10:30, The Day Before Yesterday

Book 2 Chapter XIV - A Night of Dark Trees

Chapter 29 - A Night of Dark Trees

Dani found herself in the awkward position of not wanting to look at Dracula, but not daring to take her eyes off him in case he suddenly decided to eat her. And her wrist hurt where he'd grabbed it to teleport them both to a very big, very old-looking library, and she felt like she was about to be sick because of said teleportation... She didn't feel particularly good, to say the least.

"Where are we?" she asked woozily, looking around at the shelves full of books, the chandelier, the ornate fireplace, the expensive-looking furniture, the oriel window and the window-seat.

"Castle Dracula. My home." There was a strangely bitter note to Vlad's voice. Dani wondered why; he lived in a castle, a very grand castle if the library was anything to go by, so what did he have to be bitter about?

Maybe he's lonely, she thought idly, then almost burst out laughing. Count Dracula, lonely? That was as likely as Helena giving out sweets to the entirety of InGEN 24.

"How did you do it?"

Caught up in her thoughts, it took her a moment to remember what he was talking about.

"I don't know, I just... dreamed. And then I woke up screaming." She left out the other things that happened. Being interrogated on how she managed to almost strangle herself and how she bled without being injured was something she could go the rest of her life without enduring.

Other thirteen-year-old girls had nightmares about embarrassing themselves in front of the boy they liked. Other thirteen-year-old girls hid in the bathroom because they'd made a mess of their hair or make-up. Other thirteen-year-old girls didn't know and wouldn't care if they did know that there were vampires, werewolves, aliens and God knew what else wandering around Earth.

Dani wished she could be like other thirteen-year-old girls. If ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise, and all that.

"You used telepathy to force your way into our minds and drag up our worst memory. That would be almost impossible for a skilled telepath to do while asleep. You, who apparently didn't know you were capable of this, did it with ease. How?"

"I don't know!" Dani shouted, losing her temper. "Stop treating me like I did it on purpose! A year ago I didn't even know people could read minds, but since I came here I've been turning into a freak, opening doors and reading minds and doing stupid things and trying to kill myself -"

To her inestimable horror, she found tears welling up in her eyes and tried to blink them away. She would not cry in front of a vampire!

"Sit down and stop being hysterical," Vlad ordered sharply, looking almost alarmed.

She doubted it was because of any concern for her; he was probably worried that if she started crying he'd be obliged to calm her down, and that idea was truly terrifying. She could just imagine what he would say: "Stop that! How dare you cry in my presence?" or something equally unhelpful.

Dani sat down on the armchair behind her and tried to fight back her tears. Vlad retreated to stand beside the empty fireplace, eyeing her with an alarm most people reserved for a criminal who confessed to skinning someone alive.

An uncomfortable silence fell on the library when she finally stopped sniffling.

"Miss Tamari," Vlad began at last. He paused, apparently unsure of how to continue. "...Are you sure you've never read someone's mind before?"

"I think I'd have noticed," Dani grumbled. "Apart from Phantom whining at me in my head, I'm perfectly normal."

Oops. There were things you shouldn't talk about and then there were things you really shouldn't talk about. Little voices in your head were in the second category.