Disclaimer: I don't own GoT or ASoIaF or any of its associated works.
Sansa
'This is a dream… I am dreaming,' Sansa thought to herself as the sunlight through the clear blue skies warmed her body. A dream where she was walking through the godswood – it was the very same day when Tyrion Lannister told her that, by order of his father, the both of them would be wed. It was news that was horrifying to her even though Tyrion had been one of the very few who was relatively kind towards her. Sansa didn't speak to him that entire day and evening – even the Queen hadn't come to her – before falling into an uneasy sleep.
She dreamt of walking in the godswood in the Red Keep, the only place where she felt comfortable since very few in the capital followed the Old Gods. In her dream, she was approaching the Heart Tree when she saw a stranger standing in front of the tree and staring at the light brown truck. Her eyes shifted from the large oak tree – unlike the older weirwoods in the North and the Riverlands, the Heart Tree in the Red Keep was a great oak tree – to the stranger. Sansa immediately stopped walking and took a step back. She knew this was a dream, but she did not know the stranger.
'How could a stranger be present in my dream?'
Sansa felt her heart racing as she stopped before taking another step back upon hearing a 'CRUNCH' sound. She looked down at the broken branch she had stepped on before looking back up to the stranger – who had turned around - staring at her with a small smile on his lips. Sansa could tell the man was handsome and well-dressed in clothes she hadn't seen anyone wear in the Red Keep. His eyes were a deep brown, he wore a long black coat that nearly reached the dry snow-covered ground, he had a white shirt underneath, and his trousers were black in colour. Sansa noticed the stranger was slightly pale but still handsome with dark brown hair. She could sense an air of nobility around him as he stepped closer and closer while she simply stood in place.
"The Lady Sansa Stark," the man said stopping a step away. Their eyes were locked together for a few seconds before Sansa broke her gaze and looked down at the ground. Her eyes landed on the shoes the man wore, it was of a design she had never seen or heard of either. Her heart continued to race and, at the same time, she was mentally telling herself to wake up. That this was a dream and she needed to wake up.
She opened her eyes in shock and looked back up into the stranger's eyes when he said, "waking up from this dream will not take away my offer." Sansa was breathing hard now while thinking how the stranger knew what was in her head. "I am in your mind, after all." The man chuckled as Sansa shivered. She feared this man… she could sense danger simply rolling off him. As if reading her mind, the man spoke with a gentle tone that seemed to suddenly relax her body, "I am not here to harm you, my Lady." The man gave a smile that Sansa felt was genuine, but at the same time she knew there was something predatory behind all of his charm and confidence.
She gulped before taking a deep breath. She had faced the dangers posed by Joffrey and the Queen, and knew that her lady-like behaviour would be her shield. That's all she had after all. Sansa's lips curled upwards into a soft smile before she spoke, "how are you in my mind, my lord….?" She realized then and there that the man hadn't introduced himself yet.
"How rude of me," he said before giving Sansa a bow, "you may call me Dracul Tepes."
That was an unusual name, Sansa thought to herself as the man looked at her with a small smile. And before she could ask another question, the man… Dracul… continued to say, "I come from a far-off land searching for my lost love."
'That is… romantic, I suppose; searching for a lost love,' Sansa thought to herself as she stared at the man who brought his arm up and glanced at a dark red band wrapped around his wrist with lights blinking at the edges along with what looked to be letters and numbers on the surface. She could not make out the letters or numbers before the man put his arms down and into the pockets on either side of his trousers. She narrowed her eyes at him as he chuckled.
"It does not matter where I am from, child," he said, "I have not been able to find my Mina here. I have searched the castles and holdfasts all over your world but I have been unable to find her."
'All over my world?' Sansa thought, 'what does he mean by my world? Is this not his world as well? Is he mad? Or am I mad?'
"You are not mad," Dracul said, "I will be leaving soon but before I do…" Sansa felt a shiver as a freezing sensation was felt on the left side of her neck, "I have seen how you are in pain… both physically and mentally." Sansa wanted to just run… she felt afraid all of a sudden as she placed her hand on the left side of her neck where there was the sensation of something scratching on her skin. A chill went up and down her spine as she stared into the eyes of the man in front of her. She couldn't move while Dracul continued speaking, "you think you are strong now, but you are not." Sansa wanted to say that she was strong… she was soft before becoming ivory and now she was steel. "You can pretend to be steel, child," Dracul spoke as he leaned into the stunned Sansa and whispered into her left ear, "but I can give you true power. Power over life and death, power over the darkness, power over creatures and power over your own fate."
