Hello beasties! Your dear author-chan  is finally back, and she has sent out a new challenge! It's a wild new chapter! Quick! Go battle it!

You gazed at the wound on your shoulder, horrified by what you had just found.

How could you have carried your injury from your dream into reality? Did this mean that whatever had just happened was real and not just some by-product of a nightmare dreamed up by your own head? And what was that she had said before you had woken up? Something about the Forsaken, whoever they were.............

Your mind whirling, you took off your t-shirt leaving you in the dark-colored tank-top underneath. Taking the hem of your t-shirt, you paused before ripping a decent sized strip of fabric from the bottom. Next, you bent down and unzipped your backpack, rummaging around in there for a while before you found a half full water bottle. Taking the water bottle you took the sleeve of your shirt and held it down to get it wet, then proceeding to clean the blood off of your injured shoulder.

Finishing off, you tied the strip of fabric around your wound. Marvelling at what you had accomplished, you thought to yourself: I guess reading all of those first aid books really did pay off!

Just then, you realized something. You had no new clothes in your backpack to change in to. All you had were the unicorn print tank-top and matching pants you had packed for your girls night out....

You certainty couldn't go down wearing your old clothes which by now had blood stains, dirt smears, and bits of them torn off! Even your hair still had some leaves in it! What would Missi say if you went downstairs looking like you did? You'd hate to make a poor impression on the cute vampire girl......

At that thought, you frowned. Wait, did you just think of Missi as cute? Sure she was and all, with her large inquisitive red eyes, and her pretty smile, and she was awfully pretty, but you were sure that you didn't think of girls like that right?

"I can't wear this, but what am I going to..."

Then, out of the corner of your eye you spotted a wardrobe on the other-side of the room. A smile forming over your face, you walked over to the wardrobe and threw it open, marveling at the assortment of clothes inside.Wow, Shanti would love this.......

 There were a lot of fancy ballgowns inside, but nothing that really would seem that you would wear it. Everything you found just seemed like it would belong better on someone else.

But after rummaging through the silk and satin gowns, you finally came across something that you could see yourself wearing. It was a simple black dress, with a red under-skirt and , and it even came with a small elegant cape-type thing.

After putting on the outfit and brushing the leaves out of your hair, you decided to go and see whether you could go and get anything to eat, because you were feeling very ravenous all of a sudden......

30 minutes later......

"Damn it!" You exclaimed in frustration. When you went out to find the kitchen or dining room or whatever, you didn't expect to find that the castle was this huge. So far, you had gotten lost several times and getting turned around almost twice as much, leading you almost to the exact same hall that you were in previously!

By now, you were completely frustrated. "How is someone supposed to find anything in this place?", you wondered aloud.

Just then, you spied someone (or rather, something), very familiar.

It was that cat from earlier! It was walking down the hallway, almost as if it owned the place or something! It stopped in front of you, and began to lick its paws.

Kneeling down, you felt a little silly for what you were about to do, but you didn't see any other options at the moment. "I suppose you know where to go don't you?"

The thing is, you never actually expected the cat to answer back, of all things. "Well, I do, but it depends on where you want to go exactly."

A/N: For all of you curious beasties, yes there is a reason that Keith David as Minose on the cast thing I have. (Mostly because of the fact that whenever I hear Minose speak in my mind, he sounds a lot like that cat from Coraline)(Also, Keith David has a purr-fectly gorgeous voice. It's like melted chocolate, both delicious and incredibly smooth!)

"Wait, you can talk"?: you replied. The cat regarded you with its mismatched eyes, clearly seeing that you weren't all that surprised.

"You're not surprised?" The cat replied.

Well, after the day you had just had, you supposed that nothing would surprise you anymore. "No, I guess not."

Just then you realized something. "Hey, I know you. You're that cat from earlier, the one that I saw when I came here."

You didn't expect cats to be able to roll their eyes, but this cat was able to, surprisingly. "Of course I am, who else I would be?"

The cat got up and started off down the hallway, which prompted you to follow after it. "I don't know, I guess I'm not used to the whole talking animals thing, mainly because where I come from, cats don't talk."

