The Vampire's Promise

Vladimir saved where I would be sleeping for the end of the tour. He lead me into a rather large room with a four poster bed, a few wardrobes, a dresser, and a vanity placed around the room. I turned to him, raising my eyebrows. He looked down at the floor, placing a hand on the back of his neck, and raising his other hand.

"This was sort of my bedroom," he spoke quietly, "but it's yours now, for as long as you're staying here."

I narrowed my eyes at him and asked, "Where will you be sleeping?"

"I'll be sleeping in another room, don't worry," Vladimir seemed to relax, and let out a laugh. "Look, Carol... The council may see you as my queen, and for some reason you think you're my slave-"

"Maybe because you made me promise to do whatever you wished?" I cut in. Vladimir frowned, refusing to look at me again.

"I see you as hope... for my people, for this world. I'll see you in the morning, Carol; we can start practicing again then," he said. He left the room, shutting the door behind himself.

I sighed and threw my bag onto the bed. The room was rather large, probably about as big as my entire apartment back in... my world. I quickly changed into nightwear, laying back on the bed and looking up at the ceiling.

"How did you let yourself get pulled into this?" I sighed, pushing my bag off the side of the bed. The sound of my bag hitting the floor startled me a little; it was louder than I had expected it to be. A moment of silence passed and I wondered if anyone else had heard. They probably had; they were all vampires with super hearing, weren't they?

I closed my eyes, drifting into memories. All of the strange things had started happening long before I had run into the men who had chased me down an alleyway. Rather, the men who had locked me out of my world, as Vladimir had said. Would they really have killed me if Vladimir hadn't intervened?

I went farther back, into the time when I was just a little girl. Everything started then, that night so many years ago, while I was sleeping in my bed.

My dream world had taken on a strange, golden glow so suddenly... and then the nightmares began. They were all I ever saw again, whenever I closed my eyes and fell asleep. As I got older, I learned not to wake up feeling terrified; I would assure myself that they were just dreams.

After what Vladimir had told me, I couldn't be so sure anymore. I opened my eyes again and traced patterns in the ceiling with my gaze.

In my nightmares, I was the "mythical" being Vladimir had said I was. There were three others like me. We were strange, small-bodied beings, each with a symbol on our bellies. The symbols reminded me of the suits for playing cards; I had a bright red heart on my stomach.

We were all running- well, floating or flying- from the most terrifying thing I had ever seen.

It was a rather large beast. Fangs protruded from its mouth in any way they pleased, claws extended from its fingertips and toes, and its eyes were eight tiny seas of nothingness. Its large body was misshapen.

As it chased after us, snarling and making other horrifying sounds all the while, those around me- and myself- made frightened noises.

In one giant swoop, the beast managed to grab my friends. I turned and watched for a moment as it devoured the small beings, before I let out a high-pitched noise and continued with my escape. The beast was chasing me again soon after. I could hear the crunching of my companions' bones as the beast followed me.

What a horrible nightmare it was...

I sighed and allowed my eyes to fall shut, not capable of fighting off sleep any longer.

A loud thump pulled me from my nightmare. I gasped and sat up, looking around the room. There was nothing in the darkness as far as I could see; I was alone in the room. A sigh of relief escaped me and I placed the back of my hand against my forehead.

The relief was short-lived; I heard something scurry across the floor. My heart began to beat quicker and I moved as far back on the bed as I could.

"Who's there?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly. Something felt really off about the room.

"Did you miss me!?" The head of one of the men that Vladimir had killed popped up over the edge of the bed. I screamed and shifted, sliding off the other side.

"Oh, you're not getting away this time, Missy," another materialized in front of me, his voice sounding just as raspy and high-pitched as the first. He almost caught me in his arms, but I moved away at the right moment and ran for the door.

I screamed again when a hand grabbed at my ankle, pulling me to the floor. I hit the wooden board hard; there would be several bruises if I made it out of this alive.

"We're the six," the third one said, crawling after me as I continued toward the door.

"Th-the six!?" I breathed, reaching for the door handle. "The six what, creeps!?"

