How she got here was anyone's guess. In fact she was having trouble recalling her most recent memories only aware of the aching pain in her wrists and the soreness in her shoulders as she found herself bound to a tree.

She was adorned in a white dress though it was fraught with filth and more of a grayish coloration. She was bare footed as well and tiny scratches marred her arms and legs from thickets and the like she guessed.
A stream of golden light filtered down from the heavens weaving it's way down between branches.

She struggled, found that her restraints were strong enough to hold her and about to calculate her next move when she hard a roar of some wild beast and knew that it was close. By the sound of dry leaves and the thing sniffing the air sharply indicating to her that it must have been autumn.

She could hear the continued crunch of leaves though now heard something growling much like a bear or wolf. She could see a large black shape massing at the peripherel of her vision, something that no doubt saw her and was now closing in on her.

"Ow." That's what I was thinking as I hung from the tree. My muscles were complaining from how long my hands had been tied above my head and my wrists were sore from the chafing of the cords around them. How long had I been hanging here? For a moment I tried to remember, casting my mind back but for some reason it felt like I was running through treacle. Why couldn't I remember how I got here?

Looking around I found that I was stood in some sort of grotto. It was truely beautiful and was just the sort of place I would normally love sitting, secluded, but with sunshine streaming through the trees giving that feeling that I had always associated with "sanctuary". Although the fact that I would love a place like this didn't answer what the heck I was doing tied up here! Or why I was in such a filthy dress!

Shaking my hair out of my face I shifted my weight, trying to free myself (given how sore my wrists were I would imagine this wasn't the first time) I heard a roar from the side.

"Oh... Bugger..." The words slipped out of my mouth without thought as I looked around, trying to figure out both what caused that sound, and more importantly, what I could do to get away. A little more insistantly I pulled hard at the bonds holding me to the tree elicting a wince at the pain on my already sore and tired wrists as I tried to find some give in them to gain my freedom.

She heard that crunching sound as the ropes were twisted up upon themselves barely noticing a fine mist spreading about her legs. As the creature grew closer the fog got thicker and the sky over head darkened. She was the only living thing present or so it seemed other than the beast that was closing in on her causing her heart to pound as it exuded an unnatural feeling of dread that effected even the bravest of souls.

But alas she was unable to see much more than the fog as it swirled about the area concealing the creature to her sight though two glowing pin pricks, eyes perhaps, could be seen as the thing approached.

The rustling of dried leaves grew louder in her ears, almost sounding as if it were atop her when fingers caressed her cheek from behind the her so she could not make out much more than a pale hand with long fingernails attached to it that stroked her cheek, then swept her hair out of her face as a face peered around at her from the side.

Vaguely humanoid though pale white with crimson embers for eyes the thing was about 2 meters in height and therefore was tall.

"What pretty did the village send to me this evening?" It's fingers caressed her cheek even now as it spoke in a smooth yet acccented tone. German? Romanian? She was not quite sure which if if she were correct in her assessment.

As the mist fell a chill ran up my spine, not just from the sudden drop in temprature as the sun hid its face from above. Instead, as the forest became darker I saw those two glowing eyes and I felt my heart miss a beat. My eyes widened in shock as I fixated on them, ceasing my struggles. They slowly came closer and then.. stopped. Almost hynotised, I stared, not certain what would happen if i did, and certainly unwilling to find out.

I heard the rustling of leaves behing me but, so captivated by the eyes in front of me I ignored them. As a result when i felt the cool fingernails brush against my cheek I shrieked and attempted to writhe away but was held firmly in place by the bonds, my heart feeling like it was going to jump straight out of my mouth and escape.

The thing that had stroked my cheek was unlike I have ever seen. It towered over my own five feet four inches and it looked like a I would always imagined a vampire. Pale skin with the most fascinating eyes I've ever seen. Its voice was like liquid silk, and despite my fear I listened. After all, what could I do? He spoke, but I didn't recognise the inflections he put on his words. That was the least of my worries though. What did he mean a pretty? A village? The answer hit me like a freight train. I was some sort of sacrifice? This was NOT good...

"Who are you... What are you?" Tacky question i know, but whats a girl going to do? I was tied to a tree and needed to get him talking to at least buy some time to free myself... and hopefully find some sort of way out of here! Hell, I still had no idea where I was! At least I knew WHO I was, although I was still captivated by those eyes and more than a little nervous.