Sansa took in a sudden breath as her mind whirled while Dracul continued, "you will gain the strength of a thousand men, you will be able to force your mind over those who are weak-willed, you will be able to control animals if you wish, you will be able to turn into any animal you wish, you…"
"Lies," Sansa whispered as she closed her eyes, "I…"
"No lies," Dracul whispered, "you will not have the same weakness as I… you will not have my greatest weakness. The light of the sun." Sansa was surprised, what did he mean? As if reading her mind, Dracul answered, "I have to avoid the sun on my world or else I die and turn to dust. I have walked during the daylight hours here and I am still as I currently am. Your religious symbols do not harm me… although I have been burned slightly upon touching wood from those white trees."
"The weirwood?"
"I suppose so," Dracul answered.
"Will… will I die?"
"Yes," Dracul answered before Sansa felt her heart racing much harder than before, "I will drink of your blood until you reach the edge of death. And after you have drunk mine own blood, you will die for several hours before you turn. You will have power to defeat those who have crossed you, tortured you, those who have killed your kin. But you will have to feed on the blood of others to survive."
"I…"
"The choice is yours, my Lady," Dracul whispered in her ear, "if you chose not to accept my gift, I will leave. But I will not return. My Mina is out there… somewhere… and I must find her. But if you choose immortality, I will turn you and then leave. You will know what to do by instinct alone."
Sansa took in a deep breath.
"It is your choice," Dracul whispered, "What do you wish?"
What did she wish? Sansa could no longer tell if the man was joking or if he was serious. 'He sounds serious enough… he sounds like Father when he would speak to other Lords or the smallfolk.' Sansa's thoughts went back to his offer once again; power and immortality. Right now, she had no power at all. Yes, she was starting to learn all about the so-called Game in Kings Landing, but she didn't have the power she wanted to be free off the Lannisters, Baratheons, or the entire city itself. For all she dreamt about the South, Sansa now wanted to be in the North. She wanted to go back home to Winterfell… to Robb, her mother, Arya – oh how she wished Arya was with her now, 'she is gone from here. She is free.'
And Sansa was stuck in the capital. Unless she took matters into her own hands. Her only thought now was escape. She had the chance to escape with the Hound during the battle of Blackwater Bay but she decided to stay. It was one of her greatest regrets. Now though, she had a chance to not only leave the Red Keep but to pay the Lannisters back for their 'hospitality'.
'If I give in to my fear, then I will be stuck in Kings Landing forever as the wife of a Lannister,' Sansa thought to herself. Her eyes then locked with Dracul's before she whispered, "Yes."
"You will feel a pinch, my lady," Dracul said before leaning down towards Sansa's neck. She closed her eyes and waited. Her heart now pounding in her chest as if it desired to leap out and escape. Gasping, Sansa snapped her eyes open once she felt her skin tear. She was staring up at the ceiling of her darkened chambers while feeling a mouth latched to the side of her neck. And just like that, the pain was gone and all she heard and felt was her blood rushing out as the man… or thing… was sucking out her blood. Sansa felt her body struggling slightly before the man tightened his arms around her while continuing to drink her blood. She started to feel tired… her body stared to go numb. She felt cold even though it was hot when she fell asleep. Sansa felt her eye lips dropping as the man release her neck and body. She saw Dracul's face hover over hers. She wanted to scream at the fangs in his mouth and the blood around his lips. She wanted to scream at the red colour of his eyes.
Quietly, the man then brought up his left arm and used the sharp fingernails on his right hand to cut his left wrist. As her eyes closed Sansa saw blood dripping down his arm before he hovered the cut over her mouth. She couldn't feel anything now except for the warm blood dripping onto her lips and then into her mouth. The taste was heavenly… as if she was drinking wine from the Arbor. She felt a sudden rush going through her body before reaching out to grab Dracul's arm and then pulling the cut wrist against her open mouth. Sansa desired his blood… she wanted to quench her thirst. Her sudden hunger. And the more she drank, the more her eyes started to slowly close.
"Sleep, my lady," Sansa heard Dracul whisper before her eyes closed. And now, she knew no more.
TBC
