Bella Raven

She could feel silk sheets beneath her hands before she opened her eyes. The room she was in was dark, lit only by candles, and the sheets were blood red. This was not her bedroom. She sat up slowly and looked down, horrified to see that the clothes she'd previously been wearing were no longer on her. In their place was a silk nightdress. What had happened?

Looking up, she scanned the room and noticed that there were two doors. She pushed the covers back and swung her legs off the bed, slowly making her way to the closest door. When she put her hand on the handle she stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath, before she opened the door quickly. Relief and some disappointment flooded her when she found herself looking at a bathroom. That meant that the other door must be the one that led outside the room, she concluded as she shut the door and made her way to the other. Her momentum died when she tried the handle only to discover that it wouldn't move. She was locked in.

Bella Raven stood with her back against the door, surveying the room. A bed, a wardrobe, a small settee and some small round tables made up the room. It was pretty spacious, now that she could see it, but the space didn't help her. Where was the window? She scanned the room again and almost facepalmed when she realised she'd been overlooking it because the curtains were closed and they blended in with the walls.

After debating for a moment whether her clothes were suitable, she concluded that she didn't have time to see whether there were more suitable clothes for her to change into. She moved across the room and drew open the curtain, her heart dropping at the blackness of the sky. While the dark would help conceal her as she attempted to escape, it would also hinder her in that she wouldn't be able to see properly. But she couldn't let that stop her, so she unlatched the window and opened it, revealing that rain was coming down steadily in the night sky.

She glanced over her shoulder to look at the room one last time before she swung her leg over and found her footing on the outside ledge. Steadying herself, she gripped the window tighter as she brought her other leg over, situating herself so that she was on the outside completely now. She tried not to look over her shoulder and regretted it when she did. Heights were one thing that she hated the most and looking at the distance between her and the land below, she was certain she'd snap her neck if she dropped.

The rain obscured her vision somewhat but not enough to stop her from seeing that the ledge she was on ran right the way across the building. The only difficulty was that there wasn't a constant railing for her to hold onto. She'd have to make do with grabbing at the brick and any other holding she could find.

With a deep breath, she shimmied to her right, taking it nice and slow lest she fall. When she ran out of window to hold, she reached to grab a drainpipe as she moved her body directly out of the window's frame. Her heart was beating heavily as she gripped the drainpipe with both hands, at a standstill from fear. She's moved from the window's view, that's good, but now what? Where was she supposed to go? A quick strain of her neck told her that another window was a good few feet to her right, but could she really make it that far without falling? The ledge was already very slippery and she felt as if any sudden movement would make her fall, but it wasn't as if she could just stay where she was. Come daylight she'd be very noticeable.

Be brave, she told herself as she made her next step, followed by another and another. Her hands blindly sought out anything to hold on before she moved her feet and the odd jutting of the bricks, paired with the drainpipe that veered horizontally just a foot above her head made it so that it was fairly easy to move. Still, it took her a while to finally reach the edge of the window and once there, she cautiously poked her head over and was ecstatic to discover that the room was empty. She used the frame to help her slowly begin to move across the window.

When she was halfway across a man strode into the room from one of the corners she couldn't see, making her almost let go from her frame. Her heart beat ferociously as she stared at his back, her eyes wide. At any moment he could turn around and see her. That thought spurred her into action and she began to move quicker, shimmying across the window. She had only two more steps to go when the man turned around. It was the dark boy from her Maths class!

Her eyes went wide as she watched confusion wash over his face before it was replaced with horror as he began to rush over to the window. Frantic, she took a huge step to her right and slipped, smashing her face against the wall and falling, only to grab onto the ledge. The rain made it slick and she brought her other hand up, trying desperately to cling onto the only thing keeping her alive. She could only watch as the window opened and the boy looked down at her, alarm clear on his face.

Torn between not wanting to die and not wanting to be put back in that room, she stupidly tried to move across using her fingers only for her left hand to slip and fall, meaning that she was only dangling by her right hand. The rain continued to pelt her as she watch the boy hang one leg over the ledge and sit on the window, bowing his body forward and grabbed her left hand as she attempted to regain her gripping on the ledge.

She cried out and tried to pull it from his grip. "Let go!" she shouted.

"Are you stupid?" he called, tightening his grip on her. "Do you want to die?"

"You kidnapped me!"

"Really? Now?"

"Yes, now!" she yelled. "I'm not coming back in!"

Annoyance covered his face as he began to pull her up, his strength making her speechless for a moment. He grabbed her other hand as she was desperately trying to find something else to hold onto and yanked her up quicker, her feet kicking about as she flailed at only being held up by him. He directed one of her hands onto the window opening and tugged her up, wrapping one hand around her torso as she unsuccessfully tried to fight him.

They toppled into the room, her landing on top of him and his arm still around her. Enraged, she pushed herself up and stood, very much aware of the fact that her clothing was now not appropriate. She should have changed before she attempted to flee. She glanced to the door and went to take a step only for him to rise to his feet and grab her wrist again. "How could you be so reckless?" he snapped, yanking her arm to try and get her to look at him. "You could have died!"

"You kidnapped me!" she replied.

"Didn't we already establish that as you were holding on for dear life?" he replied sardonically. His expression changed and he leaned in closer, sniffing her. "You have his stench. When did you meet?"

Annoyed, she yanked her arm from him. "I don't know who the hell you're on about and I don't care! Whoever you are and whatever you want, I don't care either, but you can't hold me captive in a room!" He rolled his eyes and walked away from her. "I'm not finished!"

"No, but I am tired of hearing you speak. Your windows will be locked so this shouldn't happen again. As for the stench, you're lucky it's very faded."

She turned and found a candle that wasn't lit, throwing it at him and picking up the holder. "Let me go!" she screeched, making him look back at her.

"What're you going to do, hit me with that?" he said mockingly. He turned back to the door and opened it, revealing another man who was stood on the other side. She watched as his eyes went wide when he noticed her. "Our guest needs escorting back to her chamber."

"Yes, Your Highness."

She took a step back, brandishing her weapon. "What are you, some kind of prince who kidnaps defenceless girls?"

Before she could blink, he was in front of her, gripping her wrist tightly enough to make her drop the weapon. "I've had just about enough of your mouth," he hissed.

"Your Highness, I cautious you about your manner towards our guest," the man at the door interrupted.

The stupid prince sneered at her and her eyes widened when she noticed that his teeth weren't as normal as her own. "W-what are you?" she stuttered.

"You silly girl. Haven't you already realised? I'm a vampire."