Not You Again!

I opened my eyes to see total darkness. At first, I thought that I was still dreaming, but when I touched my hand to my face, I found that I was simply blindfolded. I peeled off the blindfold and looked around my surroundings. I was sitting in a chair, next to a lit fireplace. I was momentarily blinded by having to stare directly into the fire, but I blinked that away and glanced around to find myself in a library. I frowned.

Where in the hell was I?

'Hello, Princess,' said a voice in the room. It seemed to come from all around me and I was frightened when I couldn't pinpoint it. But I could recognize it. I let out a low growl as it sent shivers down my spine.

'Hello, Dracula, did you miss me?' I asked, tauntingly. I had to show that I wasn't afraid of him.

'As a matter of fact, I did.' Suddenly he appeared right next to me, his hand placed on the head rest of my plush armchair. I jumped slightly, but silently scolded myself. I carefully stood to face him and offered a sarcastic smile.

'Really?' He smiled, showing his slightly pointed fangs.

'I had to thank you for saving me from Van Helsing all those years ago, but when I went to search for you to offer my thanks personally, you had disappeared.' He chuckled lightly as he took a step towards me and I positioned myself on the opposite side of the chair.

'Now it seems to me,' he continued, 'that you are either immortal or you are a mere mortal capable of time travel. Seeing as your heart continues to beat sweet blood through your veins, it must be the second.'

'What do you want, Dracula?'

'Impatient, aren't we?' I raised my eyebrows as a sign to continue. He took a step closer to me and said, 'Gabriel. That's all I want. And it seems to me that he is connected to you.'

This surprised me. I mean, it made sense that he wanted Gabriel/Van Helsing, but how did he figure that we were connected in some way?

'I'm a bit confused. How is it that I am connected to Van Helsing?'

'There was a reason as to why you were sent back in time to try to save the Valerious line and to how you gotten back to London too. And now, I figure, it is Gabriel's turn to save you.'

'How do you even know that he'll know that I'm in trouble? Plus, technically, you are supposed to be dead.'

'Thanks to you, I'm not.'

'He won't come for me,' I said, ignoring his comment.

'He would if you are in trouble.' He took another step towards me and put his hand to my face. I flinched, expecting him to attack or kill me. 'He has three days to rescue you. If he doesn't come, like you say he won't, and then you become mine. I figure this is a fair enough deal; three days for three brides.'

'Are you going to let him know that you have me?' I asked, it sounded more like a plead than a question when it reached my ears.

'It is the great Van Helsing,' he smiled, 'he will know once he sees that you are gone.'

'Where am I? What castle is it? Budapest? Frankenstein? The Ice Fortress?' He started to laugh again. This answered my question. It was none of them.

'You are in castle and that is all that you need to know.' He headed for the door and as soon as he reached it, he turned to say, 'you are most welcome to search the home. Choose a room that you like best, you may be staying here for longer than you think.'

'Wait! Don't you think that it's unfair if Van Helsing doesn't know where this castle is located?' Dracula smiled deviously.

'Whoever said that all was fair in love and war?' And with this, he left the room, closing the door behind him. I collapsed back into the chair and thought of my current predicament, and was nearly to tears as I realized-

I'm probably going to die here. No saying goodbye to Marie, or my friends, or Derek, or Van Helsing, or any of them. What would everyone think when I disappear? What about my parents?

This sent shivers down my spine as I thought of how my parents would react. These are the people that I love that are the only ones left who have no idea of what is going on around them; oblivious to the world of the supernatural.

What would they say when they find out that I was murdered by a vampire?

The worried look on Marie's face and what she had told me in my bedroom, just before we had left. How Van Helsing had told Derek to make sure I was protected…did Van Helsing know the danger I was in? But if Van Helsing didn't know where I was to save me, I would have to stop playing the damsel in distress and become my own hero.

I stood up from the chair and made my way to the door. It opened and I found myself at the end of a very long and narrow hallway. I hurried down it, hoping to find a door that could possibly lead to the outside. At the end of the hall was another door, which opened to a set of stairs that led up. I took them and came to yet another door. This one opened to a giant empty ballroom. I knew that there had to be a way out from here. Why else would someone build a ballroom if it didn't have easy access for the guests from the outside?

I ran for the nearest doors and opened them to find another large room, an entrance. If I was right, the doors that I faced now were my ticket to the outside. As I ran towards them, all I could think was how easy this was.

