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“You bastard!” Father’s voice shouted.

Through my tears, I could see my father trying to break free of his captors.

Vlad laughed, turned back into the castle, and dragged me behind him. “Bring the others!”

I clutched at his wrist, trying to keep him from pulling my hair from my scalp. I stumbled behind him, crying out in pain, anger, and frustration.

“All this is yours now. I give you all I possess!”

“I do not want it! Let me go! I hate you! Let me go! I want to be with my family!”

He ignored my screams and laughed at me. He threw me into the arms of two gypsy women, and said, “Prepare her for tonight. ”

“No! No! Release me! I want to go home! I do not want to be here!”

I fought the gypsy women, but their fingers bit into my skin as they dragged me up the stairs. I kicked and fought them, but they steadily drew me away from my family.

Looking over my shoulder, I could see my family being led into the castle. Mother was holding May in her arms, my sister’s eyes closed, her long hair spilling over her shoulder. It was apparent that she had collapsed. My mother looked fierce in the flickering light from the torches, tears staining her face. Father’s face was flushed with anger as he continued to struggle to free himself from the guards. I watched as Prince Vlad approached, and Father finally broke free from the guards.

Bravely, my father launched himself at the Prince. “You bastard! I will kill you!”

Father tried to strike the Prince, but Vlad’s hand moved so quickly, I could only hear the impact of his hand against my father’s cheek. In horror, I watched Father fall at Prince Vlad’s feet, stunned.

“For that, you shall die first. ”

Mother and I both began to scream. The gypsies pulled me up the steep staircase and my last vision was of my mother slumping to the floor, May falling from her grasp as she held out her ha

nds to Prince Vlad imploring him for mercy.

The gypsies wrenched me away from the stairs and down a long corridor, my sobs echoing around me. I knew, in my heart that Father would die on this dreadful night. I collapsed to my knees, but the women pulled me up, holding me tightly between them, to march me down the hall.

“Please, let me go,” I pleaded with them. My strength was gone. “Please, let me go. ”

They led me on as they would a small child.

It was then I heard my father cry out and my mother began to scream. I fell to the ground, my heart shattering within me. I knew that Prince Vlad had murdered my father.

For a short moment, the gypsies released my arms. I buried my face in my hands, rocking before them. Their faces showed no emotion as my mother’s screams grew louder and rang throughout the castle.

As the low, seductive laughter of Prince Vlad swelled up from below us, they reached down and drew me to my feet.

“Please, please,” I begged.

But there was no mercy for me. I was taken far from the staircase and deep into the castle. So deep, my mother’s screams faded away.

This was madness! Madness!

I must be mad, I thought. This could not be happening! And yet, it was.

The gypsies tore my clothes from my body and forced me into a tub of water where they set about roughly bathing me. I let them do as they pleased as I wept, my tears falling into the cold water. My body shuddered with my tormented sobs. I was drawn from the water and laid on the floor. They dried me with huge rough cloths.

“Stop crying,” one of them finally said in English.

“My father…”

“He never should have defied the Prince,” she answered. Her strong fingers gripped my damp hair and she looked fiercely into my eyes. “Always do as he tells you. Always. ”

Together, they pulled me to my feet and led me into another chamber. It was there they dressed me in a fine white nightgown of purest silk and brushed out my long hair.