Gustav was reluctant to go to the manner now in light of this new development. He viewed the whole manner as suspicious, they finding her when a sacrifice wasn't scheduled, something out there that spooked even Sig, not just that but spooked him when he lost control.

And yet there was the question of why his hypnosis didn't work on her at all. Anne was upset for sure, Gustav turned slightly, regarded her.

"My interest in you is only for the Master's sake. I can see why you'd be eager to get to the manor, at least there you may be safe for a little while at least, far safer than taking your chances with Sig here. Some things just aren't adding up, but if your that eager to see the Master ..."

His voice trailed off and while Gustav was cautious he was a vampire too, over confident in dealing with a plethora of situations he was prompted to change his mind at Anne's urging where a prudent individual would have followed their first thought.

Before long they were passing through the gates of the manner. Her escorts silent for the most part. Sig had been busy gazing out into that forest looking for something while Gustav remained silent.

Getting out of the carriage the gates of the manor closed by themselves and the men escorted her to the manor, the door answered by a dark haired women that saw them inside a grand room with a towering stair case that lead up to the second floor. On a balcony there emerging from one of the rooms was a tall yet slender indiviual, wll dressed in black though clothing. One his face he wore a porceline mask and possessed a silver tipped walking stick.

He never touched the silver though, rather he gripped the sick just beneath the gargoyle-like head and carried it more like a baton.

"Guest?" He questioned as he began to flow down the stairs. "Show her into the guest room."


It was then that Sig grabbed her by the arms guiding her off to a large room that had consisted of a bookshelve, a table and several chairs as well as a fire place. There was even a bottle of wine set out on the table and a few crystal chalices on the table near it, four in all.

Sig stood near the heavy oak doors and there was a single window here over looking a portion of the front yard. It was dark out there and as she thought about the opulant surroundings she was now in there came a knock at the door before it was opened and this tall masked man strode in to the chamber, at a glance Sig exitted closing the door behind him as he went.

"Refreshment?" He gestured towards the wine on the table. "I am told it is a good year."

I was stunned. My outburst had worked and I was safe! Once it was apparent that we were not heading to the crypt I managed to relax and I finally got hold of myself. Whoever this mysterious person in the forest wasit seemed to have earned the respect of these rather powerful creatures.

There was nothing more I could do and so I watched the trees pass, my eyes hoping to see something I could use while my mind started to try to figure out what had happened to me to get me here in the first place. The problem was that it felt like there was something deliberately blocking any direct memory. I could only think of myself in the broadest terms. Any specific memories seemed to be lost and each time I tried to remember something specific my mind felt like it ran against a solid wall. It was maddening! General things were no problem such as my age, literature I had read or anything like that were all there with no problem. But when I came to think of where I had read about vampires I would run straight into that horrible wall of blankness.

Arriving at the manor though I had to admit I was impressed. It wasn't so much a manor but a full blown Mansion! I didn't say anything as I was led, taking in as much detail as I could.

Eventually we came to what looked like a lounge area, very well furnished although its style was a good hundred years old. Still, Sigfried leaving was a most welcome sight and I will admit I was suddenly much more kindly disposed to this masked man in front of me. Not that I trusted him (It?) as far as i could throw him even slightly, but I was rather hoping that he wouldn't be as bad.

"So. You would be the Master i've heard so much about?" My voice came out a lot more confident than I felt. I think it must have been that I was well aware that I was trapped. With no other options I stood, refusing to bow against the forces that could tear me apart like wet paper. To help cover my nerves I walked over to the wine and looked down at the bottle, trying to make out its label.

The label of the wine bottle appeared to be quit old and in a tongue she could not decipher though as she glanced upon it she could hear the man answering her question.

"Some call me Master, my serants mostly, but you may call me Sabin." He paused noting that she was trying to read the label of the wine. "It is from the Champaigne region of France, 1575. I am not much of a wine drinker myself though a late paramour gave that vintage to me as a gift long ago."

He walked towards the table, set his walking stick down upon it and turned toward her. He was going to ask her a question but his eyes fell upon her tattered clothes.

"This won't do." He seized up his walking stick and spoke. "There is much I'm dying to ask you but for now enjoy my hospitality." Then softly more to himself than anything "such thugs"

He departed the chamber given her but a moment to contemplate things when their was a soft knock on the door and in came the dark haired lady.

