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Her vision was returning to her. The blurry room was coming into focus. Rose looked around. It was a tall circular room walled in stone. She sat there against the cold bricks and freezing on the floor. Even though her arms were limp, her hands remained risen above her head. It was there she realized she was shackled in heavy iron restraints to the wall. A long thick black chain coming from the middle of the floor locked her feet together. All together, she was vulnerable to anything.

The door squeaked loudly as it swung open. Ned, wearing a smug look of satisfaction, strolled into the room. Rose immediately recoiled at the sight of him. How she hated that beast!

"You!" she shouted, "Let me go!"

He just smiled, "Now why would I do that?"

She struggled in her chains, trying to accost him, "I'll kill you!"

His laugh was casual, but oh so evil of a chuckle, "You, a mortal, thinks she can kill me?"

Rose fought to break her chains. But what use was it? They were much stronger than she was. Ned just watched with interest as she struggled. He knew what she was thinking when she stopped.

"I must say you are the most beautiful bride I've ever had." Ned purred. He knelt down at her level and glided his skinny fingers down her cheek.

She snapped at him, "Not even in your dreams!"

"In the past," Ned began, "I have had sixty-eight wives. Only about twelve of them, whom were desperate for love, had agreed to marry me."

Rose retorted, "I suppose you couldn't settle down with just one."

Ned gave a fierce look, "You know not of the curse placed upon me. Hundreds of years ago, I upset the Higher Vampire Lords when the Master's daughter fell in love with me. I loved her, and we wed. Her father was angered because I was not the husband he wanted for her. He cursed me to starve, and to only drink the blood of my wife. That was her punishment. The blood of all others would turn into ash in my mouth."

"So that's why you want to marry me, you're hungry." Rose answered.

He nodded, "Exactly. Within the last century, the effects of the curse were wearing off and I could draw blood from livestock. It filled my stomach, even though it did not fully satisfy my hunger. But the High Vampire Lords saw this and imprisoned me in a fiery chamber, my only doorway out being a wall with the house of little Squee's next door neighbor."

"Squee's next door neighbor? Johnny!" Rose's eyes shot open.

"It seems you know the man," Ned smiled, "He's been keeping me imprisoned for the last few years. But every time I got close to breaking through, he'd lay a new layer of blood from a victim he picked over the wall and seal me out. While he was away for quite some time, I escaped."

"You escaped when Johnny was hurt!" Rose rattled the chains again.

"I see. Well, the night I escaped, I summoned my brother to kill everyone in his house. My poor little brother isn't like me. He was born a hideous demon with teeth and tentacles. Matter it did not, he served his purpose. When he grew strong from all the death he caused, I killed him myself and absorbed his strength. After all, I was very weak." Ned ranted on.

Rose glared at him, "You killed your own brother! You are sick!"

Ned smirked, "Am I not? I found you sometime later, singing your beautiful song. That night I tried to see if the curse had worn off by draining a pair of irritating workers at the 24/7. The blood still couldn't satisfy my hunger, even though it kept me alive. It's like water. You can't survive off it, but it will keep you alive long enough."

"You can't drink my blood," Rose attempted a lie, "I have Sickle Cell Anemia. You'll die if you drink my blood."

Ned scoffed, "You're a beautiful woman but a pathetic liar."

Rose leaned back against the wall. She had become tired from trying to free herself. It was useless. Iron is stronger than the arm. Ned came closer to Rose, practically an inch away from her face.

"I promise you," he spoke in a falsely soothing voice, "Your wedding won't be a disappointment."

She didn't look at him. She didn't want him to see her tears welling in her eyes. He merely stood up and strolled out on the front. The door slammed shut behind him, and echoed throughout the room. It was the only sound Rose could hear for the longest time.

Squee's eyes shot wide open. All he could see was the light coming from the hallway through the keyhole of the closet door. His dream still gave him shivers. He remembered Rose's scared face and Ned's sinister grin. And every word Ned had told her still buzzed in his memory. He needed to help Rose, he needed to rescue her!

Squee threw his little body at the door with all his might. He knew it would wake his parents, but he didn't care. His parents didn't even care about him, why should he care about them. After several tries, and several waves of sweat, a last thrust to the door broke the lock open and flung him onto the hallway floor.

His father hollered from his study, "Be quiet, you little leach. I look forward to the day you die of suffocation!"

Squee ran as fast as his little legs could take him. He grabbed his little blue backpack and unzipped it open. He threw in a little flashlight, a foam-coated softball bat, a little plastic compass, two ChockieChip granola bars, and the two pieces of Shmee.

He called out to his parents as he ran down the stairs, "Bye Mom! Bye Dad! I'm running away!"

The flashing TV lit the room faded blue as his mother continue to snore on the couch. Nothing came from his dad. The door slammed behind him and he took off for Johnny's house.

Johnny's pen flew in the air when several little bangs on the door startled him. He heard a tiny voice on the other side. It sounded like Squee.

"Johnny! Johnny wake up!" he pounded his small fists on the shabby door, "Come on Johnny! I need your help!"

He opened the door to find his little friend all in a panic, "What's wrong, Squee?"

Squee latched his fingers around the hem of Johnny's shirt, "I need your help. We have to save Rosie!"

