All of the vamps wore black shirts that had V-cut collars decorated in lacy
designs. The same designs were on the cuffs of their sleeves too. Each one
was shaggy, yet handsome looking and had pale skin and closely cut black
hair, except for a few blondes that were dotted here and there in the
crowd. All of them looked older than Vampueslome. It was then I realized
that Vampueslome must have been a child vamp, even though his appearance
didn't match that of a child. The weird noises he made during his so called
tantrum were actually calling all the other vamps to come and rescue him
and protect him from me.
I stood there and waited for what was going to come next, but all of the vamps came up to me and stopped. Everything was silent as they stood and stared at me. Vampueslome slunk around in-between everyone until he disappeared in the crowd.
There was one vamp that stood out from the rest. When he entered, all of the vamps parted to make way for him to walk through. He was very tall, straight, and agile. When he walked he moved with the utmost grace and silence. Coming to think of it, he was a tad taller than the Twins. He was dressed in black clothing, having belts wrapped around his body in places, and a long black trench coat that flowed behind him when he walked. His boots were tall and had spikes sticking out from the sides. His hands and face were paler than of his comrades, so pale it looked as if they would glow in the dark. His fingernails were black and came to a point, resembling claws. His face was almost hidden by the shoulder length, raven black hair that came down and dangled in front of his face. What I could see of his face, sent chills down me. The parts around his eyes were black and his lips and eyes showed no emotion.
Every vamp standing around me bowed its head when he entered the middle of the vampire circle. I stood still as the dark being approached me.
"At ease." He commanded the other vamps. His voice was dark and menacing. "You are new around here aren't you?" he said to me.
I nodded.
"The Merovingian brought me here several minutes ago. I'm his new prisoner."
"Ah, excellent." The vampire answered in delight. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Vlad, leader and ruler of the vamps here in the chateau."
My eyebrows perked.
"I must apologize for the ruckus that one of my young vamps caused just now. You have to understand that he's nothing more than a child. Whatever you did to him scared him so he called the rest of us to defend him, as he is not yet capable of defending himself."
"No harm done." I breathed, still in awe by Vlad's presence. "I should be the one to apologize. I slapped your vamp on the cheek to make him let go of me."
Vlad chuckled.
"Don't apologize. You had every right of doing what you thought was best. By the way, which vamp was it?"
I looked around the crowd until my eyes caught sight of Vampueslome, then I pointed in his direction.
"Vampueslome." Vlad sighed and shook his head. "Yes, you must forgive him. He's a bit flirty at times. Sometimes he gets too carried away and excited."
Vlad turned and motioned for one of the other vamps to carry Vampueslome out. The poor young vampire screamed and squirmed as the adult vamp carried him out one of the doors.
"What are you going to do to him?" I asked curiously. For a moment I almost felt sorry that I got Vampueslome in trouble.
"Nothing too bad. He just needs to be disciplined for his actions." Vlad sneered evilly. "Now what to do with you." He mused while walking around me.
"Ah! I think I have an idea." Vlad snapped his fingers. "You're coming with me." He said, grabbing hold of my arm.
"You may go back to the way you were!" Vlad motioned to his vampire army. "I have no use of you any longer."
All of the vampires turned and left the Great Hall, while Vlad pulled me along with him.
Vlad dragged me to his lair in the chateau's attic. I kicked and squirmed, but for nothing. His tight grasp on my shirt wasn't going to loosen for anything. He pushed hard on the heavy door to the attic, walked in, and threw me onto the dusty and creaky floor. I coughed and gagged on the dust that flew up in my face.
"Ever think of getting a maid?" I said, sarcastically. Vlad didn't reply but busied himself with locking the door. I scanned the dark and drafty room before I glanced at my captor. The place was filthy; dust and cobwebs everywhere, old crates and boxes piled up, some as high as the ceiling. Then there were the candlesticks, dozens of them, some taller than I was. I felt a chill creep over me at just looking the place over.
