Chapter 40

Lara had run when her mother had told her too. But instead of running far away she hid in a bush so she could see what Dracula would do to Anna. When Dracula put her under a spell Lara quickly pulled out a slingshot and used a knife instead of a rock. 'Sorry about playing with this knife, Mommy,' thought Lara. 'But I have to save you!' She fired.

The knife hit Dracula right in between the shoulder blades. The Count cried out and released Anna.

"Run, Mommy, run!" shouted Lara.

Anna got up and ran over to her daughter, picked her up, and continued running.When Dracula pulled out the blade he hissed and shifted. "You little brat!" shouted the Count. "I'll teach you how to play with knives!"

While they ran snow started falling. It was enough that Anna and Lara were able to hide in a group of bushes while Dracula flew away above them. The princesses breathed in relief.

"Why did you do that, Lara?" asked Anna. "He could have gotten you and bitten you instead!" Lara sniffled.

"I had to help you, Mommy!" she said, clutching tightly to Belle. "Did you want me to just sit there and watch him bite you? You could have been turned into a vampire!" Anna sighed.

"He wouldn't have done that," she said.

"How do you know?" asked Lara.

"I don't know how I know, I just do," said Anna. "Come on, I think we outsmarted him for once, let's head home." Lara looked skeptical about walking through a dark snowy forest, but nodded.

The two of them kept their eyes open but no danger came. After half an hour of not reaching the forest's end Anna was starting to get worried.

"That's strange," she said. "We should have been out minutes ago." Lara shivered. "Mommy, are we lost?" she asked, still holding tightly to Belle.

"A little," Anna said as she picked her daughter up and held her against her hip. "But I'm sure we'll find our way home soon." She sounded more confident than she felt.

Another half hour went by and they still weren't home. By then Lara was shivering with cold and fright. Anna was worried that they'd walked into another one of Dracula's games without knowing it, but she chose not to mention this to Lara. Anna was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she screamed when something hit her in the face.

"What's the matter?" cried Lara. Anna rubbed her sore nose and forehead.

"I don't know, sweetheart," said the princess. "I feel like I hit something." Cautiously she reached out to touch the area in front of her. Her hand hit something wooden. "But that doesn't make sense!"

"What doesn't make sense, Mommy?" asked Lara.

"It feels like there's a wall in front of us!" said Anna. "But I can't see it!" Her face turned white. "This is another one of Dracula's games!"

She put down Lara and started feeling around to see where the wall started and ended. To her horror the wall was on all sides of them. They were trapped. Anna sighed with tears forming in her eyes.

"He's captured us," she said. "Now we'll have to go through two days of terror!" Lara didn't appear to be listening. Anna noticed how sleepy the little girl looked.

"I wish there was a bed nearby, Mommy," said Lara. "I'm sleepy." Anna blinked several times before noticing her own sleepiness. Her heart started pounding again."Lara! Try to stay awake! It's one of Dracula's spells!" cried Anna.

Lara shook herself several times, but the sleepiness didn't go away. If anything it increased with the energy she had to use up.

"I'm too tired, Mommy," said Lara. Anna yawned.

"So am I, sweetheart," the princess said with her eyes drooping. "But we can't give in this easily, not when we've gone this far." Lara let out a long yawn, which made Anna feel sleepy from just watching.

"I'm sure he'll be a little nice to us if we put up less of a fight," whispered Lara.

Anna was about to protest but the words couldn't make it past her mouth. Lara curled up in her mother's arms and closed her eyes. A few seconds later she was asleep. Anna wanted to shake the little girl to wake her, but her energy was spent. At the back of her mind she could almost hear Dracula whispering to her.

'Sleep, my dears. I don't want you both to be tired for tomorrow.'

With a final sigh Anna closed her eyes and fell asleep, with Lara cradled in her arms. That was how Dracula found them when his spell was complete.