GISELLE

Once again in her lifetime, Giselle woke up to a blinding pain. This pain wasn't in her limbs, or even in her body, it was in her core, in her soul. And it was the most terrifying thing she ever felt. Her body was unknown to her, all things familiar didn't exist. The touch of fabric underneath her fingers felt strange, almost like she wasn't the one touching it.

Breathing in was strange, as well. Her nose was overwhelmed by all the scents in the air and she recognised every single one. Wood, stone, blood and autumn, such deep autumn. How long was she asleep? Or was she dead? She couldn't tell. For the slightest of moments, she thought she might be in heaven, but then she remembered she would've ended up in hell if she was dead. And she doubted hell smelt like autumn.

Giselle opened her eyes and she was blinded by lights, candles, colours. Waiting for her eyes to adjust, Giselle blinked a couple of times. She felt it, the blinking, almost like she moved her entire body, that's how strong the sensation was.

Then she saw outlines of bodies, standing over her and watching. Unable to stop herself, Giselle let out a scream. Firm hands held her down as she tossed around, screaming. The scent hit her straight through the hard, the need to know what it is, the need to feel it, taste it...

Giselle's sight finally cleared and she saw an old woman, dressed like a maid, holding her down. She smelt magnificent.

"Calm down, little girl, you're safe here." A female voice spoke, so soft and gentle, Giselle felt the need to cry. So she did, her eyes watered and tears spilled all over her face, like an unstoppable river.

"Where am I?" Giselle asked desperately, her voice sounded so strange, her tears stung her eyes. The woman sat on the bed and held Giselle's hand.

"You're in Bran Castle, you're safe here. Please, girl, focus on me, open your eyes gently. I know this is tough, but it will pass. You're transitioning." The woman said and Giselle felt compelled to listen.

She opened her eyes as wide as she could, letting the tears fall down. The woman was beautiful, her angelic face looked down at Giselle and a kind smile decorated her lips. Her entirely black hair fell loosely over her shoulders, reaching her waist. The dress she was in was made of beautiful silk, completely white. And somehow, the lines of her face looked familiar.

"Who are you?" Giselle stuttered.

"My darling, I am your aunt, your mother's sister. My name is Alina." The woman, Alina, said and Giselle believed her almost immediately.

"I feel weird." Giselle said, her eyes filling with tears once more. Alina nodded and tightened the grip on Giselle's hand.

"I know, but everything will be alright. You can trust me." Alina said.

"Why am I transitioning?" Giselle could feel her face turn into a frown woven off disgust and fear. Alina smiled again, her face so reassuring Giselle wanted to simply bury her face in this woman's gown and cry.

"I will tell you everything, but first, I need you to promise me you will not scream." Alina said and Giselle nodded slightly, unsure of this promise.

"My darling, you died."

Giselle screamed.

The other woman, the old one, dressed like a maid, held Giselle down again.

"Heksa, please, go get Vlad." Alina said gently and the maid let Giselle go. Alina continued: "Darling, you came back to life. Everything is fine. You are somewhat different but you are alive and that's what matters most."

"How am I different?" Giselle asked. It was impossible to not listen to this woman, her voice sounded like a song.

"You've been made. Just like me. You're a vampire, a Child of Night." Alina said all of it with a smile plastered on her face, a genuine smile.

"But... but, I didn't... How?" Giselle stuttered again, not sure how to comprehend any of it.

"Everything will be explained, but I need you to do something very important for me. Can you do it?" Alina asked. Giselle nodded, honestly doubting. "I need you to say it out loud," Alina continued, "that you can do what I ask without asking questions, I will explain everything. But first, we need to push you through the transformation. Can we do that? Out loud, Giselle."

Perhaps it was due to the fact Alina knew her name, but Giselle felt a bit calmer than before.

"I can do it." Giselle said. Alina fetched a goblet from the table and handed it over to Giselle.

"I need you to drink this."

The scent hit Giselle's nostrils and it was divine. Something feral woke up in Giselle and she stared at the cup greedily, not even caring anymore what the content was. She would drink it, if it meant she would die from it. Dark red liquid was staring back at her.

At first, nothing seemed weird, Giselle's tongue didn't taste anything different, just a tasteless, dense liquid. And then, Giselle felt a tingle, deep inside her soul. Raw, pure hunger overwhelmed her and she took the goblet, licking it clean. The taste wasn't only feeding Giselle's stomach, but her entire being. It tasted like water on a hot day, or soup to a sick body, or a piece of bread given to a person that hasn't eaten in days.

