2. The Vampire

Almost with ease I raced through bushes. Over rocks, stones, fallen trees, no matter what. The people from my village had haunted me out of their home. Now I needed to find a place to stay. I was tired of being hated and feared. I was no monster!

The worst thing about Transylvania was the fact that the weather was always bad. It was was either rainy, foggy, snowing or damn cold. This night it seemed to be just everything! My white fur was already soaked from the snowy rain and my vision was blurred by it. I could hardly recognize a huge building in the dark. Surrounded by rocks (or better made of rocks, as it seemed) the towers, sharp like razors, pierced the sky. I stalked through a river that passed the mysterious building on one side and climbed up the mountains. The now recognizable castle wasn´t far away.

Arriving on top of the mountain it was right in front of me. Not a moment I wasted on the thought that someone might have lived in there, so lost it looked. Then I noticed a door leading to the inside. It was hidden in the shadows and barely to see. With a bit use of strength I shattered the wooden door and entered.

Inside the castle looked just as it did from the outside: cold and lonely. But to my surprise it wasn´t really cold in there.

Torches, made up of skeletons, lit up the huge hallway I was in. I shook the water out of my fur like dogs usually do. The only thing I had no control over was transforming itself. I couldn´t decide whether it would be good to change in a werewolf. I just did. Never I understood the true meaning of my curse. How did it all begin? It couldn´t be just an accident of nature. And if yes, then why did it happen to me?

While thinking about all the questions that were spinning in my head I made my way up into the first tower. I still hoped that nobody lived there. Nobody would ever want that.

As I arrived in a dark room I let my gaze travel over all the machines that were there. It was obviously an old laboraty. On top of that it looked so scary that I nearly tiptoed through the room. I could feel that something was wrong there. Someone was in this place and this one had to be at least as scary as the whole castle. After some time I could see the shape of a dark figure in one corner. I still hoped the thing hadn´t noticed me yet but as I had walked closer, too close I bet, the figure turned around. In fright I took several steps backwards.

This couldn´t be a human being. It was a monster! His dark features created an expression full of anger. Before I had the chance to do anything the already inhuman thing turned into a giant beast with wings, dark fur, claws and fangs. Never before in my life I had been so scared.

A clawed hand reached forward and grabbed me by my throat. I could hardly breathe and only hope that he would make my death not painful.

He lifted me up and threw me into one of the machines. My ribs felt numb after that and I wasn´t sure whether they were broken. Within seconds he had flown over to me and lifted me up once more. Then he pushed me against a wall very hardly. Now my head also hurt and my vision seemed like clouded. I had to do something. I couldn´t understand yet what he really was and why he was doing this to me but I had to defend myself. Clawing wildly all over his chest I spilled his dark blood on the lab floor.

I could see his wings getting smaller and him turning back slowly into a different form. So the scratching had really showed success.

By then a huge shattered window appeared in my sight. I hadn´t noticed it before but it showed the full moon covered with black clouds.

His fur and all the beast features disappeared within seconds, as did my white fur. I eyed him, now looking like a normal man, a bit closer. His skin was pale and made a good contrast to two golden loop earrings. His clothes and hair were both black. His breath came out in white clouds and it was obvious that he was exhaused. Under his black jacket a torn chest rose and fell while he was panting.

I whimpered slightly from all the pain he had caused me. Instinctively I laid my head down on his shoulder while he rested his hands on the wall. Exhaused from the fight I was glad that he let me stay there, although he hadn´t looked at my true face once.

But as the strength had returned to his body he grabbed me forcefully around my waist and threw me more than four meteres awy from him into a machine.

After that he finally turned his gaze towards my broken form between the metal. Moaning and whimpering I dared to open my eyes and looked up at him. His eyes were a deep brown but turned into a piercing blue as he seemed to finally realize that I was a woman. Trembling I sat up a little and heard him hiss with a harsh voice: "You´ll be of great use for me!"