"Leader of the vampires, huh?" I said, trying to make conversation. "Bet it's a big job to herd all of those bloodsuckers and tell them what you want to do."
Before I knew it, Vlad swooped over and got right up into my face and bore his fangs. I remained calm though, almost having to fight back a chuckle.
"You aren't flinching." Vlad said through his teeth.
"I beg your pardon?"
"People always cower in my presence, but you, you haven't even blinked an eye!"
"Am I supposed to?" I replied, dusting a little dirt off my shirt.
"Do you realize that I could kill you right now if I wanted to?" Vlad slowly put his clammy hand around my neck and squeezed a little.
"Go ahead." A mischievous smile swept across my lips. "Kill me. See what the Mero says about it afterwards."
At that, Vlad jerked his hand away from me and sighed.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Of course I do. You're Vlad, leader of the vamps. Known for torturing your victims without the Merovingian's consent." I smiled.
"You're mighty brave for a female." Vlad said as he walked around me. I was careful to keep my eyes on him. There was no telling what he was thinking or planning in that dark mind of his. I reached into my jeans pocket and secretly fingered my razor. If only the Twins would hurry up and find me.
"I sense that you have no fear of me." Vlad finally spoke; sounding more disappointed than anything. "Care to show me some of your fighting power?"
"Do you want me to duel with you?" I gasped.
"Naturally." Vlad chuckled. "It may prove interesting and entertaining for the both of us."
"Whatever you say." I sighed, got up and threw off my backpack. If it was true that I was now in the Matrix, then I might could bend the rules a bit enough to beat ol' mister creepy. Anything was worth a try. If it didn't work then I was as good as dead where I stood.
"We live afterwards?" I asked, walking down to the far end of the attic.
"But of course! I'm not about to let you die yet." Vlad answered over his shoulders while walking down toward the other end. "That doesn't mean we can't rough each other up a bit though." He sneered.
"Good!" I answered, turning around to face Vlad. Vlad turned around too. I glanced at the floor around me and noticed there were several pieces of wood lying around where part of the floor was rotted and torn up.
Careless of a vampire to leave something like that lying around.
I cleared my throat and waited calmly for Vlad to give the signal for us to start whopping at each other. I pulled out my razor and flipped it open beside my leg, hoping that I remembered what Two had taught me about using it.
"You ready?" Vlad slowly asked.
"Let's tango." I answered, popping my shoulders to loosen muscles.
Suddenly, without warning, Vlad started running toward me. I remained still and calm, waiting for him to get closer. I could have easily taken up a piece of wood and had him at my mercy, but there was no law saying I couldn't have a little fun first. When he got within a few feet of me, I quickly moved to the side, letting him fly on past me and slam into the wall. He snarled and growled and turned back toward me.
"I'm not as dumb as I look." I smiled.
Vlad again made his way toward me, but I turned a cartwheel to the side and evaded him again, making him all the madder.
"Grrrrarrr! You're a tough one, I can see that!" he snarled, "But we'll see just how tough you really are!" Vlad jumped up high and caught hold of one of the attic rafters and perched himself there. Quickly I ran toward the wall nearest me and hoped for the best. I closed my eyes and stretched my legs out until they caught hold of something solid, then as if in a dream I began to walk up the slanted walls in slow motion. I opened my eyes again and caught sight of the perplexed look on Vlad's pale face. When I got as close to Vlad as possible, I turned a back flip while holding my razor out and sliced a gash in Vlad's arm.
I was going to have to work on my landing though. I lost my focus and crashed down hard onto the dusty floor, causing a dust storm to erupt. I also heard Vlad groaning. I jerked my head to look around the room, upside down from where I lay flat on my back, to see where my enemy was. I rolled over and jumped to my feet, my long dark brown hair snapping around as I did. I charged toward the wounded Vlad like a maniac, whipped around him, caught him by one arm and pulled my razor up under his neck.
"I wouldn't move if I were you." I said, through catching my breath. "For your information, Twin Two taught me everything I need to know."
