Ana sat on the edge of her bed and scanned the room with wide eyes. It was to be her room, which was informed to her by an elf attendant. Just like the throne room, her large circular room was decorated with colors of gold and silver. The floor was made of white marble, casting a pristine look about the room. The curtains covering the frosted windows were of color silver. Her bed, which was strangely placed in the middle of the room, was circular and was covered with gold and silver quilted coverlet; the mattress was strangely very soft as if it was made of lots and lots of feathers. Other than the lavish color of the room, her bedroom remained spartan with only a bed, a wooden dresser with a mirror, and a single chair occupied the room as furniture. There was a door on her right, which she hopefully wished was a bathroom.

After Ana's father begrudgingly agreed to let her stay in Elfiro, she and her mother were escorted by the elf attendant towards her new boudoir. Her father, instead of accompanying her new resurfaced daughter, decided to storm out of Elfiro, leaving his wife and son to celebrate their happy reunion with their long-lost family member.

Her vampire mother, Queen Talya, sat beside her. She grasped Ana's hand and squeezed it. "I know you have many things on your mind right now. I also know that you have questions you wanted us to answer. Tell me, daughter, what's on your mind?"

Ana gathered her thoughts for a moment. "Please tell me. Why did you leave me in the orphanage?"

Her mother gave her a sad smile. "I apologize for leaving you in a strange world, daughter. It broke my heart that I have to leave you there." Her mother rose and gracefully walked towards the window. "When you were still inside my womb, I have been warned by a trusted servant that there was a plot to kill you, my child. And so, when I gave birth to you, my most loyal servant and I devised a plan to conceal your existence—I needed to keep you safe. So, we made it known that I gave birth to a dead babe. That time, I could trust no one—even the king, your father. But I kept a close watch over you. I was planning to send someone to get you after the seven moons from now, but I was surprised to hear you found your way here." She then faced Ana and gave her a sad look. "I wept the moment I have to give you up. But I would rather have you miles apart from me than having death separate us for all eternity."

Ana wanted to cry with joy after hearing her mother's words and realizing how much her mother's love for her was. "I am very much happy that I finally have a family. It's just that everything is a little bizarre and it's quite a lot to comprehend. I mean, having you for a mom would make me a—a vampire."

Queen Talya approached her daughter and once more sat beside her. "I know it's difficult to understand and accept everything. But your family is here to guide and support you. Usually, a female vampire starts her transition when she reaches the age of twenty-two."

Ana's shoulders dropped. "I'll be turning twenty-two next week."

"I know," her mother answered with a smile. "It's nothing to worry about. It's a natural occurrence for all young vampires. I would rather have you with us in Sanggre but that elf boy was adamant for you to stay here." She let out a sigh before continuing. "I will send someone from Sanggre to help you and watch over you as well. I don't trust the elves, no matter how noble their intentions are as what they are claiming."

Not far from where Ana and Queen Talya sat, Kristoff was leaning back on the wall. He snorted and sauntered towards them. "Believe me, sis, there is nothing noble with Ivan."

Tell me about it, Ana thought. Of course, there was nothing noble about that elf. Ana witnessed that firsthand earlier in the darkened corridor.

Kristoff gave Ana a meaningful smile. "And among other things, sis, you should learn how to block your mind—we mature vampires can read minds."

"Oh!" Ana gasped. Did her brother witness in her mind how she reacted when she was touching Ivan's chest and... and...?

Kristoff's smile widened even more. "Yes sis, I saw it. But no matter. I'll let go of that incident." Ana noticed her brother's expression instantly changed into something sinister. "But if that elf ever forced himself on you again, I'd personally garrote him and decorate his head on my wall."

"Uh... thanks?" Ana said, unsure of what to answer. She just earned a loving mother and an overly protective older brother.

Kristoff faced their mother. "Mother, about Anastasia's transition. I think it would be better if either you or I should be near her. You know how it goes during the transition."

Queen Talya nodded. "I understand. We will discuss that in Sanggre." She faced Ana and said, "But I will send a tutor and a lady's maid to attend you. I will also send several trunks of clothes for you my dear. For now, I have brought only one. I thought you will be going back with us, so I only brought one with me." She handed Ana a box, inside it was a folded black and red dress, fancy-looking shoes, and lacy underwear. Jeez, mom, lacy underwear? Ana thought, causing her mother to chuckle.

