Freezing water splashed across my face and I sat bolt upright, immediately awake and alert.

"Wakey, wakey," a raspy, high-pitched voice called from my left.

I whipped around, my heart plummeting with fear and dread when I realized I could no longer see. My breathing hitched as I felt the space around me in an attempt to make sense of things. Iron bars surrounded me on all sides and the floor was solid rock. 

"Where's Roran?" I rasped, my throat still feeling a bit raw.

No answer.

"Who are you?" I called a bit louder.

I could hear movement against the bars in front of me and I squinted into the dark to try and see. 

"Who am I? Who are YOU?" the man shouted, and I jumped in surprise.

"I-I'm Alethea," I replied. "How did I get here? And why am I here?"

"Alethea," he whispered. Before I could jerk away I felt a long-fingered hand stroke through my hair. I scuttled backward out of his reach before he could touch me again. "Aleeeetheeaa," he repeated, drawing out the syllables.

"What kind of monster are you?" I asked.

My captor chuckled and replied, "I am the Goblin King."

"But I thought Moroi was king down here," I stated, frowning in confusion.

"Moroi," he replied in an insulted tone. I cringed when he spat on the ground near my feet. "The vampire likes to think himself king. There are others who do not agree."

I figured that getting on his good side was probably my best way out, so in an attempt to win him over I said, "Well I certainly won't argue with you. I think he's horrible."

The goblin's voice sounded intrigued. "Oh, yes?"

I nodded. "Definitely. I wish someone would just get rid of him. In fact, Roran and I were just talking about that. You should ask him, he even has a plan on how to do it."

"The phoenix is dangerous. I would not ask him anything," he responded in a hostile tone. "But I will ask you something, yes," he continued. "How did you come to be here, Alethea?"

Shaking my head, I replied, "What are you talking about? You brought me here, didn't you?"

"I brought you here, yes," he said. "But how did you come to be in purgatory, human?"

"Human?" I asked, completely perplexed. "I'm not human. I'm a vampire."

The goblin threw back his head and laughed for a long time. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I had a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"You are a funny human. It will be nice to have a funny human pet, I think," he said, still giggling a bit under his breath.

"This isn't a joke!" I shouted, losing my temper.

What a mistake that was. The goblin snarled in anger and I heard banging against the iron bars as if he had thrown himself against them.

"Mind your manners, Alethea. Or I will not be so nice. Now tell me how you came to be here!"

I threw up my hands in exasperation. "Just like you, I guess. I died!"

"No, no, no," he repeated over and over. "Humans do not come here. Did the phoenix bring you here?"

"I already told you I'm a vampire! And I only met Roran two days ago! He's my friend. Well....was. Was my friend. I doubt he will want to have anything to do with me now that I bit him."

I could hear shifting around the front of the cage, but other than that there was a very long stretch of silence before I heard him ask, "You bit the phoenix?"

"Yeah," I replied. "And it was awful. I mean it was probably the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. I still ache all over. It feels like a really bad sunburn."

"You bit the phoenix," he said again.

I rolled my eyes. "You like repeating things, don't you? Yes. I bit Roran. But it was a total accident and I feel really bad about it."

The goblin went silent again and I was beginning to feel really uncomfortable.

"What?" I asked, impatient.

"You survived the burn?" he asked, his tone full of awe.

"Yes?" I replied, shrugging. "At least it seems like the worst of it has passed anyway."

Without warning a loud screeching sound filled the air and I felt movement directly in front of me. Without warning the goblin plopped himself down in front of me. I debated trying to attack him and make an escape, but instinct was telling me to wait. He didn't seem at all afraid of me, in fact he seemed to want to be friends.

He reached forward and grabbed my hands, turning them over as if he were curious about them. I tried to pull away, but he was much stronger than me.

"You must tell me this tale, yes?" he asked, but I assumed it wasn't really a question but a command.

"About me biting, Roran?"

He huffed and said, "No, no. The whole story. From the very beginning, Alethea."

"Well there isn't much to tell really. A few days ago I went into the city and got attacked by a vampire. I don't remember, but it's still pretty awful, right? And then on top of that I was also attacked by a vampire hunter the same day! And then of course I died and arrived here--"

"Wait, I do not understand. You do not remember becoming a vampire, but yet you assume you were one? Why?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Because Moroi told me I was one and I had fangs and claws as of yesterday," I replied.

The goblin made a soft humming sound at the revelation and I took that as a sign to continue.

"So um, after I got here I hid out in the crypts until Roran found me. He saved me from some lycans and showed me his hide-out. We formed an alliance of sorts, I guess. But yesterday he was trying to teach me to fight and I accidentally bit him. And you know the rest," I concluded.

"You are a very poor story-teller," he snapped, sighing.

"Well, excuse me if my life isn't entertaining enough for you," I snapped in return.

His voice sounded amused as he disagreed, "On the contrary. It is very, very entertaining. It is only a pity it is a lie. And I hate liars."

