Author's Note: Just wanted to say Thank You! To all my reviewers, and please review again.
Vay disappeared in a blink.
Ashling looked around, trying to spot him a doorway or a shadow. The little boy was nowhere to be found. She huffed and as she watched her breath fog, shoved her hands into her pockets.
A scritch at the dark end of the hall quickly brought her out of her annoyed mood. She fell back against the door, meaning to press her self into the wall and out of sight.
There was another fainter scritch and she threw her fear away and took a step toward it.
It's probly just a rat, she told herself and walked forward trying to peer around the corner despite her assurances.
she had made progress when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around to see a blonde-haired young man.
"Calm down, girl, I didn't mean to scare you." he walked around her, eyeing her as he went. Ashling watched him and finally asked:
"Who are you?"
He stopped and gave her a self-satisfied look, his lips and eyes narrowed. "Jaret, and you are Ashling." he said simply. Jaret could see ignorance in her eyes, and he took advantage of it. "Come."
Jaret turned and began to walk down the dark side of the corridor and Ashling quickly followed.
"Where are we going?" Ashling trotted to keep up with his brisk walk.
"You'll see." he was cut off as they rounded a corner and Vay stood in the path.
"The master wants to see Ashling, Jaret." he ordered. "You'll have to bait the werewolves by yourself."
At this news Ashling's eyes grew wide and Jaret took an uncomfortable step away from her. He sighed as Vay extended a hand to her and she took it.
After a blink she was in another hall even darker than before and Ashling could see only the light at the end of it. But the Bogey could see perfectly for he reached out and opened a door.
Flickering light spilled from a marble fireplace at the left wall. The back walls were bookcases, with gaps in the rows of books, where spiders and other creatures had made their homes. The other walls were whitewashed and given an eerie glow by the flames. A couch, a desk, a chair, and a armchair, all black, sat on the hard wood floor.
Dracula sat in the armchair facing her, a little girl at his side. The girl looked at Ashling with shining eyes. She looked at Dracula, he nodded and she took off toward her. Before Ashling could process this the girl's arms were wrapped around her waist.
"Mother," she said.
"What?" Ashling breathed.
"You are her mother now Ashling." Dracula's eyes glowed as he tried to put her into a trance. She fought it and he smiled at her attempt. He walked slowly toward her, his eyes getting more of a grip on her mind with every step he took.
"But-but I can't be her mother." she protested groggily.
Dracula got closer and put a hand on Sophie's dark hair. Sophie stood back from Ashling to look up to them.
Dracula leaned into Ashling's face. "You will have me to help you." he said nearly in a whisper.
Ashling flicked her head around to clear it. "But why is this child here in the first place."
Dracula looked down at Sophie as he spoke. "She might as well be mine, the villagers think she is and they prejudice her for it." he smiled at her, to clear away all the fear his serious eyes had given her. She smiled back, the light returning to her face. "She will be ours Ashling." he looked at Ashling, a strange look in his eyes that Ashling couldn't recognize.
"Master," Vay knocked on the door. "Jaret asks for your presence." he nudged open the door and caught sight of the child. His black eyes widened as he stared at Sophie.
Even as Ashling watched his eyes faded to a natural brown, the whites in them like any normal child's.
"Vay?" the boy looked up at his master, the black returning to his eyes, but now it was a fainter, a black mist. "Be kind to Sophie." he concluded.
Sophie walked toward Vay. She was a head shorter than he was but they seemed to become fast friends. "Do you want to see something cool?" Vay asked her. She nodded and before they could run off together turned to his master and told him thatJaret was in the entrance.
Dracula lead Ashling, smiling, out the door. When they reached the stairs he kissed her hand and smiled up at her, and left her to her own devices.
Ashling wandered around until she found Vay and Sophie. They were up on one of the many balconies, looking down below at Ashling.
"Hello Mother!" Sophie called, bringing a strange twang to Ashling mind. Vay waved and smiled with his needle teeth.
Am I taking care of two kids? Ashling asked herself just as the children ran off.
She walked around, through dark passages, and window filled halls, empty rooms full of dust. She discovered a library half full of hand written manuscripts, the other half filled with bound tomes. She sank down in one of the dusty armchairs and scanned one of the sheafs of paper. It was written in another language, though she admired it because of the vines twining their way between the letters and the colorful borders.
