Ch3

Amira was still forming a plan to escape when her supper was carried in by a blank faced man. He set the tray down and bowed his way out. Amira was disturbed by the expression on his face or rather, the fact that there was none. His pale blue eyes were glazed over as if he was deep in thought.

Amira force fed herself. She had lost her appetite after seeing the young serving man but she knew she would have to keep her strength up if she were to escape this nightmarish place. As if by queue, Dracula appeared before her just as she finished her meal. He pulled over a chair and sat directly in front of her.

"Tell me Amira, what do you know of your ancestry?" His sudden question surprised her. After some thought she realized that she didn't know much at all about her family. She only knew she had been adopted after her parents had disappeared shortly after her birth.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I am curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know." Dracula chuckled at her reply.

"True. Why are you so unwilling to tell me about your ancestors, Amira?"

"I know very little about them." She replied a bit reluctantly. "My parents never told me anything beyond the fact that I was adopted shortly after my mother died from giving birth to me."

"This makes perfect sense." Dracula murmured to himself. "Good, good. Would you like to know about your ancestry? I could tell you everything you need to know."

"How would you know anything about my family?" Amira asked, she was beginning to get nervous. How would he know anything about my family?

"Because I knew your great-great-great-aunt. And the rest of your family before that. For you see Amira, you are the last of the Valerious'."

Amira's mouth hung open in disbelief. "W-what? That can't be right. It can't be!"

"Why not Amira? What makes it impossible for you to be a Valerious?"

"Well because Anna Valerious was the last Valerious." Amira retorted. "She was killed accidentally by Van Helsing though."

"Ah but you are the last of the Valerious family my dear. You see, Anna Valerious had a twin sister named Cassandra. Unfortunately she was kidnapped on the night of her birth by yours truly." His piercing blue eyes twinkled evilly, making him look all the more sinister. "However, on my flight back to my castle I dropped Cassandra. She survived the fall and was found by a peasant couple a day later. I knew she was alive but the sun was going to rise soon so I could not search for her. Besides, she was no threat to me at the time. I thought I would just kill her later when she came of age. Cassandra grew up living a normal peasant's existence and raised a family for I was killed by Van Helsing before I had the chance to kill her myself. The Valerious bloodline travels all the way down to you. Since it was your great-great-great-aunt who aided in the killing of me and one of my brides I am now intent on revenge against the Valerious family. When I was revived I immediately came searching for you, when I found you I wanted to kill you right then and there. But something told me not to. For you see, I want to put shame into the name Valerious and how better to do it than by making you one of my brides? You will become a part of a species of which your family had been trying to kill off for so long. In one month you will be eighteen, correct?" Amira managed to nod dumbly. All this new information was now whirling around in her head. "When you are eighteen you will be of age and I will make you my bride." An evil smile crossed his face as Amira slowly rose from her chair and backed away from the vampire before her.

"Please," she pleaded, "I did not do anything to harm you. It was my ancestors, not me." His laughter echoed of the stone walls and filled the entire room. Tears began pouring out of Amira's eyes from fear, sadness, and a sense of hopelessness.

Dracula materialized behind Amira and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Do not be sad Amira. You will be happy with me I can assure you." That just made the tears stream down her face harder and faster. She began to sob uncontrollably. Dracula held her close until her crying subsided. When he was sure her mood was steady again he turned her around so they were face to face. Dracula loomed several inches above her. He bent down and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss lasted only for a moment before he materialized away into a library across the castle.

Amira just stood there after Dracula had kissed her. She was in a total shock. He has no right to treat me this way! I really need to escape this place. Soon. She could barely believe what had happened. She used to think that if Dracula swooped down and carried her away to his castle to become his bride she would love it and be happy forever. Instead she was very nervous and frightened.

It took a very short period of time for it to become set in her mind that she would attempt to escape this fortress tomorrow.

Amira awoke several hours before dusk in hopes of gaining a good head start before Dracula realized she was gone and came after her. She got out of bed and searched through her wardrobe for anything that would be easy to run in. After several minutes of searching she came across a white silk skirt with an unreasonably high slit on the side up nearly halfway to her thighs. There was a white silk shirt with a slight V neck to accompany it. She slipped into them quickly before leaving her room.

Once she left her room she immediately began looking for the armory. If she were to run into anyone or anything that wished to stop her escape she wanted to be well armed. She searched one of the main hallways until she came across a large pair of black wooden doors that lead to the armory. She opened a door just enough for her to slip inside before shutting it. She took a wicked looking scimitar from one of the weapon racks and strapped it to her waist. She also took a small dagger and hid it in one of the black boots she was wearing before leaving.

After being armed to her satisfaction she set off in the opposite direction of the count's personal bedchambers. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Dracula as was humanly possible. Very soon she was hopelessly lost. All the hallways looked the same. Amira couldn't tell if she'd already been through a hallway or not. After running about for some time she finally sat down and tried to put her thoughts together. She had her face in her hands when a serving woman walked up to her.