"It tastes like whatever you need most in the moment. It's essential to the process of transformation." Alina talked while Giselle drank the content of the goblet. Finally, she handed it empty to Alina.

"What is it?" Giselle asked, the red liquid soothing her core, calming her down.

"It's blood."

Giselle gagged. Trying to keep the liquid down, she swallowed a couple of times, sweat breaking on her forehead.

"It's alright, you're fine." Alina repeated while Giselle tried not to scream, or cry, or run away.

"How... Why?!" Giselle cried out.

A knock on the door interrupted them and a man came in. Fear built inside Giselle's gut as soon as she saw the man. His eyes were red, like fresh blood. Giselle gagged again, remembering the blood. His hair and his beard were as black as night and his gaze so intense, Giselle could feel it burning through her soul. Something about him, the aura of age, perhaps, left Giselle in awe. He was around forty, but his soul was older. There was a look on his face, the one Giselle recognised, worry and anguish mixed together, a look of a man returning from a battle.

"Welcome." His voice sounded ancient. "I hope my wife walked you through what happened. I will need you to answer some questions for me."

Giselle felt immediately persuaded to do as he says, the urgency and toughness of his tone made her obey without questioning.

"Vlad, please." Alina murmured. His entire demeanour changed, the softness of her voice removing the lines above his brows.

"I'm sorry. My name is Vlad Draculesti and you are currently in Bran Castle, the main educational centre for young Night-Children." Vlad's voice stayed stern and he seemed uncomfortable standing still. Perhaps he really had important questions and he was wasting his time on pleasantries.

"It's a school for people like you and me." Alina added.

"Did Jack...?" Giselle wanted to know desperately, but she couldn't bring herself to say those words. Vampire. She repeated in her head. A monster.

"No," Vlad began, "Your mother left a letter 15 years ago, just before she..." Vlad cleared his throat, but thanking her new ability to see every little thing, Giselle noticed the twitch of his eye, the slight restlessness of his face. "Anyway, your mother left a letter, saying she drank vampire blood when she was pregnant with you. For nine months straight. We're guessing your blood has been intertwined with vampire blood, never really leaving your body. So when you died and your own blood died... vampire blood took over."

Giselle thought he was on edge. He kept doing this routine with his fingers, where he collided his thumb with his index finger, then his middle finger, and ring finger and finally, little finger. Then he repeated the routine. Little things drew her attention and she wasn't able to focus on the words this man actually said.

Her mother wanted her to become a vampire. Giselle remembered Jorge's words, take the Princess to the Castle through which walls the blood flows. Bran Castle is a school for vampires. Jorge was instructed to bring her here.

"Where's Jorge?" Giselle asked as soon as she remembered.

"We don't know. He left as soon as we put you to bed. My men say they've seen him roaming around the castle every now and then, but he hasn't approached." Vlad said.

It seemed weird to Giselle, but if Jorge really was instructed by her mother to bring Giselle to this castle, perhaps his job was now done.

"Did my mother tell you anything else?" Giselle asked.

"That a broken minded boy will come carrying your dead body. But you will wake up. And you did. Now I'm interested in why your mother went through all this trouble to bring you here." Vlad said.

"Because she loved me?" Giselle asked.

"Why not your brother and sister then?" Vlad's eyes seemed determined enough and Giselle didn't want to ask anything else. Her brother, Alaric, was dead and her sister, Gertrude, married off. Their mother decided only Giselle was worthy of this life and she didn't know whether she hated her mother or missed her. Suddenly very tired, Giselle shrugged her shoulders and leaned onto the soft cushions.

Giselle let herself feel everything around, everything she was now able to feel, the light breeze, the change in the invisible parts of air, the scents of leaves outside. Abruptly opening her eyes, Giselle looked at Vlad.

"It's not summer anymore, is it?" She asked.

"You've been here for two months, Giselle. It's October." Alina answered gently just as Vlad was about to open his mouth.

"Jack...?" Giselle asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

"He didn't follow you. We're guessing he went back to Cardona," Vlad's voice was cold and merciless, "you're allowed to roam the castle until I summon you again."

Giselle swallowed the hurt she suddenly felt. She didn't love Jack, she wasn't even in love with him, but knowing he just left her to die after risking so much to get her out of Carcassonne... It hurt, the betrayal hurt.

"Vlad!" Giselle called right when he was ready to leave.

"Voivode." Alina corrected her quietly.