Heh. After all, here I was tied to a tree with an unknown.. well.. man? looming over me and from what he had just said I was pretty damn sure he wasn't here to discuss the sudden mist! I was begining to tremble with fear and I wanted nothing more to run but, held fast by the bonds there was nothing I could do but try and think my way out of... whatever I was in. Speaking firmly to my racing pulse, trying to keep my urge to mindlessly flee, or attack under control I held his gaze, my neck craned back and kept my gaze defiant as I awaited an answer.

The creature's hand swept down her neck, then he leaned forward. She heard a hiss but the strong voice of the other stopped him.

"That is for the Master."

"You are always the party pooper. We can still have a bit of fun though. Besides she is a village girl, I hardly think the Master will mind. Clearly he shouldn't waste his time on such wretched fare but times are tough. I was merely serving as a food taster, just a bite to make sure it will not harm the master - there was that one time."

Thus far he seemed to be ignoring her questions. Clearly he heard her but whether or not he was in the habit of speaking with his food was another thing. The figure in the mists just stood there though as she again felt the closeness of his mouth to her neck.

The other figure cleared it's throat and the one at her side seemed to disregard it as it moved in. Expecting a bit she was surprised to find that a wet tongue licked against her neck as a hand smoothly coiled against the curve of her breast.

"I am called Sigmund. You ... well I suppose it doesn't matter what you are called. If your lucky Master will drain you quick though others have languished for weeks before succumbing. "Nice tits. I like the ones the young ones have, nice and firm."

The exchange was incredibly strange to my ears. It really seemed that I was going to be used as a snack for this "Master". I'm many things but I never really thought of myself as a snack for anyone! "This.. This is most definately not good at all." The though was an obvious one but it ran through my mind regardless.

It still didn't answer any of my questions though. Where the hell was I, how did I get here and why was some sort of sacrifice? It felt like I was straight out of a Bram Stoker novel all of a sudden, complete with the old villages that did this sort of thing to protect themselves but.. I was here. And I was pretty damned certain I wasn't dreaming! If only I could remember more detail! It was frustrating. This train of thought was interuptted as the figure to my side ducked in, his teeth heading towards my neck. Bloody Hell! They were going too!

I tried to flinch back but was again foiled by the bonds and my skin crawled as i felt his teeth graze my shoulder, but then, instead of the bite I was expecting I felt the long wetness of a tongue being dragged across my neck, making my skin crawl at its motion, at the same time i felt one if its hands push against my breast.

The feeling of the wet tongue on my neck, coupled with the pressure as he groped me was enough to cut through my fear though. I've always had a bit of a violent temper (I remember a doctor once called it a "Highly pronounced acute stress response") and it kick in as the creature mauled my chest. My temper just cracked like a lighting bolt causing my eyes to narrow and I could practically feel the anger pouring out of my Jade eyes.

Out of politeness I let him have the courtesy of introducing himself, but the insult was the last straw. I pulled at my bonds to balance and I brought my knee straight up between his legs.

It was stupid. It was mad. But it was very me. As my temper got the best of me for that brief moment the rational part of my brain screamed, and prayed that I would survive this!

Sig moved about in front of her now so his hands could freely grasp her breasts, feeling the firmness of them before she retaliated, bringing her knee up in what would have been a spectacular blow but not even a grunt passed from the lips of this supernatural being, it did not feel the blow at all!

He grinned at her then as he cocked back an arm to back hand her. "My turn!"

"Sig! We waste time and shouldn't keep the Master waiting. By the time we get back to the castle the sun would have set and he would have risen. You know how the Master dislikes waiting."

The larger creature glared at her but then smirked as that hand dropped away. He produced a knife. "Run, please run." He taunted or rather encouraged before cutting her restrains as the one with the glowing eyes approached. He was dressed in older, dated clothes though she supposed that they were in time with her own.

These things as best as she could determine weren't vampires but some kind of hybrids she determined. Neither seemed disturbed by the sun though their was plenty of fog waifing off the smaller one and it might have been some sort of mystical barrier to kept the harmful rays of the sun at bay.

"Let's go," the larger one snarled at her, still waiting and watching to see if she would take him up on his advice.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I had put everything I had into that and it connected squarely but he shrugged it off like I had just blown at him! My mouth fell open and i saw his hand stetch back to strike me but I was saved by the other.