"The six gentlemen!" a fourth grabbed my hand, pulling it away from the handle. A panicked sound made its way up from my throat.

"Our very first quest was to devour the magic of the cards," one of the men grabbed me around my waist. "No one dared to interfere with our job for years as we searched for your kind!"

"Until he showed up," another grumbled.

"Ah, yes... him. A nasty goblin, he was. Gobbled all of you up, we thought. We destroyed him and made it our mission to hunt down other beings who wielded powerful magic." The one that was currently speaking ran his hand through my hair as the others dragged me back to the bed. "We were chasing dear, little Vlad for a long while... when we caught your scent!"

"I thought he killed you?" I whimpered. "You're all supposed to be dead!"

"He did, and we are," another let out a terrifying bark of laughter. "You opened your mind up to us, though."

"Yes, so now we can finish our job! We may not get to eat all of you, but at least we have one of you to enjoy!"

I struggled harder to escape their grip, screaming at the top of my lungs. "No, let me go! Vladimir; Vladimir, help me!"

One of the men bit into my leg as another, more familiar pair of arms found their way around me. I screamed and sobbed more, trying to kick the chewing mouth away. Hands grabbed my leg and held it in place.

Shh, Carol; it's okay. I'm here now. Vladimir's voice fell against my ear. Hope flooded through me.

"Vladimir, help! They're going to eat me!" I cried. Two more mouths clamped down on my leg, and another bit my arm. I screamed from the pain. "They're going to eat me!"

Carol, calm down! You're bleeding. Who's eating you!? Something warm covered my arm, where the monster was chewing away.

"Th-the six! The six gentlemen!" I cried out.

"She's communicating with someone; shut her up!" one of the creatures barked. They no longer looked like men. I whimpered as one covered m mouth with a clawed hand.

The six? Vladimir's voice continued. But I killed them! ...Oh no, Carol. You need to close your mind off to them. You have to shut them out, okay?

I pulled my mouth from the creature's hand for a moment to yell, "How!?" The rough, horrible hand covered my mouth again, and I continued to whimper in pain as they were now all chewing on my arms and legs.

Remember earlier, in the library? Vladimir asked. Find their door, and shut it! Just shut them all out!

I squeezed my eyes shut tight against the pain. It was difficult to picture myself this time; wasn't I already in my imagination? I pushed hard even so, Vladimir continuing to urge me on.

Shut them out! he encouraged. Shut them out permanently, so they can never do this again!

My imagined self this time had great difficulty finding the door. She was being chased by shadows; quite possibly the six evil things gnawing away at my body. I ignored the pain in my limbs and continued to push her through webbed corridors, until she finally stopped at an open door.

The door was old and beaten and the entryway was covered in cobwebs; a spike of fear went through my imagined self. I mentally kicked myself for being afraid of spiders in that moment, and quickly formulated a plan.

The pale, smaller version of me waited, and slowly the shadows approached. They stood there staring at each other for a moment. When the shadows decided to lunge for her, she moved to the side, and they all went through the doorway. My imagined self quickly slammed the door shut and locked it.

Get rid of them for good, Vladimir whispered near my ear. The little being pulled a match from her pocket and lit it, tossing it at the door, which then caught fire.

The pain stopped, and I was pulled from both of those realities into the one I was rather fond of residing in. My breath came quickly, and I was still crying, but I was in Vladimir's arms.

"Welcome back, Carol," he whispered, sounding more relieved than I felt. He pulled me tighter to him and stroked my hair before saying, "You did it; you're alive."

I let out a loud sob, my arms wrapping around Vladimir tightly and keeping him close to me. Vladimir pulled me closer, petting my hair more and kissing the side of my head.

"It- it was so awful," my voice was trembling so much; I wondered if Vladimir could understand me. "It hurt so much."

"Shh, shh." Vladimir rocked me slightly. "It's all over now." I sobbed more, burying my face against his chest.

"Don't go," I begged him. "Stay with me, please. I- I-"

"I'll stay with you, Carol," he murmured against the side of my head. "I'll keep you safe."

I continued to sob as he held me, eventually quieting down and drifting back to sleep. I had no dreams this time.