Alright. No, I didn't leave this story forever. Nor did I die. Nor get kidnapped by my muse to a far-off country (although, that would be kinda cool. lol). I've just been really busy this past month. Here is the extremely condensed version:

My laptop 'crashed' (meaning, black screen, unable to sign into Windows) for three whole days after I posted last. I was inconsolable and edgy until we fixed it. I guess I didn't realize how much I depended on it, till it was gone. Both my brothers' birthdays were in the past month, and we had to clean the house for my grandmother to come; she spent a few days with us. Then, of course being summertime, there were plenty of events and things in the mix that we've been up to, which would be long and boring for me to get into. So yeah, it doesn't seem like much, but, oh man, time has gone by so freaking fast. Wow. –shakes head in disbelief-

But, I will say the best thing we did – or went to go see. TRANSFORMERS! We went to go see it for my brother's b-day, and I thought it would be okay, but didn't expect much out of it. Boy, was I wrong. I LOVE that movie. I haven't stopped talking about it since I saw it. Even my mom, who thought it would be completely stupid, likes it. A lot. I highly recommend going to see it!!!

Anyhoo, enough about my month… We are at chapter nine now, hm? Duh, you say, this is your story. Yes, yes, I know that. Thank you for reminding me. Well, poor Draccypoo… I believe his ego was wounded quite a bit last chapter with Sophia refusing him. –chuckles- But if we know him, he wont let that one just roll of his shoulders like it was no big deal…

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What did I do wrong last night? Dracula asked himself, pacing the stone floor behind his desk.

He almost never paced.

I'll tell you what you did wrong: you scared her half to death! his conscience nagged at him. Yes, but, how? What did I do wrong? Am I losing my touch? I've never had a woman react quite like that before. That certainly was not what I expected… or wanted. His mind traveled to last night, to Sophia's face, her eyes. He nearly felt… guilty.

Guilt. When was the last time he had felt that emotion?

He stopped at his desk and slammed his fist into the wood then hung his head, his eyes closed tight. Enough! You will not tear yourself up over a simple girl! You know what you have to do with her… you've already made up your mind. And then a thousand times over again! You will not do it once more! Do what you must today. You do not care about her! She is an object! And you don't care if this ruins any chance of a real relationship. Do what you must…

It was decided.

He lifted his head, a heavy sigh escaping his lips, and then sat down at his desk. He propped an elbow on the arm of the chair and squeezed the spot between his eyes with his index finger and thumb. He had called for Sophia and she would be knocking at the door any minute now, which meant he had to gather himself, and soon. After all, he was the Prince and he could not be seen in, what he considered was, a moment of weakness.

As if on cue, the sound of a knock came from the door.

"Enter," he said expectantly, staring at a spot on his desk.

An advisor shuffled in and without even looking up, Dracula knew that it wasn't Sophia. The man moved to his desk and lay papers down then exited quickly.

Where is that infernal woman! he thought, sitting there idly, waiting and waiting. He could barely stand it, so he stood up and started pacing… again. Placing one black boot in front of the other, he watched his own feet. Why am I so impatient? What has this woman done to me? Well, whatever it is, it will en- he was interrupted by a gentle tap at the door. He turned, his back to the door, and spoke.

"Enter."

He didn't hear a sound of any movement but he heard the door close. There weren't many in the castle who could be that quiet – it was Sophia.

And he was right.

Sophia was terribly nervous; he had requested her presence and she could only guess it was about last night. She could see him standing there with his back to her, he wore his 'formal' attire again and, like always, his sleek black hair was pulled up and fell somewhat below his neckline, down his back. She wondered what he was thinking, standing so stiff, so unmoving. Her weary eyes fell to the floor as she waited for him to acknowledge her.

He turned to see her standing just barely inside the room; her white-clad form looked so petite standing in front of the huge oak door. Her head was tilted down and she had her hands clasped together before her.