"Follow me," her words were accented, a similar tone to Sig's. In fact it was only now that she noted that Gustav and Sabin lacked any form of an accent. Gustav sounded bland to the point of being monotoned, and Sabin, well Sabin didn't have a regional accent though he seemed to carry himself with the air of a noble man.

Puzzlement creased my brow at the vampires words. It seemed like he cared although I really wasn't naive to think he didn't have an alterior motive. However, there was nothing I could do about it aside from look around and try to learn as much as possible. Still, it was interesting how he didn't seem like he liked the other vampires that had kidnapped her. Unfortunately I couldnt think of a way to use this at the moment but I filed it away with a hope that it would come in handy later.

Although I hadn't said a single word the vampire who called himself Sabin glided out of the room with a grace that frankly I was jealous of. Before I had a chance to do anything though the dark haired lady I had noticed earlier came in, as if summoned. What was her name... D.. Daph... Daphnee! That was it!

Before I had a chance to say anything to the dark woman though she turned and in a odd tone she asked me to follow her. Not having anything else to do (or any real options) I did. As we walked I started to ask her questions. "Who are you?", "What do you do here", "Why the interest in me?"

As they approached a grand staircase her guide was silent, carrying out her duties did not require her to be chatty though it seemed as if Anne had a ton of questions. It was only natural she supposed, the others all had questions of their own though Master never bestowed much more than a fancy in them. Sacrifices and all and while she had been treated like a sacrifice it was an unscheduled one that carried with it a slew of questions, as many as she had for them! Of course they assumed she knew nothing about this.

"The others refer to me as Daphnee. Just Daphnee know. I am Master's maid and keeper of household affairs. I do not know Master's mind so cannot answer what he may seek from you." She ascended the stairs and began down a corridor. "Be fortunate that you have something he is intrigued with ... the others did not."

She stopped at a door, unlocked it then tossed it opened revealing a lavish room beyond. There were bars on the window so escaping though it wasn't much of an option and the glass was dark letting in next to no light from outside.

"The wardrobe has a rather modest selection in various sizes. Master often has a wide variety of guests that he entertains. Find something, dress and Master will be with you shortly." She shut her into the bedroom, locked the door behind her and left her to her own devices.

After about fifteen minutes there was a knock at the door and she could here a key being fitted into the lock. The door opened a moment later and Sabin strode into the room. Assuming that she had changed he would have found her far more presentable, now, they could speak, he knew that she would have questions, they all had questions.

I wanted to ask so much more. Where she came from, why she was a maid, what happened to the others, what this Master was like.. Unfortunately I didn't get the oppertunity and I was led into another rather well appointed room lit from above from a very expensive looking chandelier. I sighed inwardly as i took a glance over to the window - There was just a black pane greeted my gaze, complete with bars making sure i had no options for a getaway there. Instead I was presented with a selection of dresses to wear.

They were lovely dresses. Plain but they had a certain flowing elegance which rather appealed to me but I really was tempted to ignore them and go just as I was. Being well dressed for dinner wasn't really appealing when it looked increasingly like I was likely to be the main course! However, my dirty, well worn dress was ripped from Sigfrieds attention attentions and a change of clothes would actually be welcome.

I flicked through the offered dresses and selecting one - a long flowing plain black dress which did a good job understating my figure rather than thrusting it into someones face I changed into it as quickly as I could. The remaining time I spent getting my mind together. Knowing that it was useless to fight my only option was to talk my way out of this... situation and to do that I had to be as calm as possible.

All too quickly though Sabin came in and, without saying a word looked at me expectantly. It seemed like he was expecting a pile of questions, abuse or maybe violence but I wasn't going to give him that kind of satisfaction. Although I had a hundred and one questions instead of asking them I levelly met his gaze, quirked and eyebrow and said simply "Why?"

She wasn't alone for much longer than to select the dress and change. Able to gather her thoughts in the remaining moments there was a single question that she asked of Sabin as he entered. There was no challenging him, no outburst coming from her just a simple question 'why' that parted her lips.

Sabin thought for a second how best to answer that, his face non plused behind his porcellin mask as he regarded her in that instnt.

"Why?" he repeated as if stalling for time for an additional second or two. Then he answered simply. "My servants discovered you bond to a tree. The same one in fact that the nearby down binds their sacrifices too. Periodically they give up one of their own so that we do not make the town part of our hunting grounds, in a way they select what we would otherwise hunt. I give them this liberty because it is easy on my part, no work really other than gathering up the sacrifice.