Of course it was easy…the doors were locked tight. I fumbled with the locks and got all the ones that I could see, but the doors still wouldn't budge. This is when I noticed that there was a latch high up on the door, a good ten feet off the ground and well out of my reach. I glanced around my surroundings, hoping to find a chair, a poker or something. When I found a large chair a good twenty feet away, I hurried to it. It was heavy, but I managed to carry it to the door without making too much racket. When I stood on it, I could barely reach the latch, but with a jump, I got it. I jumped off the chair and pulled at the door again, this time it opened. I was ready to run out when I found that the doorway was boarded up.

I put my hand on it, needing to touch it in order to reassure myself that it was real. That I wasn't dreaming…was I?

Behind me I heard clapping that echoed in the room.

'Bravo, Erica,' boomed Dracula, 'you almost made it.'

Tears clouded my eyes as I turned to see Dracula standing ten feet away. I took in a deep calming breath and said, 'screw off, Dracula.' I walked past him, but he caught my arm. I tried to wrench my arm out of his grasp but he held tighter.

'You won't be able to escape, Erica. Try as much as you would like, in fact I invite you to, it's amusing. But keep in mind, there are other occupants in this house that won't be as kind as I am.' I looked at him warily, wondering what other "occupants" were in this house other than him and I.

'We aren't alone?' I asked. He chuckled.

'My servants. All vampires, I'm not risking death by werewolf this time.'

'Damn, now who am I to play fetch with now,' I replied sarcastically.

'You may have an eternity to find a replacement.' This made me shiver, as it reminded me of my impending fate.

'Don't worry, I will.' At this, I turned on my heel to walk away. I didn't know exactly where I was going, but I decided to head up the stairs to do as he had told me to, to find a bedroom.

I searched the rooms on the second and third floors, hoping to find one that I liked. The one I found was a very open room with multiple windows. Most were boarded up, but I was able to get some light to come through when I opened them. A large canopy bed took up a large portion of the room. A redwood wardrobe was against the bedroom wall, and when I opened it, I was surprised to find several old dresses that looked as though they were from the turn of the century. A small fireplace stood in one corner, but when I went to inspect it, I found that the top of the chimney was barred.

I frowned, I had hoped that that would be my way out.

'There is no way out, Princess,' said a voice from the door. I turned to see Septimus.

'Are you sure?' I asked, sarcastically, 'because I would love to prove you wrong.' He smiled.

'I barred everything myself.' I frowned.

'So you have the key to getting out?' I asked. He shook his head.

'Dracula has the key, he is the only one.'

'Why are you following him now? Don't you want to be your own person?' He shrugged.

'Servitude is the only thing I have ever known.'

'Freedom is so much better,' I said. I figured if I could get anyone on my side in this house that I could maybe get out before they get hungry. 'You get to choose what to do, when to do it. You don't have to do other's dirty work.'

'You only say this because you want your freedom,' he smirked.

'I say this because I enjoy my freedom. I don't want become a slave to Dracula.'

'He's not a bad master, I have had worse. Von Trappe was far worse.'

'Von Trappe was more compassionate towards me.' I grumbled.

'Only until he made you into his bride.'

'Tell me, Septimus, does Dracula want me to be his bride?' He chuckled.

'I thought you knew that answer.'

'Last time I knew he wanted me as his bride. But now I'm not so sure.'

'It's to get back at Van Helsing,' he reassured me.

'So, you are going to let him get revenge on Van Helsing by murdering me?' My voice went higher and louder at this.

'Death isn't so horrible once you get used to it.'

'But it makes me a murderer as well. I don't want to be a murderer.' The face of Anna accusing me of being her murderer, the same that haunted my dreams, appeared in my mind and I shuddered.

'You don't have to kill your victims.' He reassured me. 'Look at yourself, you have been bitten multiple times, yet have not been killed nor changed.' I began to cry. I couldn't help it. Everything seemed so hopeless now.

'Are you alright, Princess?' I heard him take a step towards me. I buried my face into my hands and sat onto the bed. I sobbed as I felt him sit down next to me and hesitantly put his hand around my shoulder. As soon as his arm was around my shoulder, I stopped crying and wiped the tears away as I looked him in the eyes.

'Has Dracula informed Van Helsing as to where I am?' He shook his head. 'Then I'm not alright. Dracula has more or less attempted to give me false hope. I don't want to be a vampire. I want to be a normal teenager!'

'Everything shall turn as fate has deemed it,' he muttered. It was supposed to reassure me, but it didn't. He stood up and headed for the door, he paused as he said, 'if this is your choice for your chambers, than I shall have it cleaned.' And he left.

I sat on the bed for a while, thinking of my now hopeless situation. I knew that I had to escape, the question was how. Septimus had said that Dracula had the key, maybe I could get it from him. I would have to be sneaky…very sneaky.

Or I could attempt to tear the boards off of the windows.

