Dawn groaned as she moved her head upon the pillow she did not remember lying down upon. Opening her eyes she was in a luxurious yet dusty room. How she got there she had no idea. The sheets were soft, much softer than she was used to. Sitting up carefully she looked down and saw all her clothing was different, she was in a long dark blue nightdress that she truly had no memory of ever having let alone dressed in. Looking to the window, she could see the sun was just starting to set yet the candles in the room were already lit. Moving the comforter aside, her bare feet touched the cold stone floor beneath her feet. The room was one she had never been in her life, though the floor was stone the rest of the room was of a high price. Paintings she had never seen, the vanity had all the things any young woman could want. Going to the vanity, she looked down at the handheld a mirror, the brush, and comb that looked to be more expensive than anything she ever had.

"Be careful, you lost a lot of blood." A voice called out from behind her.

Looking up into the mirror, she saw a man she had seen during the hanging, the one with the top hat. He looked at her concerned and then she saw what she had done as proof on her neck. There were two bite marks. Gently her hand went and touched them, she felt no pain from them.

"Is he alive?" she questioned not looking away from the marks in the mirror's reflection.

"Undead my dear, yes he is well. What you did is what some would call brave yet others seem to think stupid." He spoke carefully as he walked up to her. "Why did you allow him to feed on you?"

"I couldn't watch an innocent die, no matter what walk of life or afterlife they are from." She answered simply as she turned around and looked to the man whose name she still did not know. "Do you intend to kill me now? If so why delay and dress me in such finery and tease me with things far beyond my own means?"

The vampire shook his head as he offered her his hand, she looked at it timidly. That night she had just let a vampire feed from her and now she was timid to even put her hand near this one.

"I will not harm you, I give you my word." He spoke as he offered his hand a bit closer to her.

Dawn looked into his eyes and gently put her warm hand upon his cold one. Carefully he brought her hand to his lips and pressed a small kiss upon her hand.

"I am Leonardo but you may call me Leo. I am the caretaker of this house and the vampires that reside in it. Please, you must be hungry. Come and have some food." Leo said but Dawn held his hand stopping him.

"My name is Dawn, I am a trained vampire hunter but I swear to you now, none of you mean harm to me, therefore, I will not harm you as well," Dawn promised and Leo smiled.

"We know, none of us would harm you. You are safe here miss Dawn." Leo said as he led her out of the room into the hall.

There in the hall, the flooring turned to wood and there was a long red rug leading down the center of it. Paintings covered the walls in all the right places with candles adorning them so that whoever viewed them could see the full picture. She was amazed to see such cultured vampires, the ones she had seen before we just scoundrels ready to kill for their next meal.

"Do you like your hair?" Leo asked and Dawn looked at him confused, she hadn't even looked at her hair.

Leo led her over to a mirror and she saw her hair was in a half up and half down fashion, one she had never seen upon herself before. She was confused as she looked to him.

"Fear not, was not us. My sister occasionally visits to check on us and make sure we are still well here I suppose." Leo grinned.

"It is something I have never seen before, tell your sister I thank her." Dawn smiled as Leo led her to the grand stairs, yet he disappeared for a moment then reappeared with a set of robes that matched the nightdress she was wearing.

He helped her put them on claiming parts of the mansion were quite colder than others. She agreed not knowing the temperature of the mansion and put on the robes. He then took her hand again and led her into the dining room where the other three were waiting. One of them sat upright with a glass in his hand slushing the red liquid from side to side he was a dark red and she remembered him to be the one in mourning. To his right sat another in a golden almost yellow ensemble and he too had a glass but the moment he looked at her, his glass fell from his hand and shattered to the ground.

"Michael, must you break everything?" Leo sighed.

Michael as he called the vampire quickly picked up the glass pieces and wiped his mouth cleaned. The others made no move to help him. Instead the one looking out the window looked Dawn's way and his demeanor was not friendly, in fact, he looked quite angry.

"You are a fool to willingly let a vampire feed from you." He spoke with disgust in his voice.

"You have the nerve to speak to someone who saved you life after they had already told you to run yet you were too ignorant to listen and stayed behind. If anyone is a fool it is you. I saved your life and though you may be a vampire you are an innocent and I will not let and innocent die!" Dawn spoke in a tone that was harsh yet calm, a tone that let him know he would not strike fear into her and that she would not listen to any of his foolishness.

