That next morning when I woke up I knew what I had to do. The only way I was going beat him was to protect myself. I told Jonathan and my boss that I was gonna stay home sick because Lucy had given me what she had and they believed me. After Jonathan left for work, I began some work of my own. I went to the store and bought garlic, crosses, and a few stakes.

I put a cross on every window and door in the house. Then I crushed up the garlic into dust and put that on every windowsill. I snapped the stakes in half and sharped the broken pieces. With only a little time before Jonathan came home, I drove over to a nearby church and filled a bottle with holy water. I got a weird look from a choir boy but he never said anything. I screwed the cap on and headed back home.

When I arrived Jonathan had beat me home so I put the bottle in my back pocket and headed inside acting as normal as possible. I walked in and saw Jonathan staring at all the garlic and crosses on the walls. "What happened?"

"I'm protecting myself." I said

"From what?" Asked Jonathan

"A vampire. You invited him into the house so I had to make sure he couldn't get in again and hurt us." I said grabbing another bottle from the cabinet, pouring half the holy water into it.

"Vlad? Vlad is not a vampire. Vampires don't exist. Besides if he was one, wouldn't we be dead?" Said Jonathan

"You wear a cross and he was about to end me upstairs in the bathroom last night but you interrupted him. Also here…" I said handing him a bottle, "Holy water."

"Mina, I think the hallucinations have gotten to you and this is some kind of mental break down." Said, Jonathan, as something hit the roof, making both of us look up.

"Did you touch any of the stuff I put up?" I asked

"I…" Said Jonathan

"Did you?!" I yelled making Jonathan jump.

"Only in the bedroom so I can sleep tonight without the stench of garlic in my nose, why?" Asked Jonathan

"Because you just let him in." I said grabbing a sharpened stake while putting my holy water in my back pocket. I ran upstairs as Jonathan followed close behind. I slowly opened the door, turning the light on. We entered, but everything looked the same, except my crosses and garlic.

"See no one here." Said Jonathan

"Yeah I guess…" I said as a bat crashed through the window. The bat flew around the room almost hitting me and Jonathan. I recognized the bat as the bat from the night before so I took out my stake and tried stabbing it. Seconds later, it transforms into Vlad who pushes me up against a nearby wall.

"Miss me?" Asked, Vlad, as another figure came through the window and pinned Jonathan to the wall.

"Why don't we get this weapon out of your hand." Said, Vlad, grabbing my wrist and digging his sharp nail into my skin as he twisted my hand the wrong way.

"Ahhh…" I gasped in pain. I wanted to scream but I also didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"Let her go." Said, Jonathan, struggling in the other figure's grasp. I noticed a blonde curl fall from under the hood and I could recognize that hair from anywhere, "Lucy?"

"Hello, Mina." Said, Lucy, with an evil grin as she dropped her hood. Her hair was brighter, skin paler, eyes grayer, and her teeth were as white as freshly fallen snow.

"What did he do to you?" I asked noticing dried blood on her neck.

"He made me better, stronger, and faster. He has helped me." Said Lucy

"What's going on?" Asked, Jonathan, as he started to realize I was right.

"I'm here to take your wife and make her mine." Said, Vlad, stroking the side of my face as I flinched.

"While I get to watch over you till later." Said, Lucy, as her fangs extended, making Jonathan's eyes go wide.

"He has nothing to do with this, let him go. Please." I said

"Oh he does have a part in this. He'll be your first meal." Said, Vlad, as everything went dark.

The next time I open my eyes I am on a fancy quilted bed. One with the curtains on all four sides. I got to my feet as my legs turned to jello. I fell to my knees, noticing that my legs hit cold stone. Which meant I wasn't wearing pants. I looked down to see I was wearing a dress. I searched the room for a full body mirror and found one on the opposite side of the room. I turn the mirror toward myself, getting a full view of the gown. The same one as my nightmare. Every detail, every bead, even the color was the same.