I closed the bedroom door, knowing that when I began to hit the boards, it would create noise. I hoped that this would muffle it enough to where I wouldn't get caught. I headed for the first window and began to push against each separate board. None gave away so I moved to the next window. It was finally the fourth window out of seven when one side of a board came loose. I was able to push this board aside and began to push at other ones. Soon I was able to push off two boards and was able to poke my head out to see how far the drop was. It was a lot farther than I anticipated, seeing as this side of the castle seemed to have been built on a precipice and there was probably a three foot area of solid ground from the edge. I took in a deep breath, figuring that it was this or death. Death was probably inevitable either way, and I think I would prefer this over being changed. I quickly ran to the bed and stripped the bedding and tight it tightly into a rope. I then tied this to the canopy and hurried to throw it out the window. I climbed out the window, slipping through the small opening between the boards. I quickly shimmied down the rope, hoping that it wouldn't tear and that I would fall to my death. I was happy once my feet touched the ground without incident.

The sun was just beginning to rise once I made my way around to the front of the castle. I breathed a sigh of relief at this sight, knowing that vampires can't venture out in the light. I hurried down the path from the front of the castle and into a village a good two miles downhill. Once I reached it, I found that the markets were already teaming with people. And they were speaking British-accented English. My heart jumped for joy as I asked the nearest person as to where I was. They happily told me that I was on the northern part of England, along the eastern coast. I then asked for a phone and I was pointed towards a small pub at the end of the village. I hurried towards it, at least as fast as I could without drawing attention to myself. Once I found the pay phone, I was able to pay with the few dollars that I kept with me always in case of emergency (luckily the bartender was able to exchange my money into European pounds and such). I then dialed my home number.

It seemed to take forever before a familiar voice answered.

'Marie,' I breathed.

'Erica, oh my god, you're alive!' she gasped.

'Listen, I don't have much time, I'm being held in the northern part of England, along the eastern coast. He's in a deserted castle that's been boarded up. I have managed to escape, but once the sun goes down they'll find me. Tell Van Helsing that he has to find me within the next two days.'

'Why the next two days?' I really didn't want to tell her why, it would only worry her.

'Just tell him, ok?' I insisted as the line went dead and a voice came over the line saying that I had to deposit more coins in order to continue the call. I walked to the counter to the bartender.

'Could you do me a favor?' I asked. He picked up a glass from the counter and began to wipe it clean. He nodded. 'There will be a guy coming through here in the next day or two and he'll be asking about me. Could you please point him up to the castle on the hill. He'll know what you are talking about.' I paused as I went through everything I said in my mind, making sure that Van Helsing would understand. 'My name is Erica. Could you do that for me, please? It's urgent.' He nodded and I left the pub, hoping that he would remember when the time came.

I then hurried off down the road, in an attempt to get as far away from the castle as possible. When nightfall came, I wanted to be able to find a good hiding spot. If Dracula wanted me as his prisoner, he was going to fight me for my freedom.

I found a decent walking stick with me as I walked down the road, searching for an adequate place to hide. The day quickly passed and as the sun neared it setting place, I found a good place, an abandoned cottage, to hide in. The entire inside was completely bare, including any sign of life for the past ten years excluding spiders. I barred the door and sat there with my pointy stick, waiting for Dracula and his cronies to swoop down on me.

As I sat in my little corner, armed with the stick, I kept dozing off as I attempted to listen for noises around me. A bird or some other animal would make a sound and I would quickly snap out of it. I would glance around and attempt to stay awake but would doze off anyway. It had to be nearly three in the morning when I finally heard something attempting to open the door. My heart began to pound and I slowly stood, holding the stick in front of me like a lance, readying to ram it into the heart of anyone that came in.

Someone kicked at the door; once, twice and it began to splinter. On the third the door swung open and three pale men stepped in. The first smelt the air and a smirk covered his face as he turned to face me.

'You travelled far in little time, young one,' he commented. I held the stick in front of me as he took a step towards me. He laughed as he grabbed the end and yanked it out of my hands. I took off for the door but was intercepted before I could even take two steps towards it. As soon as the hand grabbed my arm, I turned around and punched my captor in the face. It was like hitting marble, but the adrenaline running through my veins prevented me from feeling the pain for now. I kicked him in the groin and he released me and I ran for the door again. He grabbed me again and let out a low growl.

I struggled to get out of his grasp and he growled, 'settle down, wench, before I bite you.'

'Just make sure you kill me,' I said under my breath as I attempted to wrench my arm out of his grasp. He smirked and grabbed a handful of my hair and jerked my head to the side until I thought it would break and he bit into my neck. I gasped as the pain replaced my adrenaline rush. It was soon before darkness overtook me.