"Yes, daughter. They are very comfortable, actually," her mother said. "And do try to block your mind whenever you're in a vampire's presence.

Ana gave a small nod. "Okay, mom. Thanks for the clothes."

It was an hour later when her mother announced that she needed to go before the sun would rise. An adult vampire, Ana learned, was susceptible to the sun's rays—it could burn them to death. After her mother gave her a tight hug and her brother gave her a wink, they both left Ana inside her room to think about... well, about everything.

She allowed her back to fall on the soft mattress, the bed almost engulfing her body as her weight made her body sink almost deeper into the mattress. She would never get used to this kind of soft bed. She let her feet dangle at the edge of the bed, her arms spread wide on her sides. Her eyes were darted heavenwards as she studied the details of the ceiling. The high ceiling was in a concave shape plastered with, of course, colors gold with swirls of silver. What was with elves and gold? Everything around her was either made of gold or was painted with the color gold. She decided to leave that thought for another time.

She sighed as she recalled her earlier ordeals. She was chased by men known as Hunters because, apparently, she was a vampire, and they kill beings from Enkantria—a realm of the enchanted—who wandered around the "other" world, her old world. Then somehow, as if by a stroke of strange luck, she stumbled upon a portal or a gate that connected the her old world to Enkantria. And with another stroke of even stranger luck, she was held captive by an elf prince, who had a hard time deciding if he hated her or not, and somehow her being captive became a way for her to be reunited with her true family.

Somehow, if she put the pieces together, it was still bizarre. And she wasn't even sure if her sanity was still intact. But she never felt terrified, not even when she faced creatures like the vampires, who were depicted as blood-sucking macabre beings in books and movies. Maybe it was because her vampire instinct was telling her not to be afraid?

"Me, a vampire," she said to herself. She resembled her current life with a balance beam scale that Lady Justice held. On one pan was her newly found family; on the other pan was her vampire blood. The only way for her to keep her family was for her to accept who she was—a vampire.

What would happen to her if she turned? Most likely she would have to drink blood. Wasn't blood the vampires' staple food? Unless it was different here in Enkantria. But how could she tolerate drinking blood? She faints at the sight of blood; what more if she had to drink it? Thinking about gulping a glass of blood made her queasy.

"The worst part is I have to marry that frickin' elf!" She grimaced at the thought. How could her grandpa vampire agree to such a betrothal? Even the alternate world was overly fond of arranged marriages. Ugh!

Although the elf wasn't half bad, Ana admitted to herself. Yes, he had the makings of a murderer with his constant 'I should have killed you!' monologue and he had some perverted streaks about him considering his eyes were always darted at her chest instead of on her face. But he definitely had the body of a demi-god. It wouldn't be a surprise if one of these days she would throw herself to that elf. And that talented tongue of his... What more could it possibly do? she wondered. Oh crap! She was thinking about his tongue! More like fantasizing about it.

"Snap out of it, Ana! Jeez, you're becoming as perverted as he is."

She rose from the bed and strode towards the dresser. She inspected her reflection in the mirror. She was a ghastly sight at the moment. She hadn't realized how dirty her clothes had become. She couldn't very well sleep in this state. And her only other clothes were a dress that looked uncomfortable when worn as a sleeping garment. So, she did the inevitable: she stripped her soiled clothes except for her underwear. At least she wasn't totally naked.

She went to her bed and drew the quilt over her body and tucked it under her chin. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her body seemed to be almost slipping into a lethargic state. She was kind of tired, after all. And it wasn't a moment later when she fell into a deep sleep.

The sunray caressed her cheek the following morning; the sun acted as her alarm clock. She felt the early morning coldness, thus making her shiver. She later realized the quilt was only covering her from the waist down. Eyes still closed, she let her palm search for the quilt and as soon as she felt the quilt's edge, she dragged it back over her shoulders. She snuggled her face against the feathery soft pillow and sighed with delight. She was about to fall back to her slumber when she heard a low moan.

Automatically, her eyes immediately opened as she snapped her head in the direction of the sound. To her horror, Ivan was looming over her beside the bed, his jaw clenched, his hands were balled into fists and his eyes were swirling with glints of desire.