You felt warmness.

The warmness of your own body.

The warmness that creates itself when your body has been sheltered under a warm blanket the whole night long. You turned around and made yourself comfortable in the big, soft bed. Your dad would knock on your door any minute soon to wake you up for school and when you get downstairs, the breakfast, that your mom made with so much love for you, will be waiting on the table.

You'd eat it all up and go to school, be with your friends there and when you come back home, the whole family will gather around the table for dinner and you'd chat and have a great time. That's what you'd call a perfect day!

You suddenly remembered something - this was not your bed, you were not home in your own bedroom and your mother was dead.

You opened your eyes.

To your surprise, you didn't feel sorry it wasn't your bedroom. That was a strange feeling, indeed. Few days ago you hated the idea of coming here but now it was different. You hated Jane for manipulating your dad and sending you here but now things have changed.

Maybe it was because of Mr. Dracula's hospitality or because of this extraordinary place, you couldn't tell but one thing was sure, you felt like you were slowing starting to like it.

You sat in bed and stretched your arms out, yawned, then looked through the window to see it was day but there was no sun which was weird... Los Angeles, in the middle of the summer but no sun! Which reminded you, ever since you've entered that forest to come to this place, you've been witnessing strange things only. Oh wait! Yesterday.... Mr. Dracula and Gilbert were with those wolves and ... and Gilbert was feeding them raw meat?!!! And then Mr. Dracula turned around and almost caught you spying on them... What was that?! You had no idea but one thing was sure - you were very scared!

Anyway, now that it was a brand new day with light outside, the scene with the wolves from last night, seemed like a bad nightmare, almost as if it had never really happened. You were amazed at how a new day could make everything better. New day spent exploring this awesome place! This immediately cheered you up and you put your feet on the floor ready to get up but stopped yourself as you saw a small sheet of paper and red rose on top of it on your night stand.

You took the red rose and inhaled from its red leaves. It was fresh. Its scent was so sweet yet strong that it took control of your brain and went through your whole body, relaxing your muscles and giving you pure joy.

Holding the flower in your left hand, you picked the letter with your right one

Good Morning Miss YN,

I hope you've slept well and rejuvenated your strength.
I'm afraid I won't see you tonight for I had to leave for the city early in the
morning to manage a very important business. I will be home tomorrow for dinner
until then, Gilbert will take care of you.
The image of you shall not leave my mind.

Dracula

You felt your face form a smile. Seemed like Mr. Dracula was more than just a hospitable person. It was so nice of him to give you this flower and the note too. But.... how did he get into your room? When? You didn't saw or hear him come in! That means.... did he sneak into your room while you were sleeping?

On the one hand you felt happy because of his "present" and on the other hand felt little strange because... how can he just come in without your permission?! It was indeed his house but still.. and what if you were sleeping naked?

However, you decided not to tell him anything.

The thought of him sneaking into your room was replaced by sadness that you won't see him tonight.

The image of you shall not leave my mind.

For an unknown reason that was your most favorite part of the letter. His imagine will also never leave your mind.... and how could it? He was so handsome, attractive and gentle...

You took a shower, dressed up and opened the door heading for the kitchen to have breakfast.

You pulled the door open to find Gilbert standing in front of your room just like last time. You begun thinking this man didn't know what privacy meant. He was staring at you, not saying anything. Because this felt weird you decided to say something

"Good morning.... Gilbert..." he growled at you. 'Nice to see you too!' you thought to yourself. "Well.... what brings you here.. in front of my room? Again...."

"Breakfast awaits you Miss." he said, turned around and just left.

until then, Gilbert will take care of you.

Great. That's exactly what you needed. And what was wrong with that man? And and... last night he had his whole body covered like in the day he picked you up, now he looked completely normal! Maybe he liked disguises, who knew! You had to ask Mr. Dracula about Gilbert but until then survive with him, alone in this castle. You decided the best thing to do while Mr. Dracula was gone, was to

1. STAY AWAY from Gilbert.

2. Don't leave the castle during night just as Mr. Dracula advised you.

3. Lock yourself up in the bedroom.

Gilbert was one crazy fellow! Every morning you find him sniffing around your room and he growls like a dog!

You spent the rest of the day inside the castle. You decided to go to the library and see what kinds of books Mr. Dracula had. You were surprised to find very old books, that looked as if they were bought ages ago, about history, politics, religion and literature. He had every single piece of literature once written by Shakespeare. Seemed he was a huge fan of his. You selected few books and spent the rest of your time reading.

In the library, to your surprise, there were very big or rather tall windows, granting a beautiful view of the gardens behind the castle. You decided to go look.

