Disclaimer: All I own in this is my friend's characters, nothing else is mine.

Chapter 16

Everything was dark and cold, she was aware of this she realised which meant that she was not dead. No Joy followed this realisation; it meant a fate much worse than death.

In her last moments Sarah hoped he would take too much of her blood too fast and be unable to bring her back, or else decide that she was not worthy to be his bride after all. A hopeless fantasy she realised now laying in the darkness.

She could not hear her heart beating, and the thought saddened her. She realized that the sound had been ever present so that in her life she had taken it for granted. Now the silence pressed around her, smothering her. Her breath had also been stolen away. She knew that when she looked she would see her chest laying still, her useless lungs empty now.

For awhile she listened to the silence, perhaps she could stay here forever she thought and eventually maybe a kind of death would occur as it had done to Lestat in her dog eared copy of Anne Rice's novels. It was ironic that she was now a creature of her stories.

Throughout her life those books had been her escape, her way of shutting out the world and entering another. The charismatic Lestat had enchanted her as had Dracula.

Sarah recoiled even at his name; she had been such a fool over the years falling steadily in love with the character. His nature and his elegance had seduced her as it had so many others sitting safely in a world where he existed only in the written word. Here he was all too real and he had taken her to a place where even her own mind was no longer a refuge, she would have to live fully in his world there would be no escape she could not let life pass her by as she had so often done before. To do something so foolish now could mean the end of more lives then hers.

Her friend's faces appeared in her mind then, as clear as if they were stood in front of her. Marston laughed his eyes screwing up in amusement his long hair falling across them. Amie was talking to Bob who was hanging on her every word playfully she smacked his arm and he took the opportunity to pull her into a kiss. At the time Sarah had teased them about public displays of affection but now the memory made her marvel at the sweetness of their love for each other. Chris was sat at his computer engaged in a chat room with Tony; they playfully exchanged insults over the system and laughed together. Jory entered the image using a rolled up newspaper as a light sabre and promptly attacked Tony with it…

The scene faded and Sarah again was left alone in her misery. How long had it been since she had awaken? Minutes, Hours, Days?

She shifted her position and for the first time felt something soft beneath her body, slowly she lifted her hand and felt around her. It was Silk she realized; her hands moved to the side and discovered a wall of something, which felt like highly polished wood. Sarah began to tremble at the implications of this. Frantically she felt above her head and found to her horror another wooden barrier!

Her eye snapped open, she was in a coffin.

With a cry of terror she pushed against the heavy lid with all her might, surprised at how easily she was able to move it and throw it to the side. For a second she lay blinking letting the panic subside, had she felt something then? In the midst of her panic something had fluttered in her chest her poor heart had almost begun to beat! She placed her hand over her left breast and waited silently. Nothing it had all been in her mind.

Slowly she sat up and looked over her body. Her clothes had been removed and she was now clad in a white two piece gown identical to that which Dracula's brides wore. Raising her arm she saw the translucent white sleeves slide along her skin, to her horror she realized she could not feel it on her arms her body felt almost numb, the sense of touch had left her along with her life.

A teardrop fell into her lap then and she raised her hands to her face bringing them back damp with tears. She sat and sobbed silently for a moment grieving for all she had lost. She thought of her mother waiting for her to come home, she would wait forever. Never knowing what had happened to her daughter.

Sarah forced herself not to think of such things now and angrily wiped away her tears. She had to be strong now above all she had to maintain her humanity for as long as it took her to escape.

For the first time she looked at her surroundings. The room was simple, a large fireplace covered on wall two chairs and a desk set in front of it.

Books lined most of the walls and one large window faced the west. Shakily Sarah climbed out of the coffin, a wave of dizziness made her grip the side for a moment until it passed. Slowly she walked towards the window. Outside the sky was only just becoming dark the sun's last pink rays framed some distant mountains. Sarah found that the light hurt her eyes and was almost pleased that at least she could still feel pain.

She turned her back on the window and looked across the room noticing for the first time a large oak mirror stood against on wall. She hesitated before walking towards it. The mirror would confirm what she already knew but she had to see it to know for certain what she was. She was stood to one side now away from its face so she couldn't see what its surface showed.

Closing her eyes she prepared herself before taking one careful step to her right so that she faced the glass.

Slowly she opened her eyes. The mirror showed her the room behind her, the fireplace the desk the books they were all there…she was not. To the mirror she didn't exist. The terrible confirmation sent her spiralling into a pit of misery and rage; she screamed and threw the mirror across the room where it exploded showering her with sharp shards of glass.

She blinked, as she felt several cut her but only became more maddened as the wounds instantly closed themselves. "NO!" she screamed.

For what seemed like hours she methodically destroyed the room around her, nothing was spared. Eventually she fell huddled into a far corner exhausted her body trembling from her efforts. The sky was completely black now as the room must be she thought. No candles were lit and the fireplace was cool and empty. Yet she could see every detail of the room as easily as if it were midday, more so. The tiniest shard of glass was visible on the other side of the large room. Sarah chuckled madly to herself "I'll never need my contacts again" she muttered.

Suddenly the stillness of the night was broken by an inhuman shriek that seemed to echo around the chamber. A stab of fear entered Sarah's now stone-like heart.

Dracula was awake.