"Chapter 1"
"...Anna..." a demonic voice reverberated. "...you know we are going to get you..."
Thick billowing clouds sailed in front of a nearly-full moon, illuminating the entire Transylvanian village below. Anna Valerious, the lone descendant of the Royal Valerion Bloodline, tossed restlessly in bed. Her shivering body glistened with sweat as she agonized within a fever dream.
"...hhnnnnnggggg..." she whimpered.
"Mhhhhhmmmmm..." another voice joined. "Just the four of us and not a single person in the world to save you..."
"...nnnngggggg..." Anna's nightgown twisted against her sopping bed sheets.
"Mmmmmmmmmmmm...yesssssssssssss..." a third voice rumbled. "We have been waiting so long to taste Royal Blood, and now...it is time for us to feast..."
"...uhhhnnnn...nnnnn...nooo..." Anna drowsily moaned.
"Oh, YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!" the voices chuckled in unison.
"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Anna shouted, springing up from the saturated mattress. Her thumping chest heaved up and down as she frantically attempted to catch her breath.
"...hnnnnnnggggg....hnnnnggggg...hnnnnnnnn...hnnnng...hhhhuhh...huhhh...huh..."
She reached for a glass of water on the nightstand beside her.
*GULP GULP GULP GULP*
"...just a dream..." she whispered in silence. "Nothing but a dream."
*SKKKKKRRRRREEEEEIIIIIIICCCCCCHHH!!!*
Anna's eyes darted out her third-story window. She frantically searched for what produced the gut-wrenching scream, but the village below looked peaceful as ever. She took another calming breath, but then...
*SKKKKKKKRRRROOOWWWWWLLL!!!*
Anna knew something was wrong. She continued scanning the village but failed to pinpoint the sound. Her eyes panned back and forth on an infinite loop until...
*SHHHHRRRRAAAAWWWRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!*
Anna's demeanor turned to anger.
"Nobody attacks a Valerion home and gets away with it. Not without a fight..."
Anna stripped away her sodden gown and stormed toward a large, wooden armoire passed down by her great-great grandmother. She ferociously swung open the thick oak doors to reveal a bevy of tactical garments and weaponry.
"Alright..." she smiled to herself, removing leather armor, steel-toed boots, a crossbow, and an assortment of daggers. "Whoever's out there is about to learn a valuable lesson -- assuming they live long enough to absorb the information..."
********************
"Chapter 2"
A lingering mist blanketed the village courtyard. Anna cautiously side-stepped her way through the blinding fog as she aimed her crossbow toward the shrill cacophony of hellish taunts.
*SKKKKKRRRRREEEEEIIIIIIICCCCCCHHH!!!*
"I know you are out there!" Anna shouted, holding the crossbow's stock tight to her collar. "Why don't you stop playing games and show your true colors!"
*SKKKKKKKRRRROOOWWWWWLLL*
Anna spun around to target the sound, but the thick, heavy mist prevented her from seeing anything beyond the moonlit clouds engulfing her.
*SHHHHRRRRAAAAWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
Anna pressed forward, adjusting the aim of her weapon with each subsequent shriek.
"You think such tactics will scare me?"
*SHHHHRRRRAAAAWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
"Do you know who I am???"
*SKKKKKRRRRREEEEEIIIIIIICCCCCCHHH!!!*
"I am Anna Valerious! Heir to the Romanian Throne!!!"
"Oh..." a voice echoed. "We know..."
Anna continued to spin.
"We were counting on it..." said another.
"Show yourselves!" Anna demanded as the voices swirled around her.
"As you wissssshhhhhhhhh..."
Anna braced herself in anticipation. All of the sudden, an upside-down face floated before her.
"Verona..." Anna stammered, shocked to see a friend she thought had been killed several years prior.
"Anna, my dear."
"I...I thought you were dead..." Anna wobbled, lowering her weapon.
"And I am! Or undead. Depends how you look at it," Verona smiled, flashing her fangs. "Would you like a first hand...or should I say, a first bite experience???"
Anna re-aimed her bow.
"I do not know what happened to Verona, but I do know that she is gone, and you...you are nothing more than a demon in her flesh!"
"Well, you never were one to make things easy. But then again, I was never one to enjoy easy things. So why don't we spice things up a bit?"
Anna's index finger inched closer to the crossbow's trigger.
"How about I spice this stake right through your heart!"
"Well...that sure would make things spicy...but I was thinking something else altogether."
Verona's upside down grin widened as she forcefully snapped her fingers. The bombastic noise pummel through the cold, dead night.
"Aleera! Marishka! Let us take our new friend for a ride..."
In less than an instant, two demonic vixens emerged from the mist and took hold of Anna.
********************
"Chapter 3"
Anna lost grasp of her weapon as her body was elevated skyward by the flaps of Aleera and Marishka's wings.
"Ahhhhhhh...much, much better," Verona smiled as she followed Aleera and Marishka toward the heavens.
"Get off me!!!" Anna thrashed as the demons' vice-like grips clutched tight to her ankles and wrists.
"Oh..." Aleera smirked. "I do not think you would like that very much."
"Oh, not at all," Marishka added. "A fall from this height would surely turn you into jelly. Though such jelly would go rather well with toast..."
Anna's restrained body soared higher and higher as Aleera and Marishka soared upward with glee.
"You cowards!" Anna roared.
"Awwwww..." Aleera replied as the trio rose above the atmospheric fog. "There is no need for name calling. Once Master makes you a bride, we will be one big family."
"Over my dead body!" Anna screamed across the sky.
"Well...that may be," Marishka smirked. "Master did say he wanted you alive, but accidents do happen from time to time. Either way, we would be remiss if we didn't have a little fun before the ultimate outcome unfolds..."
"Fun???" Anna questioned as the radiant moon illuminated her attackers. "What is this fun you speak of?!?"
Verona ascended from below until she hovered face-to-face with her prey.
