Hello lovelies, yes I'm back. I'm not quite sure what I'm gonna do with this story, since I have a better idea right now. But I am going to post what I have, which is up to chapter 10 or 11. Then I'll ask you all for any ideas you may have for how I can continue this thing, since I'm out of ideas. This chapter is pretty long, but I like it. If anything confuses you (that you don't think will be revealed later) then please ask me. Thanks to all who are reviewing, Remember your reviews make me smile in ways I didn't know my face was capable of. Thanks to Cosmopolitan Countess, Princess Airiana, Just To Be, The Dancing Cavalier, Fortune Zyne and Shero. I hope you're all still reviewing. Without further adieu, here it is:
Chapter 8: Ira's Fate and Lucinda's Possession
As nighttime once again fell upon Bucovina the whole village tensed up slightly. Night held so many dangers for all, as the village was constantly under the threat of werewolves, vampires and other evil creatures that could only emerge at night. Several houses had lights that were glowing with the warm, blazing lights of fires and candles as electric light was almost never found in Bucovina.
In one particular tavern on the outskirts of the village several dozen men sat drinking merrily after the hard days work. One older man stood in the corner, playing a violin. As he did, the old Romanian folk tunes played in harmony with the laughter of drunken men. Young, attractive, luscious barmaids giggled madly as they poured more ale into the mugs of pleading men.
"So then I said, 'Darling, I don't care if the goat is from China, the bed is right next to you!'" one man told as the whole bar cracked up in thunderous laughter. Ira Grossinov was among these men. And was laughing right along with all of them, crudely.
"All right, back to our game. Here, say fifty gold pieces," he said, placing his newly acquired gold on the table.
"Ira , where did you get all of this money all the sudden?" one man asked.
"I just, well I guess you could say I got back some money from a bad investment," he slurred. Despite having no idea what he meant, all of the men began to laugh.
"Oh, I don't know if that Agafetei girl was such a bad investment. She certainly was pretty enough," another man said, lazily hanging over Ira's shoulder.
"Yeah yeah, all right. Lina, more beer all around!" he demanded, holding up his mug. As Lina began to fill each of there mugs, the men would growl and moan each time she leaned over, and Ira was the loudest of all.
For hours that went on. Late into the night those men sat there and wasted away their time with alcohol. While the nighttime air was crisp and frigid outside, the air was warm and thick inside the tavern. Around three in the morning the bar owner closed up and the men were forced onto the streets.
Drunk beyond the capability of most people, Ira Grossinov started to make his way to his house. His thick, leather boots made a great deal of clumsy noise. Becoming impatient with how long it was taking him to get home he decided to take a short cut. Now I'm sure, as most of you know, most of these "short cuts" never go well. Well for Ira, this was no different.
As he turned a corner down one particularly dark street, he could see a dark shadow moving quickly behind a building. Dismissing it as nothing important he continued to walk and again turned into an alley. Slowly he worked his way between the two houses that were very close together. The fact that it was nighttime made it almost pitch black. Ira's breathing was heavy and ragged as he emerged on the other side of the alley. For a moment he looked in both directions, making sure that he was alone. As he was about to continue he heard the sound of steps behind him. He turned around but the alley was pitch black and he saw nothing. But the footsteps continued and so he began to briskly walk down the street and away from the alley. When he could no longer hear the footsteps he calmed down slightly.
Finally he turned around to start towards his house. However the moment he did he regretted it. For standing there, glaring daggers into him with icy eyes was Mayvn. Never in all of his years had Ira ever seen such hatred. He was about to scream for help when Mayvn took her milky white hand out of her cloak and pushed it to her lips.
"Don't scream," she said.
"How is this possible? You're dead ... you..." he stammered.
"You always had such a way with words Ira, now tell me, were you pleased with the refund my parents granted you?" she asked.
"I... needed the money, I was going broke," he quivered.
"A bad investment, was I? You weren't exactly my first choice for a husband either. Still, you must have wanted this pretty badly to have paid that much gold for it," she hissed, motioning to her body. Her eyes became more icy.
"Help, someone!" Ira pleaded, backing into a wall.
