Yay for comments and support! You all make my heart so happy

Enjoy this new chapter featuring a fake Romanian folk song, the introduction of some faves, bath tubs, and me being really bad at author's notes.

Lots of love,

Your author.

OOO

Of course they all knew about Sarah.

Their fearless leader and his infatuation with a young girl. Herbert still thought it slightly ridiculous, but he supposed it was not his place to judge. He was not an entirely moral creature himself (none of them were) yet Sarah was often the gossip among them. Her name was whispered in the halls and discussed in the sitting rooms. Everything was Sarah Chagal.

There was something slightly odd about her that Herbert could not quite put his finger upon. If there were something strange about her, perhaps it would maker father's infatuation make sense. For now, Herbert saw no reason in it. The girl was sweet, he supposed. Beautiful, certainly. He supposed it would be nice to have her in the castle. No one knew had joined their brood in ages and perhaps after father would not be so disgustingly brooding all the time if he had his pet by his side. Or he'd finally get her and then forget about her. Father had done that before, but never with one he fixated upon as he fixated upon Sarah. In fact, Herbert had not known his father to ever be as fixated upon anyone as he was with Sarah.

Father had decided to wait until Sarah's eighteenth birthday, which seemed disgustingly cliché and dramatic but father was often cliché and dramatic.

Herbert could not help but feel a pang of loneliness as he thought about the whole ordeal. It would be nice, he supposed, to have someone to fixate upon.

OOO

Sarah Chagal was now seventeen and she liked bubble baths, going to the city to see Maria, and the fact that she would be eighteen next year. She disliked having to assist in the tavern, overly hot days, and the new maid. The maid's name was Magda and everyone seemed to enjoy her company over Sarah's. Magda had just moved from a neighboring city and her newness brought her much attention. Sarah didn't like just how much attention she was receiving.

She did not like hot days either, for hot days drew in more people and Sarah did not like working. What she did like was escaping. Summers in Constanta were not entirely escaping, but summers in the cities to visit Maria were. Sarah liked the city so much more than the shore. The city was exciting and private in a way Constanta wasn't. There was anonymity in the city and Sarah liked that. She liked feeling like she could be whatever she wanted.

Her deepest pleasure were baths. Sarah would bathe every night should papa not catch her. They had brought in a new tub, a perk for one of the suites, but no one ever stayed there so Sarah had taken the bath as her own. Though papa would still be cross at her use of it, Sarah hardly cared. Sarah hardly cared about anything as the oil and bubbles coated her skin. Her mother told her only prostitutes perfumed themselves as much as Sarah did but she didn't care. Sarah adored smelling nice. Nothing ever smelt nice in the tavern.

Sarah also enjoyed her fantasy world. The world was quieter now and far smaller, but Sarah liked it all the same. She'd received a beautiful necklace from her angel and one flower had been left this year. One instead of two and Sarah thought it was counting to her eighteenth birthday. Would something miraculous happen then? Sarah wished so. Would they take her then, her vampires, and she'd go to live in the castle with them? The scene was very lavish in Sarah's mind. It would be like a wedding, this joining of the castle. A wedding to Count Von Krolock. Which was silly, for he did not want to marry her.

No, vampires were not for marriage. If he wanted anything, it was her blood. And if he wanted the other thing then…then Sarah knew what the other thing was. She had never done it, this other thing, but she knew what it was. Would she like to do that? Sarah didn't know and not knowing made her blush.

As she lay in her tub on one late summer's night, Sarah let her mind wander to her fantasy world. What a wonderful escape the castle would be. Sarah so badly wanted to escape. Aunt Violet said the only way a woman was free was in marriage, but no one wanted to marry Sarah. Whispers and rumors still tainted her as 'the vampire girl.' No one from her village wanted to marry the vampire girl. No one was brave enough to even tempt it.

Sarah had gotten a kiss though. A boy named Samuel gave her a kiss on a spring night after a dance. She had quite liked the kiss, but Samuel had left with the other Romani. Sarah had not seen him again. She did not think of him often.

The stupid thing she thought of all the time was the castle. The castle and those inside of it. Sarah had heard singing that night of the dare, she knew she had. The castle had wanted her. He had wanted her. It was a wonderful and terrible notion to be wanted by a vampire. Sarah hadn't even the slightest idea why. She had not seen him since she was six. She'd sensed him…but not seen him. Why did he like her? Why did he leave her little gifts and linger in the air around her?

