The days began to pass without a sign of Ranulf's return. I grew lonely, frustrated, and anxious. I entered the nursery schoolroom each night at precisely midnight. Completing The PRISONER of ZENDA, I began Victor Hugo's LES MISERABLES. Although Luiza listened intently, Vlad lost interest quickly. As I narrated, he picked his fingernails with his ancient dagger. His nonchalance unnerved me, and I slammed the book closed.

"I'm sorry, Mama," I moaned in despair. "I...I cannot continue." I rose and ran from the stifling room swiftly. Entering the desolate garden, I plunged toward the stone bench and plopped down.

"Norah?"

I glanced up to find Luiza hovering above me.

"May I sit with you?" The Baron's daughter asked. She perched next to me without waiting for a response. "What's the matter?"

"I shouldn't have selected LES MIZ," I answered, twisting my hands in my lap. "I feel miserable all the time. I guess I..." I could not continue to speak.

"Do you miss Ranulf?" Luiza questioned, edging closer. Her hip touched mine, and I felt comforted.

"I..." I stared at my companion blankly for a moment, then rushed on, "I feel safer when he is close at hand."

"And you don't feel safe here?" my companion asked. Her black eyebrows rose questioningly.

"I..." I stumbled again, my fears rushing forward. "I...No, Luiza. I don't feel safe here. The Baron...your father... he wants..."

"I know what he wants," Luiza remarked, grinning. The points of her sharp canines flashed whitely in the moonlight. "He wants it for all of us. It is the only way we can sustain life. Without your blood, we cannot survive."

I leaped to my feet hastily. My companion stood also and edged closer. A vein throbbed in my temple, and my brain pulsated behind my forehead. Taking a quick step backward, I stumbled on a cobblestone. I sat down hard, and Luiza knelt beside me. Suddenly, Vlad appeared and joined his sister. Together, they attacked—the girl focused on my neck, her brother on my temple.

"STOP!" The loud demand echoed throughout the courtyard. A black bat swooped from the wall and beat its wings at the children furiously.

Hastily, the siblings rose and ran toward the castle. The heavy oaken door slammed. Struggling for breath, I sat up. My stomach churned, and, leaning on my side, I vomited onto the cobblestones.

"Norah?" Ranulf squatted beside me. "Are you all right?"

"I..." Relief overcame me instantly. "Yes, I am...now."

"I will escort you to your bed chamber," the Baron's ward stated. He helped me rise gently, and we returned to the castle together.

"I missed you," I stated once we crossed my bedroom's threshold. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't appeared. Vlad and Luiza...they..."

"They have become desperate," Ranulf stated. He guided me to the bed and sat down beside me. "Uncle sent me on a fool's errand to Mongolia. I returned as quickly as possible."

I leaned my head against his shoulder, and he tenderly drew me close to his side. Although my heart continued to beat rapidly, I relaxed beneath his grip. My companion leaned down and kissed my forehead affectionately. I drew great comfort from the Baron's nephew.

Hours seemed to pass while we continued to sit in the silent bed chamber. Then, the first rays of dawn slanted through the window slit. Abruptly, Ranulf's spine straightened, and he became alert.

"I must leave you now," he whispered, rising. I grasped his arm, urging him to stay. Nevertheless, he moved toward the door.

"Where do you sleep?" I asked, clinging to his side. Together we descended the circular stone staircase. "Will you show me?"

"We sleep beyond the gate in the cellar," Ranulf flatly responded. "I cannot show you unless...."

"Unless I comply with the Baron's wishes," I finished tartly. I halted our progress and reached out to caress Ranulf's pale cheek. He turned and clutched my arms above the elbows.

"Norah," he whispered, edging his face closer to mine.

For a moment, I believed he would kiss me. Throwing back my head in expectation, I invited Ranulf to press his sanguine mouth against mine. Instead, his lips parted, and he plunged toward my throat. I felt a sharp prick and pulled away. My companion straightened and peered down at me sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, turning his back on me. "I did not mean to... I did it impulsively. I try desperately to contain my desires... I can't always... My strength fails me."

I embraced Ranulf from behind and laid my head against his shoulder. I longed to tell him I understood, yet I did not fully comprehend.

"Norah, I do not wish for you to become one of us," the Baron's nephew finally confessed. "I want you to remain as sweet and gentle as you are now."

"Oh, Ranulf," I sobbed, heartbroken. I longed for a normal relationship with him.

After a while, we continued downward. Our hands automatically entwined, and I caressed Ranulf's icy hand with my warm fingers. He smiled, his lips curling upwards in a vague posture. I realized facial expressions were new to him.

"Do you have a beau?" Ranulf inquired. We stood in the great hall at the bottom of the grand staircase. The rising sun had not penetrated the west-facing space, and we remained in the shadows.

"Mama and Papa wanted me to marry Prentiss Wills," I stated dismissively. "He assists Papa as the curate at Grey Friars."

At the mention of the church, Ranulf withdrew. I heard him suck in his breath and noticed him cringe.

"I thought I loved Prentiss," I rushed to continue. "Papa became very fond of him, but I worried about his prudish behavior. I mean to say he's very religious and doesn't believe a man and woman should sleep together—intimately—until after marriage. He would embrace me, but we never kissed."

Stepping away, I faced the vast window and looked at the wasted garden. Beyond, the forbidding mountain loomed against the grey sky. I imagined Prentiss—his face stern and grim. He would never swerve from his unrelenting beliefs. Frequently, he recited from the Bible, taking the Word of God literally.

For a long time, I assumed I could crack him. I longed to melt the ice and explore romance. Prentiss remained unrelenting; he lacked any amorous emotions. To him, love and marriage were a duty he felt resigned to fulfill. He believed God set him upon the earth to 'go forth and multiply.' The sexual act would never bring him the pleasure I desperately sought.

Far away, in England, I accepted Prentiss Wills as my destiny. Papa and Mama wanted the marriage and pressed me toward a relationship with him. Facing Ranulf, I realized I could not oblige my parents' dearest wishes. I wanted more from life—love, passion, and an everlasting bond with a soulmate who understood my heart.

I wanted Ranulf—the real man behind the vampire. I gazed upon him lovingly. In my eyes, he was more than a frustrated young man trapped in an unforgiving unreality. I reached out to touch him, and he embraced me.

"Jekyll and Hyde," I whispered, caressing his pallid cheek. "You're Jekyll and Hyde."

The good guy and the bad guy wrapped into one. I considered the Robert Louis Stevenson story as I struggled to understand Ranulf. I determined to thaw the Baron's ward if I could not succeed in melting Prentiss.

Confusion crossed my companion's face momentarily. He seemed to struggle to grasp my statement; his face suddenly brightened.

"Aw, the good doctor who drank a potion and became a fiend," the Baron's ward acknowledged. The corners of his mouth twitched, and he finally grinned. "Am I a fiend, my love?"

"You are my dear, sweet friend," I responded happily.

When we fell into each other's arms, Ranulf captured my lips and kissed me passionately. My heart throbbed uncontrollably, and I deepened our embrace. Around us, daylight filtered into the vast chamber. Abruptly, my lover pulled away, and his pallid face blanched. He spun on his heels and fled toward the cellar doorway. Instantly, he disappeared.

I remained rooted to the spot for several moments. Drained of emotion, I reclimbed the grand staircase and returned to my turret bed chamber. Barring the door, I climbed the spiral staircase and collapsed onto my mattress. Staring into the canopy, I muttered, "He loves me; he loves me not." My hands made the motions of plunking petals from a daisy.

"He loves me!" I finally exclaimed, sitting up with delight. Then, I flopped onto the bed and hugged myself gleefully.