"Voivode," Giselle repeated, "something... was in the woods. Something chased us." She said, feeling the vomit building up inside her throat. The vague memory of the feeling on her skin, the cold, the warmth... She might throw up.

Vlad's entire face changed as he turned around. The strong lines softened, almost hanging from his facial bones. The face of a man that realised he made a mistake.

"Did you see it?" He asked and due to her newly bettered hearing, Giselle realised Vlad's voice trembled.

"No," Giselle shook her head, "just felt it. It was moist, and slimy, and hot, and cold. It killed the carter. And the horse."

Vlad and Giselle stared at each other for quite a while.

Finally he said: "She was right. Leona was right."

"Vlad..." Alina tried but Vlad was already out of the room, screaming something at the man that stood in front of it, probably guarding it.

"Come, I'll introduce you to some girls." Alina offered a hand and Giselle took it, not sure whether meeting other people is a good idea. They never did like her much. But she left the bed readily, needing to move. When Giselle got up, she was surprised as how light she felt. Especially since for the last two years she had felt nothing but pain.

"Andryj, I'll take Giselle to meet some disciples. You can go eat something, no need to guard the door." Alina told the man that stood in front of the room.

"That's alright, Duchess. I was given instructions to guard the girl and so I shall do." His voice was manly and strong. Giselle sighed looking him up and down. A tanned, foreign man stood next to her, his hair and beard cut short and his chest naked. He had the classic beauty to his facial characteristics, the symmetry, elegance. Yet his jaw was strong and tense, his eyes sharp, staring straight at Giselle. She smiled. Sudden need to be touched washed over her.

Bran Castle was big and ominous. It was built of a perplexity of wide and narrow hallways, meeting together at unpredictable angles. Walls were wooden, or covered in deep red tapestry, with candle-sticks beside every door, vax dripping on the squeaky wooden floor. Giselle wondered what it looked like from outside.

She heard murmurs coming from behind closed door and the further they went, the scarier the place seemed. It made Giselle want to cry, where the hell was she?

"La-la-la, la-la-la-la, la-la-la." Giselle heard somewhere behind her and turned around hastily. Alina put her hand on Giselle's shoulder.

"It's a choir practice, come on." Alina said and pushed her forward. Giselle couldn't help but feel inadequate, a scared little girl lost in a big castle.

"Duchess! I presume you're brining darling Giselle to meet us?" A voice reached them, coming from a narrow hallway to their right.

Giselle saw a girl, not much older than she was. The girl wasn't very pretty, she had a small face, resembling a mouse and she was heavily made up. Her golden, nearing white hair was straight, which was uncommon. Her icy blue eyes were outlined by black colour, in complete contrast to her hair. Even though she wasn't classically beautiful, there was something extremely attractive in the way she leaned onto the wall. Her dress, brown and boring, had a deep low-cut neckline and Giselle saw almost all of her white breasts.
For a short moment, Giselle wondered how she knew her name.

"Actually, Alacaris, I was going to introduce her to Veronica, Barbara and the rest of the girls." Alina seemed distressed, which made Giselle want to go with this new girl. Maybe because her smile was woven in mischief.

"Veronica and Barbara? They're boring!" The girl, Alacaris whined.

"Giselle has just woken up, give her time, please." Alina said.

"Is there a problem?" The bodyguard, Andryj, joined them and gave a deadly stare to Alacaris which she seemed to simply shrug off.

"I was just thinking Giselle might need someone more experienced to guide her through this rough period, not Veronica and Barbara." Alacaris said their names like they were something disgusting to eat and Giselle couldn't help but think that's the exact same feeling she had for Amalia and her flock of chickens.

"Alacaris, this situation is quite delicate, we don't need Giselle getting...caught up in too many pleasures of this life." Alina tried to reason, but Giselle heard nothing but "pleasures of this life." Alacaris caught Giselle's gaze and something passed between them, an understanding, a silent agreement.

"How about we ask Giselle?" Alacaris said. Feeling her heart beat with anticipation and fear, Giselle dared to look Alina and Andryj.

"I'll go with her." Giselle said. For some reason, they both said nothing and simply nodded. Andryj seemed to be more worried than Alina and Giselle wasn't sure why. What did this girl do that they wanted to keep Giselle away from her?

"Great! Come on, we're having a small get-together." Alacaris offered a hand and Giselle readily took it, not having a slightest clue where this girl was taking her. Giselle didn't turn around as she walked away from her aunt.