As the sun disappeared from her back, she heard the same screech she had heard earlier, and leaped up dropping the papers on the floor. She rushed out the door and down the hall. At the end of it she found Vay.
"Vay, what was that noise?" she asked, thinking he should know, having been there longer than her.
"The Master. You have asked me that before."
"Oh yes." she muttered. "I think panic and fear are ruining my brain."
"He has gone to feed."
"What?"
"To feed!" he insisted as Sophie came up behind him.
"Oh right." Ashling said absently not looking at him.
"Mistress, maybe you should sleep."
"Yeah, yeah, I will." Vay showed her to her room, where she crawled under the covers fully clothed and was asleep as the door closed.
She was aware faintly that in the middle of the night Sophie crept into bed with her. But then she dozed off back to dreams of huge bats and voices.
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Ashling woke to a wet in her face. It came and went in quick succession making her face cold then warm.
"Vukasin!" Sophie yelled beside her.
The wolfdog yelped gleefully, jumped over Ashing and began to lick Sophie.
"I didn't know I would find you here." Sophie spoke like it was human. Vukasin gruffed low in his throat, a noise that sounded almost like a burp.
The mangy dog must have been precious to the little girl for she hugged and pet and talked to it until Ashling said it was time to get up.
When the little girl stood Vukasin was still able to lick her face without even craning his neck he was so huge.
Ashling stretched and rubbed her eyes as Sophie went over something with the wolfdog. She discovered a divider in the corner of the room, and behind it clothes.
"And Daddy will take care of us, won't he?" the girl maintained the worry on her fair face until Vukasin licked it away.
"What are you talking about Sophie?" Ashling felt somehow older today, being placed in the care of a child. She felt she had a responsibility to calm the child's fears.
"Vuk has told me that a hunter is coming here." she explained matter-of-fact-ly
Ashling smiled faintly and decided to indulge in the child's fantasy. "I'm sure Vuk will be able to protect us, look how big he is."
As Ashling stepped behind the screen and began to undress she heard Sophie whisper: "Dracula will protect us Vuk." and a soft gruff from the dog.
"How long have you know Vuk?" Ashling asked.
"Since I was five, so a year ago." she giggled as the dog must have licked her face.
"And how old is he?" Ashling began to put her new clothes on she had found behind the screen.
"Three hundred and twenty-seven." Ashling paused. She stuck her head out from behind the screen.
"W-How?" Vuk and Sophie were arranged on the bed facing her. Vuk lay on his stomach his legs tucked under him, Sophie was cross-legged her had trailing on the dog's back
"He is a night creature." she answered sweetly.
Ashling nodded dumbly and stepped out from the divider, fully dressed. Her pants were loose and black, her long sleeved shirt was also black though not quite as loose as the pants. Over this she wore her gray jacket and discovered for the second time in two days the hole in her pocket by putting her hand in it.
She looked around sheepishly, wondering what she should do now.
"Are you hungry?" is all she came up with to ask Sophie.
Vuk barked loudly as he began to drool. Sophie laughed.
Ashling took that as a yes and started out the door, her charges following enthusiastically.
They wandered for a few minutes before Vay appeared in front of them. He showed them where they could eat. Surprisingly, the table was set with breakfast food though it was nearly noon.
Sophie sat and began to eat. Ashling sat but declined food when Vay offered.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Ashling asked him. She was eye level with the boy's hazy eyes even as she sat.
"I don't-I have already eaten." he said quickly and looked away.
During this exchange the wolfdog whipped his tongue onto Sophie's plate and swiped a boiled egg onto the ground.
"Hey." she protested but laughed it off.
After Sophie finished Vay offered to show her around. As the children skipped away Vuk turned and gruffed at her.
"Go on, you crazy dog." Vuk sneezed at her and pranced off.
Ashling rose and wandered aimlessly, less afraid of the place and its creatures during the day. She stopped in a dark hall and looked through a crevice in the stone about as wide as she was.
Light from a thousand candles flickered around the dark, glaring off of silver and making cobwebs glow. Ashling squeezed through the hole and stood with her mouth open on the other side.
She was in a huge room, the ceiling was so tall it was like staring into the night sky. The candles were all around, three chandeliers like giant spiders hung from the ceiling on silver chains, candelabras were placed sporadically about the room. There were no windows and nearly everything was made of stone. Above her a balcony perched on Gothic pillars.