"Oh, you're good." Vlad smiled. I let Vlad go and he ran to the other side of the room. Before he could get the upper hand, I raced toward him, turned a flip and hit him square in the chest with my feet, sending him flying toward the attic door. I raced back to my backpack, pulled out a couple of ninja stars and threw them, pinning Vlad's trench coattails and sleeves to the door.
"Cheat!" Vlad screamed.
"Cheat? You said we could rough each other up a bit." I smiled, grabbing hold of the stars I had thrown and pulling them out. Vlad got up and brushed himself off.
"The duel's off!" Vlad nervously paced the floor. I watched as Vlad walked around me. His black, lanky, agile figure walked the floor in front of me as if hovering with an unseen evil force.
"Tell me your greatest fear so that I may torture you with it." he said in his calm and motionless voice.
What did he think I was anyway, an idiot? I stood and stared a minute. I knew my worst fear all too well. My heart started pounding within my chest at the thought of my worst fear and coming in contact with it. Beads of sweat started forming on my face at the thought of Vlad knowing what my worst fear was and what he could do with it. I wasn't about to tell him though. I had to play it smart; I had to keep calm and cool, and think up something that I wasn't afraid of, to tell him I was afraid of it. But what? At that moment, a small mouse scampered across the floor of the attic and went behind one of the boxes, more than likely scared out of its nesting place by our rampaging. Yeah! That was it!
"Alright." I sighed heavily, "I'm afraid of guinea pigs."
Vlad's head turned to me.
"Guinea pigs?" his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. Can't stand the sight of the little beasts. They're to me what mice are to some people."
My plan had worked. Vlad's mouth turned into an evil smile as he turned to go out of the room. One of my most favorite animals is guinea pigs, but in order for my plan to work I'd have to pretend I was deathly afraid of the harmless little cute fur balls.
It wasn't long before Vlad returned to the attic, carrying with him two cages. After setting the cages down, he opened them up and let loose about two dozen guinea pigs of various colors and sizes. All the little balls of fluff rolled out and scampered and waddled about while curiously looking over their new surroundings with shiny black eyes. All of them squealed and made their little noises to each other as they slowly made their way toward me. I almost forgot my plan and ran to scoop up the darling things to cuddle them, then I caught myself and started to add a little drama to my charade by screaming at the top of my lungs and scrambling to get atop one of the boxes closest to me. Vlad laughed a little, seeming to be enjoying the show. If I could just get him to leave the attic my plan would be in full force. I continued to scream and scramble on top of the box I was on, while huffing and puffing as if on the verge of losing my breath and fainting.
When it looked as if Vlad was going to stay, he gave one last laugh, turned and left the room while slamming the door shut behind him. Evidentially he decided to leave me alone with my fear for a little while. After making sure Vlad was really gone, I eased down off of the box, right down in the middle of the cuddly creatures Vlad was so kind enough to leave me. I picked up one and held it close to my face and ran my cheek over it while I thought of an escape plan.
I woke at hearing the sound of dishes clinking. I sleepily looked up into the face of a woman. Startled, I jolted upright and backed up a little.
"It's ok, I'm not here to hurt you." said the woman. After waking up fully, I looked at her again. It was Persephone! She knelt in front of me, careful not to step on the guinea pigs that were curled up asleep on the floor, and set a tray down.
"You must be starved." Perse said in a whisper. "Here, eat." She pointed at the tray. I stood there and watched her for a few minutes, not knowing whether to trust her or not. She carefully pulled out a small chunk of lettuce that she had been carrying under her arm and placed it on the floor beside the tray. Immediately all of the once sleeping guinea pigs woke up squealing and making their way toward the food they had been given. Perse smiled and reached to rub one of the squirming animals, then looked back up at me.
"It's quite alright. I'm not here to hurt you. You can trust me."
"Can I?" I asked, slowly reaching for the tray Perse offered me. "You're a vampire."
"Don't be silly. I may be a vampire, but I'm certainly not going to feed on you. I can't, you aren't a male."
