Chapter 14

"Dear me, Anna," said a voice. "You really are a blabber mouth aren't you?"

The gypsy girl turned to see Dracula standing on a wall to one of the houses casually. For some reason the patch he stood on didn't look like the village. It looked more like Castle Dracula.

"I'm sorry," she said, backing away in fear. "I didn't mean to shout that!" 'What am I saying?' she thought. 'HE should be apologizing to ME!' Dracula laughed and jumped down from the wall.

"You never left my castle, Anna," he said. "That was just an illusion. I told you that you shouldn't waste your time on trying to escape from here. But then again you are the most disobedient girl in the world so I should have expected that." The Count snapped his fingers. The illusion went away and was replaced by the entrance hall in Castle Dracula.

"You should at least give me the freedom to walk around freely, Count," said Anna. "If I don't use up my energy I get sluggish." Dracula clicked his tongue.

"No, no, sweet little Anna," he said. "If you had behaved like a good girl and stayed in your room I would have given you that privilege. But since you tried to escape, yet again, I'll just have to keep you tied up in your room until tomorrow."

In one swift motion Dracula picked Anna up and threw her over his shoulder. She screamed loudly and pounded against his back as hard as she could.

"Put me down, you big lummox!" she shouted. "This is one of the worst ways to treat a lady!" Dracula laughed and slapped her in the butt.

"If you want to be treated like a lady then act like one!" he replied.

Anna struggled harder as she kept kicking, punching, and even screaming. When Dracula reached her room he threw her onto the bed. Ropes appeared out of nowhere and attached themselves to her wrists and ankles. The other ends were wrapped around the bed posts. Anna struggled, but this time when she did her skin burned from the tightness of the ropes. Dracula sighed.

"The things I do to you, Anna," he said. He bent down and kissed her, despite the look of disgust she gave him. "Sleep well!" A split second later he was gone.

Anna hardly slept at all. The position she was in was extremely uncomfortable. She kept trying to toss and turn but the ropes held her in place. By the time the sun came up her wrists were raw and bleeding. At eight o'clock exactly the ropes turned into chains that were long enough to allow her to move off of the bed, but no further than that.

Igor brought her a meal which she ate a little too quickly. All day Anna stayed either on the bed or beside it. She could never remember a more boring day in her life. 'This could be a punishment,' she thought with dark humor. 'The Count could be killing me the hard way. Sooner or later I'll die of boredom.' Anna thought she was going crazy because suddenly picking her nails chewing the white bits sounded a little exciting.

By the time the sun was finally setting Anna thought she would go truly insane if someone didn't come and unchain her. At eight o'clock the door opened and in walked a very smug looking Dracula. He smiled at scowl that formed on Anna's face.

"So, how was your day?" he asked.

"I've never had a more boring day in my life!" she snapped. "I'll go crazy if someone doesn't unchain me! But of course you won't, Count! I know how much you love to torture me!" With a word Dracula walked over to the bed. A feeling of fright ran through the gypsy girl. But he didn't do what she thought he was going to do. He tapped at the chains, instantly they disappeared. Then he got up and walked over to door and opened it.

"Alright, Anna," he said. "You're free to go." Anna was puzzled.

"You're letting me go?" she asked. Dracula nodded.

"Two days are up, Anna," he said. "Remember? I can only keep you prisoner for two days. Now that it's been two days you can go back to your village." A flash went through his eyes. "You'll have a few days to yourself but beware. When you least expect it, I will capture you again, and then yet another game will begin."Anna walked over to the door and took three steps out before turning around to face Dracula.

"One more thing," she said. "What should I tell the villagers when they ask me what kept me away for so long?"

"They will think you were just away on a hunting trip," replied Dracula. "It's a very easy spell to do." He took her hand and kissed it like a gentlemen. "Until you become my prisoner again, Anna, I bid you a fond farewell." Feeling a little confused, the gypsy girl turned and walked out of the castle.