Love in Transylvania

Introduction – Love in Transylvania is a fictional tale of two unlikely people finding love in bizarre situations. Count Dracula, the bloodthirsty vampire whom none approach and all fear, falls in love with Katrina, a young warrior girl, no older than seventeen. This is the tale of their adventures together, and begins with Katrina, waking up to find herself in the Count's Mansion, where she has been brought against her will…

There is a prequel on the way, to fill in the gaps, but for right now, this is chapter one and two…

Chapter 1

Katrina will never forget the moment when he walked through that door. It swung open the Count walked in and snapped the doors shut, latching it behind him. She shivered where she stood; trying hard not to look at the man she probably feared the most in this world. There weren't enough monsters in this world that could drive her soul out of her, but this man could, with one look. He was dressed in a royal black suit with a closed-collar that extended till his knees under which were black pants and a cloak to complete the picture. His eyes…they were like frozen lakes or dull diamonds, a clear blue-gray shining with secrecy and power. His hair was untied, a long and smooth black mane of it, hanging till his neck. This man had a power over her she couldn't explain and no matter how much she averted her eyes, his seemed to be piercing through her like a hot knife.

"Do you feel cold Katrina?" he asked, with a sneer curling at the ends of his sculpted lips noticing a shiver rippling through her skin, "I can arrange something, maybe blankets, or if you'd like, ummm, a hot shower?"

"It is ok, it is just a passing chill," she said, still trying not to notice his eyes screening the arc of her waist. "Why am I here?" she asked, getting to the question that had been bothering her since she woke up in this cold and draughty castle. "I think I should be getting back soon, it is late, and my people will worry." It was a plea she wished he would abide with, for the closer his footsteps neared, the faster her heart thumped against her skin.

"Too many questions, too little time. Where should I begin? Ahhh…why are you here? Why are you here…I wonder why you are here. Yes, I remember now, you are here because I have brought you here. If you remember the events of the evening, I have brought you here tonight to stay here. There will be no arguments about this." He added with a sharp look at her.

"I know that you have brought me here, that is evident since I am here in your castle. My question was, why you have brought me here. And…" she gasped and stalled mid-sentence struggling to gain the courage to complete it, "and…when can I leave."

The Count laughed a short laugh and then said, "Yes, please forgive me milady, I have not been very forthcoming nor a very good host. The reason you are here is because of your destiny. Destiny has decided that you should be here with me, right here, right now, tonight."

"I refuse to believe that, it is not destiny Count, it is you, it is you who has brought me here and I did not just land here through destiny's hand – "

"- Oh no, you misunderstand me. I did not mean that your being here was magical or anything as such, I meant that I have brought you here because I wanted you to be here," He cut across her panicked retort.

"I don't understand! I really don't know why you try and kill me and then decide to keep me in your dingy castle? I wake to find myself locked, unable to get out of this unknown place! I need some kind of explanation!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes, stinging them and bringing that strange stretched feeling in her being.

Vlade whispered, "You are to be my bride. Tonight." For the first time that night, he turned his eyes away from her and looked out of the window.

She was shocked beyond words and she turned to look at him and looked for a long, long time. "Say that again…"

"You must be my wife, I will not rest without having you." He still had face turned away from her, towards the window.

"Can't there be anyone else? I'm telling you, I've seen many more beautiful girls than me in the city, they are beautiful and much better than I am," she pleaded.

He turned to face her, piercing her eyes with his cold gray ones, his face barely a couple of inches away, "That is a lie. I have handpicked you among you thousands, there is no one more beautiful than you, and you know it. There is no point in trying to convince me change my mind. I have made my decision and you will be my bride, tonight." He said, tasting the words.

"I am begging you," she entreated, trying to dig out some emotion from his face, "I am too young to marry, please you mustn't do this, I don't want to marry now. I too young please, take what you want from me, but please let me go home tonight."

"Too young? I know how old you are; I know everything about you, every single thing," he whispered and stroked my lip with his finger, tracing it softly, "and you are not too young. Not too young to let a man make you happy, and I will make you very happy. You will not regret it for a day of your life."