She'd like to think it was for love, but knew it was not.

"Deep in the dark of the night with you," Sarah sang softly as she washed. "Deep in the dark of the sea so blue. I know your arms are strong and true. Deep in the dark of the night with you." She hummed the verse. The woman of the story was walking towards the ocean, pulled in by the call of her lover. It was Sarah's most favorite song. She dipped her sponge in the water and drew it up her arm.

That was when she door opened and she saw her father red with rage.

"How many times do I have to tell you: this bath is not for you!" He screamed and Sarah nearly stood up before he screamed at her to stay in the water. Slamming the door behind him, her father left and Sarah vacated the tub instantly. She opened the door to her room and locked it shut behind her.

Another thing Sarah disliked: being scolded.

OOO

For a week in the summer, Sarah went to visit Maria who now lived in the city with her family. Her father taught at a university and they lived in a lovely flat and Sarah wished to live with them. It was so much nicer than her dingy tenant home. And the room were not filled with strangers and drunks. Maria could walk to restaurants and store and coffee houses and Sarah wanted all of it. Next to the castle, there was no place more magical than the city.

On the night when the strange thing happened, Sarah and Maria had taken a walk in a nearby garden. It was not an exceptionally dangerous garden so Sarah had seen no harm walking through it. It was not far either from the flat and Maria often took walks at night. Nothing should've been bizarre about this.

"I've been taking classes at the university," Maria revealed with a sly grin. "I want to teach. Like father."

"That's wonderful," Sarah replied. There was a strange pang in her chest. "I haven't any idea what I want to do."

"You'll be a great explorer!" Maria suggested with a nudge. "You'll travel the world and publish your journey in bestselling books."

Sarah laughed seeing the vision play in her head. Sarah the explorer. Sarah the brave. It would be so fantastic to travel the world. It was so much bigger than her little corner of it and Sarah wanted to see it all. But she hadn't money or means or any way to leave where she was. Perhaps Aunt Violet was right. Maybe the only way to freedom was marriage. Sarah would marry some man from some far away city and then she'd travel the world with him.

She thought of Count Von Krolock. She didn't know why.

Maria beamed, "I was thinking: you and I should get a flat here in the city. You're a good waitress, you can get a job. I've a job at a shop and between us we'd certainly have enough money."

"That sounds wonderful," Sarah said. And it did, it certainly did. Yet it made her think of the primroses. Just one had been left this year. Something was going to happen soon and Sarah didn't want to miss it. Even so…

Suddenly, Maria gripped her friend's arm very tightly. "Sarah, we need to leave."

"What?" Sarah whispered but Maria was already walking very quickly. It was then she saw it. Three men staring at them from the other side of the street. Three men who did not look so friendly and certainly now looked like they were following them. Sarah glanced at them, her insides turning. Maria and she walked faster, but the men started running.

"Run!" Maria hissed and Sarah eagerly complied. Her heart was pounding and her vision was blurring. Who on earth were these men and why on earth were they chasing them? Where had they come from? They caught Sarah's arms and she tried to scream but another cupped her mouth. Sarah's heart was about to burst. Why did these men want to hurt her? Sarah didn't even know them. She didn't even know them, why should they-

There was a horrible noise and suddenly Sarah was not being held anymore. She looked around and saw Maria had fallen onto the pavement. The friend was moving though her nose bled and her eyes fixed in horror upon something behind Sarah. Two of the men were lying upon the ground in a scene Sarah could never forget. One lay with his head twisted an impossible way, the other with his throat ripped out so it seemed he wore a horrible blanket of blood. With another horrible noise, the third man dropped to the ground, his throat equally dislodged.

Sarah felt herself stumble back, her stomach flipping in on itself. There was a fourth man.

A fourth man who was tall and Sarah instantly recognized. Her angel. Her angel no longer so angelic. He had killed them. He had killed them because they had tried to hurt her. Why would he… Why… Sarah gazed at him as he moved nearer, yet she knew he meant her no harm. He certainly meant her no harm. She felt her skin tingle as he moved towards her and noted there were cuts from where then men had grabbed her. Sarah could hardly feel them.

Count Von Krolock moved into the light and Maria screamed loud enough to piece the clouds and took off in a run. Sarah supposed he did look fearful. He looked different that she had remembered him. He seemed greyer now, more angular. His eyes burned red like coals as he stared at her. His lips, chin, neck, and shirt were all doused in the blood of those awful men. He had killed them. He had killed them for her. He was following her. He was watching her.