It was the most beautiful thing you've ever seen! You felt an urgent desire to go in the gardens but since it has gotten very late and the sun was about to hide, you didn't dare. You noticed Gilbert in the distance, doing garden work. This calmed you down for he wasn't in the same building as you.

You went downstairs in the kitchen to make yourself dinner. After eating it all up, returned in the library to pick up few books to read in bed.

You decided to look through the windows again to see what was Gilbert doing but to your surprise he was gone and so was the sun.

Hoping not to bump into him, you made your way to your bedroom. After, preparing for bed and locking the door up, you laid in your bed and begun reading, enjoying the peace.

You woke up. Having forgotten to draw the curtains before falling asleep, your eyes were burning from the bright light that the moon has been casting upon your face. This was little strange since it wasn't the first time you've had experience with moon light and it has never before burnt your eyes!

You shrugged your shoulders and got up.

Just before closing the curtains you looked outside the window to see the back gardens glistening under the moon's light. It was beautiful and peaceful. You drew the curtains and your room immediately got pitch black so you slowly returned back in bed, pulled the covers over your body and relaxed, ready to fall asleep again.

You quickly opened your eyes as you thought you heard something. You sharpened your ears but nothing. Then, all of a sudden, you heard noise of something heavy falling on the ground. You jumped in bed.

This place was scary during night but still, you decided to see what was going on. You unlocked the door and opened it to see one of the paintings that was hanging on the wall, has fallen on the stone floor. This was the reason for the noise. You picked it up to only to see how heavy it was! You tried to move it away but couldn't so left it where it was. You'll tell Gilbert in the morning to fix it but.... how did it fell? It seemed all the paintings were attached to the walls in a very reliable manner! Anyhow, you headed back to sleep but just as you were about to close the door behind you, you thought you heard something... You looked left and right but there was nothing.

ommmm sssssss ahhhhhhh

What the hell was that? You shook your head and thought it was the wind.

Cooommmme

You froze.

Come to me, YN

It was the voice or rather whisper of a woman! Very tender and soft. She was calling you.

YN.........

You wanted to head back in the room but instead

Follow my voice, YN

followed her voice. You felt like hypnotized walking in the long corridor, following her voice which seemed to be coming from every direction possible. You didn't know where you were going to, you were just.... led.

YN, come to me! Come to me, now...

After walking for a while, you found yourself in a room. Its walls were covered in paintings of people.

Come closer, YN..

You turned around and found yourself approaching a portrait of a woman, dressed in a red dress.

Don't be afraid of me... Touch me!

You did as ordered. It wasn't that you wanted to but had no control over your own body. You approached the painting, now standing just few inches away from it, and raised your hand and prepared your index finger to feel the canvas.

Touch me YN.... touch me now....

Just one more inch and you were going to feel the silky looking canvas but then, all of a sudden, and out of the nothing, a hand covered in black sharply pushed you away from the painting, making you lose your balance and collapse on the floor. You looked up to see it was Gilbert, covered all in black again.

"Never touch the paintings!" you felt you begun shaking as fear poisoned your whole body for Gilbert's voice sounded like an angry animal's growl that talked. On top of that, this time you managed to see his eyes that weren't covered very well...

They glistened like the ones of a hungry wolf and around them you saw brown fur. At first you didn't believe your own eyes so you rubbed them and looked again. Gilbert must have noticed you staring at him so he growled at you. Your eyes weren't playing with you, what you saw was real. This was too much so you freaked out and before you knew it, flew out of the room, running like crazy without direction.

After not a long while, you found yourself out in the garden and fell on your knees. You got tired from all the running, your heart was beating fast and you could barely breath. The image of Gilbert couldn't escape your mind but then something even worse happened.

You lifted your head up to see a pack of flesh hungry wolves surrounding and growling at you and immediately got up, afraid to make another move. Tonight you were going to die.

Author's POV, meanwhile at YN's home

"Honey, I'm telling you she's fine! Michael is a great person and he's taking good care of her! I'm sure she's having a blast right now!" Jane assured her husband while having dinner on the table.

"I know you're probably right, Jane but... "

"What?" she was beginning to get annoyed.

"It's just that this is the first time she's ever been away from home and I'm little worried... she's my little girl!"

"She's not so little anymore, honey, she's an adult!"

"I know but I was thinking... maybe we should call her and tell her to return home?"

"Noooo! We can't do that!"

"Why?"

"Because.. because that would offend Michael! Yes!" he sighed "What would he think that I, his closest family member don't trust him!? And I'm telling you she's fine! You gotta let her live!"

"Maybe you're right..."

"Oh I am!"