The cat seemed to pick up the pace, heading for a room where the door was slightly ajar. "Oh, you're clearly the expert on these things, after all, I'm just a big fat wuss-puss!"

Shit.

You quickly realized that the cat had managed to understand what you had said earlier, and it was clearly not pleased.

"Wait, come back please? I'm so sorry, I really am....." You trailed off uncertainty, because you didn't know if the cat had a name or not.

"Minose."

"Like I said, I'm really sorry Minose." You replied, thinking to yourself that the name of the cat was sort of cool.

"Alright then, you wanted me to lead you somewhere?" Minose had now returned to your side and was looking up at you expectantly.

"Um, yes, can you show me where I can find the dining room or the kitchen? I'm pretty hungry."

Minose flicked his tail as if motioning for you to follow him. "Follow me."

You walked down the vast, dimly lit hall, right behind him. After a few moments you arrived at some wooden, ornately carved doors.

"Well here you are." Minose replied.

"Thank you". You actually meant it. After all, you were happy that you at least had something that was at least trying to help you out.

As you turned to open the door, you heard Minose say one last thing. "You know, you aren't like the previous girl who first came to this place, you're a little more different, and maybe it's a good thing that my previous master isn't still around........"

Wait, what did he mean by previous girl? Had more than one girl stayed here? And who was this previous master? Was he this Duke character that you heard mention of earlier or was it someone else? You turned around to ask Minose what he meant, but he was gone.

Slightly unnerved, you opened the dining room door, but your worry was soon forgotten when you went inside and beheld the room before you.

There, you saw Missi, sitting at the dining room table, drinking out of a silver glass filled with a red liquid(Definitely blood. She was reading a large leather-bound book, and looked to be completely absorbed in whatever she was reading, turning the page ever so often, and smiling slightly at whatever she was reading.

The whole scene reminded you of reading during lunch at school down outside under one of the big oak trees that dotted your school's campus. All in all, the scene was pretty cute with the way that she bit her lip when she was concentrating and everything....

You moved over to the table and touched Missi on the shoulder ever so slightly. She jumped back, then relaxed when she realized that it was you.

"Oh! Y/N! You're awake!"

You smiled slightly at Missi getting so surprised and nodded your head. After all, you did this when you were reading a particuarilly interesting book, where time wouldn't matter and you would just get wrapped up in whatever was currently going on in the story.

"Of course I am, where else would I be?"

Missi motioned for you to take a seat, and you did so gratefully, pulling up a chair to the table. Looking down, you realized that there was breakfast set out in front of you, blueberry pancakes with maple syrup which looked absolutely delicious.

"I thought you'd be hungry, so I got you something to eat...."

Taking a bite, you remarked: "Well thanks for that, it's amazing!"

Missi flushed red. "You mean it? I mean, I wasn't sure if you'd like it o not, and I didn't want to....."

You put your hand against Missi's (which was already resting on the table), which surprised the vampire girl.

"It's okay Missi, you don't need to worry."

You gazed into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever, but neither of you seemed to mind........

GO NOW!

Just then, Missi stiffened and drew her hand away from yours. She got up out of her seat, her demeanor suddenly changed from her sweet, relaxed one, to one of almost cold indifference.

"I-I Have to go." She said, turning her face away from you and stalking towards the door.

"Wait...."

But you were unheard. Missi had already left and slammed the door behind her, leaving you alone in the massive dining room.

You sat back in your chair, mind whirling.

Why did she have to leave all of a sudden?

Was it to do with the way she gripped her staff so tightly in her hands?

Did it have anything to do with the voice that the two of you seemed to both hear?

But more importantly, did you and Missi just have a moment?

Well my beasties, I finally got this chapter done! And I'm really sorry for making you wait so long!(Hope you like it!)

Anyway, in case you're wondering about Duke, we'll be catching up with him and a character that I introduced in the first chapter(It's going to be a long one!). No spoilers but I think you beasties will like it!

Up next:

Chapter 6: Trust me

(Yes it's a Devil's Carnival song!)

https://youtu.be/FrITE-JE2jY

So I'll be seeing you in a bit my beasties!

Trust me....