Chapter 12: Inner Turmoil

AN: YEAH!!!!!! I can now LEGALLY drive! WeeHeee! I am the proud owner of a class E learner's license! Hahah! Pedestrians beware! Drivers beware! Anything that moves…Beware! Kekekeke. (shifty eyes)

Yeah. On a more relevant note, All Hallow's is postponed yet again. I'm really sorry about that. Next chapter, I swear! Really! The thing that happened is that at 1:00 am, under the influence of sleeping meds and therefore extremely out of it, my muse thought of the idea for this chapter. I think she's on something, really. So if this chapter totally sucks or confuses you, you'll know why.

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"Perhaps I made a mistake," said Dracula tightly. He was searching through a drawer for something. I stood against the wall, watching him closely.

"I had thought you would enjoy a room that contained a window more than if I had you placed in one without. Perhaps, if this is how you act when given privileges…" he trailed off as he turned around.

In one hand, he held a tiny gold bracelet, which he fitted around my wrist. Strangely enough, once closed, the clasp disappeared. I found that as small as my hand was, I couldn't slip the bracelet off, though I did try. Something told me that no good would come of this. Dracula watched my futile attempts with a sort of grim satisfaction.

"That will prevent you from trying to escape again, I hope." My eyes flew up to his face in surprise. Where did he get the idea that I'd tried to escape? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glimmer of red.

Aleera.

Of course. She would try and make trouble for me. What poisonous lies had she been whispering in his ear? Clearly her only goal was to see me gone, one way or another.

"But I wasn't trying to escape!" I protested. Dracula looked at me dubiously. "I wanted to see the city! Search my mind if you must. You know I'm telling the truth."

"Then where were you going?" his voice was as hard as steel. "You weren't just looking at shops." I hesitated, not sure if it would be a good idea to tell a vampire in this mood that I went to church. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me.

"I can find the answer in your mind if I want, but I'd much rather that you just told me the truth."

I sighed. Staring at the ground like a disobedient child I said, "I went to the church."

"The church." The statement was flat and emotionless, and I squirmed inside. Suddenly, his opinion mattered, though I had no idea why. "I have no use for the church. God has abandoned me and so I have in turn abandoned Him. The church is almost as empty as I."

The tears that had been threatening for some time spilled over. Hearing him speak like this was just shredding me.

"The church is not empty!" I cried, startling Dracula out of his own bitter little world. "You're just too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice! No one is forsaken!"

But there was a seed of doubt in my mind. The priest had been speaking in general of humanity; I had not confessed to him my situation. What if Dracula was right? The thought of being abandoned filled my insides with dread and turned the blood in my veins to ice. My tears flowed faster.

I had cried so much these past weeks. It was all his fault. Whoever said I needed to have courage obviously didn't know me very well. I hadn't the capacity. I hadn't the strength.

A pair of cold hands slid themselves around my waist.

'I will not abandon you,' Dracula's voice whispered in my head. Strangely enough, I believed him, though a tiny voice inside of me wondered at my sudden change of mind. I squashed it and buried my face in his chest, seeking comfort.

'Promise me.' I felt him smile slightly as he placed a small chaste kiss on my forehead.

'I promise.'

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I know, I know! It's a really short chappie and I'm really sorry, but there's two reasons for this. The first is that I want to get to All Hallow's before I die of old age and if I keep writing every little side chapter my muse thinks up, I never will. Also, I didn't know where to go with this chap and didn't want to ruin it by forcing it. Actually, three reasons. If I combined this chapter with the next one, it would end up being ridiculously long or something, which would mean longer update-wait time for you guys. Next chapter: All Hallow's (I swear, I swear!) Damn my muse.

Whack!

Ow.