I had a little writer's block and couldn't think of a plot for the next chapter... I was listening to P.O.D.'s Youth of the Nation the entire time.

-sobs- And now I need a tissue. I'm such a goon. Crying over a song. Whatever.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 9: Trust me..?

Terra was sleeping fitfully, tossing for the millionth time as her dreams tortured her.

Dracula stared down at her, watching from the safety of the ceiling darkness.

She called out in her sleep again. Every time for her mother. He wondered what she was dreaming.

Feeling only slightly guilty, he nudged her mind, opening a path to her dreams; and closed his eyes.

"Run Terra!" The woman screamed. Terra-the-child wrenched the door, trying to un-jam her mother's bedroom door. Her shoulder length curls bounced against her cheeks, made into wild frizz in the heat.

"Mum!" Her voice was choked with tears as she screamed in terror.

The hall to her right was filled with smoke, the flames behind them pushed waves of crackling heat towards her.

"Go Terra! Save yourself!"

Terra screamed again, trying to move the door's handle. She was ignoring the fact that the door was jammed, her hands were being scorched to the bone by the super-heated metal, and the flames were closer than ever.

Terra struggled, prying her hands from the door with a sob, staring at it.

Suddenly, she was in her apartment, slumped against her bed. Her lips forming his name, calling for help.

Her eyes were closing, and strong arms wrapped around her. She looked into her mother's face.

"Mom?" The flames coiled around them, but Terra didn't react as they fed on her body.

"I'm here, dearest," the woman whispered, taking her only daughter into her arms, cradling her against her chest.

Their long red hair mixed as they embraced.

Terra's mother suddenly stepped away.

"Wait, mom," she reached for her mother, but suddenly she was gone, engulfed in flames silently.

Terra screamed, tears fizzling on her burning face. She fell back against the bed, sliding down to the floor as she disappeared beneath the flames.

Terra screamed, pulling from the dream, her thin body wracked with sobs.

Dracula pulled back, unsure. He didn't know if he could trust himself just then. Seeing her so vulnerable called to his inner demons. She was so... innocent.

Then a smirk crossed his face and he stifled a chuckle. Her? Innocent? With the language and the sex... his smile froze and melted away just as suddenly into a scowl.

When she was his, no man would touch her. Save himself of course.

Terra's sobs subsided, but her body shook violently, even with the heavy comforter draped around her body.

Deciding not to show his presence, he reappeared outside of her room and knocked on the door.

He heard her sniffle slightly, then cough. "Come in." Her voice was shaking.

Dracula opened the door, shutting it behind him as he strode to the bed.

Her face was buried in her blanketed knees and she glanced up at him as he sat on the bed next to her.

"Terra," he began, placing a cool hand on her back. "How are you feeling?" He asked, not saying what he felt, feeling decidedly foolish.

She sniffed, raising her head and tossing stray curls from her eyes as she regarded him solemnly. She seemed to be searching his soul as their eyes met. Finally, she sighed.

"Like hell," she muttered, plucking at the blanket.

He opened his mouth to speak, but to his surprise, she spoke again, and this time, it was like she didn't even remember he was there.

"Everything I owned was in that apartment. All my memories. My mother's ring she gave to me. The journal my father sent me. Everything," she said bitterly.

His hand ran across her shoulders as he contemplated what to say. He'd never really been with anyone in this state.

Terra's eyes took on a far away look as more words spilled out of her mouth. "My mother was killed in a fire. When I was ten. Being in the fire was like- living that nightmare again. I couldn't breathe," she finished weakly. Her eyes met his again through walls of water; unshed tears.

"I know." And he had no idea why he said it.

She blinked. "You do? How." Her voice hardened, as if she suspected something.

He winced, pulling his hand back. "I saw in your dreams. The woman behind the door," he said, feeling as if a huge dam was about to break open.

She stared at him as if he were an alien. She swung her legs down rapidly, eyes boring into his. "In my dreams," she repeated. He nodded, feeling guilty now that she knew.

"Well it's great to know that I can't even dream and be alone." She snapped furiously.

Terra moved farther across the queen sized bed, clutching the quilt.

"So you know then, that while my mother burned to death in her own bed, I was outside burning the skin off my hands trying to save her. I heard her screams even as I escaped our house. You know she-" Terra's shoulders tightened and he stood, walking around the bed to her.

"I killed her," she whispered.

"What? Terra- you didn't, the fire was an accident," he protested.

She whipped around, green eyes blazing. "It's my fault she's dead!" Terra screamed. "If I had only asked her to put me to sleep, not sent her away and gotten mad that she wanted to tuck me in like a baby, she wouldn't have gotten trapped in her room. She might be alive. I would give anything to have her back, anything!" She sobbed, and he felt agonized, her emotion pouring into him.

He pulled her into his arms, and she cried, soaking his shirt as she clutched his shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair.

She shook her head, her voice muffled in the crook of his neck. "It's fine.. I just- I miss her." She sniffed, raising her head. "How am I going to live? What am I gonna do?"

He pulled back. "What do you mean?"

" I mean, I should be dead, by mortal means. No firemen pulled me out, no one saw me outside. I-" she clenched his shirt lapels, her eyes pleading. "I have to tell my friends. I should probably stay with them- since my apartment is an ash pit now."

He chuckled, finding her body warm and pleasant in his arms. "Terra, you already have a place to stay."

She stopped her tirade, looking at him. "You mean-"

"This," he gestured at the room they stood in, "is my chateaux."

Terra looked at him and away. Damn. She was in his house. In a room. With a bed.

Oh he was probably getting a kick out of her - then she realized that she still wasn't wearing anything.

Terra dived for the bed, wrapping the sheet around him. "Oh you're very funny Mr. I Suck Your Blood, I'm dying." She snapped.

He smiled, shrugging his shoulders. He leaned closer. "What can I say? You've caught me in a very inopportune situation." The tone in his voice sent a shiver through her and she clutched the sheet tighter.

He had her in a precarious position. She was naked, in a bed, in his house, with him, and alone.

It couldn't get much worse.

He moved away slightly. "Terra, trust me. I'm not going to jump on you," though his eyes twinkled as he spoke.

She regarded him for a minute. "Fine," she snapped. "But you'd better get me something to wear."

She yelped as he flung the sheet back, only to find herself fully clothed in dark skinny jeans and black t-shirt.

"Funny," she said dryly.

He only laughed as he led her out the door for the grand tour of his mansion.

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HA I updated.

and they are not tearing one another's heads off or madly raping one another so be happy and... REVIEW.

Dracula: When do we get to the good parts?!

Hadasah: -smirks- You just wanna get laid.

Dracula: Who says I can't?

Hadasah: -runs away-