"I know. That's what eases me." I took a slice of bread and placed it to my mouth. "How did you get past Vlad?"
"One of my secrets." Perse got up and walked toward the attic door. "I'll be back in awhile to take the tray." She said before leaving the attic.
I stood there and waited for what was going to come next, but all of the vamps came up to me and stopped. Everything was silent as they stood and stared at me. Vampueslome slunk around in-between everyone until he disappeared in the crowd.
There was one vamp that stood out from the rest. When he entered, all of the vamps parted to make way for him to walk through. He was very tall, straight, and agile. When he walked he moved with the utmost grace and silence. Coming to think of it, he was a tad taller than the Twins. He was dressed in black clothing, having belts wrapped around his body in places, and a long black trench coat that flowed behind him when he walked. His boots were tall and had spikes sticking out from the sides. His hands and face were paler than of his comrades, so pale it looked as if they would glow in the dark. His fingernails were black and came to a point, resembling claws. His face was almost hidden by the shoulder length, raven black hair that came down and dangled in front of his face. What I could see of his face, sent chills down me. The parts around his eyes were black and his lips and eyes showed no emotion.
Every vamp standing around me bowed its head when he entered the middle of the vampire circle. I stood still as the dark being approached me.
"At ease." He commanded the other vamps. His voice was dark and menacing. "You are new around here aren't you?" he said to me.
I nodded.
"The Merovingian brought me here several minutes ago. I'm his new prisoner."
"Ah, excellent." The vampire answered in delight. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Vlad, leader and ruler of the vamps here in the chateau."
My eyebrows perked.
"I must apologize for the ruckus that one of my young vamps caused just now. You have to understand that he's nothing more than a child. Whatever you did to him scared him so he called the rest of us to defend him, as he is not yet capable of defending himself."
"No harm done." I breathed, still in awe by Vlad's presence. "I should be the one to apologize. I slapped your vamp on the cheek to make him let go of me."
Vlad chuckled.
"Don't apologize. You had every right of doing what you thought was best. By the way, which vamp was it?"
I looked around the crowd until my eyes caught sight of Vampueslome, then I pointed in his direction.
"Vampueslome." Vlad sighed and shook his head. "Yes, you must forgive him. He's a bit flirty at times. Sometimes he gets too carried away and excited."
Vlad turned and motioned for one of the other vamps to carry Vampueslome out. The poor young vampire screamed and squirmed as the adult vamp carried him out one of the doors.
"What are you going to do to him?" I asked curiously. For a moment I almost felt sorry that I got Vampueslome in trouble.
"Nothing too bad. He just needs to be disciplined for his actions." Vlad sneered evilly. "Now what to do with you." He mused while walking around me.
"Ah! I think I have an idea." Vlad snapped his fingers. "You're coming with me." He said, grabbing hold of my arm.
"You may go back to the way you were!" Vlad motioned to his vampire army. "I have no use of you any longer."
All of the vampires turned and left the Great Hall, while Vlad pulled me along with him.
Vlad dragged me to his lair in the chateau's attic. I kicked and squirmed, but for nothing. His tight grasp on my shirt wasn't going to loosen for anything. He pushed hard on the heavy door to the attic, walked in, and threw me onto the dusty and creaky floor. I coughed and gagged on the dust that flew up in my face.
"Ever think of getting a maid?" I said, sarcastically. Vlad didn't reply but busied himself with locking the door. I scanned the dark and drafty room before I glanced at my captor. The place was filthy; dust and cobwebs everywhere, old crates and boxes piled up, some as high as the ceiling. Then there were the candlesticks, dozens of them, some taller than I was. I felt a chill creep over me at just looking the place over.
"Leader of the vampires, huh?" I said, trying to make conversation. "Bet it's a big job to herd all of those bloodsuckers and tell them what you want to do."
Before I knew it, Vlad swooped over and got right up into my face and bore his fangs. I remained calm though, almost having to fight back a chuckle.
