Chapter One

The young child continued to run, long wavy brown hair bouncing around her shoulders while her bright blue/green eyes scouted the dark unknown forest. Fortunately there were no clouds out tonight, so the stars provided her with some light. How had she come to be here?

She looked down at herself to notice her small white nightie had become wet and was clinging to her skin; her feet were bare and covered in the mud from the damp earth beneath her. The young child finally came out of the trance like state she had been in, she now felt the cold chill in the air that is left after rain has fallen. She was cold and wet and all alone in unknown surroundings, the dark night sky only aided her fears. She was lost; she began to run around frantically screaming for her father. She stumbled over small sharp rocks that were hidden from view by the surrounding earth. Her feet were now covered in small scratches that stung from the cold, but she continued to run around.

Suddenly she stopped. She remembered her father's words 'if you become lost, stay where you are, I will find you faster that way my princess.' Although only four years of age she remembered her father's words and teachings as if she had heard them only hours before.

She noticed a nearby clearing and started to move towards it, knowing that her father would find her much easier if she was in a large open space, and not hidden by the numerous trees in the forest. She reached the clearing only to notice a sharp rock face surrounded it. She had reached the edge of the forest her father would never find her now.

She slumped down into the mud beneath her not caring that it was soaking her to the bone. Tears began to well up in her eyes but she brushed them away. She would not cry, although it is usual for children to cry when they become lost she did not consider herself a child. Since her birth she had felt like an adult forced to grow up again.

Something rustled the trees and the young child knew it wasn't the wind. She stood up, mud dripping from the bottom of her nightie; she began to back away from the forest. Soon she was just a footstep away from the cliff edge, she looked down, it was so dark that she couldn't see the bottom, or maybe the bottom of the cliff was so far down that it would not even be completely visible even in daylight. She picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it over the edge of the cliff. She heard it bounce twice of the side and then there was silence. She contemplated whether jumping would be an option if whatever was in the forest was going to try and kill her.

The thought was flung from her mind as her father followed by three other villagers emerged from the trees.

"Father!" the young girl cried leaping into her father's arms.

"My princess." He replied, his left arm supporting her weight against his shoulder. He kissed her softly on the forehead and tears of joy began to fall from his eyes. "I thought I had lost you..." He stopped as a devilish screeching was heard. The young child remembered this noise, Vampires! Only four years of age and already accustomed to the carnage that would come after the horrific warning screech from the vampires.

The young girl found it strange that they would let their victims know they are coming by making such a horribly unusual noise, maybe they desired the chase more than the catch. She could feel her father's heart beat speed up and his blood rush through his veins.

Dracula landed at the edge of the cliff, changing from his vampiric features to his human mask just before touching the ground. His long black cape covered the outline of his body. He wore long black boots to the knee which his black pants were tucked into, with a black jacket left open to reveal a black button up shirt covering his top half. His long black hair was messily tied in a high ponytail fastened with a gold clip behind his head, yet a few strands fell onto his deathly pale face. A single gold earring hung in his left ear, the child was deeply intrigued by this, as her family was too poor to afford jewellery, so she had never before seen earrings.

His deep brown eyes stared at the group with a look of intrigue and passion, while his lips curved into a mocking smile. His eyes moved to the child and stared deeply into her own. Something in his eyes seemed to draw the child to him, she reached her hands out trying to touch him, but her father tightened her grip and turned around so she could no longer see Dracula.

His three brides followed suit landing in front of the entrance to the forest blocking their only escape. The child had never seen women dressed like these. Their clothing seemed to be made of thin cotton like material. It looked quite flimsy, as it was see-through in most areas, and consisted of many slits in the material around the arms and legs, probably for easier movement. The top half of their outfits consisted of a corset, material was attached to the top of the corset to make loose sleeves with material hanging from these, and so long it touched the ground. Each outfit differently decorated, yet one of the brides had nothing covering her midriff. The bottom of the outfit was long flowing material that seemed to have been made into loose fitting pants that eventually became a long train of material that flowed on the ground. Each wore different jewellery and their clothing was slightly different in colour, each had a base colour of white, in which the material's colour gradually changed to become another. One pink, one yellow and one green

The child now studied their faces, as she had never been this close to vampires before, she wanted to learn everything she could. The first thing she noticed were their elongated canines, they reminded her of dog's teeth, yet these teeth seemed more threatening, as the child knew a dog could be trained to obey it's master, a vampire would never obey a human. The next thing she noticed were their eyes, they were the most unusual colours she had ever seen and they were all different. Violet, sky blue and yellow, the child had never seen such vibrant eye colours, they were magnificent yet eerie.

Her father clutched her tighter and turned to run back into the forest, suddenly Dracula's brides stood in front of the entrance back into the forest, hissing and writhing at the men before them. The only direction they could go now was off the side of the cliff or back to Dracula.

The young child had never before seen Dracula, but the fears her father was now showing made her believe he must be. The young child had never seen Dracula's brides before but had heard about them, as their beauty was as legendary as their ruthlessness.

"Dear Daniel." Dracula cooed mockingly with his rich Romanian accent, "A man at such an age as yours, and with two full grown children. It confuses me why you have a child whom is so young. I thought your wife could bare no more children after your second was born."

"She is our God given miracle," her father replied clutching her even tighter.

"I assure you. God had nothing to do with it." Dracula laughed studying the young child, whom seemed equally intrigued by him. "So does this 'miracle of God' have a name?"

"We have given her the right to choose a name for herself."

"Ah I see. So it is not that you fear giving her a name. As that of course that would mean you have accepted she belongs to you. Yet you and I both know she does not."

"Enough with the games Count." Her father said, his fears suddenly subsiding. The young child felt his heart rate become steady again. Her father was well known for his bravery in near death situations "I know you are here for me. So let the other men return to the village with my daughter."

"But I promised my brides a feast. And we can't have a feast with only one man."

At that her father released her and lunged towards Dracula. Her small body struggled in the mud she had been dropped into. She coughed and spluttered spitting mud from her mouth, she wiped the mud from her face just in time to see Dracula drain the blood from her father's body; she turned to see his brides doing the same to the three other men. The young child was too shocked to move, she sat in the mud staring wide eyed at Dracula.

Dracula then approached the young child. He removed his long black cape and placed it over her. She stared at him for a moment before using the cape as a blanket to keep her warm. The young child was so cold, that she was thankful for anything that could keep her warm no matter whom it came from. The Count smiled "I'll be back for you later." With that he changed back into his vampiric form and flew off, his brides following suit.

Exhausted from all the activity that had just happened the young child fell asleep, clutching to Dracula's cape for warmth.

She was woken by horrible shouts and screams.

"Poison, she is poison to our village."

Two villagers raced towards the young girl. She smiled and got up expecting to be comforted. However the villagers pulled her away from the bodies of her father and the three other villagers.

"You did this."

"This is your fault."

"You are a poison to our village."

"Poison."

Were just some of the horrible things the two villagers said to her, while beating her until her body was covered in bruises. She had just lost her father, she needed and wanted to be comforted and told that his death was not her fault. Finally with one last blow to the head she passed out.