Rain ate stuffed the tomato in her mouth whole. To her surprise and luck it was fresh. After the tomato she gobbled the apple on which she found a dot of mould. But she didn't give a damn, she thought and picked it off with her nail.

As she savoured the apple (saving the grapes for later) she realised that she hadn't yet become fully aware of her surroundings. She gazed around the room which like all the other rooms was dark and the only light was a long candle on a candlestick in the corner.

The room contained a small majestic red and black chair. The red velvet was covered by a thick layer of dust.

Rain stood up feeling less weak and walked over to it. She tried to blow some dust away but it failed; the dust layer stayed. In spite of this she sat down. It was astonishingly comfy.

She examined the far end of the room which had a small painting hanging on the wall. The picture looking like a rose... a wilted rose.

Rain took her attention away from the rose painting and down to the corner which was the darkest place in the entire room. There was nothing there, or else she thought. Rain squinted and saw the faint outline of what looked like a glass table and on top was a large wineglass or chalice.

She immediately got off the chair and grabbed the candle stick. Rain was anxious striding towards the petite table, what if it was some sort of trap?

The chalice was silver. Rain felt the base which had an inscription written around the edge. But even with the flame at her aid she couldn't make out the word; it was completely unreadable. She sighed... nothing was possible in this place.

She was about to turn away when it struck her that she had studied the insignificant base of the chalice before its contents.

She peered into the Chalice and in it was a thick black liquid. Yep, it was definitely black not burgundy, she thought checking it with the candle.

Rain was relieved; her previous thought was that it was blood. She sniffed it. It had no scent whatsoever.

Rain was parched. Shayde had forgotten that human's needed water to survive... She fixed her eyes on the chalice. It must be drinkable, or else why would it be in this type of container? However, it could be dangerous. She had no idea what in the world the liquid was. But it definitely wasn't an ordinary drink. Nevertheless, Rain's throat was sore and she was dehydrated.

She held the chalice up. "Screw this place," And she drank, it had a foul metal taste but for some reason she carried on drinking.

No pull away, stop drinking! She thought, yet she carried on swallowing. Stop, you can't drink this! Her conscience told her yet she downed the drink till the last drop.

Rain felt light headed. Everything around her was spinning. The she fell to the floor sweating a gasping for breath.

"Shayde..." but her voice was too hoarse; it barely made a sound. All of a sudden, she was choking and gagging holding her throat which was burning as if someone had set it alight. She knew she had drunk some sort of poison. As her heart carried on racing she let out a scream of agony. She looked at her wrists her veins popping out and glowing red. She pulled the long carpet which her hands and banged the floor.

"Make it stop," she cried. Tears streaming out of her eyes. Soon she was hearing hissing noises, shrieks and the running of water, but it probably wasn't water at all.

Rain was rolling on the floor in pain screaming. Finally, at that moment Shayde appeared next to her holding her wrist.

"Stay still," he said and he dug his fangs in her glowing vain.

The pain ceased instantly.

A.N

Rain's stay in the mansion has been beyond horrific, but something's going to make it a living hell. Read on...

Please R&R - emz96-x