Ch2

Amira's eyes snapped open as she woke from her sleep.

She sprang up and landed catlike on the carpeted floor and eyed her surroundings. She was in a bedroom. At first she thought it was her own room before she realized it was much larger. The main color of the room was a deep shade of red. It made Amira think of blood. The bed was probably queen sized. It had satin sheets with elaborate designs of flowers on it. Other than the sheets however the room was rather simple. There was just a bed, a fireplace, a full body mirror, a wardrobe full of clothes, and a bathroom.

"I'm glad to see you're awake Amira," a voice with that beautiful Romanian said, "I was beginning to think you would sleep all night." Amira whipped her head around and came face to face with infamous Count Dracula.

This is a dream. This has GOT to be a dream! I'll just wake up in a few seconds and find myself back in room, safe and sound.

"So how do you like your new room?" He drawled, "I picked it out just for you."

"Uh…it's….err…nice." Amira said lamely. "Where am I?"

"Why, we are at my summer castle of course!" He laughed at the look of shock on her face.

"How did we get here? It was nearly daylight when you err kidnapped me."

"I rented a place at an inn." A look of disgust crossed his face as he remembered the filthy inn.

"Why did you kidnap me?"

"So many questions my dear, so many questions. I will answer that one when I feel the time is right," the count answered, "Come with me now. It is time for breakfast for you and I do not wish to keep you hungry. Put on something better than those rags you have on now. I will not have my personal guest wearing garments such as these." He bowed politely and exited through the large doors leading to a long hallway.

Amira stood rooted to the spot for a moment before realizing she had better do what he had said. I don't want to anger him.

She opened the wardrobe and to her dismay she saw that there were only dresses. She hated dresses. Amira searched through the wardrobe, looking for a reasonably plain dress without a corset. Finally she found a dark green on with a slash of black through the middle. It only had a little gold embroidery around the edges of the sleeves that reaches her wrists and a V neck which was rather modest. She slipped the dress over her head and brushed her hair quickly before looking at herself in the mirror.

I don't look half bad. Her light brown hair fell in wavy locks around her neck down to the middle of her back. The dress looked like it had been made just for her. It fit perfectly. She realized her dark green eyes matched the color of the dress and smiled slightly.

"Are you quite finished?" A muffled voice called through the door.

Her smile vanished when she remembered where she was and who was calling for her. She walked to the door and opened it so she could slip out into the hallway.

"Good," Dracula drawled, "You look lovely." His eyes flashed an electric blue color for a moment before turning back to that piercing blue. It unnerved her.

Dracula held out his arm for her to take but Amira backed away. "I'd rather not touch you any more than necessary Count."

He smirked as he materialized behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. Amira gasped with shock. "Ah but this is necessary. I'd rather just materialize to the dining hall than just walk there." His smirk widened as Amira shuddered from his touch. "You aren't afraid of me," He whispered seductively in her ear, "are you? I would certainly hope not, it would make living with me…uncomfortable."

They materialized into the other room. As soon as they were there Amira jumped out of his arms and stood uncomfortably to one side. She quickly strode over to a table with food on it and filled a plate with toast and eggs. She then took a seat and began eating. Dracula took a seat directly across from her and observed the girl over his long steeped fingers.

"Do you like the food, Amira?" He smirked at how much food she was shoveling down her mouth. Amira hadn't realized how hungry she was until she had seen the food before her.

"It's good. Is there anything to drink? Err… other than blood?" Amira eyed the goblet filled with blood before her uncomfortably. Dracula got up and poured another goblet with water. He then took the goblet of blood for himself and began to sip at it slowly.

"Thank you."

After she had finished eating they both stood up.

"I believe I should give you a tour of the castle, since you will be living with me now." Amira's face paled slightly at the comment. He actually means to keep me here. I can't believe it…

"Follow me if you please."

Amira was surprised with how large the castle was. I'm going to get lost the instant he is not here to guide me. Of course, Amira would much rather get lost in the castle than have Dracula present. There were vast libraries and huge ball rooms. Armories filled with every sort of weapon imaginable and long hallways that seemed to stretch on forever.

"And this, my dear, is my personal bedroom. As you can see it is rather close to you own so if you ever get frightened you can always run to my room." He smirked.

In your dreams Dracula!

"So where is everyone? Surely you do not live alone? You must have brides and servants to accompany you."

"You already know that all three of my brides were killed by Van Helsing over a century ago. I have not had the time to search for new ones yet for I was brought back to life only a year ago. I do have servants but I have had them trained so they do not get in my way."

"But Van Helsing is not a real person. He was just made up by Bram Stoker."

"So was I." An evil grim lit up his face, making him look rather sinister. Amira gulped. "And yet here I am, standing before you in the flesh."

"But… then your supposed to be dead too! You died in the movie. Why aren't you dead now?"

"An idiotic sorceress revived me. I had slipped an incantation into several books for sorcery so that if I died some magical being would eventually come along and bring me back to the state I was in before my death."

"I must leave you now. I have some….business to attend to. I will see you after your evening meal, which will be brought up to your room. You may explore the castle but be careful; I wouldn't want my dear Amira getting lost." And without another word, he vanished.

Amira headed straight back to her room. She was feeling rather sick and confused. Why did he bring me here? Why me? I've got to escape this place! And with that notion set in her mind, she began to make plans.

Dracula had materialized himself to one of his many libraries. He felt the need to check and make sure all the information was correct. He wanted to make sure that this young girl was indeed the very last of the Valerious'.

A.N. I know, I know, it's a crappy cliffhanger but it you must admit, it has you wondering what's going on. Is Amira indeed a Valerious? Oh wait…that's obvious since I named the story the Last Valerious. Ehehe. Why would Dracula want her? For revenge maybe? Who knows! Tune in next time for the next chapter of….The Last Valerious.

A.N. I know the last chapter was a piece of fluff until the end so I'll try to make this one better. There should be some action in this chapter. And a smidgen of romance. –cackles- I love controlling these characters.