Crina's POV
You would think by now I would be accustomed to being abruptly awakened most of the time. As my eyes flickered open I could see a shadow above me . It wasn't till I rubbed my eyes that my vision became clearer that I shrieked loudly as the Count's face was mere inches from mine. Instinctively my hand reached to where my heart once did beat, this wasn't how I wanted to start my day. My dismay was apparent enough that he finally stood up from kneeling next to my coffin. " Sorry to give you such a fright, but now is the time to rise my love. Today you start your training."
My eyes felt heavy once more and I wished nothing more than to drift off back to sleep. Sometimes I wandered if vampires get depression too ? I thought for that was how I've been feeling lately. Lethargic not wanting to leave the confinement of my coffin, the blood I drank had no taste and brought me little to no pleasure. I groaned to myself as I remained lying down in my coffin hoping maybe the Count would let me sleep for thirty more minutes. " Crina get up at once!" he now shouted. I felt my body immediately sit up straight as soon as he called my name. For what seemed like a split second I lost all control of my body. It was apparent who was in control here as I looked over to the Count who was now smirking at me as he leaned against the door way. " Follow me, I have something I'd like you to meet."
Something ? I thought. I was definitely intrigued and found myself following him out of the room and down the stairwell. Where we were going I didn't know, but as we continued to go farther n farther down the stairwell I could hear growling noises. The growling turned into a howl similar to one a wolf would make. We reached a door that was bolted shut and I feared to find out what was lurking behind the door. I watched him fiddle with the key ring as he looked for a certain key to unlock the door. The howling persisted and it took everything in me not to run for it as the Count swung open the door. Chained to the wall was a wolf, however I don't recall wolves being so large and standing upright. Its teeth were sharp as it snarled at the both of us. I found myself once again clinging to his arm in hopes he would shield me from this beast. " I think he likes you." Said the Count jokingly. He released his arm from my grasp and casually walked up to the large wolf. The brown haired wolf yanked at the chains that confined him in an attempt to claw at the Count. He simply showed no fear as he roughly yanked one of the chains around the wolf's neck . Dust filled the air when the wolf collapsed and came into contact with stone floor. I was blinded by the dust in the air, but I could hear the wolf whimpering in pain.
When the dust finally settled I could see the Count again messing with the ring of keys. " Count what are you doing?" I asked. I stood there paralyzed as he unlocked the first constraint. The wolf bared its teeth at me again as it slowly started to lift itself off the floor towering over me. I turned my attention back to the Count who was now about to unlock the last lock. " I'm about to give you a lesson you will never forget. I'll give you a head start Crina and will release the beast when I reach to the count of ten." " You can't be serious?" I slowly backed away as I was truly terrified at this point. " Oh but I am Crina. One!…Two!….Three!" he counted off aloud. I spun around quickly and ran for my life up the stairs. I panicked when I reached the grand hall for I didn't know where to go. The room seemed to spin as the adrenaline rushed within me , but I couldn't stay still I had to keep moving. Click! The noise rang in my ears , the Count unleased the wolf and I was now scrambling to get back to my room. I ran down the familiar hallway that led to my room, but I could hear the thrashing and clattering as the beast approached closer.
Upon reaching my bedroom I found the door to be locked for it wouldn't budge. The fear in me intensified as I could now see the wolf down the hall way now charging towards me. " Oh my God please help me !" I cried out aloud as I continued to jiggle the door knob. " God can not save you now my child." Said the Count as he appeared beside me out of nowhere. " Please stop this, this isn't funny!" He just looked amused and awaited to see what I'd do next. Trying to open the door was futile and i made a run for it again. The wolf almost nearly clawed at me as I continued to run down the long corridor. The wolf was knocking down paintings and furniture causing a path of destruction as it bee lined towards me. My heart sank as I turned around the bend to come to a dead end. There was a door at the dead end , but it was locked as well. I was shaking uncontrollably for the impending doom was now almost upon me. Ramming my shoulder into the door once more refusing to give it up it finally opened and I slammed the door shut just as the wolf was closing in on me. I slid the dead bolt shut and looked around at the room I was in. It seemed to be a room for storage for the items contained in the room were bunch of old crates and dusty ancient furniture. The wolf was clawing at the door , I knew I had little time left until it broke through.
I barricaded the door with whatever heavy objects I could find. A wooden dresser along with a few heavy chests upon it. Bang! Bang! The wolf was relentless and continued to try to break down the door. Everywhere I looked there was no means of escape. The windows were bolted shut and nowhere to even hide for all the furniture was blocking the door. I found myself crouching on the floor with back pressed against the dresser. The situation was dire , it was taking every last bit of strength in me to keep as much resistance against the door to stall the wolf. I noticed something in the corner of my eye reflecting off the light of the moon , it was on the opposite side of the room , but I couldn't make out what it was. Bang! The wolf broke through the barricade by this time , ripping the door clear off. It pushed the aside the furniture like it weighed nothing after ran I towards the window. The tall dark silhouette of wolf stood at the entrance of the door. It sniffed the air as it scanned the room till it's eye locked on me.
