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“No, I have a much more delicious way to kill your dear brother. ”

With a roar so feral, it made my hair stand on end, Vlad took my head between his hands and twisted it about, nearly snapping my neck. His fangs descended into my throat with a savage growl. A shriek of terror tore forth from my lips as I felt my lifeblood gushing from my body. My nails tore frantically at Vlad’s face, but he was unfazed by my assault.

As quickly as he had attacked me, he flung me away. With a mighty thud, my body impacted with the wall across the room and I fell to the floor. Pressing my back against the wall, I curled up into a tight little ball. Pressing my hand against my throat, I stared across the room with terror in my gaze.

Vlad was laughing with dark menace. He slowly rose to his feet and moved stealthily toward me. Cowering in fear, I began to shudder as my drained body plunged into the violent throes of the hunger.

“It is beginning. Do you not feel it?” Several feet from me, Vlad knelt down, his searing a gaze capturing mine. “The hunger is rising within you. Your veins are dry and cracking. The hollowness within you is expanding. Can you not feel the burning fire twisting and rolling in your gut? Even now, your skin is pale and gray. The hunger is rising, rising, rising up to drive you mad. ”

I whimpered angrily, my fingers tugging at my hair. My body was parched and yearning to be filled with the sweet elixir that would renew its former glory. A fierce cold engulfed me, swirling up from the dark void within me. The hunger rose up and began to lick away at my sanity. My senses were acutely focused on my desire to feed.

Vlad chuckled with satisfaction. “Yes, you feel the hunger. And I want to tell you something very important. I am your Master. My power created you. My power can control you. As you are enveloped in the madness, you will lose all rational thought. But listen carefully, my power can still control you. ”

“Leave me be,” I sobbed. “I did nothing of which you accuse me. ” The dawning horror of his words was beginning to overtake me.

“I can make you go to Andrew in your madness, Glynis. I can make you take your brother’s rich lifeblood. I can make you drain every drop from his body. ”

“No!” I hunched over, rocking back and forth in anguish.

“Yes, I can. Andrew’s sweet blood could fill you and empower you like no other,” Vlad insisted with wicked glee. “You see, I can control you, Glynis. You are mine and I can make you do whatever I desire. ”

“I would never harm Andrew!” I screamed at Vlad in rage and hunger. “Never!”

“My power is beyond your comprehension, woman. I can shape your thoughts and manipulate your body at my whim,” Vlad declared darkly. “You do not have the slightest inkling of how powerful I truly am. ” His eyes narrowed as he lifted his hand slowly.

I felt an incredible force smack against my face and my head was snapped back against the wall. An intense power wrapped around me like a clamp. The pressure seemed to push in from every direction and seeped into my hunger ravaged mind. I found myself gasping as the assault reduced me to a quivering mass on my bedroom floor.

Slowly a form began to emerge from the chaos of my thoughts. At first it was a dark mass, without any definition, but as Vlad’s green eyes peered into my own, the phantom began to evolve into the figure of a man. Slowly, the wraith took shape in my mind’s eye. It took on the familiar guise of my brother. The image Vlad was projecting into my mind was so perfect I could see every minute detail of his appearance. Every freckle and laugh line was piercingly vivid on his smiling face and his unruly ginger hair was in desperate need of attention with his undisciplined cowlick creeping down over his forehead. This projected image was so real I could stare into its eyes and believe it was my brother. His gaze captured mine and I could distinctly see in his eyes the various shades of blue blending together in perfect harmony in a sea of pearly white. In those beautiful kindly eyes, I could see delicate red threads weaving their way through the whiteness. As the image sharpened, I could see those red lines pulsating. My sharp hearing could make out the sound of the blood as it tumbled through those fine thin threads.

Blood coursing through veins and arteries…blood…rich…rich and sweet with power…with life…with the life I hungered for…the hunger that gnawed at me…

The seductive drumming of his young heart spoke to my hunger.

I felt my fangs descending.

How I craved the life within him…the sweet lifeblood…the blood that would renew my body…strengthen me…

I began to scream in horror, shattering the vision.

Vlad smiled and released me from his power. Tossing his long auburn hair over one shoulder, he said, “My darling wife, if I so desired, I could force you to kill your brother and you would be powerless to resist me. ”

“You are a monster! A devil,” I hissed at him.

“I am your Master,” Vlad stated. “And you will obey me even if it is to kill your brother. ” He smiled, revealing his fangs. “Just as you killed your mother. ”

I was overcome by the horrifying knowledge that every word he spoke was true. I had been reborn by his blood and his blood bound me to him. With brutal clarity, I knew he owned me, body soul, and mind. This truth sent me reeling into madness.

The hunger burgeoned up within my tortured body and I shrieked in agony.

Vlad watched me with obvious delight. His low, satisfied laughter echoed through the room. “Are you hungry, wife? Does the hunger tear at you like a thousand hungry rats? Then come. Feast. Join us together once more,” Vlad whispered. With blazing eyes, he sliced his own wrist with one of his long nails and blood bubbled up through the gash. Glowering at me, he offered his bleeding wrist to me, his famished Bride.

I did not hesitate. My lips locked over the wound and I drank feverishly. Moaning with pleasure, Vlad embraced me as I fed. He raised me up until I was leaning back against him and feeding hungrily from the wrist I was clutching frenziedly to my bloodied mouth. Vl

ad’s blood rushed down my throat into my fevered body. The blood warmed my cold flesh and brought a lustrous bloom to my skin.

Vlad pressed his lips against the softness of my neck and murmured, “You are mine, Glynis. You will do as I say. If you dare disobey me, I will have you take your brother’s life. ”

I did not respond to his mocking words. I blissfully continued to feed, luxuriating in the heady ecstasy of my feast.