When she took a step, bats rustled and squeaked above her, but, sensing the daylight, did not fright away. Ashling grit her teeth and took another hesitant step.
When she was far enough away from the bats to calm down she noticed the stone slab in the center of the room. Frost and ice was built up on its corners and where it touched the floor, its edges were carved with symbols, runes, and others.
More bats on the opposite wall, stirred as she leaned over it. She glanced at the animals, then determining they were far enough away, looked back down.
Dracula lay in the bottom of it, frozen in foggy ice, his arms crossed over his chest. His face was scarcely visible through the fog, but he seemed to be asleep, or was he dead?
Ashling's eyes widened, but she didn't fright.
After a moment of staring in horror, her brain kicked back in.
"It's a coffin." she breathed.
She pressed her finger to the ice just above his eyes, then snatched it back, it was cold.
So entranced was she by this mystery she did not hear the bat's wings before it hit her.
She cried out clutching her head.
Its kin opened their eyes and sprang to life flying around in a frenzy. Ashling threw herself to the ground beside the coffin, cowering in her hood.
A cracking filled the air and she heard: "Cease my children, sleep!"
Dracula; before she had not fully realized what he was but now-
He looked down at Ashling.
"You may rise now Ashling they are asleep once more."
Ashling took one look at him from underneath her hood and hid again.
Dracula hopped onto the ground and hooked the girl about the waist pulling her up beside him.
She buried her face in her hood, vividly aware of his hand on her hip and his body close to hers.
"Ashling?" his deep voice vibrated in her ears.
"No-no-this is all some dream-dream-dream." she murmured quickly, of the mind that if she said it enough it would be true.
Dracula placed his empty hand on the side of her face and turned her eyes to look at him.
"Darling Ashling, this is not a dream. I brought you here for a reason. This is where you belong." he stared into her eyes and let it sink in.
"But what reason?" she pressed her face closer to his.
He only smiled in his conniving way. "You will see in time." he told her even as her eyes became unfocused on a point to his left.
He held her still, knowing she was going into another trance. That was part of her night gift: she could see things in a place that may or have happened.
She would have fallen over if not for his arm about her waist, as she came out of it.
Dracula set her head on his shoulder and pressed his lips to her ear and whispered.
"What did you see?"
"I saw three. . . women. . . they were inhumanly pretty." her arm fell against his chest.
"My brides." he breathed.
The visions wore her out and she was asleep in the moment between her speaking and his conclusion. She would have to overcome this, Dracula decided, become stronger.
"Ashling," he jostled her.
She moaned, but she was awake, and groggily she straightened.
"Come," he told her as she looked up at him. "I would like to show you something." he offered Ashling his arm and she grabbed his hand.
Patiently, he corrected her setting her hand on the crook of his elbow, their arms entwined.
"That's weird." she said in her modern way.
"That is how it is done."
She nodded keeping in mind he knew more about this place than she did.
Dracula led her through a labyrinth of corridors, and finally out onto a balcony. He smiled brightly at the sight of Sophie and Vay playing in the room below.
It was a huge hallway, filled in neat even lines by huge stone braziers.
Vay leaped down from one of them, floating himself in the air, as Sophie fled from under him.
The girl hid behind another of the braziers and the Bogey leaped on top of it.
"Vay," Dracula yelled. "Make yourself scarce from there." Sophie looked up at Dracula's dark figure as Vay jumped down beside her.
Dracula lifted his free arm and as it rose so did the flames in the braziers below them, this happened lightning fast. The flames billowed and flickered like curtains in the wind.
Vay let out a yell of jubilation and tried to jump in the air as Sophie anchored him to the ground, with her arms around his waist in her fear.
"It's beautiful." Ashling whispered clinging closer to him, looking out at the sight.
He turned his head to look at her a smile on her face that showed his fangs. "It calls the night creatures to me."
There was apprehension in her eyes when she looked at him. "What kind of creatures?"
"Bogeys, werewolves, vampires, any kind of goblin or ghoul." his voice was full of pride at his creatures.
"What for?"
"Now," he looked back down at the children, who had returned to a new game. "To council."
Author's Note: I know Ashling seems to be being pretty stupid, but I have good reason, which will possibly be explained in the next chapter when she sorts herself out.