Gilbert didn't even bother chasing after that stupid, little girl! The first second the count told him that she was coming to the castle to stay, something deep inside him sensed she'll only cause trouble!

At first, he was happy she was coming because he knew his mission and that it will only bring pleasure to him. There was nothing better than sticking your fresh sharpened nails into the flesh of a young, pretty girl and tear it up, but ever since the count has changed his mind and delayed the mission, which he didn't know why and when tried asking, the count would quickly change the subject, his pleasure turned into nightmare. And now.. just see him now! He had to take care of her like some puppy! From killing to taking care... but there was nothing he could do, after all, it was count Dracula's orders!

The count... what was wrong with him, Gilbert wandered! All of a sudden, he changes his mind just because of some girl!? Gilbert has been Dracula's right hand for about 2 000 years now and this was the very first time to see him act like this! Maybe he was going insane after all this years? Oh heaven, don't allow that, Gilbert was praying in his mind. He should try talking to the count once more after he comes back from the city. What was that? Gilbert thought he heard something...

He sharpened his ears.

It was the growling of wolves and the girl's little heart pounding fast. Oh no! He scurried in the garden, running as fast as his legs allowed him. In less than a minute, he reached the gardens just in time before they had begun eating her. He forgot to feed them when he went to stop her from touching the painting. Thank heaven he noticed the wolves on time or otherwise she'd be dead and the count's order gone to hell. Gilbert thought the count told her expressly not to go outside the castle during night! The girl was stubborn... Great.

He quickly jumped between her and the wolves, growling at them, letting them know she couldn't be eaten. They growled back in fury and two of them jumped at Gilbert. A fight begun. They were moving fast, biting at Gilbert's flesh as he did the same. Since Gilbert was way stronger than them, he quickly managed to end the fight and growled them away, promising to bring them meat later.

He turned around to see the girl trembling in fear. Her mouth was open and the tongue tied up in a knot for she wasn't able to let out a single scream even thought she was shaking in fear. He then noticed, the wolves had ripped off a part of his clothes, revealing his fur. His sharp claws had already protruded from the fabric. He was revealed and it was in front of her. He had a look at her once more. She was in panic so he decided she won't remember anything tomorrow. Human's brain is so weak!

He walked over and picked her up bridal style, carrying her to the room.

They got there in no time since Gilbert was really fast. He placed her still shaking body on the bed and poured something in a glass and brought it to her mouth. After the liquid reached her stomach, she fell asleep like a baby.

Tomorrow, when the count, have returned, Gilbert had to speak to him immediately and tell him everything. Hopefully he won't get mad.

Meanwhile, Jane was trying to reach Dracula. Her husband was already sleeping and she sneaked out of the bedroom to go to the kitchen and call him from there.

'Damn! Why isn't he picking up?' she decided to try again. She had to talk to him because things were gonna get out of control soon. "Curse you and your bad temper 100 times Dracula!" she gave up calling him and just as she was about to leave the kitchen

"I'm already cursed, Jane." she turned around to find him sitting on the dining table.

"D-Drcaula?!" her jaw dropped.

"Me."

"What are you.." she begun whispering "doing here?"

"Don't worry, your husband's buried in a deep slumber. I can hear him sleep." he grinned.

"How did you come in?"

"I am Dracula, remember?" he devilishly smiled.

"Why won't you answer your phone? I called you so many times?!" she was annoyed.

"Because... I was in this area and decided to pay you a visit. And you know very well I don't like today's technology.."

"Well very nice!" she said sarcastically. "Listen to me! You have to get the job done sooner! It can't wait anymore!"

"I'm afraid I can't." he calmly said, his eyes examining the room.

"WHAT? What do you mean you can't!"

"I decided to play a little.. every predator likes to play with the prey first... you know what I mean right?" he smiled. She fussed in anger and walked over to the table.

"Listen, he" she pointed upstairs "misses her! He wants her back! I'm afraid he'll take her back soon! You gotta finish the plan now!" Dracula sighed.

"Jane.... you're getting boring! I thought you liked games, just like me! Don't worry." he grinned "I got everything under control." he then grabbed a red apple from the fruit basket on the table and examined it closely. "Human food is so strange." Jane sighed "I just knew how this was called! Friche!" he looked at Jane, waiting for an answer. She sighed again and, annoyed, said

"No."

"Then it's Fromage! No wait! It was... hmm.. let me see... it's been an eternity! I don't remember very well... Ffff it was something with F! Friche, fromage, frolage, frimash.. ahh heaven.."

"It's fruit! Now leave!" she pointed at the door.

"Oh yes! I remember now! You humans like it right!" she sighed and left him in the kitchen alone to return to the bedroom.

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