me no own anything, so don't sue me. except for my plot, brain and character.

Oh shit. That was her last thought before she succumbed to sleep.

The next day, Noriko had completely forgotten everything about blood sucking, devils or anything else. She was really absent minded and tended to forget details and things that she subconsciously thought were unimportant. Afterall, knowing that she was living with a vampire wasn't going to do much good to her right? She dashed off into the woods, checking the traps.

It was nighttime and his dryad hadn't come. He paced around frustratedly. Where had she gone? Had she left the castle already? A sudden smell of both human and animal blood flooded his nostrils. Leaning over the balcony that overlooked the entrance hall, he saw his dryad come in. Noriko had a heck lot of blood splattered on her clothes, tear tracks on her face, red lips and was cuddling something very protectively.
She had been in the woods checking the traps. There wasn't much, and she was about to head back to the castle when she heard a howl. It wasn't a healthy or territorial howl. It was more like a wounded and sad kind of sound. She ran towards it, to find a pair of wolves. A cub and its mother. The adult was caught in a trap.

That trap wasn't hers. It didn't just catch the leg of the animal, it had an extra device that plunged a steel spike into the neck as well. In short, the female wolf was unlikely to survive and that the trap was really cruel, forcing the victim to die of blood loss. Her hands balled into fists and she punched the nearby tree with great force, causing splinters to enter her hand and blood to start ebbing out. Damn! How could people be so cruel like this? All her traps were a guaranteed one hit k.o, causing almost no pain at all to the victim.

Oh wait. IF they could cruelly treat a human like her like this, what about an animal, animals aren't as 'worthy' as humans. She snorted fiercely. She was a human, and well, look how those humans treated her. A wry grin crossed her face at the thought. You kinda got used to it. At least you know why they hate you. Boy would it all be so freaking confusing if you had to be nice and yet worry about why people hated you. Ah, animals, they're way trustworthier besides they care for you…

Noriko crept closer to the wounded wolf, the cub nudging it's mother with its little black nose, trying to awaken the almost sleeping form. The poor female was still in pain, she was too weak to open her eyes or to react with the nudges her cub was giving her. The little cub bared its tiny fangs at her, and ran and hid behind its mother. The older wolf's fur was matted with her own blood. One hand firmly on the spike that was already embedded in the neck, Noriko drove it in deeper, preventing the female from more suffering, from the pain that plagued her. A tear fell on the forest floor as she pulled back the bloodied spike.

She placed both hands at the opening of the trap, the teeth cutting deeply into her fingers. Using some stones and branches, she managed to form a lever and push the trap open, dragging the body free from the trap. Tears flowed even harder. She wasn't crying because of the pain, the tears were a memory, a present to the dead, mangled body that lay in her arms. The cub followed, whining and barking at her.

The body slipped a few times, it was heavy and the sticky red blood made it harder to hold. She carried it, half tumbling over the outstretched roots of the trees. She was at the foot of an ancient oak tree. One which she used to climb. The soil was soft and easy to remove as she slowly dug the wolf's grave. It wouldn't be proper to skin her and eat her, 'Not after I had seen you suffer…' A soft whisper, carried by the wind. As she laid the body in the hole, the cub tried to jump in as well.

'Shhhh…' She made soft soothing noises to the little one that was squirming in her hold, ever desperately seeking the mangled body that was once its mother. Noriko now had the smell of both herself and the female wolf, maybe that was why the cub refused to leave her. By this time, the sky had gotten very dark and the crescent moon was her only ray of light, she trudged back to the castle. The moment she entered, something warm and dark suddenly enveloped her. She was still dazed and the cub was whimpering slightly. Her instincts kicked in and she broke free from the grasp and ran backwards, so she could survey her surroundings properly.

His rage overcame him, yet he was so so concerned. Where had she been? Was she alright? Obviously not since the animal blood was mingled with a human's. She looked so vulnerable, he was feeling something he had never felt before. What ever it was, it was driving him to hold her tightly. She suddenly stiffened and pulled away from him, her eyes reminding him of an animal in the forest, wary, apprehensive and confused.
Noriko shook her head slightly, regaining her bearings. She stared at the man who had just held her with a very confused gaze. What was he trying to do? I knew I shouldn't have trusted him, an inner voice screamed at her. 'Do you have a bathroom that I could borrow?' That was her first thought and the only one that she voiced. He wordlessly stared at her, his onyx ones staring deep into her soul, or so she felt. She glared back with a challenging one that said show-me-or-forget-it-I-can-do-well-on-my-own-thank-you-very-much. She wasn't one of those people who could read what was in other people's eyes, all their emotions and stuff, but she did know that she had seen something flicker in the Count's eyes that made her kind of curious. He motioned for her to follow as he led the way to the bathroom.