No where to run n no where to hide, I was truly a goner. The wolf licked its lips with his tongue, drool dripping towards the floor as it approached. Glancing to right the shiny object finally came into view as I now saw it was a silver sword. My fingers inched towards the handle of the sword , but nothing seemed to get past the wolf. It let out a bone chilling howl as it went to pounce on me. The sword was in my grasp now adrenaline kicking in once more as I swung the sword in front of me preparing for the worst.
The impact seemed to knock the air out of me and I fell backwards, smacking my head of the ground as I did . I felt as if I was about to pass out from the shear amount of weight that was resting upon me. The wolf had me pinned down while it rested on top of me. It took everything in me to push the wolf off me rolling it onto it's back and that was when I saw the sword was embedded deep into it's chest. The wolf was shaking and having convulsions , it was slowly dying. I couldn't move or even think in that moment the shock from everything consumed me. Miraculously the hair of the wolf started to shed and fall off exposing naked flesh. The beast seemed to shrink in size and more hair littered the floor while it tried to tear some of its skin off. I had no clue what happening , but watched in horror as the beast slowly turned into a young man. His hair was curly and brown like my own with hazel eyes that sparked such familiarity in me. Chest was toned as I watched it heave up and down. The man was now coughing up blood as he laid there quivering. The dying man spoke to me spoke to me in such a way I would never forget. "Crina….I'm so sorry. I...love you." Croaked the stranger as more blood came out of his mouth. I felt inclined to hold his hand as I continued to stare into his familiar eyes. " I… I had no clue . I …didn't mean to!" My words and thoughts were jumbled, nothing made sense. His free hand tried to reach for my face it seemed, but weakly fell back to his side. Such connection I felt for the dying man before me that I couldn't explain. There was nothing more I could do in that very moment but watch the man before me close his eyes just before he died. " Well done Crina!" I nearly jumped as I heard the Count's voice from behind me. I was covered in blood at this point as I continued to hold onto the deceased man's hand. " What have I done?" I whispered to myself. The Count's one hand rested upon my shoulder and the other offered to help me off the floor, but I refused it.
Dracula's POV
I couldn't help myself as I chuckled at the spectacle before me. My princess just vanquished her brother Velkan, one down one more to go. She sulked on the floor clearly shaken up by the whole ordeal , definitely in need of a bath for she was covered in blood n filth. " Come my love, you have surpassed all my expectations and now deserve a much needed rest." "Stay away from me!" she said I didn't have time to react as a chair came flying at me out of nowhere. It crashed into me breaking into fragments from the impact. The chair just seemed to move on its own and Crina looked just as surprised as I did. I wiped all the rubble off my black jacket as I went to stand up straight. " Why? Why would you put me into a situation where I had to kill someone?" she screamed at me . " That there Crina is no one. Nothing more than a slave of mine who would have continued to suffer if you didn't put an end to his life. You did the monster a favor." She was now glaring at me now with such hate however I anticipated this .
" He….. said my name. Before he died he said my name and that he was sorry. Damn you Count what are you not telling me?" By this point I was losing my patience and Crina was skating on thin ice. I walked briskly over to her while she cowered before me. Immediately I grabbed her arm thrusting her off the ground and onto her feet, but I didn't let go of my grasp . " Get off me! I'm not going anywhere with you, you monster!" she shouted as I lead her out of the room into the hallway. Such commotion allured my other brides to witness the scene. I released my grip on her arm and she fell to ground before Verona. " Verona my darling prepare Crina a warm bath and make her suitable for dinner will you." I trusted Crina would be in good hands with Verona, my other brides however were still too young and overly jealous. Though Crina was strong she would be no match for Aleera and Mariska. " Yes my lord." Said Verona as she bowed before me.
Crina's POV
A pair of gentle hands helped me onto my feet. I found comfort somehow with this woman, at this point anything was better than the Count. She wrapped her arm around my waist as I limped off down the hall with her. Verona didn't say anything to me and for that I was grateful. My body trembled it felt as if I could barely walk. Everything hurt my pain was immense but my bedroom door was in sight just a few more steps I kept telling myself. My bedroom door was unlocked this time as we made way inside. The bed before me was a sight for sore eyes as I lunged onto it. I snuggled with my pillow as I could hear water running in the background. My eyes were now closed and all I could hope in this moment that this was some horrible nightmare I would soon wake up from. I could hear Verona in the distance calling my name, but too weak to even answer. It wasn't till I felt Goosebumps arise on my neck that I slowly lifted open my eyes again. The light touch of fingers seemed to run up and down my back, it was quite soothing. A warming sensation could be felt and it didn't dawn on me till now that Verona was helping to heal the injuries to my back. She was humming a lullaby while continuing to run her fingers down my back. Though I knew very little of the woman Verona reminded me of a matriarch for she seemed to be the leader amongst the other brides ,the glue that held everything together. The pain in my back seemed to melt away, but happened no one saw coming.