The other three looked to him as he took his coat and walked out of the room. Groaning, the mourning one stood up and looked to Dawn.

"He's grateful, he's just an idiot. Give him time miss..." he spoke kindly to her as she turned her head to look upon him.

"Dawn, my name is Dawn."

"I am Raoul, that was Victor and the one whose heart you have stolen though it no longer beats is Michael, keep her safe Leo, I will speak with Victor." Raoul sighed and walked out of the room.

"Well, Michael, why don't you show her around? I have many things I have to attend to." Leo smiled and too left the room.

Dawn blinked twice as she looked to Michael who smiled shyly at her, she was certain if he could blush then he would be doing so. His long hair behind his back but his eyes were the main attributes to him she was quite attracted to. His eyes spoke in volumes to her, she could tell there was an attraction between them.

"Dawn, I am Michael as he told you and I am sure you are quite hungry are you not?" Michael asked as he walked up to her.

"I am a bit, how long was I asleep for?" Dawn questioned him.

"About three days, Victor took more than he should have from you. We each took turns keeping an eye on you through the night." He spoke nervously as though she was the first girl he had ever spoken to. "Go ahead and have a seat, Victoria brought some food for you before she left."

Michael said as he walked out of the room, Dawn went to the chairs and pulled one out then sat down. The room was grand, much grander than any room she had been in before. The glow of the candles made it feel comforting though instead of terrifying. Michael then came back inside and sat down a plate of fruit before her as well as a cup of orange juice, some bread, and cheese.

"Not much I understand but we can get more," Michael said as he sat down beside her.

"It's fine, I cannot thank you enough. I am sure you are not used to having living people here. I cannot expect you to have food on hand." Dawn smiled as she took a grape and ate it.

"You are correct there, occasionally Victor's sister will come but we rarely have visitors. They fear us as monsters when the truth is when only feed on animals, another reason Victor hated feeding on you so much." He said as he held Dawn's interest.

"What about the girl, I believe I heard her name was Gwen. Was she turned like the rest of you?" Dawn asked unsure if she was pushing her luck too far.

"That is something Raoul will have to tell you, she was her before even I was turned so I cannot say," Michael replied honestly since he truly did not know.

Raoul walked inside and looked down at Michael and Dawn. The scene before him felt like a scene he too had had with Gwen before she was turned. Michael stood and went to his friend.

"Raoul? What is it?" Michael asked as Dawn moved from her chair too to look at him.

"Victor is gone, no doubt to the brothel or somewhere he doesn't belong, if he is caught there then he will be killed but if we go after him we risk being discovered," Raoul said as Michael nodded in agreement with his friend.

"I'll go, no one knows of me. They don't know what I am or who I am looking for. I will find him and bring him back here." Dawn said as she moved to walk past them.

"Are you sure? You just awoke from a three-day slumber." Michael asked as he touched her arm and made her look up to him.

"If I get into trouble I know what to do, trust me, I have been through worse than drunkards," Dawn answered with a smile and then went up the stairs to change.

"One day was all it took me too." Raoul chuckled as he looked to Michael who was confused.

"One day for what?" he asked his friend.

"To fall in love, the moment I met Gwen I never wanted to be away from her. So much she was turned. Be careful though brother, sometimes love is not enough, sometimes it will just prolong the inevitable." Raoul said as he moved to walk up the stairs but Michael stopped him.

"What do you mean?"

"I was not the only man in Gwen's heart," Raoul admitted with deep regret in his heart and tone. "There was another, he betrayed her and that's the reason she was hung. If you want anything with her to remember one thing, she is a hunter, she was trained to kill us. Make sure she feels the same for you or you may end up like Gwen."

Michael watched as Raoul went up to the stairs, no doubt to his room or the chapel. Those were the only two rooms he went to now. Shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair, Michael walked up the stairs to Dawn's room. Opening the doors without even knocking was his first mistake. Though it was only her backside her saw, Dawn was still naked before him and he quickly left the door with a slight slam.

(Dawn's hair pictured above)