"Come closer," he commanded, and without even looking up, she took a few more steps closer. It was good enough. "Miss Shevich… look at me." It was the first time he had ever used her last name – he felt it lacked the personal intimacy.

She shifted her eyes to meet him… something rather hard on her part.

It was easy for him to tell she had been crying, her golden orbs were bloodshot and slightly pink, the rims puffy from so much rubbing. Her face was pale, and her lips… her usually tempting lips were colorless and white. It almost made him feel guilty all over again.

"Would you like to explain what went wrong last night?" he asked.

Sophia swallowed hard, her eyes flickering, having trouble keeping them on him and she barely choked out, "I couldn't…"

"You couldn't… what?" He knew very well what she was saying.

"I couldn't…" her voice went barely above a whisper, "I… I just couldn't sleep with you."

"Uh huh. Did you not understand when you gave yourself to me, two days ago, that you would be giving me everything?"

She bit her lip, thinking of the words to explain her… stupidity, her naivety. "I didn't think that you wanted me… in that way."

"Why else did you think I wanted you?" he asked, genuinely surprised. This was new information to him.

"I guess I thought you wanted me to be a servant or something…" She was having such a hard time looking at him, his stare so intent, like he could see through to her soul.

"Do you understand what power I have? What I could do to you for this?"

Sophia's couldn't take it anymore. Her gaze fell from his as her vision distorted with shining, unshed tears and she bit her bottom lip, her toes coming together in that bad habit of hers. Will stopping him have been worth it if he has you killed she thought to herself. Maybe you should have just let him go through with it… who knows what he will do now.

"Miss Shevich, I want you to look at me," he told her again.

She immediately obeyed, her nose and cheeks turning redder by the second as she held back emotion.

He hated the way he was treating her but that feeling was new. He never felt guilty for talking to anyone like he was – questioning them, making them understand his authority, even fear him – not even Nedezda… but Sophia, she was doing something to him. He didn't recognize it but wasn't ready to embrace the feelings. He had to stay firm with her.

"Do you understand what it is I am saying?" he asked and Sophia nodded briskly, unable to speak a word. "You will then understand what I am giving you when I say you will be a maid from now on."

"A maid?" Sophia spoke quietly.

"Yes, a maid," he said with distain and disappointment in his voice. "You will be put under the command of the head maid in the castle and she will teach you."

"There is no going home, is there?" she asked, mostly rhetorical.

"No."

"Then I have no choice."

"Unless you change your mind and prefer to be my mistress instead, which means that you will have certain… duties to fulfill." He withheld a sly grin from slipping across his face.

"I can be a maid," Sophia said quickly. It was a slight relief to know that nothing worse was going to happen to her; she could take being a maid if it were her only choice… just about anything was better than sleeping with a man she didn't know.

He nodded. "Very well, you may take your leave now."

Sophia dipped a curtsy, slowly rising, then turning and leaving just as softly as she had entered. As she strode down the halls, back to her room, it felt as if several burdens had been lifted and she was somewhat free again. She could actually feel herself smile.

The Prince, on the other hand, collapsed into his chair and hung his head, his rebellious black strands falling gracefully in his face; he contemplated what he had just done.

What have you let slip through your fingers, Vladislaus…

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Sophia wasn't alone long before there was a hard knock at the bedroom door, and before she could even speak a word, in came a short, stout woman; she looked as if she were in her sixties, her graying hair pulled back in a bun, but not any bit the feeble type.

"You are Sophia, no?" she asked, her voice rather gruff sounding.

"Yes…"

The older lady cast a scrutinizing gaze on her. "You look a little small… but we'll get the strength out of you yet. I'm the head maid of the entire castle; nobody uses my name – just call me 'ma'am.' The Prince has put me in charge of your learning to be a maid in the castle; you are to work in the east wing only and are to obey all orders I give, unless they come from someone of higher authority. You are to start your training today, but you won't go to work until tomorrow morning. Follow me; I will show you to where you are going to stay from now on and let you change into something a little better suited for work."

