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“See how lovely she has become, Cneajna,” Vlad said, his expression proud.

“Yes, my Master. She is far more beautiful than she was as a mortal. Truly a worthy Bride. ”

Vlad held out his hand to his blond wife and she slipped her hand into his. He kissed her red lips and then her forehead as his malevolent eyes strayed to me. “Sleep, my love. ”

Cneajna slipped from his embrace and disappeared into the blackness that enshrouded her tomb.

Vlad turned his attention to me. A sly, wicked smile formed on his thick lips. “Yes, you are truly worthy of me now. ”

I raised my chin, glaring at him. “I loathe you. ”

Vlad did not even seem to notice I had spoken. He motioned to the coffin resting on the floor. “This, my dear new wife, is yours. ”

I felt my face become fierce as I snarled at him in anger.

“Is it not beautiful?”

“I will not sleep in it. ” I stomped my foot. “I will not. You cannot make me. I am alive! I am not dead! I will not sleep in a coffin!”

“You are dead. Dead to who you were. You will sleep here in this coffin. It is our way. ”

“No, not mine. It is not my way. ” I turned away, ready to flee.

Vlad’s cold fingers wrapped around my arm and he held me firmly against him. “My dearest Glynis, you will obey me. ”

“I will not,” I said through gritted teeth. “I am not dead. I will not sleep in that coffin. ”

“Yes, you will. ” Vlad flung me down into it. “You are a vampire. You are one of the undead. ”

“No!” I tried to scramble out of the coffin, but Vlad struck me so hard with the back of his hand it felt as though my head would rupture.

“You are no longer mortal. You are a vampire. You will act as such. ” His fangs glistened as he spat the words out at me. Angrily, he lifted up the coffin lid and slid it onto the coffin.

“No, please, no!”

The last thing I saw before the lid slid shut over me was his fiendishly smiling face, then I was plunged into darkness. As I screamed in terror and anger, I heard him walk away chuckling. I knew where he was going, and I screamed at the horror of it all. I had seen the tomb where he lay during the day and the one word written over it:

DRACULA

Chapter 8

The Journal of Lady Glynis Wright

How miserable it is to write of my first nights here. I can scarcely believe the words I am writing and yet, this is my story. My life. It is all I have endured in this place. It is my truth and I shall speak it, even if it is only to this little battered journal.

They continue to torment me. They demand of me all sorts of horrors. I refuse to give in. How much longer I can deny my new nature, I do not know. I hope at times that I will go mad so they will slay me.

But where was I? Oh, yes. My first night as a true vampire…

I awoke. I found myself in utter darkness. Like a rushing wind, the memory of the night before came vividly to my mind. My hands impacted with the lid of the coffin, and I could feel my long nails scraping against the wood.

“Let me out! Release me!”

The lid drew back, and Cneajna stared down at me with her beguiling eyes. “Come. ”

I sat up to find myself surrounded by the vampires. Vlad stood at the end of my coffin bearing a lantern, its light illuminating his dark features.

“Do you feel the call of the night?”