Hey! Sorry about the long wait! Thank you so so so much for all of your helpful reviews! They crack me up and brighten my day! Hope you enjoy chapter 26!

DRACULA'S POINT OF VIEW:

I charged into his room and grabbed Octavian by the throat. Thrusting him up against the hard, stonewall, I bared my teeth at him and hissed. His teeth lengthened, but he knew better than to try to fight me off. "It has come to my knowledge that you have taken quite a liking to our little Cassidy, friend." I growled into his face. He made a choking sound and I smiled inside of myself. It has been a while since I have pounded fear into a victim. But Octavian wasn't a victim, oh no! He was a student with a lesson to learn. "We're going to have to make a few minor arrangements so we can work around that…won't we?" I said coldly, not really wanting a response. I dropped him to the floor and stepped over him to the doorway. "Forgive me…Master…" He whimpered out behind me. I stopped in my tracks. Clenching my fists at my sides, I answered back, "Just remember your place Octavian…or I will show youhow itfeels to be in Hell's grasp." With that said, I took my leave.

CASSIDY'S POINT OF VIEW:

Wondering aimlessly around Dracula's little imprisonment for me, I cursed his name. The least he could do after locking me up in here was to give me some chores of some sort. I'm bored! I looked up from the floor and gasped. There on the wall was a painting of Dracula. His hair was down and he looked so young, so…naïve. I smirked silently to myself. I should so use this against him sometime. I went to turn around, only to collide into Dracula himself. He chuckled a deep, throaty laugh as he caught me in his arms. He placed a small, yet passionate kiss upon my dry lips then pushed me gently towards the wall. "You may go now." He said simply. My eyes widened and my haw dropped. He's letting me go? He motioned to the wall and the doors appeared. I frowned. This was too easy.

Right, Count. You think I'm going to dash to those doors with my hopes up for freedom and then you'll make them disappear and I'll wake up with a headache. "No, I assure you that those doors aren't going anywhere." He said with a tilt of his head. I looked towards him then I looked towards the door. I slowly made my way to the doors. When they did not disappear, I tried the handle and slowly pushed a door open. I looked back to him confused. "This won't be our last meeting, my love." He said as the doors closed softly in front of me. Woo hoo! I'm free! "CASSIDY!" I heard the remaining Brides scream from another floor of this enormous castle. "Who am I kidding? I'll never be free." I murmured to myself before heading into the direction I heard their cries.

I entered Verona's room and she rushed towards me with open arms. "My dear," she gasped as she embraced me, "where have you been? I've been worried." I looked at her a moment before shrugging. "Oh, I've just been…a bit caught up in my work, you see?" I explained hopefully. She nodded then looked to my hands. "My darling, your hands are absolutely parched! Here, take some of my hand butter." She led me to her vanity chest and motioned towards her butter bowl. I cautiously dipped my hand into the silky softness and rubbed it between my fingers. As I let my hands absorb the butter I noticed a lovely green silk dress hanging in front of her closet. She must have noticed my gaping state for she chuckled and said, "My dress. For the Masque tomorrow evening." I sighed. How I would love to dress up for a ball and dance with the man of my dreams. My thoughts quickly wandered to Dracula. I mentally slapped myself and let my eyes wander to other fascinating trinkets that adorned her chest. My eyes found a little bottle that had a round substance attached to it to squeeze whatever inside of it out. My curiosity took over and I gave the round ball a squeeze. A blue liquid shot out and splattered the front part of Verona's dress. My eyes widened and my heart stopped beating. She however did not notice for she was gathering clothes for me to watch.

"Our little friend Thomas is doing much better. He's such a sweet little boy." She said without turning around. I smiled nervously and quickly side stepped over to the dress and began rubbing furiously on the blue stain. "Yes…he-uh-is certainly a charming young man…" I sputtered out. She turned around and I quickly concealed the stain from her with my body. She looked at me strangely before smiling and turning back to what she was doing. When she did, I turned back to the dress and spit on my hands. I rubbed helplessly on the dress, but it only made the stain worse. Oh dear sweet lord. I'm too young to die! "You know, I'm not sure if it's just me but I think that dress needs pressed." Verona suggested. I sighed in relief. "Yes! I absolutely agree! It surely will be pressed for you, mistress." I said. She smiled and picked up the basket of clothes for me. I quickly grabbed the dress and shoved it into the basket and grabbed it with haste away from her. "My my, in a hurry aren't we?" She tsked with her arms folded. I slowly turned and pasted a smile on my face. "Well, I just want to get my work out of the way so I can spend the rest of my time tending to Thomas." I replied. She only nodded and sent me on my way.

