Chapter One: Attack

A fool there was and he made his prayer
(Even as you or I!)
To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair,
(We called her the woman who did not care),
But the fool he called her his lady fair -
(Even as you or I!)
- Rudyard Kipling, The Vampire

From the private journal of Don Alejandro de Silva, former Castilian nobleman and current King of Britain's vampires, 1883 to present:

Thursday, 6th July 2006
The foolish vampire who calls himself Dracula after the famous book character is getting on my nerves. At first he was nothing more than a nuisance, getting in my way. But now he has become more of a problem; I discovered earlier today that he is trying to use the law against me, as if we were humans rather than vampires! It is a ridiculous notion of his, one that he must know will never work. Nevertheless, I plan to consult a lawyer about it. I have made an appointment for tomorrow evening with Benjamin Windham of Ridley, Windham and Travers. He is not a vampire, but he is one of the best lawyers in the country. I have every confidence that he will resolve the problem with Dracula, at least this time.
On a more positive note, I have increased the time between feedings to thirty hours. Violet, ever the pessimist, keeps warning me that it is not safe, but I am sure I will be able to stave off the blood lust for that length of time. After all, the less I feed, the less I feel guilty. And that is always good.
ADS

The day that changed my life forever started out like any other.

It was the second week of the summer holidays, between the end of exams and the start of university. I got up, had breakfast, showered, watched TV; I basically went through my normal daily routine, the one I went through when I wasn't going out during the day. I didn't put on the jeans that I practically lived in, though. I was meeting my father at his office, from which we were going to see a play in the West End afterwards, so I made a special effort and wore a mid-thigh length black Chanel skirt instead (this was quite incredible on my part, since I wasn't overly fond of skirts; having to wear them every day at school had made me hate them) and a white V-neck top with sleeves that just came past my elbows.

I drove to my father's office in the silver VW Beetle he'd bought me as a seventeenth birthday present. My father, Benjamin Windham, was a partner in the law firm Ridley, Windham & Travers. I wasn't entirely sure what his job actually involved - all I knew was that he defended rich people and got paid one hell of a lot of money to do so. To be honest, I'd never thought to ask him about his job.

The office of Ridley, Windham & Travers was located in a skyscraper in London. There were twenty-two floors, my father's office being on the top one because he liked the view. I never understood how he was okay with having huge floor-to-ceiling windows when he was twenty-two floors up in the air; but then my father wasn't afraid of anything. He was admired and feared by half the world, both for his ability to win cases that looked impossible and his ruthlessness when it came to the opposition. Not to mention his bad temper, something my sister Abby and I had both inherited from him. My brother Ben was much more mellow.

The Ridley, Windham & Travers building had an underground car park for its employees, which I parked my car in. Then I went through to the lobby and got in the lift, which was one of those fancy ones with marble walls and white tiles on the floor.

I hate lifts. I'm a little claustrophobic and I have slight vertigo, so a lift was sort of a combination of my two greatest fears. But it was either use a lift or walk up twenty-two flights of stairs, and there was no way I was going to do that, no matter how many calories I would burn off.

It was about five-thirty in the evening when I got in the lift, so I was the only one in it as most people had already left work. I was very early and would probably have to wait for a while, but I didn't mind. I took Cosmopolitan out of my bag, which I'd brought with me so that I wouldn't die of boredom during the long ride up in the lift (and also to take my mind off the fact that I was in a lift in the first place).

The lift was halfway between the thirteenth and fourteenth floors when it jolted to a stop and the lights went out.

Surprised, I screamed and dropped Cosmo. When I'd recovered from the shock, I crouched down to pick up the magazine with trembling hands and put it in my bag. For some reason I felt I should have my hands free.

"Calm down," a voice in the darkness murmured, and I shrieked again. I hadn't realised that someone had got in the lift with me at some point. "I am certain the power will be back on in a minute." The voice was deep and pleasant, definitely male, with a slight accent - Spanish, perhaps.

"God, I hope so," I said fervently, deciding to be friendly. I moved my head back and forth to try and see where the man was, but it was too dark. It was completely black in the lift, with no light showing whatsoever. I'd never been surrounded by total darkness before - at night in my bedroom the diffused light from streetlamps came through the thin curtains, and even when I was outdoors there were stars and the moon to see by.

But this darkness was complete. It was...solid. I opened my eyes wide and stared around me, but no matter what I did I couldn't see a thing.

"Where are you?" I asked, trying to keep calm. Images kept flashing through my mind of the lift plummeting to the ground, and they wouldn't disappear. Stupid, overactive imagination.

"To your left," the man said. I heard him move, and realised that he was moving away from me, wedging himself in a corner of the lift.

This annoyed me a little, enough for me to momentarily forget my situation. "What's wrong? I'm not diseased, if that's what you're afraid of," I said irritably.

"I am thirsty," he said, as if that explained everything.