"But you are an enigma. You are in addition to the sacrifice and it was therefore confusing to find you there. Someone may have wished to simply get you out of the way without getting there hands dirty, tying you up knowing that before long we would find you.

"And who would know to do this then someone in town for whatever reason. My men got interested in you, you seem to be able to resist the mental influences that Gustav tried on you and he thought that I would be interested in that so he brought you here.

"Sig has some theories of his own and the others were going to take some precautions and go to the crypts first though someone goaded them." He chuckled, shook his head. "I have theories of my own of course and your bloodline is a danger, a rareity but a danger nonetheless. I have yet to work out exactly how I intend to use it but I cannot ignore this gift if it is indeed true."

He reached up then, removing his mask displaying flawless yet pale skin. Piercing green eyes and blond locks. He seemed to look through her then, focusing on her with a drugging gaze. Whispers abound erupted in her head, confusing her for a long moment, but the confusion died down as Sabin looked at her generally confused.

His talents were much stronger than Gustav and while he had a greater effect upon her it was as if he were trying to grasp smoke with his hands. Impressive, there was nothing there that he could touch. "Most interesting, our scion will be most interested in your talents should he find out but let's not tell him just yet." He grinned. "Oh let him be surprised ..."

Inwardly, I was happy at Sabins reaction to my single question. He had told me a lot without needing to be pushed and the knowledge would only help. Although in typical style the questions he answered only left yet more questions behind them, questions that couldn't be asked with a simple word. Before I could talk though he tried that same trick that Gustav had, his incredibly attractive face filling my world and those whispers just asking and begging me to submit.

Despite the increased power behind the compulsion though it was the exact same trick that Gustav had used and like before, my mind simply couldn't be touched by that power. I felt the pressure build as his eyes held me and suddenly, for a moment I felt something else behind them. An ageless presence that had spanned worlds beyond measure and had a hunger that couldn't truely be named. I know it sounds cliche but there was no other way to really describe it. It reminded me somehow of when I stepped out of my body earlier although I couldn't explain why it reminded me of that...

It was just a glimpse of something else though, and before I could do or say anything I saw a confused look pass across his face, almost making me laugh at how badly it fit him and the pressure on my mind relented.

"Most interesting, our scion will be most interested in your talents should he find out but let's not tell him just yet." He grinned. "Oh let him be surprised ..."

Scion... Son? Could that be the man Gustav and Sigfried were so worried by in the woods? The same one that put me here? The laughter in the back of my mind died and I contemplated this. The many questions I had would have to wait it seemed.

"Ok Sabin" I said, still holding his gaze "You obviously want me for a reason. I might be unexpected but a man of your power obviously has enemys and it seems I factor into them somehow. What would you say if I offered you my help - no fancy tricks in getting away, no needing to expend time and effort watching me - in exchange for my freedom and some knowledge of exactly what i'm doing here?"

Talking about cliches that one was a doozy, but as they say - "when in Rome..." Outwardly I attempted to keep my face impassive at the thought but my lip quirked in amusment despite myself. I never did have a good poker face!

So it was true, though Sabin had tried ikt for himself, the scion turned him, was stronger but he had his Master's lineage flowing through his veins and knew that if he could not dominate her then the scion couldn't. That made her dangerous, she was of dangerous in ways that she could not fathom, probably because she was human and 20 years or so looked as if it was an incredible amount of time but to an immortal like him it was nothing really.

There was only one way that he could truly control her and while she offered up her deal to him he grinned, not really expecting it. "Oh, I would like to honor your request but you see you are far too dangerous for me to allow you to go free.

"But ..." he stepped a little closer to her, explaining just the barest for it truly did no good to let her know everything just yet. You are blooded. The blood of the original vamphyr, Vlad the impaler is in your lineage. I do not know how strong it is, though you are not a vamphyr you have certain resistances that cannot be allowed to be passed down.

"But I am intrigued by your proposal. It is much easier then watching you all the time or sending Sig after you when you try to escape, oh you will try If have no doubt about that. Somehow you seem stronger than the others that have been brought here, in part due to your heritage.

"So humans resistant to the mind control of vamphyrs as in the case of Gustav or a full blooded vampire like myself would be rather inconvient ... I do have a compromise though that you may find appealing. As I cannot turn on my scion, you would not be able to turn on me, if I were to turn you, then I could let you go without much concern. You see a vampire can make vampires though that particular vampire can only produce vamphyrs, creatures blessed with the extremes in strength and agility, superior senses and very few of the drawbacks of their master. Most can function in the day without being destroyed.

