The room was basking in total darkness when Ana woke up. A small light flickered from the fire on the hearth that was slowly dying, but it still gave off enough light, allowing her to see her husband's calm face, sleeping soundly beside her. She was lying on her side facing Ivan, while his arms were wrapped around her waist.

A smile spread across her face as she felt Ivan's arms possessively wrapped around her even tighter when she made a slight movement. It seemed as though, even on his sleep, Ivan was afraid to let her go.

Her body felt incredibly wonderful, and she remembered the time they had spent earlier. Damn, that was one hot love making she had. And during the aftershock of events, she just admitted to Ivan she loved him! Wow. Really, an incredible love-making made her confess her feelings for him. And she felt wonderful, for Ivan said he, too, felt the same way.

It was now so easy for her to admit and accept that she loved him. And the feeling of having someone to love was so great. Even without Tadhana playing its role upon them, it wasn't really that hard to fall for him. Granted, he was arrogant at first. But when she got to see the other side of him, that side of him who tried to make her happy by letting her see the sun for the last time, or the protective side of him who came rushing to her side to protect her from the sun, she just couldn't help herself but fall deeply for him. She smiled recalling those events. She hoped things would be better now between the two of them.

Careful as to not wake him up, she slipped out of his arms and grabbed a nightdress inside her dresser. She put it on and went back to bed. She sat beside Ivan's sleeping frame. She lifted hand to his forehead and brushed his hair off his brow. She could get used to this married life. She wondered what their children would be like. Considering that Ivan was an elf and she was from a race of vampires, what would happen to their children? She decided to push that thought away for the moment as she brushed her husband's long hair off his shoulders.

Then she heard it, loud and crystal clear. She heard blood rushing inside Ivan's veins like river gushing forth on its riverbed. That wonderful sound was like musical chimes to her ears. She saw the pulse throbbing on his neck, and she was mesmerized with the pattern of its beat. She heard every pulse in his body, suddenly knew where to locate each and every one of them.

Her teeth suddenly ached, and her gums felt itchy. Her throat began to constrict, and her hands flew to her neck, clutching it as if it could help ease the tightness she felt. Her mouth had gone dry, and she had that sudden urge to quench the thirst. Her vision blurred, but it was only for a moment until her sight came back and she was astounded as to why suddenly she saw everything clearly in the dark.

Then she smelled it, that incredibly delicious aroma that filled her nostrils. Oh God! Where was that smell coming from? She wanted to have a taste of it. She wanted to feel it on her tongue. Her thirst turned into hunger, her stomach churning, demanding to be filled.

Her heart beat quickened, pounding like a drum in her ears. Her gaze flew back to Ivan's neck, his skin looking so supple, his pulse so inviting, his veins looking so delicious...

Her teeth ached again, this time she let out an anguish cry as the pain intensified a hundred folds. Her cry woke Ivan with a startled and worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

Oh god! She wanted to... She needed to...

"Ivan..." She grabbed him by the shoulders, tried to pull him towards her at the same time tried to resist her urge. "L-leave this room... now!"

"What's going on? What's the matter?"

A searing pain shot through her body as she felt her gums swell and her teeth started to elongate until it became a pair of fangs. Her fangs throbbed, and she had the desire to sink her fangs into something to ease the ache.

She heard it again. Ivan's pulse was calling her, compelling her to no longer resist her nature. Her mind went into total frenzy and she could no longer control herself when she fiercely clutched both of her husband's shoulders and forcefully pulled him towards her. Without any warning, she pierced her fangs into Ivan's neck and started sucking the delicious liquid that warmed her throat, not minding Ivan's roar for her to stop.

Oh God! The taste of Ivan's blood was divine. And she didn't want to stop. She wanted it all; she wanted to suck it all out of him. He was struggling on her strong grip, trying to push her away. But she was much too strong. Her heart escalated with excitement to feel someone squirming and struggling on her hold as she sucked the blood out of him.

She needed it all... all of it. The edges of her vision turned crimson; her mind went to total blankness as she allowed herself to fall into a bottomless abyss and be consumed by her dark nature. Her thirst -no, her hunger for blood -was just the end and the beginning of her new life as a vampire.

***

Ivan tried to pry Anastasia off him, careful not to put too much strength lest hurting her in the process. She became strong, a bit strong for him in fact. He had an idea what was going on: Anastasia had just completed her transition. Queen Talya had warned him that this would happen, but he did not heed with the queens warning, brushing it off with a scoff.

Now what would he do? The queen said they needed to be at Anastasia's side to control her. And he smugly told the queen he could handle Anastasia's turning. But he didn't expect her to be out of control like this, like a mindless creature only driven by its insatiable need to satisfy its craving for blood.

Anastasia had him now pinned down on the bed, she on top of him, her mouth still on his neck. With no other resort, he heaved her off his body with great force that had sent her flying to the wall.

"Anastasia!" He quickly stumbled out of bed; covering his nakedness did not even register on his mind, as he approached her. She had hit her back on the wall when he flung her away from him, and he was frantic with worry that he had hurt her.

But his worry was non-existent when all of a sudden Anastasia rolled off her back and crouched low on the floor, her arms curved to the side, watching him with her blood-red eyes. She hissed at him, her fangs glistened in the darkened room, when he tried to approach her.