"Don't yell, just beg. I want to hear you beg for your life," she said, unsheathing her sword. She smirked to herself, loving the feeling of holding her beloved weapon again. Her brother had done an excellent job of retrieving all of her weapons.
"Mayvn now, please don't do anything you'll re--" but Mayvn didn't let him finish. With one clean swipe she sliced his head off.
She took a moment to just stand there, and soak in what she had just done. It felt good to end his pitiful existence. Breathing deeply she took in the smell of his death while she licked the blood off of her sword. Using her cloak she wiped the rest of the blood off of her sword. Turning to leave a single tear rolled down her face, although she remained expressionless. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it hurt that he was willing to pay for her, and her parents sold her to him.
"What do you want?" she asked to what appeared to be darkness.
"You home," the voice of Count Dracula responded. Growling, Mayvn looked into the shadows for a moment and Dracula finally stepped out. The moonlight caused his pale skin to gleam.
"You actually think he didn't deserve that?" she ranted.
"Oh, he did," Dracula nodded, walking back to where Ira's bloody corpse laid. Getting down on one knee, he motioned for Mayvn to come to him. Too emotionally drained to protest, Mayvn knelt down beside him. He handed her the man's limp wrist and managed a charming smile.
"Is there even anything left?" she laughed, weakly.
"Yes, now come on. He's yours," Dracula said. It was an approach to charming a woman that Dracula had never taken. Mayvn was not trusting him readily about anything, and so instead of using his usual seductiveness, he was trying the occasional act of kindness.
Mayvn gracefully elongated her fangs and began to drink menacingly. Her icy blue orbs turned an unholy blue as bright red blood stained her porcelain face. Dracula gently placed a hand on her shoulder, beckoning her to stop.
"Save some for me," he whispered. With her crystal eyes and blood dripping from her mouth, Mayvn looked up from Ira's body, puzzled. "You cannot be bought Mayvn, and I loathe this man as you do just for trying," he explained. Nodding, Mayvn handed him the wrist. Dracula violently began to drink from Ira, anger flooding over him because of this man's foolish decision.
When he had finished, he turned his head to Mayvn. Her eyes had not yet returned to their normal color, there was bright red blood around her mouth and her heavy breathes could be seen in the cold night air. With a gloved hand he wiped the blood off of her mouth.
Mayvn stood up and walked away, leaving Dracula on the ground. As he watched the silhouette of her cloaked figure move off into the distance he was unable to tell whether he had done anything right by her or not. She have him no hints, no signs of approval and it was getting frustrating. Hearing the strong flapping of her wings, he looked up to see Mayvn's hellbeast form flying off into the night sky towards the manor. Dracula followed shortly after with his terrifying bat form. It was a crisp, yet chilling night and a frigid wind blew in their faces as the two vampires sliced through the air with their wings.
Once Dracula had landed Mayvn had already left the entry way and was in her bedroom. Initially, Dracula had been reluctant to give her a bedroom of her own. However, after several nights of Mayvn sleeping on the opposite edge of the bed and tensing if he even touched her, Dracula decided that it would be better if she warmed up to him with time. Out of pure curiosity, Dracula quietly entered her bedroom. It was pitch black with the exception of two lit candles that rested on either side of a vanity. Mayvn sat on a small chair at the vanity, her eyes closed and deep in concentration. Trying not to break her concentration, he slowly crossed the room, his feet almost floating across the floor so as not to make a sound. He stopped by her side, and stood there silently.
Meanwhile Lucinda's eyes widened as a piercing scream echoed throughout Bucovina. Her father shot up from the table and instinctively grabbed a torch. Upon coming outside, Viktor joined the men with torches and followed the sound of the screams to the outskirts of town. Mirella ushered Lucinda upstairs and told her to stay there. Meanwhile, she locked herself in her room and knelt by the metal cross that hung above her bed.