The woman turned on her heels and swiftly left the room, it took Sophia a minute to register in her head but by then she had stuck her head back in the room.

"Now!" she demanded. "I don't have all day!"

Sophia jumped up and hurried after the woman as she left again.

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Hours were spent fast. First, with Sophia being shown to her knew place to sleep, it wasn't personal in any way, the room being cramped, as there were only ten bunks to sleep in and she would have to share with other maids and female servants. Next, she had to change from the luxurious looking and feeling dress she was wearing to a simple gray and white uniform dress. It was far from comfortable, even more so than her old clothes, the fabric being rather stiff and scratchy. Then she was instructed on how to 'properly' do her jobs. For instance, scrubbing the stone and wood floors, oiling the furniture, gathering and putting up linens and where they would go, cleaning the fragile objects, dusting places that were complicated or hard to reach, how to get difficult stains out of rugs and tapestries, and numerous other things. Some of them were simple, others complicated, but everything done with more thoroughness and attention to the fine details than she had ever thought.

She got to know the inter workings of the castle and became more familiar with rooms and places in the east wing. There, of course, was a slight tug at her heart at the lavish living she was giving up; she wasn't the pampered type and she hadn't really had the chance to become accustomed to it, still she would miss what was every simple girl's dream.

Sophia also learned that it wasn't just the older lady (who insisted on being called 'ma'am') who was hard and tough…no, most of the other servants were the same way, like it was a solid wall until they got to know her better. It seemed like the lack of trust was her constant enemy. What was hard for her though, was when Mary found out that she would be a maid.

The poor girl appeared devastated, readily questioning what had happened over one simple night with the sincerest concern. Sophia answered, leaving out certain details, which were rather crucial and so Mary didn't understand what could have went wrong. She was exceptionally distraught when Sophia didn't seem to have any regrets about what was happening to her and she kept pressing why. Sophia was beginning to get the impression that in Mary's eyes, the Prince could do no wrong, and she didn't think it wise to meddle with that view. As much as it seemed to bother Mary that Sophia was now a maid, Sophia felt relieved to have someone here she knew…and she could only hope that she would get to know Mary better.

Soon the day had ended and Sophia was able to collapse into her uncomfortable bunk with exhaustion. She looked at her new way of life with an open mind; things would fall into place and she would get use to the work, plus, anything was better than being the Prince's whore. Right?

What she didn't know was that Dracula had instructed the head maid to give Sophia the most difficult and grueling tasks possible.

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Maybe Sophia should have just stuck with being his mistress; she has no clue what she is in for being a maid. And Dracula was being a real hardcore meanie at the beginning, wasn't he? I tend to think so. :P

Thank you's (sorry for not being able to get them to you sooner):

Succede51: Oh, glad you like it. Hope you are still reading, since it's taken me forever and a day to update. lol And yes, Sophia does hold her own… even if some things are harder for her to do so in (like last chapter) than others.

Pirate Girl: Sophia is so much fun to write! I can't tell you how much. She is amazing… trust me, I know her better than anyone else. xD Dracula has his… moments in the story – some good, others, bad. I try to keep him human, with realistic feelings and emotions, but at the same time, the character that everyone loves from the movie. It can be daunting at times.

Anon E. Mouse: Um, wow. I've never gotten a review like yours before. I'm super flattered! –blushes- I work really hard to get even the second characters true, lifelike personalities. What is that saying, that you get most impressions of people in the first ten seconds? Well, with second characters, I try to keep that in mind (they have such small roles). I also try to make sure that – with this kind of story – it's all my characters causing the plot to get tangled up, not my characters getting tangled up in the plot. Does that make sense? I'm not sure. lol Btw, I love the name. Seriously cute!

Sarah. M.: Awesome that you are reading! Thanks for letting me know, it means the world to me. This is my baby. I'm glad I can share it with people and them like it too. I hope I continue to please!

Reviews are awesome! Con-crit is welcome! Flames with be doused with a cold cup of water!