"Dracula!" we heard a female's voice with a strong German accent, who was standing behind the grand opened gate! I couldn't make out what she looked like.. all I saw was her black silhouette.

"Gräfin!" Michael said "Let's go meet the countess, love!"

He put his coat around my body, letting the sheet fall freely  down on the ground. He then grabbed my hand and lead me towards the front gate. I could feel Gilbert and the other 2 vampires following us behind.

I could see in the distance a tall woman, wearing a red dress and as we approached, everything became clear.

She looked magnificent! I had to confess.. I was jealous of her! She was a true lady and I... I looked at myself to realize I had dirt all over my skin! Her dress was exquisite and Michael's coat wasn't bad, but couldn't stand next to the dress...

"Dracula!" she had a strong German accent "Haven't seen you in ages!" they hugged for a second and she said "YN, I suppose?" she looked at me.
"Yes.." I whispered.
"I am glad to meet you! Welcome to Romania and my castle!" she spread her arms wide as a welcome sign "Do come in and feel my home as yours!"
"Thank you so much for everything!" Michael said.

We entered inside and I heard her greet Gilbert and the other 2 vampires too.

She lead us to our rooms and I couldn't help it but stare around the huge rooms! Suddenly, she turned around to us, as we were walking up the stairs, saying

"I hope the journey to Romania went fine... especially for you YN. I know how hard it is for a human to travel like this..." seemed she was quite friendly.
"It was a little, but Michael, Gilbert and our friends helped me a lot, so I can't really complain." Michael looked at me, giving me a warm smile of approval.
"You will have the chance to rest now for a few days before you depart to the city of night." she said. "Come, I'll show you to your chambers." the castle was big but not as big as Michael's, so soon we arrived.

What was interesting to me was that me and Michael had separate chambers, but I guessed it was because the countess was very old and men and women used to not sleep together even though they were married in ancient times.

The countess then escorted Gilbert and the rest to their rooms and told them she had meals for them, because she knew they were probably hungry. I dared not even imagine what the meals were!

"It's not humans, YN."
"What?" I raised my head to look at Michael.
"I know what you're thinking, but it's simply blood and some meat for Gilbert. I know the countess, unlike some other vampires, she doesn't kill people."
"Oh... well, I'm sorry to think that I just-"
"It's not your fault, princess." he caressed my cheek "Go now and fix yourself. I know you must be hungry too. The countess has taken care of you too, she has human food."
"How do you know that?"
"I can smell it in the kitchen." he winked. "If you need anything just tell me and once you're done, we'll go downstairs together." he planted a gentle kiss on my forehead and opened the door of my room for me. I went inside and looked around. It was beautiful! The bed was huge and on it was spread out a dress, the countess must have prepared for me. Finally clean clothes!

I scurried to the bathroom and took a long shower to wash everything off! It was so nice not to smell like wet dirt! I then put on the dress that was left for me and I had to admit, it was old from centuries ago, but I knew the countess was an old vampire herself and probably didn't have anything from today's clothing. I didn't complain. I was satisfied with the fact that I had something clean to wear!

I knocked at Michael's door and he opened, looking at me

"You.. you look so beautiful..." he whispered.
"Thank you." I blushed and smiled at his compliment. "So do you." he had changed clothes too.

He grabbed my hand and lead me downstairs to the kitchen, where the countess was already waiting.

She was sitting at a big table and on the one side were served delicious meals for me. I did not wait for her to invite me a second time! Me and Michael sat on the table and I immediately begun eating, trying to keep my manners even though I was starving!

"I hope you like this food, YN?" the countess said and I nodded "I've never had human food before and didn't know what you'd like."
"I like it very much! Anything is fine as long as it can be eaten!"
"5 days of slumber really got you hungry, love." Michael said to me.
"She is a strong girl, I suppose.. going through the ritual." the countess said.
"Yes, she is. And she'll go through more rituals in the future." Michael replied.
"What rituals?" she asked.
"I'll make her my queen once we get to the city of night!" I saw a little glimpse of disapproval in the eyes of the countess, but she managed to quickly hide it. "And I can't wait!"
"So.. you are serious about this, Michael?" she asked him.
"Of course! You know me, I am always serious and I've finally found the love of my life!" he looked at me.
"I see. What will happen to the vampires? There will be no leader... once you've left."
"Oh don't worry about it. There are many vampires who crave to take my place, like Adamus." he rolled his eyes.
"And your castle?"
"Gilbert will take care of everything. Now it's my time to live!" he looked at me again, smiling. "I don't need a castle or a crown to make me happy. They never managed to do that. All I need is YN." I blushed, but felt really good thanks to his words.
"I suppose you plan on making her a vampire as well?" I froze. Michael remained silent for a moment then
"We'll talk about that later." and changed the topic "So how have you been all this time?" they begun talking about past events and vampires they knew.

Later, the countess excused herself and retrieved to her bedroom. Me and Michael decided to rest too, because tomorrow we were going to start the preparations for our departure.

"Sleep well, princess." we were standing in front of my room. "Tomorrow we will look at the rocket and prepare it to work."
"The rocket?"
"Yes, my love, it is going to take us to the city of night. It hasn't been touched for centuries and it is the last one left."
"Michael, how many hours away is the city of night with the rocket?"
"If it's still as fast as it used to be, then less than an hour." he touched my hair, playing with it.
"I can't wait..."
"Neither can I."
"Baby, am I going to be s-sleeping alone tonight?" I wanted him to sleep with me like he did in the cave. He placed his hand on my cheek and gently brushed my lips with his thumb.
"As much as I want to sleep with you, I can't. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you..."
"You're not!"
"I want to make you my wife first... I'm not used to the rules of your world, love."
"I understand, but I want to become your wife as soon as we arrive there!" I couldn't wait. any longer
"I promise you that! I can't wait any longer either, YN. Now go and rest. Sweet dreams." he gently kissed my forehead and opened the door for me.

I got inside and headed straight to the big bed. I laid down and soon I felt my eyes closing. I guessed I really was tired.

I woke up feeling tired the next day, because I kept waking up through the night. I had these nightmares... There was this huge, dark room and in the middle was an open coffin, filled with blood and the blood was overflowing. It was like the coffin was a fountain of blood, because it kept pumping blood that went all over the floor. Then I stepped inside of this room and the wet blood covered my feet, but I was emotionless... as if something was pulling me towards the coffin.

However, I was no longer a child to think about nightmares! I was a grown woman who was to be married soon! So I got up, dressed myself and knocked on Michael's door.

He immediately opened and wrapped his arms around me.

Then we headed downstairs for me to eat, but were interrupted by the countess

"Michael! Michael!" she was running towards us with a worried expression on her face.
"Count there you are!" Gilbert appeared too. "We have company." he said.
"Huge company." the countess added.

I looked at Michael and his jaw was dropped.