As he cut me down the "invitation" to run was really tempting but I was still stunned by his ability to shrug off my kick... and more than a little scared by the implications. Instead I stood quitely, my mind whirling as I tried to figure another way out. As he ordered me on I moved, my bare, slightly sore feet making their way across the grass.

I certainly wasn't idle and doctile though. My mind was trying to figure out what I was dealing with. I had never prided myself on being some sort of genius but I also knew that I wasn't a lost case. I knew that they were vampire-esq from the mist, eyes, palidness, damage resitance and the final give-away clue.. him trying to eat my neck! But There was sun.. It was perplexing. All I wanted to do though was escape but I had to find some sort of weakness. As we walked my eyes kept darting around trying to find something to use. A sharp wooden branch? A stream of running water? Something silver? a clear patch where the sun could come through clearly? There were so many legends I had no idea which one might work, but at this point I would have a go with the first option I found.

I REALLY didn't want to meet this master fellow that they kept talking about... If they were in awe of him and this didn't bode well for me meeting him! As we walked I asked a question, trying to find out more, also hoping to distract them while I found something I could use.

"Who is this master? Why do you want me?" I asked

The two men walked in such a way that the smaller lead the way and the larger followed so that they could keep Anne in their center. They would not be on foot for long and while Anne absorbed as much of her surroundings as possible her eyes settled in on a branch that could be used as a weapon if broken off. Their were so many rumors that what was fact and what was just some hollywood notion on things was tough to discern though it was obvious that these things were resistant to normal pain.

"Keep moving," Sig growled, evidently he knew what thoughts were coursing through her mind but by the way he made that statement it was as if he was daring her to try it. Any excuse to use force she guessed.

But her question got mixed results.

"Shut up, you'll know soon enough."

"Mow Sig there's no need to be rude." The other said as they came to a carriage onto of which was a skeletal driver though he was animated. The two horses were also skeletal and they saw her inside the carriage first and foremost.

Not once did it lighten any, the fog seemed to surround them. It was only when the carriage pulled away that the smaller man continued, those red eyes staring at her, through her. "The Master is ... well the Master. He was blessed with a gift of unlife and shared it with his most trusted servants, myself. Sig of course. Daphnee. He has instructed us to come here to pick up the offerings and that brings us to this moment here. I must confess, it is somewhat surprising to find two girls in the same week but it is not my task to question the arrangements just move them from point A to B."

Damn it! There was absolutely nothing! They had managed to box me in completely and were sheparding me like I was some sort of cattle. It was infuriating and even that branch held no use. But there had to be something! As we walked I kept looking but saw nothing.. Until the carriage.

Skeletal horses? On a carriage? It felt more and more like I was in a vampire novel! For the first time in my life I wished that I had read much more Bram Stoker and Anne Rice! This was ridiculous! But it didn't alter the unpleasent realities of the situation.

"Ha. So you are just delivery boys for your Master?" I said that while looking at the one called Sigsmund. I hoped that if he tried to attack me there might be a skirmish between the two. "Why are you here if you weren't execting to find another girl? Are you getting greedy?"

"Why you -" the hot headed Sig dream back a hand and back handed her then. Then, swiftly moving with supernatural speed he reached to her dress, grabbing her near the throat and cocked back his hand again to strike her when the calmer of the two vampire-kin? stepped in and grabbed his arm.

"How many times must I remind you not to damage the merchandise?" He released the had which dropped and the hold on the front of her dress resided as the larger man marched off into the mists. She suspected that he did not go far though.

The smaller of the two regarded her for a moment, those eyes still burning like hot ambers. "You should be careful in what you say around him, he knows restraint only for the Master's sake but nevertheless you are lucky that I am here.

"To answer you question we were doing simple reconissance work in this area. In your village is a young women that Master wants us to keep tabs on, I suspect that he has an ire for this woman or a strong devotion, I have not yet worked it out myself as to which. Often I am alone though Sig was near the village hunting when we chanced upon each other. Do behave yourself. Sig only listens to me so far but if you continue to rile him up I will not be able to help you much longer.

"Do behave yourself and please be amicable. Now get in the carriage." His eyes blazed as he stared at her, her mind growing cloudy as he gazed into her soul but more importantly his words were calming as they played upon her mind albeit briefly as she struggled against the drugging effects of them, tossing them aside as she resisted the power in them. But was that apparent to her captor who opened the carriage door for her and making a sweeping gesture with his other hand.

