-1My Heart Is Yours For The Breaking
Jacob watched Lara back away from something. He started to run towards her and then he saw the reason why she was backing away in terror. Dracula walked out of the forest. Jacob hissed and stopped running diving into the undergrowth. What was going on?
Dracula saw her immediately, trying to get away from him, crawling on the floor backwards a look of terror on her face. He was relieved to see that she wasn't hurt and that she hadn't escaped, but immediately as he though that he felt a wave of anger roll over him. He strode forwards angrily towards her; she was panting in exhaustion. Dracula harshly forced two fingers under her quivering chin and lifted her forcedly so her eyes were level with his, her toes barely brushing the dead leaves on the ground.
He began to shout at her angrily, his voice louder than the wind, but then realised he was speaking the language of his time, which she did not understand. "Did you really think you could escape me?" he hissed angrily, pulling her closer to him so their faces were only a foot apart. A flash of lighting from the black sky overhead illuminating their faces momentarily, his angry one and her frightened one.
"After all I've told you about you and I being connected, how I can feel you, wherever you are, you still try and escape? What happened to love? What happened to trust? What about this morning? I thought you were finally returning your love for me! Why Lara, tell me why!"
Lara's face was frozen into one of fear as she looked into Dracula's swirling ice blue eyes. She shrugged her shoulders slowly, blinking big rabbit eyes at him. He bought her face closer to his again. Then he roared angrily in her face and she screamed and shook in fear. "Don't shrug! I asked a question and you will answer it!" he hissed menacingly, which was followed by a large clap of thunder.
Lara began to cry in fear, large tears rolling down her pale scared face. "I-I-I," she stuttered helplessly looking at the floor instead of his eyes. He laughed. "Are you that pathetic? Stop crying! Crying is for babies! Are you a baby Lara?" he asked mockingly. Lara kept crying avoiding his eyes. He forced her chin upwards, making her look into his eyes. "Spit. It. Out." he said through gritted teeth.
"I-I was scared!" she finally wailed, bringing forth fresh floods of tears. The harsh lines on Dracula's face softened and his voice took a gentler tone. He lowered Lara to the floor slowly but kept his fingers under her chin. He wiped away one of the tears from her face. "And what were you scared of, Lara?"
She cast her blue eyes back down to the floor and then looked back at him. "You," she whispered. Dracula sighed. "Why are you scared of me Lara?" he whispered. She looked up at him and opened her mouth to speak. Then she spat in his face, right in his eye. Dracula raised his hand to his face to wipe it off, but then realised Lara was running away, across the clearing.
Cursing his stupidity, he charged after her and then jumped and tackled her to the ground. They landed face down in the dead leaves. Dracula lay for a moment, stunned by the blow of the hard brittle ground. He noticed Lara starting to get up to run, but he reached out and grabbed her ankle, pulling her back to the floor with a bump.
He hurriedly tried to force her shoulders down to the ground, but somehow she managed to get him on his back. With an angry roar he rolled over, sat on her stomach and pinned her struggling hands over her head. She had dead leaves in her golden hair and he had no doubt that there was some in his. Their breathing was fast and heavy, and Lara's cheeks were flushed pink.
High above the storm grew in intensity, as did Dracula's anger. Lara was no longer crying but had a look of extreme annoyance on her face. "Get off me," she said struggling. Dracula bought his face down to hers. "Does this give you ideas…or memories?" he asked her mockingly, cocking his head to the side. "Ideas." said Lara. She wriggled one leg out from under him and kicked him in the groin.
Dracula laughed and pushed her leg back under him. "I don't feel pain Lara. But nice try." Lara rolled her eyes. "I hate you," she murmured not looking at him. "What was that?" asked Dracula sharply. Lara turned to look up at him. " I hate you!" she said angrily. Dracula's eyes flashed red wildly. Swinging his hand he punched Lara violently in the stomach.
Lara groaned and doubled up under Dracula. "And why is that, Lara?" he hissed angrily in her ear. "I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!" she screamed angrily. He took her face in one of her hands. "Answer my question!" he roared over the thunder. Lara hit at him with her free hand, but he quickly grabbed hold of it.
"Fine," said Lara looking at him. "I'll tell you why I hate you. I hate you because you think you love me, but you don't! I just want to be loved but I'm nothing more than a plaything for you. You see me as nothing more than a thing for you to play with when you get bored. 'Oh I'm bored Lara,' well what right does that give you to kiss me? I am not a plaything I am a human being. You don't need me. And this morning you expected me to love you? After you came into my room and started abusing me like that because you were bored. You aren't a man, you are a monster. And let me tell you something. I have never loved you and I never will!" she spat finally.
"That is not true!" whispered Dracula angrily. "You know nothing, nothing of what I feel. Do you seriously think that if you were just a plaything to me you would still be around now? I would have got rid of you the instant my brides came back if you were just a plaything! But no, I'm risking losing my brides for you, not for myself, because I love you and I want to be with you forever and it hurts when you are not with me. I love you Lara, can't you see? Are you blind?" Lara turned her head away from him not wanting to look at the man above her.
