It was a cold dark night. I knew not to expect him there but still I hoped. I wanted forgiveness. Standing by the oak wood tree where I last saw him, I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I turned quickly, hoping to see the creature that took my breath away. Nothing. The wind had grazed over the leaves from the tree. This creature was nowhere to be found. I knew he was dangerous the minute I found out who he was. Andrei Ivankov. Creature of the night. King of all evil. He carried a dark aura around him, creating fear wherever he went. Still, I wanted to be near him. I touched the trunk of the tree, running my fingers down the patterns of the bark. I stopped at the one place that brought back what happened that night.

It was a bright summer night. The moon, round and full, shined in the night sky. There I was, on the balcony, looking out into the distance. I paid no attention to the sounds of laughter and joy surrounding the ballroom behind me. It had been the celebration of my coming of age at Lord Makarov's manor, though he was nowhere to be found. Ah. This Lord Makarov. An old lord with no heir to his manor. My father, wanting to create peace between our two manors, had promised me to him. I did not want to hate my father but I could not understand why he chose this route. "For the protection of our family." His words whispered in my head. Protection or not, this was an atrocious idea.

It wasn't until the ballroom, which was once filled with laughter, turned into cries of disaster. I turned at the sounds, my eyes grew wide with fear, as I witnessed what was happening right in front of me. Creatures of the night, these so-called vampires who were baring their fangs, had entered Lord Makarov's manor. Bloody hell! How can they exist? What was going on? As soon as I had stepped foot into the ballroom, one of those creatures stood in front of me. "Are you the Lady Cordelia Belikov?" Frightened, I took a step back. "Y-Yes." Came my reply. With no other words, I was suddenly lifted from my feet as the creature wrapped his arms around me, carrying me out to the balcony. I screamed at his movement.

"Cordelia!" I looked behind me, my eyes searching for my father as he ran towards us, crying out for me. "Father!" Too late. The creature had tightened his grip on me and leaped out from the balcony, my heels slipping off my feet. My eyes closed tightly as I, fear of falling, wrapped my arms around the neck of the creature carrying me. I held onto him so tightly as he landed swiftly and soundless on the ground. He then, along with the rest of his fellow creatures that had leaped out from the balcony with him, began pacing towards the woods. "Where are you taking me?!" I yelled out at him, my arms still wrapped around his neck. "Keep quiet or I'll shut you up myself." Came the reply. Frightened, I kept quiet as he led me into the woods.

He leaped over branches of the trees as many of the others followed below. Suddenly, he began to slow his pace as he lept down to the ground. "We have arrived," said the creature. I looked out in front of me. My word! The legendary Bran Castle stood before me. "It exist." My jaws were opened wide as the creature had placed me on the ground, my feet touching the grass. "Of course it exist. We're not entirely a legend, you know," chuckled the creature. Chuckled! This creature of the night chuckled at me! Soon the laughter faded as he became serious, straightening his back, as if someone was contacting him in his mind. "The King awaits." King? Who is the king? Vlad Draculesti? Curiosity struck me as I followed after him.

As we entered the legendary castle that was only in books, one by one, the candles were lit until they filled the whole hall. The bright flickers of fire shined over the statues of legendary creatures. My word! It was the most magnificent sight I had ever seen. It was even better than Lord Makarov's manor! I shook my head. Of course it's better. Lord Makarov isn't a king. He wouldn't have had this much money to build something like this. "Keep up," said the creature as he peered behind over to me. Quickly, I sped up to catch his pace, matching each step he took until we finally stopped outside the doors which I believed led to the throne room.

Without any words spoken, the doors opened, which made me wonder if these creatures could sense a presence from a distance (I was sure they could). I gasped as I saw the very creature that sat on the throne. "Andrei Ivankov." King Andrei Ivankov was everything described what was only read in books. He was handsome, this creature of the night. He seemed tall and broad, with hair as brown as dirt and eyes as red as blood. I couldn't see the dark aura, in which the books stated there would be, around him but I knew it was there. Bloody hell! He looked frightening. I watched as the creature that captured me went and stood by his king's side.

The king chuckled as he stood from his throne, making his way down to stand in front of me. "I see you've heard of me. I hope Demitri wasn't so hard on you." He said as he pointed over the creature that had captured me. "I'd like to personally welcome you, Lady Cordelia Belikov, to Bran Castle." Frightened as I was, I couldn't help but stare at the handsome creature. "W-Why am I here?" I asked, unsure of what his response. The king again chuckled. "Why, Lady Cordelia, I have brought you here because I want you as my queen." Shocked, I had stared at him for a long time. "Y-Your queen? Why me?" Again he chuckled. "Because you are destined to be mine. You, my dear, are my Beloved."

Me? The Beloved to Andrei Ivankov? Impossible. Shaking my head with horror, I quickly lifted my dress making a run out of the castle. I was so sure by now that Demitri was going to come after me but I heard no movement as I sprinted out of the throne room, down the halls, and out of the castle. I quickly stopped as I watched the rain start pouring rapidly. Oh bloody hell! I lifted my dress up again as I made my way through the woods in the pouring rain. I was suddenly stopped as my back was pressed against what looked like an oak wood tree.

I looked up in shock. A-Andrei? So he had followed me instead of Demitri. Drenched and shivering, I was caged against the tree as Andrei placed his hands on both sides of me. "Where do you think you're going, darling?" I gasped out of frighten but still I was obligated to answer him. "R-Running away from y-you." A flash of hurt was seen on his face as Andrei took a step away from me. "Is that what you want, Beloved?" I looked up at him, this time, with more confidence than ever. "I don't want to be near you. I don't want to be your queen. I most certainly do not want to be your Beloved either." And then I ran, too scared to look behind me in fear of wanting to go back to him. It took a while to get there but I finally made it back to Lord Makarov's manor, where my father was still in shock. Once he saw me, my father quickly led us to our carriage and brought us back to our manor.

Pain hit my chest and my fingers stayed on the place where we last saw each other. I needed him more than ever. Maybe it was this so-called "mate-pull" I felt as his Beloved. Or maybe I did feel something for him. I don't know what it is. All I know is that I just wanted to be near him. "Why are you here?" I turned quickly to face the creature that had me wrapped around his fingers. There he was, standing tall and proud. My Beloved.