My vision swam as I looked into those glowing eyes, my hole world centred into them. They were my whole life.. My whole world.. Everything and I had to obey. Of course I had to just behave and get into the the carriage...

I blinked. That didn't sound me at all! What was going on here? Blinking again I could see those eyes still filling my vision but something felt so profoundly wrong. I blinked again, shook my head and my vision cleared. Suddenly I found myself looking into a very plush looking carriage, one hand on an ornately carved handle and about to climb in. I couldn't remember walking towards it let alone being this close to get in! What the hell had happened?

It came to me in a disbelieving rush. Vampire hypnotism? Thats just silly! That said I couldn't deny what just happened. I really couldn't believe what was going on to me. I just wished I knew where I was, how I got here and most of all, how to get away. I couldn't run, or fight. This left my mind, which was working furiously as I tried to find some way to buy time. Climbing in this carriage didn't seem like a good idea to me and so, I stopped and hoped desperately that the one called Sigsmund wasn't around.

"Look. You are obviously intelligent. You have to know that i'm not supposed to even be here! Hell. I don't even know where here is!" I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Just let me go and then you can carry with your reconnaissance in peace. There is nothing to be gained in transporting me around. Then you can at least get away from Sig for the night."

He seemed genuinely surprised that the hypotism hadn't worked as she resisted the effects. He listened to her only half hearing her words. He was the more rational of the two and while human-like those eyes were a dead give away that he wasn't quite human.

For a moment he was silent after she spoke, though this was not to consider her situation at all rather he failed .... Him Gustav ... she was a mere mortal so how had she ...

"Who are you? What is your lineage?" He demanded. He was animated now, alarmed even as he regarded her, ignoring her concerns altogether. Perhaps the Master would have a better understanding of the situation. Clearly she was not normal, but how was she different? His mind raced over these things as he considered the situation and of course her answer.

Normally he could just charm her to supply an answer to him but that avenue wouldn't work here. He regarded her casually, considering her and the little he knew of the situation.

"Who left you?"

I did NOT like the way he had suddenly changed his tone. I felt like he was taking an interest in me a little too closely for my liking and given I would much rather he forgot about me and let me get FAR away from this place... Well, it didn't seem like that was going to happen any time soon.

The other problem was that I had not the faintest idea how to answer his questions! lineage? Certainly nothing to write home about! Deas wasn't exactly a royal name after all... And then the best question. Who left me. That would be a question I would rather like to know the answer of...

"Who normally leaves girls here?" I asked, hopping off the carriage and walking around him, trying to make it seem like I was pacing around him as opposed to scanning the area, finding somewhere I could run to or something I could use. "I know that i'm not supposed to be here but whoever put me here hit me so hard that I can't remember anything recent at all!"

I just wish I had a better argument to get them to leave without me that the feeble "I'm not supposed to be here" but I just couldn't think of a single thing.

She moved about him and he turned tracking her as she moved. For the moment he was unconcerned with her wandering and still caught up by the fact that she resisted him. Not a simple task, in fact she had been the first mortal to ever had done it.

The surrounding fog was thick and so she noticed only the closet of objects that seemed useless in this endeavor. She did hear, albeit faintly, the sounds of running water to the north. It wasn't raging at all and thus it was likely a stream rather than a river itself though could she make it there ahead of Gustav who was watching her keenly and she did not know where Sig was at the moment.

"Usually it is the village head man that leaves the Master treats so to safeguard his village from predation. So far it has appeased Master as he is most amused at the antics of his food and provided the quality is kept up with he does not mind.

"So either he is responsible or ..." he paused seizing her by the wrist. His eyes having the same hypnotic effect as he once again commanded her into the carriage, though this time it was easier to shrug it off. She had already experienced the plow once before, the results were no different this time around other than the fact that he was holding her now.

He called out for Sigard as he was getting ready to leave now, not giving her much say in the matter. He would force her into the carriage if need be. While hypnosis made things easier he was still by far stronger than she and could easily over power her. Sig was stronger than he of course though not by much and he had other talents that the brute lacked.

Anne thought she could see a shadowy form approaching in the mists. It was a tall figure, if it were a figure at all and it would be an easy assumption to deduce that it was Sig. Of course, he could not go far without the protection of the fog emitting off of Gustav.

It seemed that her options were limited and if she were going to act it would either have to be soon or submit ... for now.