"Submit and become my latest creation and we have a deal." He analyzed her, nodded a bit. No doubt he was planning to use her against his master in some way, the scion he mentioned, his scion and not the scion of the entire species.

She had felt Aegir's presence as he stroke a tentacle down her unconscious cheek but before long it had passed. He could feel this shiver, that there was some sort of protecting influence in her mind that had warded it. No, not as strong or as hostile as Yoko's was and it did not blank her mind fully as Octavia's had but t made things a little more difficult, he had to apply a little more effort on her to keep her "sedated".

He had changed things on the fly, altering things to his preferences so far. There was something he had planned for that he might not use in light of her attempts to bargain, Aegir of course did not care if he had to adapt things as they went as long as it made for a fun story in his mind, and often times (though not always) the mind of his victim.

I blinked, a look of shock on my face. First of all i'm told that i hold the blood of Vlad the impaler, better know as Dracula and in some fiction regarded to be the first vampire (I DID say I liked to read even if I still had no idea where I had read such things!). And then, right on the footsteps of that "offering" to turn me into one of them!

No. Not a chance in hell! There was something quite simply WRONG about such an offer and I wasn't going to have anything to do with it. I'ld much rather chuck myself straight off a large building that submit to that kind of life! I didn't even care that apparently I would be among the most powerful of their kind... Well... Aside from the fact that it would most certainly get me out of this place... But that was a far too high price to pay!

I said as much. "No. I'll help you as I said but i'll not become as you. If you want i'll move to the other side of the planet and guarantee that you'll never see or hear from me or any children I may or may not have but i'm not going to be your slave. You can take my help or you leave me be."

As the words left my lips I did wonder if I was pushing my luck just a tad too far. For a moment I had let my temper get the better of me once again and it had come out as defiance rather than a more moderated tone. Damn my temper!

Trying to mitigate it slightly I moderated my tone a little "Why don't you tell me what you actually need and we can go from there? You know as well as I that i'm not supposed to be here so think of me as a wild card, that might be able to help you. I haven't cost you anything after all"

His gaze narrowed upon her with such and outburst though it cooled slightly as her tone became meeker. She did not know if he was upset about the offer or not, but he seemed to consider her words as he eyed her. It wasn't as if she had a real choice in the matter if he just did it but if he tried to transform her she may resist too much and die before the tranformation could take hold, and if she died this gemstone would have been lost.

But he calmed somewhat, she seemed to misunderstand though her vehemence about matters mad it likely that she would be one of those bleeding hearts that refused the matter out of principle. He thought about how much to tell here then began stepping a little closer to her, his gaze so intense, so befuddling that it was all she could do not to get lost in it. And to think he was not trying to control her! Anne was able to keep her wits about her though.

"You misunderstand. You could go on your way, do as you wish provided of course I was safe in staying out of your crosshairs so to speak.

"Now what I ended to do is rather sneaky. Oh, I would like to kill Eramus but am compelled not too. For similar reasons my children cannot affect him in a hostile manner and thus I would turn you after the fact. See if I just let you go there is no assurance to me that someone of your lineage doesn't seek me out a century down the line as the next hunter or what not. In fact, I suspect that there is a hunter out there somewhere. He glanced to the window then looked back at her. "It makes a degree of sense, you were bait my dear. Bait from a society that wishes to see you raped before lifting a finger to assist you in order to learn the whereabouts of this place but he will be dealt with.

"See he believed that you were to good to pass up and thus you would lead him here but he is dumb enough to assume that he has the element of surprise. By the time you got here the sun was setting so he'd be lucky to survive the night.

"You would enjoy your days amongst vermin that only wish to use you for their own ends," he grinned, "I guess you could say the same of me, that I only seek to use you to kill Eramus, not entirely true. I can think of something else that interests me but at least I will freely admit to your role, whether it is as a pawn or a rook you will know.

"Now you are free to decide, fighting the trasnsformation makes surviving it far more difficult so much so that it's unlikely you would survive it so you resisted and thus I will not force this on you but as a human I would either keep you here, or have you destroyed to safeguard myself, again, it is your decision."

I thought about Sabins words for a bit, turning them over in my mind. The idea to be made into something other than I was? Repellant. It was also coupled by the certain knowledge that I would be under his direct command. The loss of free will was the main clincher for me.

