle Theo?"

Clutched in her petite, pale hands was a crumpled letter that had been read and reread so many times that she could practically recite it from heart. It was a letter from her Uncle Theodore that broke her heart more than anything else she experienced in life.

Dearest Annabel,

I do not know how much time I have left in this world, I can feel the darkness creeping in at every corner but I am not afraid. I never meant to leave you alone but I needed to let you be free and spread your wings and I, I had to find myself. What I discovered was something that changed my life for the better and for the worst. I don't expect you to understand right away, but I hope that some day you will and you will know my reasoning behind leaving. You are the most precious thing in this world to me; the daughter I was never blessed with, the moon to my Alaskan night sky, my precious niece.

I can only hope you'll accept the last gifts I can give you and forgive this old fool for ever leaving you alone. I promise I will always be with you even when my soul leaves this body, I will always protect and love you. Please remember that. I leave you everything I own, from my house in Jackson, Mississippi all the way down to the last penny in my bank account as well as the dirty socks in the hamper. I apologize for those by the way. The house needs a bit of work as well as the yard, but I know you'll manage and turn it into your own little paradise here in the deep south. Maybe you'll even get a tan, but a part of me hopes you stay my little Alaskan wildflower.

I love you with all my heart, my dear Annabel Lee.

May you one day live and love by the sea.

With all the love I can possess.

Theodore Ravenloft

Not understanding everything her uncle spoke about in his letter, Annabel quickly booked a flight to Jackson without looking back. She had nothing holding her to the snowy but also beautiful state she called home for the last 23 years of her life since her uncle was all she had in this world and now he was gone, his throat having been torn out by what the police say was a possible vampire attack. She cried for days after she received the letter but soon realized when she was out of tears crying would solve nothing. It didn't bring her parents back and it wouldn't bring her uncle back either.

Heaving a deep sigh, Annabel raised a finger to rub at a red rimmed hazel colored eye. The flight to Jackson was a long one but thankfully nobody sat in the seat next to her so she didn't have to worry about trying to keep up a conversation with someone for 7 hours. In 7 hours, she would be the farthest she'd ever been from home and not have a single person to rely on. More than she'd like to admit, terror gripped at the woman's heart at the prospect of being alone in strange city with nobody to turn to when the memories became too much to bear or when she felt lost and alone.

"You'll be fine, don't worry so much. You managed it in Alaska and you'll manage it in Mississippi." She chastised herself before she stretched out in her seat and yawned tiredly. Pulling the sleeves of her flannel shirt down to cover her hands, the small woman curled up in her seat and leaned her head against the cold window. "I wonder what Mississippi is like.." She mumbled to herself before heavy lids closed over hazel eyes and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.