"I can help with that," I said, pleased to be of some use and glad that I had something to distract me from what was going on. I rummaged in my bag, having to feel my way through it since I couldn't see anything. I produced a bottle of Evian, something I nearly always carried with me just in case. "I have some water." I stepped towards him, or at least where I thought he was judging by his voice and his short description of his location. "Um, just reach out and you should touch the bottle..."

"Do not."

I frowned, even though he couldn't see it. "Don't what? Don't go near you? Why not?" Realisation dawned, and I gasped. "Oh my God, you have OCD, don't you? I saw a programme on TV about it once, and there was this woman who was afraid to let anyone touch her because she was terrified of germs. Is that what you have?"

"No."

"Oh." Since he didn't seem to want the water, I put it away in my bag. As I was bringing my hand out, it touched something familiar, and I almost thanked the Lord aloud. "I have my mobile! I can call my father and tell him where I am!"

"Hurry," was all the strange man said.

I dialled my father's mobile number and tapped my newest pair of espadrilles impatiently while I waited for him to answer.

"Hello, Lexie," he said cheerfully. "How are you? Are you still coming here later so we can see Cats? You might have some trouble - we have a power cut."

"Oh Dad, it's terrible - I'm stuck in the lift!" I wailed, all my repressed fear pouring out of me. It felt so good to talk to someone familiar who wasn't scared of me. "It's just stopped and the lights are out and what if it falls down?"

"You're in the lift?" My father sounded alarmed, which was surprising since he didn't usually sound anything. But then, his elder daughter was in a potential death situation. "Good Lord. I don't know when the power will come back on, but I'll call the technicians now and tell them to come here and make the lift work so that you can get out. I don't know how long it will take for them to get here, though. It could be as much as an hour before the lift is working again. Are you alone?"

"No," I sniffled, upset that I'd have to wait so long. "There's a weird man in here with me." I didn't care that the stranger could hear me - he must realise that he was weird. "Please tell the technicians to hurry."

My father said gently, "Of course, sweetheart. Just stay calm. Everything will be all right." He had no idea how wrong he was. "Thank you. Bye, Dad." I hung up.

"Your father is Benjamin Windham? The Benjamin Windham?" the strange man asked me incredulously.

There wasn't any point denying it, so I just said, "Yes." I didn't usually tell people who my father was when I first met them; usually they tried very hard to ingratiate themselves with me because I had a rich father. I wanted people to be nice to me because of who I was, not because my father was wealthy.

"And he called you Lexie when he answered," said the stranger. Suddenly he'd become very chatty. "Is that short for Alexandria?"

"How do you know he called me that?" I asked suspiciously.

He laughed. It was a nice laugh, one that rubbed against my skin like silk. I'd never heard a laugh like that before. "There is not any interfering sound in here. I could hear every word perfectly."

Oh. He had a point. "What's your name?" I asked curiously.

"Alejandro."

"Hello, Alejandro. Is that Spanish?"

"Yes."

He sounded hot, and I was dying to know whether he looked hot, too. I was vaguely surprised that I could think someone was hot when I was stuck in a dark lift, but I was grateful to anything that would keep my mind off of how high up I was, and that I was in such a small space. "I want to see what you look like. I'm going to use the light on my mobile, okay?"

"Do not -" Alejandro began, but it was too late, I'd already moved the phone in his direction. The light wasn't very strong, so I only caught a glimpse of eyes that I couldn't tell what colour they were, because they were all pupil - like a cat's at night, when they dilated - and fangs.

I screamed at the top of my voice and dropped my phone. It landed on the floor and broke, leaving me in the dark again, but I barely noticed. I backed into the opposite corner from the man - the monster.

"Oh, my God!" I screeched. "You're - you're a vampire!"

"Lexie - " I heard him take a step towards me.

I cringed away from him. "Don't come near me! Leave me alone!"

"Lexie, you need to calm down," he said urgently. "I am very hungry right now, and your pulse is beating so fast in your neck...Do you understand what I am saying? Your fear, it is...exciting to me. If you do not calm down, I will not be able to control myself."

"Oh, God," I breathed, suddenly wishing that I had a cross on me. Or maybe a stake. I had pepper spray somewhere in my bag (pepper spray is illegal in England, so I'd had to buy it online). Maybe I could use it on him if he tried to bite me. I started fumbling in my bag, trying to find it. "I'm stuck in a lift with a vampire! As if being in a small space and high up isn't bad enough!" I found the pepper spray and held it in my hand, just in case. Then I slid slowly down the wall of the lift so that I was sitting on the floor, fear making my legs feel weak. I propped my bag up against the wall, some small semblance of rationality still with me.

Alejandro asked, his tone curious, "You have vertigo and are claustrophobic?"