A stinging pain could be felt on my arm and I immediately glanced at it. Something was protruding from my skin and the stinging turned into agonizing pain as black spikes broke through my skin. It didn't take long for more and more to pop up but by this point I was already doubled over in pain. Verona was speechless and could offer no comfort to the symptoms i was experiencing. They were coming out all over my legs and arms, my finger nails were turning black and elongating simultaneously. Verona quickly exited the room while tears of blood rolled down my face for it was taking everything in me not to scream.
Verona quickly returned with the Count. Just great! I thought. I'm in agonizing pain and also having to deal with him. " All I did was help aid in healing her wounds on her back when she suddenly start breaking out in spikes on her arms and legs." Said Verona. I don't think even the Count knew what to think as looked down upon me. " Nothing to worry my dear, it appears Crina is a different breed of vampire than you and I are. The extreme stress from earlier must have prompted her to turn into her true form." " You've seen this before?" asked Verona. " Arnold her creator exhibits these same traits, it is best I reach out to him to get more insight into this." Slowly I could feel the spikes sinking back into my skin as quickly as they came. My teeth and nails had now retracted back to their normal state and I felt wiped out by the whole ordeal. Me transforming or whatever the Count said seemed to deplete me of all energy, I simply had no desire to move from the bed.
I had no strength even to fight the Count as he scooped me up in to his arms. We entered the bathroom where the warm bath was awaiting me. " Help me undress her." Said the Count. The first to come off was that tattered skirt of mine that Verona pulled down while Dracula worked on unbuttoning my once white blouse. Pissed off, exhausted, and wanting to break down n cry seemed to come close to how I was feeling. My breaking point was near ,but I didn't have a choice to self destruct now. Two vampires who were older and stronger than me had me in their grasps as the last bit of clothing fell to the floor. Instantly i covered my breasts with arm and the other hand covered you know where. The Count was making me extremely uncomfortable for his eyes kept glancing up and down upon my figure, least I wasn't alone with him in the same room I thought. Verona helped me in to the tub , but I felt I couldn't relax till he was out of my site. " I'll take over from here master, we shall be accompanying you shortly." Said Verona.
He left swiftly after that to my relief , but even the soothing bath couldn't rid my mind of today's events. The Count had me endure a sick game of cat and mouse, only then to have me kill the poor creature in self defense. It seemed the man had no control over his actions and deeply regretted everything once back to normal. I couldn't forget those eyes ,how they seemed so familiar to me not only that how he said my name. I was deep in thought and Verona seemed to notice this. "I know what you are thinking my dear. You think the master is an awful being. However in time you will grow to love him like the rest of us do." "How can I love someone who just tried to kill me?" I spat back her as she was scrubbing my leg with a sponge. " I'll be the first to say his methods are a little unorthodox , but the purpose of what happened earlier was help you embrace your powers and learn how to use them." Said Verona. " All I learned today of my powers is that I'm a freak that you nor your master has ever seen before." There was moment of silence as she finished scrubbing me down and then there after proceeded washing my hair. I really didn't expect to be pampered like this , but I just went with it. " You're not a freak , but I will say you're unique. The master will get to the bottom of this , I'm anxious as to see what his findings are." Said Verona.
Dracula's POV
The images of her body kept circulating over and over again in my thoughts. It was unsettling to me for it was unexpected to just witness long sharp spikes appear all over her limbs like being familiar with my own breed of vampire I decided dive into the books , surely the answers I seeked could be found within my personal study. I slammed the door shut and locked it behind me in order to not be disturbed as I did my research. Flipping through the pages of one of the books I pulled off from the shelf with determination, nothing seemed to match Crina's description all but one. Nelapsi which is a rare breed of vampire and one of the most dangerous vampires out there. I continued to read and learned that holy objects could not kill them and that in time they grew a tolerance to sunlight. They possess psychic abilities and have the ability to kill with a fierce glare. The pictures before me showed of a creature that still possessed some of its human traits besides the numerous spikes and black leathery wings. I had never thought to ask Arnold before of his powers and I now I really wish I had. This whole turn of events had got me into thinking what a Nelapsi crossed with a Nosferatu would look like? A new breed of vampire one just as powerful or even more than that of its parents?
Maybe the Frankenstein monster would be a thing of the past and Crina as the present. For once I felt optimistic of future, the usual dread and despair were no more only to be replaced with hope. The devil's knows all too well of my struggles and past failures. One could only wish he would be there to guide me in the upcoming days, weeks, and months from now.