"You aren't flinching." Vlad said through his teeth.
"I beg your pardon?"
"People always cower in my presence, but you, you haven't even blinked an eye!"
"Am I supposed to?" I replied, dusting a little dirt off my shirt.
"Do you realize that I could kill you right now if I wanted to?" Vlad slowly put his clammy hand around my neck and squeezed a little.
"Go ahead." A mischievous smile swept across my lips. "Kill me. See what the Mero says about it afterwards."
At that, Vlad jerked his hand away from me and sighed.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Of course I do. You're Vlad, leader of the vamps. Known for torturing your victims without the Merovingian's consent." I smiled.
"You're mighty brave for a female." Vlad said as he walked around me. I was careful to keep my eyes on him. There was no telling what he was thinking or planning in that dark mind of his. I reached into my jeans pocket and secretly fingered my razor. If only the Twins would hurry up and find me.
"I sense that you have no fear of me." Vlad finally spoke; sounding more disappointed than anything. "Care to show me some of your fighting power?"
"Do you want me to duel with you?" I gasped.
"Naturally." Vlad chuckled. "It may prove interesting and entertaining for the both of us."
"Whatever you say." I sighed, got up and threw off my backpack. If it was true that I was now in the Matrix, then I might could bend the rules a bit enough to beat ol' mister creepy. Anything was worth a try. If it didn't work then I was as good as dead where I stood.
"We live afterwards?" I asked, walking down to the far end of the attic.
"But of course! I'm not about to let you die yet." Vlad answered over his shoulders while walking down toward the other end. "That doesn't mean we can't rough each other up a bit though." He sneered.
"Good!" I answered, turning around to face Vlad. Vlad turned around too. I glanced at the floor around me and noticed there were several pieces of wood lying around where part of the floor was rotted and torn up.
Careless of a vampire to leave something like that lying around.
I cleared my throat and waited calmly for Vlad to give the signal for us to start whopping at each other. I pulled out my razor and flipped it open beside my leg, hoping that I remembered what Two had taught me about using it.
"You ready?" Vlad slowly asked.
"Let's tango." I answered, popping my shoulders to loosen muscles.
Suddenly, without warning, Vlad started running toward me. I remained still and calm, waiting for him to get closer. I could have easily taken up a piece of wood and had him at my mercy, but there was no law saying I couldn't have a little fun first. When he got within a few feet of me, I quickly moved to the side, letting him fly on past me and slam into the wall. He snarled and growled and turned back toward me.
"I'm not as dumb as I look." I smiled.
Vlad again made his way toward me, but I turned a cartwheel to the side and evaded him again, making him all the madder.
"Grrrrarrr! You're a tough one, I can see that!" he snarled, "But we'll see just how tough you really are!" Vlad jumped up high and caught hold of one of the attic rafters and perched himself there. Quickly I ran toward the wall nearest me and hoped for the best. I closed my eyes and stretched my legs out until they caught hold of something solid, then as if in a dream I began to walk up the slanted walls in slow motion. I opened my eyes again and caught sight of the perplexed look on Vlad's pale face. When I got as close to Vlad as possible, I turned a back flip while holding my razor out and sliced a gash in Vlad's arm.
I was going to have to work on my landing though. I lost my focus and crashed down hard onto the dusty floor, causing a dust storm to erupt. I also heard Vlad groaning. I jerked my head to look around the room, upside down from where I lay flat on my back, to see where my enemy was. I rolled over and jumped to my feet, my long dark brown hair snapping around as I did. I charged toward the wounded Vlad like a maniac, whipped around him, caught him by one arm and pulled my razor up under his neck.
"I wouldn't move if I were you." I said, through catching my breath. "For your information, Twin Two taught me everything I need to know."
"Oh, you're good." Vlad smiled. I let Vlad go and he ran to the other side of the room. Before he could get the upper hand, I raced toward him, turned a flip and hit him square in the chest with my feet, sending him flying toward the attic door. I raced back to my backpack, pulled out a couple of ninja stars and threw them, pinning Vlad's trench coattails and sleeves to the door.
