5 to 1 *On Hiatus*

Ch 3: Pool Party

I don't trust the strangers. I don't trust anyone around Elizabeta, to be honest. I have been the butler for her family for nearly 50 years. I feel responsible for her, as I will for the next 26 days she is bound to this castle. She isn't supposed to leave the castle for any reason because there are creatures ten times worse than human hunters that are trying to kill her and end the Varias bloodline, the last of the original royal family in Romania. I've always been led to believe there was something special about the bloodline to those in the mythical/supernatural world that haunts Transylvania. I've encountered such creatures before on certain occasions because I smelled so strongly of the Varias' but once they realized I was just their butler they just sent me along with messages for Elizabeta's parents. The last message I was to pass along I started to cry about. I was told by a particular wolf in the woods surrounding our castle that there was something coming on Hallow's Eve, when all creatures are at their strongest, that would wipe out the royal bloodline forever.

When I told Queen Joanna she and her husband, King Richard, told me to take Elizabeta away and hide her where no creature could sniff her out. And then they said the one thing we promised to never say to one another, they told me 'goodbye'. I wanted to break down but I stayed strong and got Princess Elizabeta away so she could live a full life. Her parents left notes for her around the castle, half of which were taken by the intruders that night 19 years ago. I talked to an old friend of mine, a witch named Hazel, and she told me that as long as Elizabeta stayed in the castle until she reached the age of 21 she would live, but if she ever left the castle once she would be in great danger and could be killed.

I have been very careful for the past many years to make sure never to let her outside of the castle walls and luckily, she has obeyed the wish. I am starting to worry that our new company may try and get her to leave the castle, unknowingly putting her in harms way. I would kill myself if anything happened to her, she's like a daughter to me. I return to my study, where I have hidden the note her parents left for me. I take it out and read the elegant script one more time, missing her parents as if they were my own family, which the basically were.

To Our Trusted Butler And Friend,

There will come a time when goodbye's will not suffice and I fear that time is upon us. Richard has been watched carefully whenever he walks through the streets, by humans and creatures alike. I fear that our time is coming to an end. I want you to keep my fetita (A/N baby girl) safe. I know there will come a time when even that you will not be able to accomplish that. Do not fear, my dear Vladimir, you have done well by us and our child. She will grow well and fully safe, of this, I have no doubt. But I have seen that she will grow restless and wish to leave, which may risk her life. I hope and pray that you will find a way to allow her to go about her ways without risking her well being. I have seen that she will love and live and grow old like I prayed she would provided she safely goes. I have also looked into her years to come and found a man that will win her heart, and four who accompany him who will give their hearts to her. She will choose in the end, you must help her with her decision, as many troubles lie in wait for her, Vladimir. I want you to promise me that as my dying wish you will not stop her from finding this male, as his absence will affect her survival. I know you do not understand that of which I speak, but that is what I am used to. I love you, Vladimir, as a brother, my own kin, and I know in the end you will not fail to prove yourself. I will part you with this; do not try to alter destiny, as destiny finds a way no matter how much we yearn to change it. Tell my daughter I love her and I will always be there for her.

With Great Love,

Joanna and Richard

I run my fingers along the letters, feeling the indents that barely exist from Joanna's light script. I suddenly feel tears gather in my eyes, there are just 26 days until the 20th anniversary of their murders and their daughter's 21st birthday. I have a feeling life in the castle is about to get a lot more interesting.