"Do you need some help m'lady?" The serving woman inquired.

Amira took her head out of her hands and stared blankly at the servant before managing to say something. "Yes! Yes I do need some help. You see," she began to think quickly, "I am terribly hungry so I woke up and went searching for the kitchens." Amira remembered the kitchens were very close to one of the side entrances to this castle. "Unfortunately I do not quite know my way around the castle yet and I got lost. Could you guide me to the kitchens?"

"Of course m'lady! I will gladly guide you to them!" A grin lit up both of there faces. The servant held out a hand for Amira to take and helped her to her feet. She then immediately set off in the direction of the kitchens. Amira followed. Very soon they came upon the kitchens. Amira began walking through the kitchen doors before she remembered to thank the servant.

"Thank-"she cut off in mid sentence. The serving woman was no where to be seen.

Directly next to the kitchen do was the entrance out of the castle. Amira grinned and opened the door. She rushed through it and shut the door. She looked to the sky and saw that the sun was going to set soon. She immediately began running through the gardens surrounding the castle. She hadn't realized she had been lost in the castle for so long. Just as she was rushing through the gate out onto a stone paved street an ear piercing shriek rang through the air. Dracula was awake.

Amira tore through the streets in such a hurry she didn't notice that people were staring at her. People were pointing at her because of her odd attire and the fact that she wearing a scimitar around her waist.

She heard a window break some ways back and looked back for only a moment before forcing herself to run harder. Dracula had broken through the window and was now flying towards the town in his hell beast form.

Amira began frantically looking for a place to hide as people began to push her out of the way to put distance between themselves and the count. She found an alleyway and ran through it until she came to a dead in. She backed into a corner and prayed that Dracula would not find her. Her prayers were not answered.

"Amira." A deep voice with a Romanian accent drawled. "Oh Amira… Come out come out wherever you are…" Footsteps echoed off the walls as Dracula began to walk down the alleyway. "I know you're here Amira. I can hear your heart beating."

A voice suddenly called in her head. What do you think you're doing? Do you want Dracula to find you like this? Huddling in a corner and sniveling like a baby? Get up Amira! Get up! GET UP!


Amira slowly rose to her feet and pulled her scimitar out from its sheath. I suppose all those fencing lessons I took will finally pay off. The blade seemed to push the darkness of the alley away from her. Its bright steel shone from being polished very well. Amira was admiring its perfect balance when Dracula turned the corner.

"There you are Amira! I'm so happy to see you are well." His eyes traveled away from her face down to the scimitar in her hands. "Do you think that pathetic blade can stop me?" He began to laugh mirthlessly. "In case you have forgotten, my dear, I am of the undead; you cannot kill me with such petty things as scimitars! Just put the blade down and come with me. I will not punish you for running away if you do." His taunting just seemed to strengthen and anger her.

Amira slowly began to advance towards him. "Do you really wish to fight me, Amira? Even with the knowledge that I would beat you in an instant?"

"Yes I do." She spat coldly. "And I don't care that you will beat me. I just don't want to go back to your god forsaken castle without a fight."

Dracula began to laugh. The sound rebounded of the walls and made Amira spine tingle. It was an unearthly sound. "Very well Amira. I will amuse you." He grinned wickedly and rushed at her with a broad sword that had suddenly appeared in his hands. Amira managed to block the sword right before it struck her. The reverberations jarred her arms but she didn't notices. She ducked as he swung the sword at her head and rushed out of the alley.

"Do not worry Amira. I will not kill you. I would never kill my precious angel." He followed her out of the alleyway and began to circle her. Suddenly he rushed at her again and attempted to disarm her. Amira twisted out of the way and swung her scimitar at his neck. He blocked the attack easily and attempted once more to disarm her. This deadly dance continued for a quarter of and hour before Amira began to become worn down from lack of sleep and the mere fact that she was battling someone whose skills were much better than her own. Her blocks kept coming a little later each time he attacked her until she was barely managing to keep him from hitting her.

Finally Dracula twisted the scimitar out of her hands and watched it fly through the air to land in a market stand. Many of the people who had been curiously watching this spectacle gasped as the count disarmed the girl he had been fighting. Dracula just stood there for a moment, his blade pointing at her throat before he let it fall to his side. Amira managed to stay on her feet for a few moments longer before passing out from sheer exhaustion. Right before she passed out she muttered one word. "Damnit"

The count rushed forward and grabbed her body before it hit the pavement. He picked her up and held her protectively against his chest. He then walked over to the market stand and pulled Amira's scimitar out of the wood and strapped it to his own belt before transforming into his hell beast form and flying away back to the castle.

A.N. I hope you liked these chapters. They were fun to write. Please R&R. Make the reviews nice and long and tell me what you liked and disliked about these chapters. I'll post another chapter as soon as I can.