Lol, thanks Kat! 'Tis the shortest chapter so far, I think, although it seemed to take forever to write! Ok people, you know what to do, please read and review. Please? Pretty please?

CHAPTER 5- TIME

When Annora came around she found herself lying on a bed and her arm had been bandaged. She didn't open her eyes immediately but lay still for a few minutes, breathing deeply. She felt cold, sick and shaky. Then suddenly she sat up, retched and vomited onto the floor. This seemed to alert the people in the room that she was awake. The three women hurried over to her side looking concerned.

"Are you alright?" asked the redheaded woman. She had a whiny sort of voice. Annora nodded weakly.

"Our master will be with you shortly," said the dark haired woman. The blonde one dabbed her forehead with a damp sponge and handed her a large cup of water with a slight grimace at the crystal liquid.

"Where am I?" Annora asked,downing the icy water gratefully.

"You are in Castle Dracula, Transylvania, Romania. The Count brought you here last night," explained the blonde haired woman. All three of them looked young and very beautiful. Annora wondered who they were; the Count had never mentioned them.

"I am Aleera," said the redhead as though she had read Annora's thoughts and Annora had a horrible feeling she actually had.)

"Verona," nodded the dark haired one.

"And I'm Marishka," said Marishka, rinsing out the sponge and dabbing at Annora's forehead again.

"How long have I been-?"

"Unconscious? About three hours. It only took my master two hours to get you here. He flew very swiftly." Aleera inspected her long fingernails.

"Where is he?"

"It appears that warm English weather did not improve our dear Count's health much at all. He has had to retire to his ice chamber," said Verona, glaring viciously at Aleera.

"He seemed to enjoy himself... and he brought her back," said Marishka jerking her head towards Annora.

"Yes, yes but I still think he should have gone somewhere colder." Verona argued, "He's come back tired and sickly pale, not just his normal pallor. Besides, he seemed pretty depressed when he first came in to me."

"You are simply bitter because he liked my idea of England better," said Aleera loftily.

"Don't be so childish Aleera!" Verona snapped back.

Annora closed her eyes and tried to shut out their voices so that she could think. She guessed these women were servants but she was confused. Would servants speak so intimately about their master? Perhaps they were concubines... Annora drifted off to sleep to sound of their bickering, still exhausted by the events of the last twenty-four hours.

"Shh! She's asleep!" whispered Marishka. The three brides looked down at Annora thoughtfully.

"I don't think she knows who we are," said Verona, adjusting her ruff.

"Then we should tell her!" said Aleera contemptuously, flicking her hair.

"I think if the Count wanted her to know he would have told her," commented Marishka. "She's quite pretty this one," she added. "I wonder how she got those bruises."

"Oh yes, beautiful," sneered Verona, "sunburnt face, freckles, obviously deprived of sleep, her eyes are much too big for her face, she is far too thin and her hair's a mess. It's all knotted and tangled from the wind. And it needs washing."

"I'm sure that if she was a little healthier then she would be more attractive," said Aleera. "My Lord only chooses beautiful women as his brides."

"I do indeed," agreed the Count, appearing behind them.

"Master! You look much better," crooned Aleera.

"Yes, much more refreshed." Verona agreed.

"Ah, my darlings, I feel wonderful! At last I have remembered why I sold my soul! I feel so alive. I had been empty for so long... but now, I feel so joyful I could swear that my heart beats in my breast once again!"

"That is wonderful my Lord!" cried Marishka. He smiled and beckoned them into his arms. They fussed over him and he stood looking down at Annora with his arms around his three brides.

"When are you going to bite her?" asked Marishka eagerly.

Dracula didn't answer straight away. He didn't know if he ever would sire Annora, she was so delightful as she was. If he turned her, would she lose that wonderful childlike innocence that led her to trust even the undead?

"She doesn't like to be touched by us," he said at last," she shudders at the emptiness inside our hearts, fears the creatures we become and weeps at what we do to live." He gave a dry chuckle. "But soon she will learn that my touch can be far from unpleasant and when that day comes, she will be mine. All I need is time."

"You never seduced me," Verona commented in a would-be-casual voice that was lightly laced with only the remotestbit of jealousy. "You just sired me when we were dancing."

"You did not need seducing. Annora has too much faith in God for me to turn her willingly and the angels protect her. And, if I do it without her consent, then she could never wholly be mine,"

"Protected by angels? Is she one of these pure, very religious people then? Does she think we all deserve to burn in hell?" asked Aleera sharply.

"No," said the Count, "she wants to try and redeem us so we can go to heaven if we ever get killed again."

"Is she mad?" Marishka laughed.

"No, she just believes that God never deserts us."

He fell silent, staring into space.

"My Lord?" Aleera anxiously stroked his face.

"There is no hope for us," Verona sighed. Dracula nodded and pulled away from them to stand closer to where Annora lay sleeping. He had an odd, closed look upon his face.

"In time I will prove you wrong," he muttered to her sleeping form. Then without turning he said, "Leave me with her. I will send for you when I want to speak with you."

The brides left him; casting resentful looks at Annora. Dracula took a seat on the window ledge and wondered how she would react when she found out Joshua Burrard was dead. Impaled by a twelve-inch talon.

Please let me know what you think! Chapter 6 is coming soon.