Chapter 10

Anna's grip on his collar tightened. This was it. She'd gotten a second chance to kill Dracula. This time, since the opportunity was in hand, she would not throw it away. With out hesitation she shoved him into the sun light.

"A little bright and a little hot but not bad for a dream sun," said Dracula as he dusted himself off. Anna's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"What?" she cried. "But you said that the sunlight would KILL you! You're supposed to be dead!" Dracula laughed richly as he bowed before Anna.

"Forgive me, my dear, but I lied," he said. "I am immune to all the weaknesses my kind have, with the exception of a werewolf. And if I recall correctly the sun has nothing to do with werewolves. So as you can see: I'm just fine." Anna could feel herself boiling with anger. It wasn't fair! She'd finally beaten him at one of his ridiculous games and she STILL couldn't kill him!

"You're the most unfair person I know, Count!" Anna hissed. "I hate these stupid games!" Dracula merely yawned to emphasize his boredom with her words. "So you've said a million times before, Anna," he said. "Since you're still asleep there's time for one more game before I wake you up." He smiled showing off his fangs. Anna took a step back.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked.

"Simple," said Dracula. "This game will not require much skill, just speed. I'll chase you and you'll try to avoid getting caught."

Before Anna could ask what the Count was talking about he'd turned himself into a huge black panther. The frightened gypsy girl turned and ran. She noticed at once that she was running on all fours. 'How fitting,' she thought. 'He's turned me into a bobcat!'

Anna ran as fast as she could through the trees trying to find a hiding place. But panthers, being that they were bigger cats than bobcats, were also faster on their feet. Almost at once the panther that was Dracula jumped out. He would have pounced on her if she hadn't had enough sense to get out of the way and scratch him in the back. Dracula growled at her angrily.

"What's wrong with defending myself?" Anna shouted as she continued running.

"Nothing!" Dracula shouted back as he chased her. "That just hurt more than I thought it would!"Anna jumped against the trunk of a tree and scampered up. Once she was up high she gave a sigh of relief and stuck out her tongue when Dracula came into view. The panther growled at her insult.

"Beat that, Dracula!" Anna called out. "Panthers don't climb trees!" The panther gave a snort.

"Want to bet?" he asked.

Taking a few steps back Dracula took a flying leap and landed up against the trunk of the tree. He used his claws to help himself climb up. Anna at once began to climb higher, not wanting to get caught.

Just when she was about to reach the top something sharp grabbed a hold of her tail. Anna looked down to see Dracula holding her tail with his teeth. He yanked back his head causing her to lose her grip on the tree and fall. Before she could hit the ground Dracula grabbed her with his teeth by the scruff of her neck. The bobcat yowled in pain as he held her like that in his mouth all the way down.

When they reached the ground the panther opened his mouth and released Anna. She hissed in pain as she felt some of her blood ooze out of the tiny wounds and wet her fur.

"That hurt," she hissed as she tried to ignore the burning pain. "Next time be more careful!"

"I'll heal you," Dracula replied. "Lie on your stomach."

Anna laid herself on the ground flat on her belly in a cat fashion. Dracula sat down behind her and began licking at the wounds. Anna didn't know if he was drinking her blood or trying to stop her from bleeding. After a while she relaxed as the pain went away. At long last Dracula stopped licking and stood up.

"Enough of these dream games," he said. "Wake up, Anna."