THOMAS'S POINT OF VIEW:

A soft tapping noise came from my door and I placed my book I was reading down. Who could that be? "Come in…" I mumbled. My spirits instantly brightened when I noticed it was Cassidy coming through the door. She smiled meekly and placed her hand in mine. My heart fluttered at the contact. "How are you feeling?" She asked timidly. I shrugged and put on a cheeky smile and said, "Better now that you're here my little dove." She giggled softly and sat down beside me on the bed. "I'm sorry for what he did. You did not deserve…" I cut her off, "It is alright now, Cass. I'm fine. See?" I carefully stood up and took a couple steps to show her that I could walk all right. She smiled proudly and stood next to me.

I gave her a small hug and she buried her head in the crook of my neck. I breathed in her scent and sighed softly. Oh Cassidy! How I love you! "Am I intruding?" Cassidy and I both spun around to see the Count leaning casually against my doorway. Was that jealousy I saw in his eyes? "No." Cassidy said simply as if the Count and her were good friends. "Good. I want you two to scrub the ballroom floors for the ball tomorrow…" He looked at me and smirked icily. "Spotless, you understand?" We both nodded and headed towards the door. But as we left the room, Cassidy was pulled aside and waved helplessly for me to go on ahead. I did so, but not without showing her my confusion. Why had Dracula pull her aside like that?

I waited for about 10 minutes before the ballroom doors opened and Cassidy walked in with a dazed look on her face. Her lips were swollen and there were small purple marks on her neck and upper chest. She saw my stare and blinked. "Cat." She said simply then gestured towards the bucket of water in her hand. "Shall we?"

CASSIDY'S POINT OF VIEW:

As Thomas and I were finishing the last couple of tiles of the marble floor, my thoughts wandered back to my encounter with Dracula. When he had pulled me aside, my body danced with desire when I felt his hands rush over my hips and chest. He lowered his lips hungrily down to mine and devoured me in a long, passionate kiss. He murmured my name between kisses, trailing his tongue down my collarbone and down onto the sensitive skin on my neck. He would then begin to nibble my ear tauntingly while his hands caressed my body. He whispered sweet nothings into my ears and pleaded for me to come to him tonight. How could I deny him in that state? I merely nodded and captured his lips once more for another searing kiss. My hands began to work at his shirt and his hands began to tug on my small dress.

All of a sudden, Marishka's voice rang out down the halls, calling Dracula to her. Dracula hissed and cursed under his breath. I giggled a little and he smirked. Placing one last kiss to my forehead he walked off down the hall, leaving me in a daze of desire. How could he torture me so? "Cassidy?" Was that Dracula? Calling back to finish his job? I hope so! "Cassidy!" I snapped out of it and turned to a very confused Thomas. "What?" I asked stupidly. "You have been scrubbing my leg for the last five minutes. I was just wondering…why?" I looked down and noticed that I in fact had been scrubbing away on his leg instead of the floor. In fact…I still was. I quickly raised my hand and gave him an innocent smile. He merely chuckled and shook his head. We looked around at the work we were almost finished with. Thank God. This took about 4 hours. This was a good-sized room!

All of a sudden, the door behind us slammed and we whirled around to see Octavian. I shuddered involuntarily and he smirked. That's when I noticed all the mud collected on his rider's boots. Oh, he wouldn't dare! But he did. He began to waltz around the grand room, tramping mud around the once sparkling floor while me and Thomas watched with our eyes narrowed and our traps open. When he had reached the other side of the room, he bowed mockingly to us and then blew a kiss to me before exiting. Thomas and I stared around at all the hard work we had done that was now covered in thick brown mud. I cursed under my breath as Thomas said, "It's official. I'm going to kill him!"

Again! Sorry about the wait! Hope this chapter was long enough for you all!