Page 27

I sat with my hands in my lap as they tugged at my curls, shaping them with their hands and brushes. My face hurt from crying, and the tears were now just a mere trickle down my cheeks. It hurt to breathe and it hurt to ponder the terrible events of the night. I did not want to think or feel. I sat and stared at a crack in the stone floor, ignoring the women around me.

The gypsies finished preparing me for whatever horrible plans the Prince had for me, and led me to the bedchamber I had slept in the two nights before. They left me there to wait for him. I covered my face with my hands and trembled in terror.

I wanted to die and join my father in heaven. But, alas, I knew I was not going to die. I was going to wait. I was going to wait in that awful, cold room where terrible nightmares had plagued me. I was going to wait for the monster that called himself Prince Vlad.

So, reluctantly, I waited in trembling silence.

Trying to calm my wildly beating heart, I began to recite the Lord's Prayer.

As midnight approached and my fear deepened, I stood watch in the dusty, dark bedchamber, listening to the distant cries of wolves. Shivering in my flimsy nightgown, pale with fear and despair, I waited.

I could not let myself ponder the fate of my family anymore. If I did, I would go surely mad. I had to wait and see what horror the Prince would visit upon me. In my heart, I wanted him to kill me as he had my Father. I knew that I would never escape this place except to die. I also knew he would come tonight. I had seen it in his eyes. The way those dark green eyes had rested on me with unholy lust had been a promise. A dark, evil promise.

I held my hands close to my breast, listening to the awful ragged sound of my own tortured breathing. The night was full of shadows and half-heard whispers. It was as if the very darkness had sprung to life, reaching for me, trying to claim me.

Outside the one long narrow window, the moon was full, glowing a pale unearthly light. It washed the mountains in a pale blue light, creating chilling shadows.

There was no comfort to be found.

The words of the Lord’s Prayer faded from my dry lips. Fear finally robbed me of my voice. Even my body was paralyzed. My only movement was the nervous rocking of my body as I stood in the center of the bed chamber waiting. Waiting for the Prince. Waiting for my fate. Waiting to endure whatever evil the Prince had designed for me.

“Glynis, Glynis, sweet Glynis…”

A voice soft, sweet, and seductive whispered through the night. It was a woman’s voice that was ever so softly crying out my name.

“Who is there?”

Desperately, my eyes flicked about the room, searching for the source of the siren song.

“Dearest sister of the night,” the voice whispered, tinged with an accent.

“Who is there?” My voice was barely audible to my own ears. “Reveal yourself,. ” I said in a louder voice.

“We are here. ”

Before my eyes, the moonlight pouring through the window shimmered and brightened. As it grew brighter and brighter, it molded into three distinct columns of light. I watched in terrified fascination as the light faded to reveal three very beautiful women dressed in gossamer gowns as pure and white as the moonlight. Each had long, voluminous hair that fell below their waists. Exotic, foreign jewelry was twisted into their tresses and decorated their pale throats and limbs. Their eyes were like jewels, hard, sparkling, and deep. Their skin was as pale as the moonlight. Lips red as the darkest wine smiled at me with secret smiles. Two were as dark and exotic in looks as the Prince. The third woman was blond and regal in her appearance.

I recognized them from my nightmare. Now I knew it was no mere dream.

My body began to shake violently as I stared at them. I knew now that father had been wrong. There were many things in this world that were not natural. These creatures were of a realm I had not known existed and they terrified me.

“Dearest sister,” the blond woman said softly in her musical voice, “as with every Bride, the time of your making by the Master has come. ”

“You were in my room before. I thought it was a dream, but you were here, were you not?” My voice was tremulous. “Who are you?”

“My Brides,” a dark, deep familiar voice said.

The very sound of Prince Vlad’s voice made my knees buckle. Tears sprung once more to my raw eyes.

The shadows in the darkest corner of the chamber unfurled to reveal the dark image of a man. That horrible face emerged from the darkness as Prince Vlad stepped into the flickering firelight.

My terror rose and released my body from its frozen state. “No, please, no. ” I stumbled backwards from him, my heart beating so violently it felt as if it would burst.

The Brides moved around me, their languid movements seductively graceful, yet menacing.

“The time has come for you to join my Brides, my love,” the Prince said in a low tone. His dark green eyes were burning with such intensity that they captured my very soul in an iron grip.

“No,” I moaned.