• The crystal bowl slipped from her fingers, hitting the ground with an ear-splitting crash and shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. Long, pale fingers wrapped around the girl’s trembling hands, and she was dragged forward, so that she bumped into the vampire’s body. He hissed something in a language she didn’t understand, and her eyelids grew heavy. No…I mustn’t close my eyes…I mustn’t…the vampire’s laugh was cruel, his lips close to her ear, and yet far away. ‘Do not fight it, little maid…you’ll be dead soon enough…’ his voice trailed off in a soft hiss as she closed her eyes.

    A bright wheel of colours spun above her, making her head spin. She cried out and reached up to brush the wheel away, but her fingers brushed something much more solid instead. Something wrapped around her outstretched hand, and someone’s gentle voice soothed her. She cried out and tore at the fingers that were tight around her hand, but to no avail. The voice was telling her to calm down, telling her that she was safe and had nothing to fear, but she didn’t believe the voice. How could she be safe when she’d been attacked by a vampire that was who knows how close by? She heard the voice talking in the strange language the vampire had spoken in, and he arm felt heavy. No…not again…I mustn’t…the wheel of bright light disappeared, and everything went black.

    When she next awoke, she was in a bed of crimson silk. The sheets were tucked in tightly, so she couldn’t move very well. Satin bed-curtains, still crimson in colour, had been drawn slightly around the bed. I’ve died…I’ve died and gone to the after-world…she closed her eyes and rolled onto her side, a painful moan escaping her lips. She felt sick; the bile was rising in her throat, but she forced it down.
    She vaguely heard a door opening somewhere nearby, and someone singing softly as a soft, warm hand rolled her onto her back and a wet cloth was placed on her forehead. 'You poor dear. A vampire bite is so hard to get over...and my word, i only replaced those bandages a few hours ago...the Master is going to regret ever letting that vampire into the city...but who knew it would sneak into the castle and bite someone...but the Master's never going to hear the end of it from me, my hardest working maid attacked by that bloodthirsty thing...' someone was tutting angrily to herself.
    Everything went black as the visitor removed the bandages that had been wrapped around her neck.

    Upon opening her eyes several hours later, she vaguely realised that she had been moved. The crimson was gone, replaced with varying pinks and purples. The violet bed-curtains were not drawn, and the room's windows were wide open, so a cool breeze could make its way into the room. There were clouds over the sky; it looked like it was going to rain. She wanted to get up and shut the windows, so that the rain didn't ruin the cushions on the window seat, but she had no energy.
    She began to wonder how long she had been unconscious, when a figure filled her view. her first thought was that the vampire had come back and she wanted to scream, but she only managed a small squeak. A hand brushed against her forehead; it didn't feel like the cold hand of the vampire. it was too warm to be the vampire's hand. someone was speaking in the backround, it sounded like the person who had come into her room when she was last conscious. but the voices were muffled, as if someone where pressing a pillow against her ears. her vision became blurred, and everything else flew by quickly; someone making her drink something cold that tasted like fresh peaches, someone lifting her from the bed and someone else moving the pillows so that she would be more comfortable, someone placing a cold, wet cloth on her forehead as she was returned to the bed, and someone speaking the words that the vampire had used to make her sleep. She could hear someone promising that when she woke up she would feel better, but she highly doubted that.