Her voice was choked with tears and she could barely let a sound escape out of her tightened throat, "Not regret it? You kill innocent people for their blood and you don't know how to treat a live woman! If I marry you I will go down in history as just another one of your ill-fated victims! How can you prove that it wont happen? You cannot because it is more than probable that it is. I have a man waiting for me, I man who treats me well, a man who has never hurt me and never can. How can I let him down, when we have already planned to marry?"

Chapter 2

He did not look very angry, but just a little frustrated with what she had said. He whispered in low tones, "I don't think that you know anything about me. How then can you assume that I am bad to my women or that I am a bloodthirsty killer with only wrath in my heart, incapable of loving or feeling love? Do not be presumptuous, and as for your man waiting at home, he is nothing but an unsuccessful and an unfaithful wretch. He has never loved you for a day; he has used you and will throw you away. Do you really think that a man like that could ever be trusted? No wonder he chose you to dupe! You trusted his scheming like a fool! He has been with multiple women since he expressed the desire to marry you six months from now! I know what he does to you. You know what he does to you."

Katrina stood there shocked. How did he know? How could he know, when no one else knew? Tears began to stream down her face.

"You know nothing of him. He has don't nothing to me." She was shaking with anger.

"He hasn't done anything yet, anything permanent. Run before he does, you know what I am talking about, don't you?" His voice was calm, smooth and unlike hers.

"He would never force me!"

"Well, he did beat you when you refused him the last time. Maybe next time it will be worse that a slap." He looked outside again and said, "That woman, his umm…acquaintance, was not his cousin, and if she was, then they seem to be kissing cousins."

She couldn't believe it, and why should she have? It was nothing but a lie from a man who wanted to hoodwink her. "There is no proof and no reason I should believe you. You should no better than to think that after you have kidnapped a girl, she will believe your lies."

He laughed with an honest laugh, "You're very blind. I admire the man, he cheats on you in your own house and you still love him with all your heart. Look back, think of the times you've suspected his infidelity and you will see what a fool you have been for not trusting yourself."

Katrina recalled his cousin, the pretty girl who came to visit for month. She told them a different name, but Meralaus always called her another name by mistake, it happened about thrice. She remembered his mysterious visits to his mother, who was then revealed to have been dead for a decade, and that story had never made sense to her till date. On thinking back, Katrina thought, Meralaus had been highly secretive, violent and cold ever since they had been together.

"I will burn that house down, along with Meralaus," she stated with loathing bubbling in her veins, since realization came to her.

"Do you believe me now? I have not lied to you, not even once. I have meant you no harm and neither have you been unsafe since you have been with me, except for that once part in the forest. I am not here to kill you; I could kill a million others. You are here to be my wife and you are here so you can start a new life where I can make you a queen and give you the life most others would die for."

She didn't know what to say, all that he had said was true, yet the idea was ludicrous. How could she marry a vampire? A vampire? He promised he would not hurt her, but then so had Meralaus. "I cannot marry you. Kill me if you have to. Kill me now. I cannot marry you. I hardly know you and you are a vampire." I spat the words out, words like poison, poison to my own ears, "That is the truth. I am afraid of you, I cannot marry a man who I fear and I shall not do it."

He smiled, quite warmly and said quietly, "Well, at the least you are honest. I shall not hold it against you. You do, however, have to marry me, so the wedding takes place at midnight tonight, in the forests." He said it with finality in his voice and her blood boiled with fury at his words. "Be ready and we shall be married tonight. If you refuse to do so quietly, there are ways I can make it happen."

His eyes glowing in the moonlight, and she knew this wouldn't be wise. He leaned very close, and as his hands uncomfortably ran over her torso's contours he brushed his lips over her neck making the hair on her neck and back shiver into erection.

He raised his face and said, "Also, there is dinner in an hour in the dining chambers right outside your bedroom, and so I shall see you there soon. There are clothes for you and all the accessories you need in the closet and if there is anything else, come to the chambers and I am there."