"Ok my methods may not always be conventional but I have tried my hardest to show you my feelings for you and then you always take them and throw them back in my face as if it meant nothing. You are the world to me Lara. I would walk to the ends of the earth to make you happy. I love you and I finally thought you were beginning to feel the same and I was beginning to feel happiness again for the first time since I died. I've been respectful of you for the past few days, trying to be a gentleman and treat you fairly." Dracula began to calm down and his voice became quiet.
"I have none nothing to attempt to control you and your thoughts. I love you! And Lara you are breaking my heart because you do not love me and you won't accept me or return your feelings which I know are there. Every time you say you don't love me or do something like this it feels like my heart is being pulled to shreds and I can't bear it. I just want me and you to be happy Lara! Can't you see? I love you. I love you." he finished quietly
Lara looked back up at him, a few tears running down her face. "oh yeah?" she asked quietly. "If you want to make me happy then why won't you let me go home? Why won't you give me my freedom? And dropping me at great heights, locking me in a dungeon all that, how does that show love? And this morning? How was that being a gentleman. Did I give you permission to do that? No. A gentleman wouldn't do what you did!"
Dracula bought his face closer to hers so their lips were almost touching. Dracula's cold breath danced across her skin. She was cold lying on the floor and she struggled to breath with Dracula's weight on top of her. Her wrists ached where Dracula was holding them tightly. "Oh you gave me permission," said Dracula finally, his eyes darting across her face. "You didn't say stop did you? And I stopped when you told me to stop. And you can't say you didn't enjoy it, because I know you did. What changed Lara? Why did you have to run?"
"You still haven't answered my first question," said Lara struggling again to get out of Dracula's grasp. "If you want to make me happy then why won't you give me my freedom?" Dracula pushed more of his weight onto Lara and she stopped struggling. "I've already told you," said Dracula. "I love you. I could never give you up. How could I be happy without the person I love. That's why I can't let you go. I love you too much."
"Well I don't care!" said Lara angrily. "How could I love a monster like you?" The next thing she knew she was being punched in the stomach, again, and again, and again, four times, and once more in the face. She lay wheezing in agony, curled up, tears streaming down her face. "Do you want to know how I got away?" she spat between breaths, blood running down from a cut in her lip; it tasted salty in her mouth. "Your precious brides, helped me. They told me to go. And I did," she laughed manically rolling onto her side.
Dracula threw her angrily to the floor where she lay curled up in a ball. He stood up and walked backwards and forwards in distress and anger. He put his hands to his head and screamed. Over head the sky crackled angrily with thunder and lightning.
Jacob watched all this from the undergrowth. He cursed inwardly as Dracula hit Lara again and again. He clenched his knuckles tightly around his silver hunting knife. His knuckles turned white from anger. This monster was laying his hands on Lara! How dare he! He had stopped know and he was screaming angrily at the sky.
Jacob raised his knife angrily ready to throw it t the monster when he turned his back. However just as he was about to throw it the monster grabbed hold of Lara. There was a sudden gust of wind and Jacob was thrown backwards, crashing into a tree. He groaned clutching his arm and looked back at the clearing.
Overhead he could hear wing beats and then Lara's chill scream. She was gone.
Dracula crashed through a window angrily and landed on the floor heavily with Lara still in his arms. She beat at him angrily with her small fists pathetically, but he barely felt them. He strode over to a corner of the hall where there was a small wooden door in the floor. Using his mind he opened it. It creaked open slowly to reveal a small pit a little smaller than a coffin. It was lined with black silk and there was a tiny wooden headrest.
The pit smelt of ancient things. Lara screamed loudly when she saw what she was doing and threw herself out of Dracula's arms. Dracula planted her feet to the floor though, so she could not move. He pulled a mall piece of rope out of his jacket pocket and then proceeded to tie it around Lara's frozen hands.
"You are going into the pit," he said slowly, letting the effects of his words sink into Lara's mind. "You will stay there until I am ready to forgive you for what you have done and until you are ready to accept me and your own feelings." he said as he finished tying the rope around Lara's hands. He picked her up and placed her in the pit; she was still unable to move.
He tied some of the rope around Lara's hands to a small hook on the door of the pit. Suddenly she was able to move again and she sat up struggling with the ropes around her hands, but they were too tight. Dracula pushed her down so she was lying in the pit. "And let me tell you now Lara. You are going to be in here for a very, very, very long time." He chuckled evilly and then something made him stop.
He knelt down and kissed Lara on the mouth. She could feel his tongue licking the blood from the cut on her lip and she struggled away. "Go to hell," she said angrily. "Been there, Don't that," he told her. "Oh and one more thing, " he said. He reached down and snapped the small silver cross off her neck. "I'll be having this back." Then he slammed down the door of the pit on top of Lara, trapping her in the pitch black. She could hear several locks being pulled over the door. She screamed loudly, but there was no one to hear her.