She was proving to be very interesting, an enigma, to be exact. One minute wary, another minute challenging, another minute curious. Oh, he would figure her out soon enough. Nothing eluded Vladislaus Dracula. He was the one who held the secrets and he didn't like others to. He stopped outside a dark oak door with elegant carvings on it.

Turning the burnished copper handle, she paused as she looked at the retreating form. "Thank you Count." She called, feeling really weird, well, she had never thanked anyone other than her Nanna before. Shrugging, she stepped inside the marble tiled bathroom. Never had she seen such grandeur in one room before! One finger ran fleetingly across the gold taps, to the pure whiteness of the bathtub. A movement in her arms brought her back to reality and she placed the small groggy cub into the bathtub.

Turning the taps a few times and she had gotten the ideal temperature, washing off the dried blood on the cub's fur, she found it to be a misty blue-grey though it was more inclined to the bluish side. After placing him on the floor, she proceeded to wash all the blood off her. When she was done drying herself, she suddenly realised that she had forgotten to bring her extra furs in. As if on cue, a knock sounded on the door and the Count's baritone smooth voice told her that it was just outside. Scowling, Noriko stuck her arm blindly out of the door and her furs were shoved into her hand.

The thought of letting her come running out in nothing but her wet furs was a rather amusing thought, or even leaving her to wear one of those sexy little dresses that were meant for his brides would prove to be interesting. Sadly, from their previous encounters, he knew she would stay in the bathroom till her clothes were dry. That was more likely to happen and he didn't want the dryad to stay enclosed inside that bathroom. He wanted her out where he could see her.
The furs she had on now were white, not like yesterday's multi-coloured one. He was pleased to see the effect. The whiteness of the furs contrasted with her skin and matched with her silver hair. Like a daughter of the moon. An appropriate description. A smirk appeared. He had taken a lick of her blood earlier on when a drop had landed on his finger and it proved to be as sweet and rich as he had thought, no, actually, it was even better.

Rubbing her towel vigorously in her hair, she sat near the fire she had built again. God knows how freezing the place was at night. The young cub had fallen asleep in her lap and now, all she had to do was to get him a name. The Count had settled next to her, strands of his hair had escaped the elegant ponytail, the flames casting little shadows that were dancing on his face and Noriko reluctantly admitted to herself that yes, he was handsome. Very handsome, ok, fine, smouldering.

"What happened?" He asked, pointing to the now clean but wet furs.

"This little baby's mum was caught in one of the stupidest and idiotic traps of mankind." It was spat out with much bitterness, but the part when she had said 'little baby' was full of care and concern. A sudden jab of pain struck his undead heart. Suddenly, he realised what had set her apart from his other brides. It wasn't only skin deep.

His brides were calculating, all their actions were planned and they all fell to his good looks and charm immediately. But Noriko did things on her whim, she hadn't thrown herself at him immediately after seeing how handsome he looked nor did she plan for anything. Everything, every action, emotion and feeling was real. He suddenly realised that he couldn't bear to kill her; he couldn't bear to let anything happen to her.

That had proved itself when he was pacing the ceiling due to the fact that she just wasn't there. And when she had come back to him, blood-splattered and all, he had felt a deep rage, yet a deep sense of relief. Anger at the protective way she was cuddling that cub, anger at the fact that she was back so late and anger that he had let her roam the dangerous woods herself, without any protection whatsoever. He wouldn't, couldn't let her go out there anymore, having come to this decision, he looked back at the female who was looking at him with something like inquisitiveness in her eyes. "Come and stay in the castle."

"But I already am." Confusion showed in those lovely eyes, her fingers drumming her sweet lips that seemed to be calling out to him. "I will prepare a room for you and your meals will be provided. Access to the library is also granted." He added on a second thought.

Access to the library? No problem, so long as she could spend her time reading, she didn't mind, but what was his motive? "I have no ulterior or interior motive." He assured her, all she needed was some persuasion. At the mention of the library, those eyes had led him to see her love for reading.

"Thank you for the offer, but I would be imposing onto you." She said, knowing that she was giving up the library in exchanged for her manners. "You wouldn't. And that's settled. Come, I shall bring you to your room." His tone was commanding, leaving her no room for arguments. In a way, Noriko was glad. Truly glad for the first time in a long while..

mi03cah: thanks for being so concerned, but no, i havent recived any flames yet. been wondering whether there was anything i needed to improve on... )

Haunting Whispers: yup. aleera's really gonna mess it up. ) just not in this chapter yet.

Velfin: ah... you realised that im planning to kill aleera off afterwards, drats. just deciding how andwhether to torture her first... (hunter's knofe appears behind FireKidd's back.)

hope you guys enjoyed this. Oh, i need a name for the lil wolf cub. Something to relate to his fur? i need ideas k? Thanks to all who read this lil story... sob... Thanks! And i was planning to change the story name to 'my enigma' should i?

enjoy it?

Py