"Cheat!" Vlad screamed.
"Cheat? You said we could rough each other up a bit." I smiled, grabbing hold of the stars I had thrown and pulling them out. Vlad got up and brushed himself off.
"The duel's off!" Vlad nervously paced the floor. I watched as Vlad walked around me. His black, lanky, agile figure walked the floor in front of me as if hovering with an unseen evil force.
"Tell me your greatest fear so that I may torture you with it." he said in his calm and motionless voice.
What did he think I was anyway, an idiot? I stood and stared a minute. I knew my worst fear all too well. My heart started pounding within my chest at the thought of my worst fear and coming in contact with it. Beads of sweat started forming on my face at the thought of Vlad knowing what my worst fear was and what he could do with it. I wasn't about to tell him though. I had to play it smart; I had to keep calm and cool, and think up something that I wasn't afraid of, to tell him I was afraid of it. But what? At that moment, a small mouse scampered across the floor of the attic and went behind one of the boxes, more than likely scared out of its nesting place by our rampaging. Yeah! That was it!
"Alright." I sighed heavily, "I'm afraid of guinea pigs."
Vlad's head turned to me.
"Guinea pigs?" his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. Can't stand the sight of the little beasts. They're to me what mice are to some people."
My plan had worked. Vlad's mouth turned into an evil smile as he turned to go out of the room. One of my most favorite animals is guinea pigs, but in order for my plan to work I'd have to pretend I was deathly afraid of the harmless little cute fur balls.
It wasn't long before Vlad returned to the attic, carrying with him two cages. After setting the cages down, he opened them up and let loose about two dozen guinea pigs of various colors and sizes. All the little balls of fluff rolled out and scampered and waddled about while curiously looking over their new surroundings with shiny black eyes. All of them squealed and made their little noises to each other as they slowly made their way toward me. I almost forgot my plan and ran to scoop up the darling things to cuddle them, then I caught myself and started to add a little drama to my charade by screaming at the top of my lungs and scrambling to get atop one of the boxes closest to me. Vlad laughed a little, seeming to be enjoying the show. If I could just get him to leave the attic my plan would be in full force. I continued to scream and scramble on top of the box I was on, while huffing and puffing as if on the verge of losing my breath and fainting.
When it looked as if Vlad was going to stay, he gave one last laugh, turned and left the room while slamming the door shut behind him. Evidentially he decided to leave me alone with my fear for a little while. After making sure Vlad was really gone, I eased down off of the box, right down in the middle of the cuddly creatures Vlad was so kind enough to leave me. I picked up one and held it close to my face and ran my cheek over it while I thought of an escape plan.
I woke at hearing the sound of dishes clinking. I sleepily looked up into the face of a woman. Startled, I jolted upright and backed up a little.
"It's ok, I'm not here to hurt you." said the woman. After waking up fully, I looked at her again. It was Persephone! She knelt in front of me, careful not to step on the guinea pigs that were curled up asleep on the floor, and set a tray down.
"You must be starved." Perse said in a whisper. "Here, eat." She pointed at the tray. I stood there and watched her for a few minutes, not knowing whether to trust her or not. She carefully pulled out a small chunk of lettuce that she had been carrying under her arm and placed it on the floor beside the tray. Immediately all of the once sleeping guinea pigs woke up squealing and making their way toward the food they had been given. Perse smiled and reached to rub one of the squirming animals, then looked back up at me.
"It's quite alright. I'm not here to hurt you. You can trust me."
"Can I?" I asked, slowly reaching for the tray Perse offered me. "You're a vampire."
"Don't be silly. I may be a vampire, but I'm certainly not going to feed on you. I can't, you aren't a male."
"I know. That's what eases me." I took a slice of bread and placed it to my mouth. "How did you get past Vlad?"
"One of my secrets." Perse got up and walked toward the attic door. "I'll be back in awhile to take the tray." She said before leaving the attic.