If I don't want this nightmare to come true I need to find Jonathan and we need to run, fast. Once I snap out of my thoughts I run to the door to find, with no surprise, that it was locked. So then I made my way to the big window, looking at my surroundings. This is when I realized I wasn't in a normal house. I looked out to find I was at least 50 ft in the air and that all the walls were made of stone blocks. Vlad and Lucy had taken us to the castle up on Stark Street and I was in one of the towers. I knew I wasn't strong enough to break down the door and I didn't have anything on me sharp enough to pick the lock. So the window was the only way out.

I collected all the sheets, blankets, towels, and clothing that I could find from the room, tying it together. Once the knots were as tight as they could be I tied the sheet rope to one of the bed posts. Being only 115 lbs at 23 I was hoping that I was light enough where my weight wouldn't affect the position of the bed. So I threw the makeshift rope out the window and sat on the edge of the window sill. The rope did not make it to the ground, maybe 10 feet too short. I grab the rope and slide off the window sill. All that was keeping me alive was my grip so I held on with all the strength I had. I slowly climbed down as the ground got closer and closer. I kept my eyes closed as I climbed down because if I looked down I might let go. When my feet couldn't grasp the rope anymore, I opened my eyes and climbed till only my hands hung to the rope.

Then I dropped only to land on my ankle wrong, spraining it. I looked back up at the window and then started limping away from the castle, trying to find where they would've put Jonathan. I made it to the front courtyard, realizing it was the same one from my dream. I start to run but don't get too far before I collapse from my ankle. Then a hand appears to help me up I take it but when I glance up at the owner of the hand I flinch back. Vlad smiles down at me as I slowly back away from him.

"You aren't gonna get far with a sprained ankle, Mina. Besides you wouldn't want to abandon your beloved Jonathan, would you?" Said Vlad

"Where is he?" I asked

"He's safe." Said, Vlad, vanishing and reappearing behind me, "For now."

"Let him go." I said turning around to face him.

"I can't do that." Said, Vlad, walking toward me as I backed away.

"You want me right?" I asked noticing a shovel nearby.

"Of course." Said, Vlad, appearing inches from me, as I grabbed the shovel.

"Then you're out of luck." I said swinging the shovel for his head.

Only by the time it got to where his head was, he was no longer there. I could hear him laughing but could not place where his voice was coming from. I turned round and round but I couldn't find him. Not until he was suddenly pushing me up against the stone wall.

"Why are you fighting me? Why are you being so difficult?" Asked Vlad

"I'm being difficult because I don't love you. I'm not something you just take. I'm a human who has family, friends, and a husband. I will never stop fighting because who would ever want to be with a monster?" I said

"My wife did. I didn't want to be this thing and my wife didn't want this for me either. But when your child is taken from you, you will do anything to get them back. My wife gave her life so I could save his." Said Vlad

"And I look like you're wife, don't I?" I asked

"Yes. Same hair, voice, short height, smile and beauty. Even if you don't love me, you will be mine." Said Vlad

"You can't force love." I said as his face went dark.

"Oh but I can." Said Vlad

"Think of your son. He wouldn't want you to do this." I said pleading with my eyes.

"He's been gone for a very long time and he would want me to be happy. This makes me happy. I can make you love me." Said, Vlad, as his sparkling blue eyes stared into mine. Nothing happened at first, but suddenly my body went numb and I dropped the shovel from my hand.

"You will not scream or try to run. All you will do is give me a dance." Said, Vlad, backing up while extending his hand.

I nodded, putting my hand in his. We walked to the center of the courtyard as I put my arms around his neck and he put his hands around my waist. That's when we began to dance. Twirling, waltzing and slow dancing. Our feet were in sync as if we were in a movie. Everything was perfect as he'd twirl me one last time, taking my face in his hands. That is when I blinked and came out of the trance. I couldn't move or scream but I could still speak.

"Don't do this." I said trying to find any humanity in his eyes but there was nothing. Just darkness behind the piercing blue.

"You're bleeding." Said, Vlad, as I noticed I must've cut my hand on the shovel because blood dripped from my finger. He lifted my hand to his mouth and licked the blood dripping down. His saliva made my skin feel like it was on fire. After the blood had stopped he looked me in the eyes as his fangs extended.

"Please. Don't do this." I said once again.

"Don't worry, the pain will be bearable." Said Vlad as he moved my hair to the side.

"Please. I don't wan….ahhh." I said as his fangs pierced my skin.