"I'm a little of both," I admitted, unable to believe that I was having a conversation with a vampire. Vampires weren't real - they were fiction, plain and simple. Invented to entertain and terrify. How could they be real? But I couldn't deny that I had seen his fangs, and that they were certainly real. "And I'm not very fond of the dark, either. Can you see in this dark?"

"No." The curiosity had gone. Now he just sounded...strained. Like he was trying to stop himself from jumping me - something I really didn't want to think about. "I need light, even just a speck of, to see anything."

"Like a cat," I said, my breath coming out much faster than it should have been. I was trying to remain calm, but it just wasn't working. If I wasn't careful, I was going to start hyperventilating.

Perhaps he could smell my fear, because he said, "Lexie, I need you to do something for me. I need you to tell me about yourself. It will help you calm down, and help distract me from my thirst. Can you do that for me?"

"I...I suppose so. What do you want to know?"

"Anything. Just talk."

I started, "My name is Lexie Windham, full name Alexandria Elizabeth Amelia Windham. I'm eighteen years old and was born on Boxing Day. My parents always called me a late Christmas present. I have a fifteen-year-old sister called Abby, who I don't get on with, and a nineteen-year-old brother, Ben - he's just come back from his gap year in Asia, and he starts a Languages degree at Oxford in September. Abby and I look very alike, or at least our colouring is the same. I...I guess you can't see what I look like, since it's dark, but I have pale blonde hair and blue eyes."

"I saw you when I got in the lift," said Alejandro. "Before the lights went out. You are very beautiful."

"Thank you," I said politely, even though I wasn't sure what a vampire's praise was worth. And I didn't agree with him, either. I wasn't beautiful at all. "Um...I used to go to St Catherine's. It's a boarding school for ages eleven to eighteen. My A Levels were Psychology, History and French, but I don't know how I've done in them yet - I won't get my results back until mid August. I'm going to be doing a Psychology degree at Cambridge University, but I don't think I want to be a psychologist when I'm older. I think my parents just expect me to marry and become a housewife. Uh..." My mind had gone blank; I didn't know what else to say.

"Keep talking," said Alejandro, his voice coming out as a growl. I could hear him breathing now that I'd stopped talking; he was panting, trying to control his blood lust (who knew vampires could breathe?). I felt terror like nothing I'd ever known welling up inside me, and I couldn't suppress it. I was still sitting in the corner, hunched up and trying not to cry.

"Control your fear!" Alejandro bellowed, and I couldn't help it, I screamed. Then suddenly he was on me, his long, hard body covering mine, pinning me to the floor of the lift, and I struggled and struggled but he was too strong and I couldn't get away!

His hand went to the back of my head, tilting my face up. I could feel his breath on my neck, heard him inhale my scent; strawberries, probably, because of my shampoo. I wanted to fight, to get away, but my panic held me frozen.

I felt his fangs graze my neck, but he didn't bite down. His free hand stroked my hair. "I love your hair," he murmured. "It is long and silky and pale like moonlight..."

I didn't say anything, didn't even try to move. I stared up at the darkness, unable to believe that this was really happening. It's not real, it's not real, it's not real...

But, of course, it was real.

"I am sorry," he groaned against my neck. "I am very sorry."

Somehow, that helped me. I couldn't believe that he was apologising when he was about to bite me! My terror started to get pushed away, replaced by something I could work with: anger.

I still had the pepper spray in my hand. I brought it towards his face, closed my eyes in case it got me, too, and squirted. Alejandro yelled and reeled backwards, away from me. I jumped to my feet and felt along the walls of the lift for the doors. When I found them I felt for the seam in the middle and tried to pry the doors apart. Some of my nails broke and I felt blood trickle down my fingers, but I kept pulling, not caring that my expensive manicure was ruined.

I gave up when I suddenly remembered that I had an eyeliner pencil with me. I couldn't believe I hadn't remembered it before - I could use it as a stake! Ignoring Alejandro, who I could hear was moaning with agony somewhere in the dark, I fell to my knees (which hurt a lot, but I didn't care whether I broke every bone in my body as long as I wasn't eaten) and searched for my bag. When I found it I hunted through it desperately for my make-up bag.

Suddenly, the bag went flying out of my hands, knocked away by Alejandro. He'd recovered much faster than any human would have...but then he wasn't human.

I shrieked and then it was deja vu as Alejandro flattened me against the floor with his body again. I struggled desperately and he grabbed at my top and skirt to stop me. I heard a rip as they tore. He pulled my head back with much more force than he had the first time and then, before I had time to even panic properly, his fangs were biting into the soft flesh of my neck.

The pain was excruciating, like nothing I'd ever felt before. Having my blood drawn out of my body against my will was indescribably painful, and as I sobbed there on the floor, I prayed to God to make the pain stop, even if that meant my death.

And then the pain did stop and everything was very quiet. I thanked God that he was sparing me from more pain and I sank gratefully into the silence...