Music To My Soul

Ch. 15

(TW: SEXUAL ASSULT AND DOMESTIC ABUSE)

Timothy: 

I've been up here in this tower for almost 2 days, now that I knew what it was. I tried to get ahold of Alex by text, to keep my phone alive as long as possible, but all I get in reply is to wait and hold out. I've been getting sick from the cuff, a bucket in the corner making the room smell like rotted corpse. I looked in the camera of my phone briefly to check for changes, and my eyes are still a muddy brown, not green. I did however look like I was dying. My skin was pale and my body felt so cold. Vlad did nothing to make me feel better, and his treatment of me got worse. If the mood struck him, I had no choice but to be his brood mare and take his abuse. I wanted to cry and try to fight back, but I knew it was pointless. I was curled up in the corner by the dresser, bored out of my mind and half starved. I dug through everything for some source of entertainment, and nothing came up. I went over to the bed, and looked under it, to find a coffin on one side, and the other was free of obstruction. I carefully wedged myself under the bed, and saw that under it, within the wooden slats, there was journal. 

I carefully pulled it out, and crawled out from the dusty underside. The journal was beautifully ornate, with a gold trim page, the hard cover corners were capped in gold, and the center held a beautiful ruby with fancy baroque filigree in gold leaf. It was old, from the yellow of the pages, and when I opened it, it was first dated as May 5th, 1745. 

'The year of our Lord, May 5th, 1745-

Today marks the first day of Vlad's possessive deep dive off the deep end, and I am now locked away by way of a tower like a fairytale. I guess my life is a fairytale now, a beloved and beautiful queen trapped in a tower by a raging dragon with no hope of seeing my brave knight once more. Oh the pain in my chest at that idea alone makes me feel so alone it hurts. I miss my dear Alexandru. I wish to hold him close, to have him be by my side. I miss his golden hair, the long locks of wheat and sunshine he'd let me battle braid as he fought for my honor and carried my token in his bracer. I miss how his eyes shined like the very jewels of green they were. I desperately want his embrace and his warmth. 

When I took Sir Alexandru Popescu, so the record has proof my Consort was mine should the king slander me beyond my control, as said Consort, it was when he saved me from almost falling into a trap set up by the local holy men. He warned me that his brother's of the faith were going to drown me in holy water, but he knew it wasn't right to do such a thing to a beloved Queen. He was granted the title after I spent so hard convincing Vlad he was just a protector, a guard to keep me safe and provide company. 

The first night I bedded with Alexandru was when the king was away at a treaty meeting with the local werewolf tribe. The moon was high and bright, the grass was warm from the heat of the sun, and as we rolled and rutted in it under my favorite plum tree, I felt my heart swell as it was then I knew I loved this sacred soul, this holy man who lived up to his namesake of Popescu. Our affair went on for months without Vlad's knowing, and when he grew suspicious, Alexandru was the first to defend me and him as merely friends. And up until today he believed it, only to find us under that plum tree, stark and raw as the day we were born, rutting like the animals we were inside our hearts. I can see that very tree now from my tower, and when I watched Vlad impale Alexandru from it's highest branch as punishment for his crimes, I wept. It is now night, and I only wish to sleep, to pray this is over. 

Signed with grief and remorse,

Queen Roza Marie Antonia Dracula.    

So this is what he meant I was just like Roza. We both fell for a holy man named Alex and tried to lie as a way to save our relationship and to hide our skins. I read a few more entries, all of them were about two to three days apart, and so I flipped until I found the very last entry. 

The year of our Lord, August 20th, 1745-

Vlad visited me last night, and asked when I'll go back to being his queen. I told him only when he gives me Alexandru back will I do my civic duty to my people once more. He struck me, and forced me into relations I wish to forget. He was abrasive and cruel as he claimed me in passions I wish to scrub from off my skin with holy water. I had high hopes I will escape one day. Tonight I will drop down through the window, and join my Alexandru in our own paradise. I refuse to live one more day as this dragon's prisoner. If there are no entries after this, then know I was successful in my attempt to free myself. I will hide this guide of hope, so anyone else who should be in my position know that there will always be freedom as a choice if you just keep your hearts up. 

Signed with deep faith and hope,

Queen Roza Marie Antonia Dracula.  

This is why there were bars on the window now. I had to get out. Alex said to wait and hold out, but I can't do so for much longer. If he doesn't come by nightfall tomorrow, then I'm getting myself out of here, be it by my own hand or by finally pushing Vlad to the brink of no return. I will not be a prisoner anymore. I am so done with this possessive bullshit.