While the screams and shouts could be heard distantly, Lucinda started wandering the narrow, candle lit hallway. A chilling draft blew through the hallway despite that almost no windows were anywhere near. After swearing she heard something behind her, Lucinda spun around on her heels. There was nothing there, but she shivered as she felt the cold wooden floor against the soles of her feet. She tightened her grip on the brown wool shawl that covered her white nightgown. Two taps came from behind her, sounding like they came from the floor. Lucinda stood, frozen and she couldn't turn around despite the cold, dark aura she felt behind her. When she heard a quiet, wicked cackle that was almost a whisper she held her breath, too afraid to make a sound. The voice that seemed to be cracking up behind her suddenly spoke. "Turn," the voice softly commanded. Lucinda turned her head but not her body slowly, as if in complete and utter terror.
She was met by Mayvn's milk white face, and her lips were curved into a wicked smirk. The small bit of light that lit the hallway sharpened the contrast between her skin and her raven hair.
"Why are you here?" Lucinda screamed, stepping backwards. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why no one in her home could hear her terrified screams.
"Do I need a reason to visit my sister?" she asked, menacingly advancing on her. As Mayvn took two steps forward, Lucinda would take two steps backwards.
"What do you want from me?" she whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself.
"You're not safe alone Lucy, it's not safe. Don't you hear the screams outside? Someone's not happy," Mayvn asked in somewhat of a high-pitched whisper.
"Mayvn, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Lucinda tearfully said, approaching her sister, arms outstretched.
"You know, Ira was sorry too," Mayvn said. Then without hesitation she raised an arm and sent Lucinda flying back through the hallway and into the bedroom. Her broken body laid on the floor by the window. With her back to the door, Lucinda weakly began to get up, using the window sill for support. Mayvn stood in the doorway, waiting for her to get up.
"Up and at 'em Lucinda, I'm waiting," Mayvn taunted. However to her surprise, Lucinda suddenly got up rather quickly without working. She was standing up strait, with her back to Mayvn, making no sound. Not only was that somewhat creepy to Mayvn, being fully aware of the damage she thought she had caused, but she also began to sense something unusually dark and sinister coming from Lucinda. As she was about to see what strange thing had overcome her sister, she was somewhat shocked to see Lucinda's head starting to turn while her body stayed in place. Her golden locks and rosy skin glistened in the moonlight. Lucinda's head kept turning at an agonizingly slow rate until it had turned around so that it was facing Mayvn (A/N: think The Exorcist). Mayvn let out a soft gasp as not only had she thought that impossible for humans, but Lucinda's eyes had turned completely black and her face was expressionless. Then, in a voice far darker and lower than Lucinda had ever possessed, Lucinda spoke.
"Time's up Mayvn. Sweet dreams," she said, the low, male voice echoing in laughter. Lucinda then raised both arms and with inhuman speed, shoved Mayvn in the chest and she went flying backwards. As she was in the hallway, about to make contact with the floor, Mayvn vanished.
In a split second Mayvn opened her eyes to realize that she was back in her room in Dracula's manor. However her body was still moving from the force of Lucinda's blow as she was practically pulled out of the chair by what seemed to be an invisible force. Her body crashed into Dracula who had been standing right behind her , and the two of them were airborne for about fifteen feet before both crashed to the marble floor on top of each other. Both were panting out of shock as Mayvn rolled off of Dracula and onto the floor, staring at the ceiling, her eyes wide.
"What happened?" Dracula demanded, panting since he had never been so surprised in his life. Mayvn closed her eyes and shook her head repeating.
"It's not safe. You're not safe alone. You're not safe," she kept repeating while trying to catch her breath.
"What's not safe?" Dracula breathed, still on the floor. However he got no response. She just kept breathing quickly on the floor and shaking. Dracula sat up and leaned over Mayvn. Pulling her into his lap and taking her head into his hands, Dracula spoke. "Mayvn, Mayvn look at me!" he commanded, having some experience with her "episodes." Once he had her icy blue eyes staring into his he spoke despite her quivering lip. "Why is it not safe?" he demanded again.
"He'll fine you," she whispered. Although he was unaware of what she meant, Dracula took his cloak, wrapped it around her, and gently rocked her in his arms.
I hope that wasn't too confusing for anyone. If it was, basically Mayvn was invading Lucinda's dreams … again! Then Lucinda, or something went all crazy and pushed Mayvn out of Lucinda's dream, and back to where Mayvn's physical body was. If you understood that already, kudos to you for understanding my twisted mind. REVIEW!