Lireela awoke to a loud buzzing noise coming from somewhere to her left. Groggily, she sat up, wondering at first why she wasn't in bed. Then memory came flooding back to her and she groaned. What time is it? she wondered. She could not see where the sun was in the sky.

The loud buzzing noise that had awoken her had been Igor, experimenting with his new shocker, shocking the Dwergi that got in his way. Lireela had never really gotten used to the unpleasant little creatures, so she didn't stop Igor. The first time she had seen a Dwergi she had been afraid it was going to attack her. But this was not so. It had just snorted at her and walked away. Apparently, the Count had said something to them earlier, because Lireela was sure that if that Dwergi had had it's way, the few remaining limbs she would have would be of no use to her.

Lireela slowly pushed herself up, and pressed her hand against her back. She had slept oddly on it. Now she would have to deal with the pain for the rest of the day.

Walking unsteadily over to Igor, but being cautious not to get too close, she asked him, "Would you happen to know how to get to my bedroom from here?"

Igor looked up in mid-shock. Then, with one last, disgusted look at the Dwergi he was torturing, let it go.

"Guest bedrooms... that way," Igor grunted, pointing to Lireela's right.

Lireela sighed and headed in that direction. Igor really wasn't any help.

Staring ahead of her, she realized she recognized this hallway... it led to the room where Dracula had took her and had found and read Jericho's letter.

Holding her breath, she cautiously approached the room and peaked in. It was empty. Lireela did not know how to get back to her room from here, so she settled herself on the big couch in the room, for the time being.

She had been dozing off when all of a sudden the door to the room swung wide open and Aleera came in.

"The master wants you asleep in one hour," she said coldly.

Lireela sat up and sighed, beginning to get used to the idea that she couldn't sleep when she would like to. "What time is it now?"

"Past noon."

"Why are you awake, then?" asked Lireela suspiciously.

Aleera's mouth curved in a small, lustful grin. "The master has kept us awake today."

She was about to exit the room, when Lireela remembered she did not know how to get back to her bedroom.

"Wait!" she said, standing up. "I don't know how to get back from here..."

Aleera laughed and shut the door as she exited.

Lireela scowled. She hadn't really expected the vampiress to be kind to her, but ...

She sat down once more, tears dripping unnoticed down her cheeks.

(Back in Transylvania...)

Jericho walked slowly to the Valerious's mansion.

If anyone knew something about Count Dracula, it was the Valerious family, he thought grimly, silently grieving for the Valerious's. They had been a kind family, who had looked after the town as if it was their own child. Because they were all dead, he could not ask them what they knew about the Count. So he decided to go find out for himself.

The night was closing in on the day, sun and moon battling for their place in the sky. As the sun began to sink into the horizon and finally admitted defeat, and the moon rose in triumph, Jericho entered the house of the Valerious's.

He began to search the house. He was familiar with it – he had been here on several previous occasions involving vampire attacks and plans for the safety of the town. He remembered how Velkan Valerious would always invite him to these meetings when he was still alive. Fighting back tears, Jericho walked over to a drawer, opened it, and began to study its contents.

"Letters... pins... books..." he was muttering, frowning. "Nothing relating to Dracula."

Then his eye caught a paper on a table nearby. Snatching it up, he read:

Count Dracula, the son of Valerious the Elder, was banished to an icy fortress. And the devil then gave him wings, so he could wreak havoc on the world and those who betrayed him.

Jericho knew all this, of course. The whole town knew the story. Sighing, he walked over to the map that the late Boris Valerious was known to spend days studying. Jericho could not understand why. It was a mere map of Transylvania on a wall. Nothing out of the ordinary, except...

A drop of liquid dropped onto the map. And another. And another.

Jericho walked close to the map and examined it. He ran his finger on the liquid, and wiped his pants in disgust. It was saliva. It was... saliva...

Suddenly there was a loud roar and some great beast launched itself from the ceiling. Then it was gone.

Jericho quickly unsheathed his sword.

"Who's there?" he whispered hoarsely. "Show yourself!"

There was a low grumble from the shadows in the left corner of the room. A figure emerged.

It was Velkan Valerious.