"Ana, it is I," he said in what he hoped a calm and soothing voice. "Don't you recognize me, love?" He took a calculated step towards her, careful as to not agitate her even further. "Ana... listen to me..." He crouched low in front of her and extended his hand towards her face. But she swung her arms towards him and something razor sharp sliced his chest, and blood began to drip from the shallow wound his wife had bestowed on him. His gaze fell on Anastasia's fingers covered with blood -her nails were now deadly claws she used as her weapon. It was a good thing his reflex acted fast and he was able to move away from her attack. Otherwise she would have fully ripped open his chest. He would have to heal his wounds later with Alea's help. But right now he had to find a way to keep his wife from hurting him, anyone or herself.

Why did he have to be so arrogant by refusing the vampire queen's offer for help? He had no idea what to do. He didn't want to hurt her either. He stood and was heading for the door to contact his vampire in-laws when Anastasia suddenly jumped and flung herself towards him, knocking him down, and his back made contact to the hard, cold floor. She sent her claws to his face, to his arms and chest, scratching them with her newly found weapon, slicing his skin with knife-like precision. Once more, blood oozed from his open cuts, and he saw the chilling excitement that exuded on her face.

He tried to push her off him, but her renewed strength made her body resistant to his efforts and implacable with her attack.

"My, my. You seemed to be in a difficult situation right now, elf."

He craned his neck to the direction of the voice and saw Kristoff sitting on a chair at the corner of the room, his booted foot atop his knee, his arms rested on the armrest, looking relaxed and entertained.

"You think?" Ivan replied in between gritted teeth as he tried to prevent Anastasia from piercing his neck once more. "Why don't you come here and help me, Kristoff. Make yourself useful for once."

Kristoff gave him a smug smile. "And prevent my little sister from tearing your head off? No. I think I'll just sit here and enjoy the show."

"Kristoff!"

"Oh alright." Kristoff stood and took his time sauntering towards Ivan and Anastasia. He suddenly halted mid-tracks. "Five more minutes, Ivan. Let me just see you suffer from the hands of my sister."

"Goddammit vampire!"

"Fine." Kristoff bent down on one knee and prevented Anastasia from making contact with Ivan's neck by pushing his hand onto her forehead. "Uh-uh, sis. Elf blood isn't the tastiest treat of all. Try nephilim blood."

With incredible speed that Ivan couldn't even follow the movements with his eyes, Kristoff pressed parts of Anastasia's nape with his fingers. Anastasia suddenly stopped moving and her body fell on top of Ivan.

"What did you do to her?" Ivan demanded, afraid that Kristoff killed his own sister.

"I just pressed a few pressure points to send her to sleep for a while," the vampire answered. "Vampire tricks, you know?" Kristoff lifted Anastasia and settled her comfortably on the bed.

Ivan stood and assessed the several nasty wounds and open cuts that now adorned his body.

"Don't I get a thank you?"

He snapped his head towards Kristoff and gave him a glare instead.

"Manners, elf, manners," Kristoff said. "Don't you know how to be polite and give a little thanks to your hero?"

He decided to ignore Kristoff's taunts and walked towards Anastasia. "What do we have to do to help her?"

"Normally, we lock newly transitioned vampires inside a room and send a cow, or two, inside the said room every three hours. They easily get hungry, you know -needs to be constantly full. But since you elves frown upon animal slaughter, so mother suggested for me to bring a barrel of blood instead to keep little sister happy."

"You dare bring your disgusting food in my house? And a barrel full to boot!"

"Would you rather have me bring a deer inside this room and have you watch Anastasia feed on that poor and helpless creature?" When he saw Ivan's jaw clenched, he added, "I thought so."

"How were you able to manage to fill the barrel with blood? Please don't tell me you slaughtered several encantos for it."

"Don't worry; no massacre happened in the process. I just used my ingenuity to come up with such tasty dinner for my sister."

"And where is this barrel of blood now?"

"Down there in your wine cellar, near those lovely vintage wines of yours. Or what remained of those vintage wines since I just could not help myself but indulge and abuse your hospitality. I brought back home a bottle, or two, since I knew you wouldn't mind me doing so. You elves really make the best and sweetest wine in the entire realm."

He merely gave the vampire another glower. "So Anastasia is now a vampire."

"Yes. Mark this day on the calendar, elf. Women do get upset when men forget about important dates and events in their lives. And do put some clothes on. Your manhood dangling between your thighs isn't really the least bit appealing to me."

Ivan ignored Kristoff once more as his thoughts drifted away. He sat down on the bed beside his wife and gazed on her with profound concern in his eyes. What would he do now? He realized, with undiluted clarity, that he really did love her. It took him sometime to recognize those feeling he had felt towards her, but he was certain of it now. He fell in love with her and he never expected he would. He recognized he had feelings for her long before they were married, but he only realized what those actual feelings were the moment she saw her walking down the aisle during their wedding. He became sure of those feelings when he felt jealousy swallowing him whole when he thought his wife had previous lovers. He knew he loved her when he felt a sharp pang of pain and regret for hurting her when he forced himself on her.

But things suddenly became different now. His wife was now a true vampire. He didn't know why he felt disgusted and revolted with the thought of Anastasia living on blood. How was he going to support his wife's appallingly new appetite? How was he now going to live a life with a wife who would be constantly feeding on blood? He heaved a heavy sigh as he realized his life would never be the same anymore.

***

A/N: Hi there! Thank you for reading CAPTIVE :) Don't forget to give it a vote! :)