However. Being dead was a considerably bigger loss of said free will! My mind worked trying to find some way to break this impass.

"Sabin. You need my good graces on this. Currently you can't actually force me to help you which leaves you at step number one. Either you meet me half way or you don't get what YOU really want. The elimination of someone with power over you. Besides" I continued "You seem to hate the fact someone has power over you. Why wouldn't I hate the same thing? You say that there is nothing to stop me leaving once you turned me - except for a single command from you as I understand what you've told me. And I would be powerless to prevent it. I would lose my freedom one way or another and I know you do understand what thats like, otherwise you wouldn't be wanting my help to reclaim it."

"I'll help you - but in return I want my free will intact and the only way you can guarantee it is by letting me go. I'll even teach any children I have that you helped me. What more can you want?"

Sabin considered her words. She was wiser than the others, or at least had the courage to speak her mind realizing that once she was turned then there would be nothing to stop him from making a few commands of his own. He did intend on sending her on her way, maybe after a decade, maybe sooner at his whim but she cut to the heart of the matter. By turning her his mind would have been placed at ease knowing that he did not have to worry about her bloodline continuing and thus threatening him.

He supposed he could turn other vamphyrs too in order to keep an eye on her and her children, striking out the moment they detected any funny buisness on their part. Training to be vampire hunters would do it ...

The debate raged within his eyes. He could simply kill her, but then he would still be under the thumb of his creator and he still had not worked out the best way to approach her gifts just yet either. And he was loathe to break deals once he entered into them despite the temptation of just killing her after his Master was dead so there was a lot for him to consider in that moment. At last he spoke.

"Very wise ... while I may not have kept you here sticking to our bargain in most cases there will still be that nagging doubt whether or not I would keep to my end of the bargain, no I would but we never discussed how soon ... you could have your freedom after a century! It would seem that I would have no choice but to compromise if I want your cooperation.

"That, however, is not the only thing I desire."

He gripped her wrists then, gazing into her eyes. She felt that same drugging effect that she felt earlier though she was able to shrug it off yet there was no mistaking it was much stronger than Gustav. "Enough talk my dear, shall we move on to more pleasant things?"

It was a victory. A small victory but a victory none the less. I could see his mind working to come up with alternatives and I hoped he wouldn't come up with any. Or worse, simply tell me what I wanted to hear. I was still far to vulnerable and I was well aware that if he decided to kill me there wasn't anything I could do to prevent my rather messy and permanent death. It was really my own inherent stubborness that kept me in the fight as it were.

For once that same stubborness that had caused me so many problems and lectures over the years was doing me a huge favour, and I was most glad it was a part of me. If it were separate I would have given it a hug and a big kiss!

Finally though, the master vampire seemed to make a decision. He proved quite neatly that I was entirely correct in standing my own ground (that was another kiss I owed my stubborness!). Before I could do or say anything though he grabbed my arms and, holding me stared directly into my eyes forcing his will upon mine.

For a moment I felt enthralled. His beautiful eyes, lips just ripe for kissing and perhaps more. Perhaps there was something to be... NO.

My mind rebelled and slipped away from his grasp once again although somehow it had felt a lot stronger than before. As my vision re-asserted itself however I glared at him. My hands were held above my head by a grip I couldn't even attempt to break and so I did all that I could. Glared right back into his eyes while hoping that my unknown defence would hold.

"And what do you have in mind?" I said. I was pretty damned certain what he had in mind but I rather hoped I was wrong. If he decided that he wanted me to serve him in other ways I really had no idea how I could stop him.

He looked at her, as helpless as a fly as he held her wrists. He didn't even have to use much force in that grip, humans were so weak after all, and for all her calculations she could not have considered this step. He saw that his gaze affected her for only a moment before she was able to shrug it off. Vlad's blood was strong in her veins no doubt though he now brought her wrists closer together to grip them with a single hand though now he had to use a bit more force since her two hands combined had been stronger than one.

His now free hand strolled down the side of her body caressing it with the back of his hand. "Some people prefer to shake on a deal, I prefer something far more substantial then that." He leaned down pressing his lips against her own briefly, "of course feel free to say no but without the deal we have agreed upon in place being under effect ..." he left the last part unsaid as he grinned at her briefly. Giving her the option to refuse but at the same time hinting that she probably wouldn't like that all too much.