My life is being drained away…
With the realization of what was happening, I made a feeble attempt to struggle, but with a tender caress, my flailing arm was brought back down to my side and entrapped in a fold of the silken sheets. She giggled a little, not raising her head from my neck, and kept sucking. A cold, weary feeling was spreading through all my limbs now as she continued to feed.
“No…” I moaned.
Her head shifted a little, and I felt her fangs dig in deeper. Her bite was icy hot, and as the dim room grew black with a terrible, spreading numbness, the last thing I felt, like a tether to the world, were the pricks of her teeth hooked deeply in my throat. That was all I knew in the darkness.
Then, suddenly, there was light.
I awoke, blinking, as the curtains were drawn back. Outside, the sun was working its way toward noon in a clear and brilliant sky.
The maid was trotting away without a word.
“Wait,” I called, my voice slurred. My tongue didn’t seem to want to move. “Wait,” I repeated a little more firmly, trying to sit up but half falling over in the attempt.
“Yes?” she asked, turning her attention toward me.
“I’m, I’m leaving,” said, my head blaring as I tried to untangle my feet from the blankets. “I…I need…”
“You won’t be leaving, master,” she said. I looked at her and found her face set in a sly sort of smile. “The mistress doesn’t let anyone leave,” she added, turning away and leaving the room.
Tale Told 