"Being a bridesmaid, on the other hand, is," I was talking to myself. Still the least crazy thing happening in this place. "If only to see if everything that I've heard about those male strippers is true."
"And what, pray tell, does Lady Kane hear about male strippers?"
The voice came before any kind of visual origin to it. It was vaguely familiar, with the same thick, breathy Romanian accent that Rog had, but it felt like his voice was vibrating from the walls all around me, even making the mirror visibly shudder.
I turned around, feeling a dryness fill my mouth as I met the eyes of the creature standing across the room from me amid shadows. Mostly because the eyes were about all that I could see of its body. Bright and red, contrasting the thick blackness that surrounded them, matching the gleaming teeth showing as the creature grinned at me.
"Well... look who got their visual cues from the fucking Cheshire Cat," I growled, trying to take hold of my courage, which was trying to slink away.
"In fairness, I was here before Lewis Carroll was a gleam in his father's eye," said the disembodied voice. "His nightmares showed him what his creations should be. I humbly credit my toying with him as a boy as inspiration."
I cocked an eyebrow. "You have got to be kidding me. You're really saying that you inspired Lewis Carroll?"
"What can I say? The 19th century was a dull time in the world."
"So I guess that means that you're no transmutationist?"
The smile felt like it was growing. No, the blackness was coming closer, making me take a step backwards. My mind whirled with everything that had happened since I arrived here. Rog. Batten appearing unexpectedly. Me bleeding on the contract. And now in this dream with this creature. It was no coincidence, was it?
"I never lied about that," he whispered. "One finds that a great many talents develop over the centuries that I have prowled this boring ball of dirt and water."
"Well, at least you admit to being a predator." Egging the creature on was probably a bad idea. "So what are you, exactly? Not a lot of creatures are capable of working a blood contract, and most wouldn't care about what happens to a rotten old vineyard in Transylvania. So... a blood demon?" I may have broken things off with my family, but I was forced to read a lot about the supernatural growing up to know I had been played.
The darkness shimmered closer, the bright red eyes latching on to me. It felt like it was holding on to me physically.
"Go on," he whispered.
"I mean, what else is there to say?" I turned back around to look at myself in the mirror, feeling the eyes still on me even though there was no sign of a reflection of the monster behind me. "You tricked me into signing a contract with my blood. Let me guess, something to release you from whatever it is that's binding you to this fucking place? What I don't understand is... what the hell is up with the wedding dress?"
"You don't understand a great deal." The voice was hissing, and I could feel the heat of it against my ear. "Why would I ever want to leave my home?"
"So I... didn't release you?" Now my head hurt.
"Quite the contrary."
I scowled. "What the hell is the contrary of releasing you? If you were already bound, what the hell did I..."
Even with it out of sight, it felt like he was laughing at me, and that burned through me. I turned back around, meeting his eyes once more.
"What was the contract? What did you trick me into?"
"It sounds like you should have read the fine print before signing stuff. You'd think your generation would learn that lesson, what with all the Terms and Conditions that you're putting your names on."
I took a step forward, feeling blood rushing in my ears, reaching out for the power that seemed only too eager to jump to my fingertips.
"What... did you do?"
"I did nothing. My physical form is bound to this vineyard by my own devices. When your aunt appeared, I cared for her a great deal, even if she was never much good at caring for this place. I assume it was because her true intent was to study my presence. But it matters little. With your blood, by drinking mine, you have bound yourself to me, and in turn to this place, just as I have been. Until death parts us, as it were."
The dress suddenly started to make a lot of sense, and a sinking feeling dropped through me. I looked down at it, eyes widening. There was something in me that refused to accept what he was saying.
"We... are not getting married."
The smile grew closer, the eyes gleaming more intensely.
"Time to wake now."
The world fell away from me, and it started to feel more like a dream. All the colors turned back, melding into the darkness of the creature until all I could see were the eyes and the fang-filled smile.
And then it all disappeared. Light was pouring into a room through the cracks in the shutters. I blinked a few times, trying to get my bearings.
Every second of the dream was burned into my memory, and yet despite that, I felt oddly rested. I couldn't remember the last time that I'd woken up feeling rested.
"Fucking magic," I whispered. Nothing was ever how it seemed, and when I was feeling rested like this, it usually meant that there was a reason for it.
I really didn't want to go into any reasoning as to what might have allowed me to feel rested after the day I'd had.
The bed was surprisingly comfortable, and aside from the slats on the windows, the whole room looked like it was reasonably modern. There were even outlets in the walls, and as I checked my phone, sure enough, there was Wi-Fi.
"Bare necessities."
I pulled the window open, regretting it immediately as the bright light made my eyes hurt until they adjusted to it.
It was morning. I'd arrived at the vineyard sometime in the mid-afternoon, which I guessed was now the day before. Whatever had caused me to drop had kept me under for almost an entire day.
My stomach knotted at what predicament I’d landed in.
"Well, no reason to just sit around and wait for a demon contract to come through," I hissed sarcastically, collecting my backpack, annoyed that I so carelessly walked into his trap. Why hadn’t my auntie warned me when she visited my dream? Or had that been a normal dream after all? I didn’t know or care to find out for now.
There were only a few changes of clothes in the carry-on, which was still in the car.
Nope. I looked back in the room and realized that all my stuff had been brought up out of the car, preventing my hasty escape.
"The... car." I shook my head, returning to the window, looking out for the entrance where I'd left the car. I wasn't sure why I was surprised that it was gone. Rog the blood demon had clearly already taken the keys to get my luggage into the room, so he’d either returned it to the rental agency or he'd hidden it somewhere on the grounds, and there would be no time for me to go hunting for it. Crap.
Especially considering that I didn't know what he would be capable of if he discovered that I was trying to escape.
I only took my backpack and my purse, making sure that nothing was missing from them before making for the door.
It was slow moving out the door of the bedroom, looking out over a dimly lit hallway. The house was no real maze, and I could see the front door down on the next floor down from where I was standing. The walls were white but the railing and wooden beams across the ceiling were a dark cherry red. It might be interesting to explore, if I wasn’t here tricked by some kind of demon.