He Took Me in the Night

Chapter III: Sacrificed

“The dead travel fast.” -Bram Stoker, Dracula

Chapter III: Sacrificed  

A thick, undulating, grey mist surrounds me. I hold my hands out in front of me and I try to cup it out of my way. Only it slips right through my fingers and bombards me again. Just a few more steps now and I’ll finally reach him in the heart of the storm. He needs me, and the closer I get, the more I realise I need him too.

A hand manages to pierce through the dense mist, beckoning me to him. As the haze slowly clears I’m able to see a vague outline of a tall man standing in the rain. He has midnight black hair, high cheekbones, thick brows and a strait nose- but the eyes- I can’t quite decipher them just yet…

As I regain consciousness, it takes me a moment to place everything- the small room, the yellow dress and the locket dangling from my neck. None of it makes any sense until it slowly starts to creep back- who I am, where I am and what’s happened. A cold sweat breaks across my forehead as I realise that I’ve just been sacrificed.

I raise my hands up high over my head and stretch from side to side. My body’s sore from sleeping on the floor, but its nothing compared to the aching in my chest. The hole has been festering over night and the edges burn feverishly. I miss my family already. My mother’s words… My father’s hugs… Violet’s laugh… Erik’s cheeky comments… I might not ever see my loved ones again.

I crawl over to the door keeping me prisoner and find that it’s locked. I press my forehead against the wood, my hands on either side of my face and begin to choke on my sobs. My chest rattles as I cry my heart out and I bang my fist down hard on the door in frustration.

This is just so unfair!

“Its no use trying to escape,” a man says, his voice deep and venomous. I flinch away from the door and recoil into the corner of the room. My breath comes out fast and hollow as I try to comprehend that someone’s watching me. “You’re scared, aren’t you? I can hear your heart fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings.”

I close my eyes and hold my breath, trying to calm down. I can feel my body shaking with terror and my bottom lip trembling. I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around myself- hoping, wishing, praying for the man to leave me alone so I can suffer in silence. But his rough voice slices through my skin and sends a shiver rippling up my spine instead.

“What’s your name little one?” He asks gently.

“Rose,” I reply, the word barely above a whisper.

“Hmm,” he purrs softly, as if he were thinking to himself. “I wonder if you are as beautiful as your name implies…”

“Please don’t hurt me,” I whimper.

I hear the man chuckle darkly. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” I ask, my voice small and timid.

“I don’t think you want to know,” he says grimly.

I feel a pang of despair tear against my wound like a serrated edge. For eighteen years I’ve lived with the burden of uncertainty. Never knowing what horrors I’d face in the castle or whether I’d be strong enough to endure them. If it weren’t for my family I suppose I’d just give in. Maybe it would be less painful that way. But a promise is a promise.

“Tell me something, Rose. Do you think you’re brave?” The faceless man asks me, his voice spiked with curiosity. His strange question momentarily confuses me and I find myself shocked into silence. “I guess I’ll find out for myself soon enough…” He trails off, and I get the feeling someone or something has just interrupted our little conversation.