Johnny's eyes sharpened, "Her new boyfriend can help her."

He turned to go back into the shadows of his house but Squee wouldn't let go.

He pleaded, "Please Johnny! Ned kidnapped Rosie and now he's going to kill her! We have to help!"

Johnny looked down to his young friend. Tears were beading in his giant eyes. But there is another reason. Without Rose, Squee will probably be abused by his parents some more. But the last fact he couldn't deny. After so long of being lost in thought, Johnny had come to the obvious truth, he loved Rose.

"Where do we have to go?" Johnny asked.

Squee smiled brightly, "You'll help!"

He nodded simply, "I'll help. Now how to we get to Ned?"

Squee's face clenched with thought. After a minute or so, an answer came to him, "When Ned came to my house last night he told me he lived in a place where people had come but no one stayed. All the rest were too afraid. The prisoners' ghosts won't leave me alone. The answer lies amongst the stone. Serfs and Vassals of the past, stay with there home until the last. Then he jumped out the window."

It was remarkable to Johnny how a little kid like Squee remembered all that. He stood there in silent thought, calculating the riddle just recited.

Let me think. Come but don't stay…like a visit. And the rest were too afraid? Prisoners' ghosts…amongst the stone…serfs, vassals.

"That's it!" Johnny exclaimed, "Eureka!"

Squee jumped up and down, "What! What! What!"

He went on, "It's Camberland Ice Castle."

The kid raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Johnny ranted his answer, "Camberland Ice Castle was a tourist attraction three years ago before business went bad and they closed it down. Apparently the ghosts started scaring away more people than attracting them. That's what he meant by 'People come but no one stayed. All the rest were too afraid.' The castle was haunted by two kinds of ghosts: Prisoners from the Zachotony Prison and peasants and vassals from the medieval era. A long time ago, there was a battle at the castle and only the serfs and vassals who truly loyal to the kingdom remained to defend it while the rest fled. The prisoners are there because after a tornado threw a train into the south tower, bricks from the demolished Zachotony prison were used to repair it. Several prisoners died in that place and will remain with it forever. That's the answer that lies within the stone."

It was quite a round up. But it made perfect sense. Squee's head was practically spinning from so many words in less than two minutes.

"Uh, how do we get to the castle?" he wondered.

Johnny snapped his fingers, "We hotwire and borrow."

Johnny seemed to know exactly which car he wanted and exactly how to hotwire it. Where he learned this no one wanted to know. But he led Squee to the black iron gates with the name West above them of a rather fancy looking estate all the way across the city.

"Whose house is this?" Squee silently followed Johnny as they crawled over the fence and snuck across the dark front yard. This place was huge. He wondered why he had never seen it before. But of course this was the richer side of the city.

They neared the garage. It didn't look too well guarded. Johnny and Squee smoothly snuck their way around to the back of the huge garage. They inched over to a huge window placed in the center of the back wall. Johnny searched around in his pockets before digging out a rather small knife. She put it up to the glass and slowly but surely carved into the window. It took about twenty minutes for Johnny to finish a circle big enough for him and Squee to fit through, which didn't have to be too big. He first grabbed Squee and fed him through, then slipped through the hole himself. Squee took out his flashlight and shined in on the vehicle of choice.

He gasped, "We're going to steal the Bat Mobile!"

"Where not stealing the Bat Mobile," Johnny assured to Squee, being relieved to hear this, "We're borrowing it!"

He gulped. Squee just couldn't believe it. Johnny paced around the huge black car, deep in thought. Squee hopped in the passenger seat, feeling the leather cushions.

"Now the last time I did this…" Johnny rambled off, "I took this one wire…"

"Johnny,"

"No, no, no! It wasn't that one. It was that little blue one…"

"Johnny…"

"Oh, damn! I forgot the paperclip!"

"Johnny!"

"WHAT!" Johnny huffed in frustration.

Squee pointed, "The keys are already in the car."

Johnny looked, "Oh."

The garage door smashed open, and the bat mobile raced through the flying debris and torn through the front gate. The windshield wasn't even scratched. Squee held on tight as they zipped down the road faster than any other car. The wind sped over their heads. Several people along the roads either shouted at them or cheered for them.

"Hey, Johnny, "Squee asked, "Do you know the way to the castle?"

Johnny slipped on a pair of sunglasses he found in the glove compartment, "Yep."

Johnny and Squee speeded along the city streets. Passing every cop that didn't seem to care that they were speeding with a stolen, ahem, borrowed car. It buzzed in Squee mind wondering how long before the police realize they stole the Bat Mobile. Johnny turned on Maineway Street. All the while, voices were screaming in Johnny's head.

Don't worry, Rose. I'll find you. I'll get you out of there. And when I do, I'm gonna KILL Ned!

The Maiden of Light: Not too bad, eh? I worked on it all Independence Day. tears  It was too rainy for fireworks. And how was the riddle? That one took me a minute or so. Well, I'll write you later. Read, review, and rock! grabs a guitar and smashes it in the side of a speaker. Unfortunately the speaker tips over and crushes me Splat! Uh…ouch…need a….really…big…b…b...band-aid.