It seemed he expected her to do what Maria had done, but Sarah could not move. It was like he had transfixed her to that spot. She did not want to move. She wanted to ask him about the flowers, and the earrings, and the bracelet, and the necklace. She wanted to ask why he was always with her even when she did not realize that he was. She wanted to touch him, so she reached a hand to his cheek even though it was bloodied. It stained her white hand red. His eyes burned as he stared at her.

"Sarah!" Her friend bellowed as though she'd caught Sarah doing something truly revolting.

Sarah blinked. What was she doing? What was wrong with her? She'd just seen this man kill. Kill and brutally murder those men and now she was touching his cheek. Her hand dropped to her side but he grabbed her wrist swiftly. Would he take her now? Would she go to the castle now?

The oddest sensation of everything loosing color then fading away took over her and Sarah fell back onto the cobblestones.

OOO

In fear she'd hurt her head, they'd taken Sarah to the hospital first and then she was sent back home. Maria hardly said a word, but Sarah knew she'd upset her. There would be no flat in the city now. Maria would not want to live with Sarah now. Sarah had upset everyone, especially mother and father. They said she was 'encouraging that monster.' Encouraging. Sarah was not encouraging him. Father had been absolutely horrified to hear it. God, they acted like she'd kissed him not just touched his cheek. She hadn't even meant to. She didn't know why she'd done it.

They acted like she'd wanted those men to hurt her too. The whole thing was horrible.

Now Sarah lay in a bath that was probably too hot for her and let the heat numb her mind. They'd let her in the new bath because the doctor said it would help with her arms. Her mother had almost refused yelling that 'the monster' would come to Sarah when she was alone. Rebecca said she'd seen him standing over Sarah's hospital bed but Sarah doubted that was true. Her mother liked to be dramatic. She had relented however and let Sarah bathe on her own.

Encouraging him. Sarah had not been encouraging anyone. It was not like she'd stormed the castle, ripped off her dress, and started praising Satan in front of them. Never had she encouraged him. Never had she even seen him, save that time when she was girl. That time at the beach… The gifts and the flowers…

Encouraging him. Sarah was certain she had not been encouraging him. She'd kept that bear until it was ripped from her, but she was nine! It had not been for lustful yearning that she kept the bear, but for want of the toy! That was all! There was nothing unholy in wanting a companion. And talking with Maria and her father...that was just talking! Sarah had summoned no one, asked for nothing! Her parents were being...horrible. They're always being horrible. They hate me.

Sarah fell back into the sudsy water, the heat not numbing her mind anymore. Maybe I should encourage him, she thought grimly to herself. I could go to the castle. I could be a countess. I'd be immortal and powerful and no one would ever hurt me again. Mama and papa would feel so bad for how cruel they've been to me. They'd feel terrible.

Why did they hate her? She had done nothing wrong. She had done nothing at all wrong. Sarah didn't aim to be a tease or be flirtatious or be especially sensual or alluring. She could not help how her body looked or how men viewed it. She couldn't help if this Count Von Krolock had taken some interest in her. At least someone had taken some interest in her. Sarah dived under the hot water, wetting her hair and letting the soap slide through the knots. She wanted to sink away like the woman in the song.

"Sink into the dark with me," Sarah sang the man's part softly as she came out of the water. "Drift away and you will see. Never was there a love so true. Deep in the dark of the night with you." The song soothed her in its strange way.

After a while she got out of her bath, wrapped herself in a towel and stepped back to her bedroom. The maid would clear the water. The new maid everyone liked more than her.

Sarah's hair was in tangles as she rung it out, so she went to her dressing table to comb it. Dropping the towel, Sarah wrapped herself in her robe and brushed through the knots on her head. I am not alluring, Sarah thought as she looked at her wet and red face. Papa and Mama are wrong. They're mean. I'm not...the tears took her again and she dropped her head to the dressing table. I hate it here. I hate it.

Suddenly, a thought filled her mind. A dangerous thought, definitely, but she kept thinking it regardless. Sarah sat up, stood up, and paced back near her window. The night stars looked down at her from her tiny portal to the world. If they think I encourage him, then perhaps I will. Perhaps he can save me.