"Those two are terribly boring, I didn't want your forever to start off that way." Alacaris commented and Giselle stopped.

"Forever?" She asked quietly.

"Well, yes, what did you think? You're a vampire now, you'll live forever! Unless someone kills you, that is." Alacaris chirped as she walked, not bothering to stop on Giselle's account.

You cannot escape death twice. Giselle remembered Rosa's words and an unsettling feeling came upon her. Has she escaped death, forever? Deciding not to think about it right now, Giselle followed the strange girl through the hallways. She tried not to think about how light her steps were, how little strength she needed to move, how everything smelt different, richer and stronger.

They entered a room with two small beds and one old, wooden drawer with two goblets on it. Two girls sat on the beds and talked happily. One was tiny and red haired and the other was quite tall, with deep, dark brown hair and exotic face, like she was part Asian.

"You're Giselle, aren't you?" The red haired one got up and jumped towards Giselle. "I'm Jelena, nice to meet you!" Her face was covered in freckles and her eyes beautifully blue. Giselle took her hand, not used to people being nice to her.

"Nice to meet you." Giselle murmured, a fuzzy, warm feeling washing over her.

"The brooding, gorgeous one is Octavia, she doesn't like to get up for anyone." Jelena waved towards the other girl still sitting on the bed.

"Nice to meet you." Octavia smiled, showing her perfect teeth. Giselle murmured something back. For the first time in her life she wanted to belong, she wanted these girls to like her. Finally, Giselle thought, she found someone that might be like her.

"What were you talking about?" Alacaris asked and sat next to Octavia. She took a goblet from the drawer and drank deeply, then she handed it to Giselle. Without thinking, Giselle grabbed it and took a sip. It was wine, not blood. Wine.

"The best fuck." Octavia said casually. Giselle chocked on her wine and the girls chuckled.

"Oton." Alacaris said after some thinking.

"Oton?" Octavia asked, disgust filling her voice. "But he's so skinny and small."

"Yes, but he's all nails, and teeth, and blood, and it's just, ugh, the best thing." Alacaris grunted and for some reason, Giselle felt herself getting excited. She hasn't been excited in years. What the hell was her body doing? She was half scared, half turned on.

"Alacaris is into creeps." Jelena explained to Giselle and not knowing what else to do, Giselle nodded slightly.

"What about Andryj? He looks like he can pound." Octavia asked and made Giselle unwillingly imagine Andryj naked.

"Oh, yeah, he can pound. Three thrusts in, finished and wants to talk. Boring." Alacaris took another goblet and handed it to Giselle. Gathering her courage, Giselle took a sip. Blood. This is blood. Giselle tried to keep it down.

"Oh, come on, he's a good fuck." Octavia commented.

"With Oton you're in for a five hour fun and at least one more person!" Alacaris added.

"I don't know," Jelena jumped in, "I like them big and strong."

"As big as a werewolf?" Alacaris winked. Up until this moment, Giselle didn't know werewolves existed but somehow, she wanted to impress these girls. She wanted to belong.

"How big is a werewolf?" Giselle asked, wanting to say anything. But she couldn't say anything about men she's been with. The only one she enjoyed was Antonio and she still couldn't make herself think about Antonio.

"Big enough to ride." Alacaris said and burst out laughing.

"Oh, God, you're disgusting." Jelena shook her head.

"You could, you know?" Octavia told Giselle. "Andryj, or even Oton, or anyone else. You could, nobody would judge you."

Giselle blushed and hid her gaze. She wanted to, but she didn't want to. She wanted to erase everything left of Carcassonne off her body. She wanted to erase Lord Adam, and Jack, and Rosa. She never wanted to think about it all again, about what she had done.

"I don't think I can compete with all of you." Giselle murmured humbly. The mercury poisoning, the illness, it all ruined her.

"You didn't look at yourself, did you?" Octavia asked and Giselle shook her head. Alacaris nodded towards the mirror behind Giselle, so she turned around.

The moment she saw her own reflection, her eyes filled with tears. She was...exquisite. Her body wasn't too thin anymore, it was perfectly filled up, even in the ugly brown dress she had on. Golden curls, big and strong, rounded her blushed face. Giselle looked into her own deep, brown eyes and she noticed her long, black lashes. She traced lines of her face with her gaze, looking at her clear skin, almost sun kissed, and her red, full lips. When she opened her mouth, sharp, deadly teeth sparkled under the light of candles.

And Giselle realised, a new life has begun.