The room was completely dark... except for a feeble shaft of eerie light peaking through a gap in the curtains. Lireela, having wondered for what seemed like ages around the castle, slowly walked into the room.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Lireela could make out dim shapes. Carefully, she walked over to one of them. Her knee hit something soft. A bed. Lireela ran her fingers along the top of the covers – then suddenly pulled them back. The covers were strangely warm... a warmth that sent chill sweat running down her spine.

Backing up, Lireela suddenly bumped into something else. She began to feel it, blindly. It seemed to be made of some sort of hard material that she could not identify. Like wood, but softer. Like cushions, but more solid and strong. A chill breeze was emanating from it. She felt around the edges; it felt like a box. There was something... a lock, on the side...

All of a sudden Lireela knew what it was.

She ran screaming from the room. She ran about two hallways down until she stopped to catch her breath.

What on earth is Dracula doing with that coffin? Lireela asked herself, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to stop the chills. Is that the coffin he sleeps in? Or is he keeping something else in there?

Not really wanting to find out at that moment, Lireela began to walk farther away from the room, not really looking or caring where she was going, just as long as she got away from that room.

Minutes later, she came upon the room that she had come to know as the Letter Room - the room where Dracula had given her Jericho's letter. She locked herself inside, and sat down on the couch by the empty fireplace.

Lireela just couldn't understand why this was happening to her. She had been trying and trying to figure out why Dracula wanted her to stay with him for five years... It seemed ridiculous. She knew that Dracula wanted her power... but why wait for five years?

Then she remembered that Dracula was a vampire full of lust and desire. He probably wanted Lireela to mature to her prime... Still, it seemed pointless to Lireela. She did not understand the minds of these vampires. What she was beginning to understand, though, was the fact that all Dracula wanted was blood and sex. He made it sound so enticing, but...

Lireela sighed. If there were no beautiful women in the world for Dracula, she thought, smirking, he'd go mad. He needs his brides. I am not going to be one of them, though. I - I'll kill myself first!

The reason Lireela did not kill herself at that very moment was in fact because she still had hope that somehow Jericho would find her.

Then another thought came to her.

What if he thinks I ran away? she asked herself. What will he do? Does he even know where I am?

Sinking down farther into the couch, Lireela put her hands over her face.

"That's it," she said, her voice muffled by her hands. "That's it."

She lowered her hands and looked defiantly at the door, tears running unchecked down her cheeks.

"That's it!" she cried. "I am done! I can stand this no longer, and I must not live, else I fulfill that monster's desires!"

She frantically looked around for some kind of weapon. Not finding one, she began to claw her way through the skin on her face, and ceased her breathing intentionally.

She was slowly slipping into unconsciousness when suddenly the locked door burst open and Dracula came in.

Lireela felt some satisfaction in knowing that she was depriving Dracula of the thing he most wanted. She continued to claw at her face, until blood was running freely down her face and neck.

"What are you doing?" Dracula demanded, crossing the room and grabbing hold of Lireela's hands. "Stop! I need you now."

Lireela's will to defy him weakened as she met his gaze.

"I need you, my love," he said in a soothing and enticing voice. "I must have you, you must not do this to me! I could bite you now," he added, never taking his eyes off her, "but then you could not be my bride. Just a mere servant."

Lireela lowered her hands and looked Dracula in the eye, breathing harshly.

Dracula looked down at their now entwined fingers and the corners of his mouth turned up in a sensual smile.

"Do not do that again," he said, his voice both commanding and exciting. "I want you alive for now, my dear."

Lireela looked down and wondered why she had been trying to commit suicide. Memory escaped her for the moment, and so she whispered meekly, "I'm sorry."

Dracula's smile widened, and he slowly ran his right hand along Lireela's neck.

Lireela hardly dared to breathe, but just as quickly as he'd come, Dracula then left her alone in the room.