"I don't know if you're listening," Sarah spoke to the empty and static air. You are insane, Sarah Chagal. "And I don't know why you help me. But if you are listening and..." This is idiotic, Sarah said as her eyes filled with tears to spite her. What the hell are you doing? Taking a step back from her window, Sarah slid back into her room and sat upon her bed. Begging for a vampire to take you away: this is ridiculous, Sarah. You are ridiculous.

"Help me," she whimpered. Whether it was to God or to the vampire she didn't even know. She remembered her stupid prayers begging for angels to come and take her. Silly prayers. Childish prayers. There were no angels to come save her. "P-please. Please. I hate it here. I can't stand it. Send someone. Please. Anyone. I can't..." Sarah blubbered and fell onto her back. She twisted to her side and gazed at the wall until she fell asleep.

OOO

Take her, screamed ever fiber in his body. She wants you to do it, so do it. Take her. Von Krolock was standing right inside her window. The parents were asleep now: no one would see him. He moved closer to her, coming so close to nearly touch her but thinking better of it. Young, still too young. He recalled that ridiculous notion he'd had years ago of keeping her at the castle until she was old enough. Yet he would not be able to control himself should she live at the castle. He would not be able to control it at all.

She had grown to be so beautiful, just as he suspected. As she grew older the beauty would blossom further. Her young and gangly body now had the beginning lines and curves of a woman. Her skin was pale as milk and her hair a dark auburn. Not set, it looked chocolate brown upon her pillow. He had a very vivid vision of wrapping her locks in his fist and pressing her against his lips. Still too young, he knew that, but the thought remained. This was obsession, just as his son had noted. This strange starchild filled his days and his nights with wanting and yearning. Take her. Why wait? She is beautiful and she is young. Take her now, for she wants you. No doubt some other men will notice how beautiful and young she is.

Sarah with another man. The thought had simply not occurred to him. What if one were to catch her fancy and she fall in love? What if she were to be married and have a child? Could he take her away? Could he stay and watch her live a life with another being? She'd be happier in that life, he told himself. If you had even a thread of decency in you, you'd let her have that life.

It was said that if you loved something, you were meant to let it go. Perhaps he didn't love Sarah, for he certainly would not let her go.

Take her now then, before another man does. Take her now.

And he was going to. Something in his inhibitions rotted away and he was going to. Von Krolock stepped forward, smelling her intoxicating scent and was going to take her. They didn't want her. Damn them, they didn't want her. But he did. He wanted her. He wanted her and he'd never not want her. She would be his and he'd be far better to her than they had ever been. Sarah would live in luxury for all eternity at his side. At his side. Yes, yes, he wanted her. Like a man, he wanted her. In one bite she would be his. In one bite everything would be fine. This incessant pain in his chest would leave him. This hunger, this lust, would be gone and replaced by a new one.

Von Krolock was about to take her when she suddenly turned and saw his face. He knew she saw her face, for he wasn't hiding. Why hide? He was certain she was asleep. He was certain she was not going to turn around and see him and-

"Wait!" Sarah hissed but he was already gone. She whimpered a cry, falling against her head board. From the shadows he watched her as she scanned the room desperately for a sign of him. Idiot, idiot man. "Please."

Go to sleep, Sarah, he wanted to tell her but knew he could not speak.

"Fine," Sarah laid back and looked up at her ceiling. "It's fine. I..." She breathed, deep and long breaths that filled her body. Sarah's eyes were caught by something on her arm, and she ran her fingers over cuts and bruises that had grown there. Those disgusting beasts. He should've done worse to them. He should've done everything imaginable to them.

Why are you hiding from a little girl? Hissed that voice in his head. It's true, why hide? He could make her forget if he didn't want to be known. Or he could take her now, like he should do, and stop all of this brooding.

Sarah stepped out of her bed and for a moment he feared she could see him. Instead, she went to her loose floorboard and pulled the blanket out from underneath. She slid it over her shoulder and then for a moment she caught a reflection of herself in the mirror. Holding out the sides, Sarah twirled in the reflection like she had when she was a child. It pulled at his heart to watch it: why was he watching her? He should go, surely. Sarah knew he was here, she had to know. How he wanted her.

Sarah slipped and dropped to the ground, feeling like an absolute idiot. That's quite frankly all she felt like of late. Especially tonight. Tonight was a terrible night. She'd been hurt and humiliated and forced into her room like a convict into a cell. She'd seen him, her angel, and he'd flown away from her. They had been right, though: he was in her room. It did not scare her as much as it scared them.

