Vlad

29

"Evan wouldn't."I say.

"He won't have a choice."Jord says.

"He's coming? Vlad is coming here?"Edwin says, his face pale.

"Yes."Jord huffs.

Edwin's hands begin to shake and he looks at me.

Then he grabs my face and I gasp as he pulls me into a kiss.

I feel an electric shock throughout my body and I hum into the kiss.

"Hey!"Jord says, pulling us apart.

But just as quickly as Jord grabbed Edwin, Edwin places his hands on jord's head.

Then both men look up at the same time, their eyes rolling back.

Then they both collapse.

I whimper running to them on the ground.

But I pause, hearing something strange. A humming of some sort. Like the pitter patter of wings.

Suddenly, the room fills with bats and I scream, ducking my head down.

They swarm in a large circle, taking visibility down to 0%.

They all begin to form a spiral.

I whimper, keeping my head down to protect the two men from the winged devil rats.

But suddenly they disperse, flying out of the room immediately.

I look up, seeing Vlad standing with his back to me. In his hand, Rosalie's diary.

He glances back at me and my lips quiver.

"..you know the truth now."he says quietly, opening the diary.

"When Rosalie and I first wed, this diary was filled with pages on pages of everything she loved about me...she burned those pages after that day.."he says, rubbing his fingers down the torn sheets of paper in the diary.

He looks back at the two men on the ground.

"She wrote only about him for a while before her death."Vlad says, glaring at Edwin on the ground.

"Why?"I whimper.

He shakes his head.

"I was an evil, evil man then."he says before looking at Jord.

"Strange. I couldn't even see the resemblance. I guess history tends to repeat itself."Vlad says.

"Why did you keep Edwin. Locked away here like a weird pet."I say.

"He stole what was mine. An offense that should've been met with death. But I felt death was too simple a punishment. So I decided that if he wouldn't die, he wouldn't live either."

We make eye contact and I see a flicker of guilt in his eye.

My lips quiver.

"...you're telling me this.. b-because you're going to make me forget, aren't you?"I ask, stumbling to my feet.

He shakes his head.

"I'm not going to make you forget, Melanie."he says, his eyes glowing red as he steps towards me and I back away.

"….I just want you to look into my eyes..and see our love."

....

My eyes open, and I hear music. The violin. I look up and notice the high, stone ceilings.

I'm back in the castle.

I walk towards the music. A familiar tune. Edwin and Rosalie had been humming it all day.