Seventy One

Vlad

It took me a moment to fully grasp my surroundings and realize that I was awake. I jolted, drenched in sweat from my head to foot.

My breaths came in short gasps and I shivered on the cold, marble floor, my hand gripping the cage bars.

The torment I'd felt these past weeks was enough to make a sane man run mad. The room was empty but I felt the lingering pain of the damn ghost, as if the sharpness had transferred from her to me.

"Just a dream," I reminded myself, attempting to calm my racing heart.

The cage walls closed in on me, this damn cage where I was dumped like a chicken, begging for life.

I couldn't shut my eyes until the morning light filtered through the window. One of Dracula's guards rattled the keys and dumped a tray of soggy ramen and carrots. The look alone was enough to make me stay hungry for the whole day.

My appetite had waned since the abduction and the thought of eating made me feel queasy. I pushed the tray aside and the guard rolled his eyes in a