After many months of getting beta reads and advice from my group, I think I have achieved a final version of this book. It starts and ends much differently than the first draft I posted on here. It is the second book in a series so you might want to...
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Giselle
Something about the girl set Analise's teeth on edge. She recoiled like a frightened cat.
The girl crossed her arms over her heart as the dead lie in their coffins, and closed her eyes. The sight of the girl's unusually long, sharp fingernails reminded Analise of the claw she'd just shaken out of her hair, and couldn't stop imagining them covered with blood----her blood.
"Who are you?" she asked.
The girl's eyes blazed open. ""It is I who should be asking that question of you."
"I am Lady Pelles, daughter of the noble house of cel Mare. I have no idea of how I arrived here, or why. Perhaps, you can enlighten me."
"I am Lady Giselle." The girl tossed her head and curtsied, smirking like a servant putting on airs.
The warmth of the house penetrated Analise's flesh, but did not comfort her. She didn't want to stay here, but where would she go? There was no compass to consult, no one to guide her, for this girl was hostile and might steer her wrong. Outside, in the night, the wind was screaming around the walls. There was a blizzard. She was sure of it.
The girl watched Analise under heavy-lidded eyes. "Its frightfully cold out there, isn't it? And you are clad only in that thin nightgown, and your feet are bare. I know what it's like. A mortal like you could freeze to death in an instant."
"Mortal?" What else would she be?
The girl's eyes glowed like blue lamps, like the blue flames of the fire. The expression on her face was subtly triumphant, her red lips livid in the pallor of her face.
"White and frosted, you'd be, like a little china doll, out there...."
Analise's nerves rattled up her spine and went back down again. She couldn't go out into the storm. "Indeed, I am----mortal. What, might I ask, are you, if not the same?"
Lady Giselle's expression was coy. "Perhaps you have heard of our house and its traditions. It is the home of Count Dracula"
Dracula....
Hearing the girl say the dreaded name had a worse affect on Analise than all her speculations. This wasn't a dream. It was real. The castle was fully intact. The girl was a Vampire. And Dracula---- was real and awake. And she was with them.
She shook with homesickness. "Father?" she cried.
The cries of wolves, or cold, harsh winds, keened around the castle walls. The girl was smiling and nodding and picking up a candle branch as if to lead her away from the havoc outside.
For the remaining hours of the night, it might be best to humor this Lady Giselle. Touching the Cross hidden under the bodice of her gown for courage, Analise curtsied. "I mean no disrespect, but I won't stay long. Just until sunup so I can find my way home. I'm entirely obliged to you. " Analise extended her hand.
One eyebrow arching up, the girl reached for Analise's hand, then swiftly pulled her fingers with their long, sharp nails, away. "I don't stand on ceremony." Her jaw clenched. "Come this way." She held the flaring candle branch up.
Analise hesitated. This girl was about to lead her deeper into Dracule's castle----deeper into a realm from which she might never escape.
"This way, if you please, your ladyship," the girl repeated, bowing her head.
The ceiling was high where the painted dragons swirled. A great banner hung from the gallery of the upper floor, bearing the dragon rampant that she'd seen the red gowned lady pass under in her vision. A wave of cold air passed through Analise like she'd never felt before, and the spirit of the red gowned lady come over her again.
"Perhaps I'll just sit on that bench by the fire." Analise pointed across the Hall to a fireplace flaring under the massive portrait of some barbaric Prince. "I'll only stay until dawn. Then I'll leave. You won't even know I was here."
Lady Giselle turned to look at Analise as if she were a fool. "You can't stay there. You must meet the Master of the House. Or weren't you taught any manners?"
Meeting the Master was the last thing Analise wanted to do. "Give the
Master my apologies. But I must find my way home now."
Oh, but she dreaded the cold and dark!
Lady Giselle's eyes turned black; black as the lake where they floated witches. Down at the bottom of her soulless pit they lay, all those drowned witches...
Hers are the eyes of death.
Giselle seemed uneasy for a moment, as if she felt Analise's thoughts. "You can't turn back now. It is night, and the wolves are coming down from mountains. Can't you hear them?"
Analise listened. The howling sounded so high and eerie that it seemed to lift the doors from their hinges.
"Wolves!" Analise whispered, gazing at Giselle.
She turned toward the door. A blast of wind pounded against it, stopping her heart.
"Come. You know you must meet the Master. What other choice do you have?"
Analise could only stare at the girl's eyes. They held such strange power, compelling Analise to obey. She followed Giselle down a corridor past paintings and weapons, suits of armor, and branching candelabra. How could these things be so familiar? The sense of the past pressed in with the weight of centuries. Sorrow hung in the air like a widow's veil, as if the castle itself mourned.
"Is this really Castle Drag?" she asked.
Giselle fixed her haughty eyes on Analise. "Indeed."
"It can't have been entirely restored overnight. Where are we really?"
"You ask too many questions. Come."
Analise's throat parched. Night leaned in against the upper gallery windows. She tried to break free from the girl's influence, but it was strong. "You must allow me to go. I'm newly married, you know. My husband needs me."
"I'm sorry, your ladyship, you can't go home. Once you enter here, you have to stay."
"But, I don't want to stay. My husband!"
"I'm so sorry. Come. You must follow me now."
She had no choice. The Vampire was waiting for her. He'd been waiting all along.
As Giselle drew her toward another double door, Analise kept her eyes on the girl's candles. This was light. Tiny as the flames were, they gave her faith that the darkness, even here, was not complete.
Arriving at another set of double doors, doors, Giselle stood aside. Eyes sparkling, she smirked. "You're to go in there."
"He's in there?"
"Of course."
"Won't you announce me?"
"I told you. I don't stand on ceremony."
With that, the candles went out and the girl vanished.
Analise's breath quickened, but she must stay focused. She was in the Vampire's house. He had, by magic, brought her here. She knew what he wanted. She hated him!
As if pushed by the wind, the leaves of the doors parted, revealing a large, vaulted chamber with two enormous fireplaces blazing on each side. Light and shadow warred over the floor like two dragons. Heart pounding with apprehension, Analise suppressed her terror, and stepped into the room.
