It was a cold night; Anna pulled the thin ragged blanket closer around her shoulders as she sat in the corner of the room. She remembered this room as the one that her and Carl had found the werewolf cure in many years ago. It was spacious, yet there was still lightly dusted snow lining the barred window and the corners of the rooms. She had managed to clear a space so she could sit though, until she was rescued. There was still no door, yet the iron barred gate had been replaced since she had thrown the viscous material over it, melting the strong metal instantly.
She had lost all sense of time save for the rising and falling of the sun; she had no idea how long she had been unconscious for. The sun had set, Anna guessed, about two hours ago. Since then she was waiting for Dracula or someone – something – else to appear. She knew that at least one of his undead minions, probably himself, would come to taunt her.
Another hour passed, but to Anna it felt much longer. Dwergi passed the cell many a time, pointing at her and mumbling in their strange undecipherable language, before Dracula finally appeared. He opened the gate, and closed it once again, locking it behind him. Anna glared, now she was trapped inside with him, at least before she had been separated from him by the gate, but obviously the demon had control over that as well.
He stepped closer to the gypsy queen, who stood up and backed against the wall to stay as far away from him as possible.
"Well, I see you are finally awake my dear." He said in his cold voice, almost as cold as his heart and thought, cringing at him calling her 'my dear', the only person who had ever called her that was her father before he had died. She didn't answer him, or change the hatred in her glare. "We need not make this so hard, Anna." He said, his voice now louder, reverberating off the walls around them. "All I want is a chance to live, free from God and his warriors."
Anna realised that by 'god's warriors' he meant her and Gabriel. She pushed herself firmly against the wall as he got closer than she was comfortable, though in truth she was uncomfortable being in the same century as he was, let alone the same room. "Why do you want me?" she said in a whisper.
Her strong front had been broken. She now no longer had a family about to slip into purgatory to defend, but a family on Earth who was safe. The only person in danger was her, and she was powerless to defend herself against this monster. She was still in the gown she had worn to the party however long ago, and thus completely unarmed. Helpless. She simply had to stall him into keeping her alive until Gabriel came.
"Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?" he teased. She sighed under her breath, feeling dizzy from lack of food and water. He stepped closer to her still, she could feel his breath upon her neck now, and she became terrified he would bite her. In her mind, becoming his bride would be a fate worse than death. Immobilized by fear, she stood completely still, scared he would kill her if she moved just an inch. His eyes hypnotised her, lulling her into a false security, and she began to feel sleepy, and comfortable, almost as if she were lying down in Gabriel's safe arms. She wasn't aware of falling over, but she did not feel any pain when she did so. Closing her eyes, she was powerless to resist the sleep she was suddenly longing for so badly.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Carl said yet again. Gabriel sighed, feeling his anger constantly swell inside of him as he yearned for his missing wife. The monster hunter turned to face the timid friar, who was for once looking unafraid and determined. It was the only time that Gabriel had seen Carl faced with such a situation, yet be able to look at him in the eye with no fear or cowardice.
"No, you stay here. Someone needs to stay with Megan." He said simply. There was no way in heaven and earth that he would leave Megan alone in the house at her age on a normal day, let alone when he knew that it was dangerous simply to let her leave his side.
"I want you to stay Daddy." She piped up from beside Carl. Gabriel continued loading up his crossbow.
"I can't baby, I'm going to get your mother back." He turned once again to the pair, taking in the image of his daughter. Her features, all of them, so much like her mother's that it pained to look at her sometimes. He crouched down to he was the same height as her as he spoke to her. "Be good, no matter what happens, stay with Carl." Megan nodded in understanding. She wrapped her think arms around his neck as she hugged him. "I love you," he whispered to her.
"I love you too Daddy." She said, Gabriel could have sworn she was about to cry when she said this, but he wasn't sure. Pulling away he turned to Carl.
"Remember, all you need is one drop of her blood on his skin and he'll be gone forever. Until then, good luck." Carl reminded. Gabriel took a torch from the wall, and stepped through the doorway's mirror like image. As he stepped through, he saw the reflection of his daughter as she held on to her godfather. Carl waited until the image of Gabriel was completely gone from their sight, and then led Megan off down the corridor.
Anna felt her mind swirling with an invisible mist. She was no longer wearing her ball gown, but now her old riding attire that she had been wearing when she first met with Gabriel. She could not see where she was, and all that was around her was a landscape of what appeared to be made of cloud like material. She stood in the same spot, but turned slowly around her, looking for a sign of life besides her rapidly beating heart.
After a while of waiting, a shadowy figure appeared in the distance. Her heart thumped harder, forcing adrenaline to coarse through her veins. She had a bout of terror rise up into her mind as she thought that this approaching stranger was Dracula. As they got closer, she could see they were wearing riding clothing similar to her own, but instead of a corset, they wore a rich waistcoat underneath their navy cloak.
"Do not be afraid Anna." The person spoke in a soft voice that she recognised. A voice from her unforgotten youth, a voice she had longed to hear again for many years.
"Father?" She asked, wearily taking a step towards her possible father.
Her guest was in no time close enough for her to see up close. They soft grey hair and carefully trimmed beard edged a face with eyes she had seen only in dreams for many years. She smiled softly and fell into the arms of Boris Valerious, late king of the gypsies.
"Anna." He sighed happily, "My darling daughter."
Their embrace lasted a long while. It reminded Anna of when she was scared in the middle of the night, and her father would come and comfort her until the fear passed. She remembered how she would hold him this tight every time he returned from a werewolf or vampire hunt on the forest on the edge of their small town. But then he disappeared, and she had been forced to come to terms with the fact that Dracula's curse was drawing nearer to becoming complete, and her family was doomed to an eternity in Hell.
Realising that she was in fact in the company of her dead father, she feared for her own state of being. Reluctantly, she pulled out of his arms. "Daddy, am I dead?"
The words escaped her mouth like a river of poison to Boris's ears. In this empty area, her fear reverberated off the invisible walls and echoed around them. He sighed heavily, taking her hands between his.
"You are not dead –"He began.
"But then how come I can see you?" Anna cut him short.
"You are in a state of being that is neither dead nor alive. Do you remember when you had those nightmares before?" Anna nodded grimly, of course she remembered them. "You were only partially under Dracula's spell then, and you were in your home all the while. But now, your body is in his fortress, and you are completely in his spell. So your mind has been sent to this place..." He gestured around them to the empty space.
"Where is this place?" Anna said, following her father's gaze as he looked from the heavenly glow over his shoulder and then the dark red glow behind her.
"In heaven, we call it the Plain of the Lost. Spelled and trapped minds dwell here until their fate is decided. If they are rescued, or they recover, they are free to awaken once again and return to life. If they are lost forever in the real world, then their actions are weighed against each other to decided whether you walk into the light ... or the darkness."