Something was stinging on her wrist. She looked down to see a thin red ribbon bubbling up on her pale skin. A scar from her fall had opened again and was now trickling along her skin like a small red river. Sarah felt the thickness of the air like it were a thing she could reach out and grasp. He was here, her angel. Maybe he wasn't an angel but Sarah liked thinking of him as such. Would he come out now? Would he want her blood? Would he make her into what he was? The very thought riled her insides wildly. She could escape. With his help, she'd run away and no one would miss her. She could be a princess.

But he did not come out. No, no he never liked to be seen. Sarah felt the blood drip from her wrist and onto the floor and was filled with another idea. A stupid idea. A really, really stupid idea, but Sarah did it anyways. She stood, moving to her window and letting drops of blood fall into the sill. She wasn't sure why she picked the window. The floor had seemed odd. It's blood, you freak, it's odd regardless. Nevertheless, Sarah let it fall. She squeezed her fist and to make the last few small drops appear and then went back to her bed.

What am I doing? She thought fearfully as she gazed at her window sill. It wasn't that much blood at all. In fact, she could not even see it from where she lay. What on earth had possessed her to do such a thing? Ridiculous, stupid. Please come. Sarah begged in the back of her mind. Please please please.

He could not move. Moving meant he would do something reckless and he could not do something reckless. This was a mistake. All of it, the whole eleven years, a mistake. Sarah was young. Sarah was so young and confused and she didn't need him she needed sunlight and children and life and things he couldn't give her. Get off you're fucking pedestal. You're not good. You're not kind and forgiving and loving and doting. You are none of these things. You want her. You want her so take her. Save his morality, you have no morality. Morality does not matter. Show her. Take her. She wants you to take her.

The blood. The blood on the window sill. What a strange thing. What a strange thing she was.

He touched his finger to it. He should not have done that. He brought it to his tongue and he certainly should not have done that. He heard her sniffling cries from her bed and they were driving him mad. Her blood was wonderful. He wanted her so badly. No one would know. If he took her now, no one would know.

No. No, not yet. Sarah would not be his yet. He wanted things ready for her. Sarah was his and Sarah was special. She would be his. She would be his, but not quite yet. Soon, so very soon. Just moments away, really. He needed her to wait. Sarah just needed to wait.

"Soon, my Starchild." He sat upon her bed and brushed back her hair. "We'll be together soon."

She opened her eyes to see him, but he had already gone.

OOO

Several months later, a young man and a professor made their way through the snowy mountains of Transylvania. Why the professor had chosen now to go on this expedition was beyond the young man, but the old man was always very set once he had decided something. It wasn't as though the young man had much say in the matter. Orphaned at barely five years old, he was either to become a scholar or become a beggar and the former had sounded much more satisfying. That was until he found the way to his scholardom was by following a flighty professor around the world on monster hunts.

The young man hummed a song to himself as he walked. Some Romanian folk song about a woman drowning herself for her lover. The young man thought that an extremely bizarre thing to do. What sort of love would require one to kill oneself? I'm going to kill myself by following the professor, the man mused.

The professor was a genius, crazy as he was, and the boy was extremely blessed to be studying with him. If the young man wanted to study the supernatural and there was no better man with whom to study and no better place to study than Transylvania. He had loved studying these inexplicable beasts from the comfort of a classroom, but found studying them in reality far less cushy. They'd been traveling for weeks now with nothing to show for it. The professor had insisted they were nearing their prize, but the young man was no longer so sure.

"Professor?" The boy called. He'd lost the old man and the snow was beginning to pour. The old man had probably stopped to take a note of something and was paying no attention to the oncoming storm. The professor would do that often. "Hey! Where are you, professor?"

No response. No response and the wind was blowing. He hear a wolf or maybe he was just imagining it. It could not be good to be out in the snow on a night like tonight. Especially not in Transylvania. The young man trekked on, finding the old man frozen nearly stiff in a snowbank. He managed to wrestle the old man to his feet and in the distance he thought he saw some light.

A village. They came upon a village with a small tenant house. Good, the young man thought. The promise of a warm bed and hot food filled him up almost as well as the real thing. They'd stay here for the night then continue on with their travels. A meal and a good rest would make them ready for their task.

They were vampire hunters after all, and Alfred intended to at least see some vampires.