He stood and I followed his lead, thinking maybe he would let me go. As he walked away I tried to follow only to be shoved backward onto the harsh stone floor. Before I could get up again he slammed the door so hard the entire cage rattled.

"It wasn't a lie!" I shouted, standing up and balling up my fists. "Let me out of here!"

"I will let you out when you tell me the truth, human," he demanded. "I know human blood when I smell it. And no vampire could survive drinking the blood of a phoenix. How ridiculous."

"Well, I did! And if you would just ask Roran he will tell you the same thing!"

"Perhaps I will ask him if he ever shows his face again," the goblin replied, smug. "My goblins have chased him to the farthest corners of purgatory and he will likely never be seen or heard from again. Your friend has abandoned you, Alethea."

"You're wrong," I argued, though my throat was thick and it came out as a croak. "He wouldn't just leave me with you. I bet he's got a plan to come kill you. Just wait, you'll see."

I was so angry I had begun to shake and cry. It was embarrassing and I hated showing weakness in front of this creature because I knew he would use it to his advantage.

Just as I suspected he began to mock me, saying, "Poor, poor, Alethea. Why are you weeping?"

I swiped at my face. "I'm not! I'm just mad, that's all! And if I ever get out of here you will be the one  weeping, Goblin King!"

He didn't reply but I heard a loud clamor in the distance. He scuttled away in the direction of the sound and I sniffled and sat back down miserably. Was the goblin king right? Had I somehow miraculously been cured of vampirism? It seemed unlikely. But then again this entire place and everything in it was a complete mystery to me.

The more pressing concern was getting out of this cage and finding Roran. I stood up but without my sight I couldn't tell if anyone was watching or not. It seemed I had been left alone. There weren't any sounds to indicate anyone was close by.

I tested the strength of the bars first, pulling on them as hard as I could. When the door opened on the first yank a laugh bubbled up out of my throat, but I quickly stifled it in fear the goblin king would return. He had forgotten to lock the door.

I poked my head out the door first, checking to see if anyone was planning on stopping me. When no monsters showed up to attack I timidly made my way forward, having to hold my arms out in front of me because I couldn't see a thing.

There was a soft light at the opposite side of the room, but I didn't dare go near it. That had been the direction the goblin king had gone and I wanted to be as far away from him as possible. For what seemed like hours I crept along blindly, running into walls and stubbing my toes on more rocks than I could count.

Eventually I began to grow tired and that scared me. I had never been tired as a vampire. I had also never felt hungry or thirsty, but I was now. The longer I thought about the discussion I had had with the goblin king the more I started to believe he was right. Had Roran's blood cured me somehow?

Despite the fact I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, I kept walking, afraid that if I stopped the goblins would catch up to me. I doubted they would be as merciful the next time we crossed paths.

"Alethea?" I heard a voice whisper.

I froze, unsure of what to do.

"Alethea, it's me," the voice said.

It sounded like Roran, but I was afraid it might be a skin-walker playing a trick on me.

"Prove it," I whispered.

The sound of a soft laugh filled the corridor and I then I saw orange eyes peek around the corner.

"The fact that I'm not attacking you should give you some clue," he replied sarcastically.

"You could be a skin-walker, though," I whispered, still unsure.

"Your therapist's name is Dr. Rachel Harper, you're afraid of pretty much everything, and you once spent three whole months alone in your apartment just because you could."

I grinned and raced forward, tripping twice and skidding to a stop at Roran's feet. He lifted me up and I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you!" I cried against his chest.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked, looking me over. "I would have come to get you earlier, but I had a hard time convincing them to give up your location."

I nodded and shrugged. "It actually wasn't so bad. The goblin king guy is weird and a jerk, but he didn't hurt me."

Roran whispered, "Good. Let's get out of here. I hate goblin smell. It reminds me of mold mixed with curdled milk."

A little light bulb went off in my head and I put my hand out to stop him.

"Roran!"

He stopped and looked down at me. "Yeah?"

"The goblin king said that I'm human! He said he knows what humans smell like. Do I smell like a human? He also said that no one survives drinking phoenix blood! And I'm suddenly tired! And hungry! What is going on?"

He placed a hand over my mouth. "Woah, woah. It's going to be okay, alright? We're going to figure this out."

"So am I? Human?" I asked, growing more and more panicked by the second.

Roran shifted uncomfortably and looked away from me. "As far as I can tell? Yes."

I half hiccupped, half gasped and the sound came out as something similar to a donkey's bray.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I finally choked out. "How did that happen?"

Roran rubbed a hand across his eyes and sighed. "I have no idea. It's never happened before, that's for sure. But right now we need to be focused on getting away from here and finding someplace safe."

"But-" I began to argue.

"Can't it wait until we get out of here? Please?"

I managed a small nod and tried to force down the panic by taking calming breaths.