Not Quite Home
Slowly Elysia awoke, dragged reluctantly upwards through the heavy fog that seemed to have taken up residence in her head. She yawned blissfully and rolled over, stretching lazily beneath the warm blanket. Mmm, mornings like this you should never have to get out of bed.
She sighed and cracked one eye open reluctantly- she might not want to get out of bed, but she did have to. There were always chores to do around her house.
She suddenly jolted up, blinking as she looked around in confusion. Where am I?
She was definitely not in her own room. Along the stone walls torches flickered, sending menacing shadows dancing over the sparse furniture- one ornate looking wooden dresser with an oval mirror, and a low table beside the bed she was currently lying in.
Heavy crimson drapes were pulled across the only window the room sported, the material of the curtains matching that of the bedcovers.
Elysia shook her head in wonder and not a little fear, slowly easing out from under the blankets until her feet touched the cold stone floor. Her memory of the night before was a foggy haze, and she couldn't for the life of her remember how she might have ended up in a place such as this. Despite the lack of furniture and decoration, the room had an air of wealth about it, as though its owner was some sort of rich aristocrat who didn't like to flaunt their affluence.
Carefully, Elysia made her way over to the covered window, hoping to get some idea of where she was from its view. However, just as she reached for the curtains to pull them back, she felt a rush of air behind her and suddenly a cool hand had wrapped around her wrist.
"Now, now, my dear, you don't want to be doing that," Cool breath touched her neck and Elysia whirled around, fear sparking in her dark eyes.
Her memories of the night before came rushing back as her eyes locked with his. Well, most of her memories anyway. She remembered being stalked through the forest, being terrified that something was about to leap out and tear her limb from limb, and then she had run into this man. And then there was nothing. The next thing she knew she had been waking here.
Dracula smirked faintly as he realised she remembered virtually nothing of the night before. Well nothing of the most important part, anyway.
At least she didn't seem to want to run from him- yet.
He lightly ran his thumb across the soft underside of her wrist, just holding back a chuckle as she blushed faintly and looked away from him.
So young, and so completely innocent.
"How- how did I get here?" The girl dared to raise her eyes back to his, obviously trying not to show how afraid she really was.
"I brought you here," He said softly, letting go of her wrist abruptly and moving back. He looked her over once, no hint of anything in his eyes, and nodded once, seeming to find whatever he was looking for.
"I will return soon, until then you will remain here. Food will be brought for you,"
As quickly as he had come, the vampire left the room, and Elysia heard the distinct sound of a lock clicking into place as the door closed.
So I'm a prisoner, then? The dark haired girl sighed and folded her arms over her chest, shivering as she realised she was still wearing her nightgown from the previous evening. Looking around she spied the cloak she had also worn- it had been laid carefully over the end of the bed.
God, what am I doing here? What does he want with me? He said he'd be back soon- when he does come back I have to try and get some answers from him, instead of just standing there and staring at him. She quickly grabbed her cloak and put it on, realising just how indecent it was for the man to see her only in her nightgown. She blushed and rubbed her wrist in an annoyed attempt to remove the feel of his thumb resting there.
She sighed at her own ridiculousness and sat down gracelessly on the edge of the bed. A million questions were whirling through her head, and the only person who could answer any of them wasn't even there. Oh, Roran! He must think I completely forgot about him! Oh, I'm sorry Roran…
The thought that she might never see him again suddenly popped into her mind, quickly followed by thoughts of her parents and her little brother, Keran. They would probably have discovered she was missing by now, she thought, glancing over at the window.
Quickly she strode over to the curtains, whipping them back and peering outside determinedly.
The sight that greeted her was marvellous- a wall of mountains in the near distance, a strange arch out on what looked like an island in the middle of an abyss, with a bridge across to the main island on which sat the great black fortress she was inside. All of this was covered in a thick layer of pure white snow.
She blinked back instant tears, realising she didn't recognize anything. How could she have come so far as to not know anything of her surroundings, in a single night? Surely she should be able to recognize something!
The door then burst open, interrupting her thoughts, and in strode a scantily clad woman in some sort of pale yellow-and-gold harem girl outfit.
"Close the drapes if you want your food, girl!" The blonde-haired woman snapped, her eyes narrowing menacingly.
Elysia blinked in surprise, but quickly moved to obey, not wanting to risk her breakfast- Who knew how often she would be fed in this place?
Once the curtains were safely closed, the young woman stepped inside the room, quickly depositing the tray of food upon the dressing table. She didn't leave immediately, as Elysia thought she would, instead opting to stare at the other girl, hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised in a clearly sceptical expression.
"You? The Master brought you back here?" She shook her head in obvious confusion and sighed, pouting her pretty lips.
"Another one, yet another one. Are we not enough? No… of course not, we could never be enough." This last she said with a hiss, her eyes narrowed accusingly, as though whatever she was talking about was all Elysia's fault.
With one last shake of her head, she whirled around and left the room, slamming the door in her wake.
Elysia had stood frozen to the spot under the other girls stare, and only now did she move towards the tray of food, utter confusion etched upon her face.
What seemed like hours later, long after Elysia had finished her food and become mightily bored, the door opened again. She nearly sighed in relief as she realised that it was not the bitter blonde woman who entered, but the man from earlier.
Remembering her earlier resolve to get some answers, Elysia immediately stood and took a step towards him. However, before she could ask a single question, or even offer a polite greeting, he had moved towards her and laid down on the bed a lovely, but simple dress. It was all white and obviously very well made, while not being ostentatious.
The man looked at her suddenly, and motioned towards the dress.
"It is yours," He said simply, stepping back with a very small smile.
"Oh! Thankyou, I," Elysia frowned suddenly.
"If I am your prisoner, then why would you bother to give me clothes?" She looked up at him in genuine confusion.
He paused for a moment, his face unreadable.
"Because you are not my prisoner,"
"I'm not? So I can leave whenever I want?" Her eyes filled with hope at this.
"No, no you can't," He shook his head almost sadly, though Elysia was fairly certain she must have imagined this look; it disappeared after a moment.
Elysia's eyes narrowed and she snapped recklessly, "So I am a prisoner, then?"
The man raised one eyebrow at her unexpected boldness, unable to restrain a smirk.
"If you continue to be this entertaining I may just keep you here permanently," He took a step closer, chuckling slightly as she backed away, fear dousing her anger.
"What is your name, girl?" He asked curiously, remaining where he was so as not to scare her further- he had discovered that scared people generally had trouble remembering their names.
"Elysia Ravenwood," She answered warily, keeping her voice steady with only a little effort now that he had stopped his approach.
"Elysia, I am Count Vladislaus Dragulia," He offered her a slight bow, only just hiding his smirk at her sharp intake of breath.
Oh god, oh god, oh god…
AN: Eep! This chapter was entirely more difficult than it should have been. Oh well, at least it's done now and we can move on to more exciting things!
Thanks to BlackMoonVampyre, Wistful-Dreamer and Velfin for reviewing- you guys are awesome!
Savari