I didn't know if vampires drank blood from an already dead mortal they'd die... hmm let's just say in this story that doesn't apply, lol
Icy. Cold. Gloomy. Deathly. These were words which described how Lireela felt about the castle. She did not want to be held hostage in a place such as this. There was nothing cheery about it... nothing a human would ever think pleasurable. It had been a week since the first feeding, and Lireela had not gone to watch more. Just thinking about it made her sick. She had not seen Dracula or Verona since they had left the first feeding. Aleera had brought her food. It was good food, bread and chicken, wine and salad. But Lireela was desperately homesick. She missed her father, and most of all, Jericho. How long ago was it when she had first met him? About two years, she remembered. He had come to attend church the first morning she'd seen him. He could not find a seat anywhere except the one beside Lireela. She had not minded. It was a great service, she remembered, and afterwards, she had asked Jericho where he came from and he said he had just moved from Scotland where his father wasn't doing very well financially. They had come here to start over. Things had gone well since then. Lireela knew he would be looking for her, and it made her heart ache with longing to see him and tell him she loved him.
Damn you, Dracula, she thought, burying her face in her pillow, which smelled of dust and decay just as did everything else in the castle. You've taken me away from everything I know. And for what? You've yet to bite me! Why do you not just get it over with? Why must I become one of you? Why??
Sobbing, she began to drift off into an uneasy sleep.
There was a loud knock on the door.
Lireela did not answer. She was too tired, she needed rest.
Knock. Knock.
Still she did not answer.
The door burst open and in came Aleera.
"When I knock on the door, you are to answer!" she hissed at Lireela, shutting the curtains that Lireela had opened earlier. "And the master says you stay up another hour."
"Why?" demanded Lireela, sitting up.
"I've already answered that," Aleera sneered, bringing her face close to Lireela's. "And you will do as you're told. Or else -"
She bared her fangs and her eyes took on their demon appearance.
"You might find I'm not able -"
She grabbed Lireela by the shoulders and lowered her fangs.
" - to resist a bite."
She let go of Lireela and walked toward the door.
Lireela made to lay back down.
"And remember," said Aleera, turning her head to face Lireela, "I'll know when you're asleep." She shut the door behind her.
Lireela, breathing harshly, plopped down on her bed.
"Go to hell," she muttered.
Echoing laughter sounded from the halls of the castle.
Lireela stood up and resisted the urge to smash through her bedroom door. Splinters and minor injuries wouldn't do her any good.
She opened the door using telekinesis and stalked out of her room. She needed a place to pace. To do some thinking. There just wasn't enough space in her room for that.
So, wandering aimlessly through the hallways and up and down endless staircases, she did her pacing. No one disturbed her. She saw no sign of another being, dead or alive. Which made her feel even more uneasy.
Then she found the entrance hall.
Icy gray stone made up the entire room's borders. Pillars taller than trees loomed above her with no end. Huge basins filled to the brim with blazing fire lined the center of the path leading to the giant, ominous gates in the front of the room.
Lireela gulped. Closing her eyes, she slowly sat down. The floor was ice. She tilted her head up, silently asking for comfort from whoever was listening. As she slowly opened her eyes, she gasped.
Hundreds and thousands of sac-like things lined the huge ceiling. Lireela could not even see how high the ceiling reached, let alone how many of those things there actually were.
What are those things? she wondered, grimacing.
"Ah," said a voice behind her. "I see you have found my children."
Lireela knew who it was before she turned around.
"I have not seen you for a week, Count," she said coldly.
Dracula sighed and took two steps toward Lireela. She took two steps back.
"I have been busy," said Dracula, smiling a smile that made the hair on the back of Lireela's neck stand up. "I had other things that needed tending to."
Lireela said nothing.
"Curious, how you should wander out here," said Dracula, taking a few more steps toward Lireela. She stepped back along with him. "I wonder if you were trying to escape."
"Where would there be to go?" muttered Lireela. "I can't fly."
Dracula laughed. "But I know your secret, Lireela."
A few steps forward. A few steps back.
"You can fly."
A step forward. A step back.
"You have just hidden it from the world all your life."
Dracula tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. He took a step forward. She took a step back.
"You do not need to hide anymore, Lireela," said Dracula, spreading his arms. "You are in my castle now. No one will shun you because of what you are."
A few steps forward. A wall blocking Lireela's retreat.
"I know how much power you hold," said Dracula, drawing ever closer to Lireela. "I have told you this time and time again. Will you not except me?"
Lireela tried to look away. Tried to break the seductive gaze. But found she couldn't.
Dracula reached her, and grabbed her by the arms.
"I need you," he whispered into her ear. She shivered. But found that it was not so much out of fear.
"You will, one day, rule with me as my queen," he murmured, leaning closer to Lireela, so that their bodies were now touching, and she could feel his skin on hers, his chest leaning against her. She could feel no heartbeat.
"And we will be together forever."
He let go of her and walked away.
Lireela's breathing was shallow, uneven. If he could only have gone a little further, maybe...
Lireela shook her head. She realized what she had been thinking, and rubbed her arms as if she had been tainted.
She did not know how to get back to her room, and her head was buzzing. So she quietly sat down on the cold, hard floor and closed her eyes.