Nickolas awoke again in the same coffin the night before. Someone had found him and carried him to his coffin while he was sleeping. Immediately, he pulled the lid off and sat up. Again, the midnight moon speared its shafts of light down the cracks of the ceiling. And again, Nick looked at his two pale hands. He cried to himself. He was utterly confused by his dream yesterday, and now, it seemed so real.

No. He couldn't be a vampire. Vampires were supposed to be blood-sucking zombies that drunk off of innocent maidens when they are alone. Vampires were supposed to live in caves in Transylvania and wake up only after decades of slumber. "No," Nick convinced himself. "This is stupid. I'm going out. These people are crazy."

It was not long when he jumped off of the coffin when a young lady spoke to him from the doorway.

"So you've wakened up, Nickolas?" she asked softly.

"Who told you my name?" Nick demanded.

"You did. Silly you," she replied. "Nick, it was dangerous for you to sleep outside in the hallway. Don't do that again. You could have burned up in the sun if it wasn't for Yekari."

"No. Don't give me that crap yesterday. You all are crazy." Nick headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" the young woman asked. She was surprised by Nickolas' confident stride.

"I'm going out. I want to go back to the woods. And what did you do to Brian?!" The young woman appeared shocked by Nick's boldness, and then was disappointed.

"It's a few miles west from here. Your other companion, Brian, is safe."

Immediately, Nick walked out of the door into the castle's interior. He avoided the muffled voices in the candlelit room at the other end of the hallway, but he was hopelessly lost. He forgot to ask the woman where the castle's exit was. No matter, with his persistent groping, he would find some way out eventually. Soon, the sounds of the forks and knives clanging on the dinner plates petered out as Nick went further and further away.

Nick traveled down the aisles between the dark castle rooms. The large, tall mirrors in between had large cracks in them, and they were framed in a Rococo style. Nick wanted to see his face. He wanted to see how white it was. He looked at the mirrors, but he could not see his reflection in any of them. Quickly, he jerked himself and ran as fast as he could past the mirrors. "No, they couldn't be mirrors," he thought.

The dark castle rooms did intrigue him though. He liked the rich, ornamented tapestry on the walls. It had a medieval feel to it. He liked the large, spacious rooms though the cracks in the windows let the wind in. It should be cold; it was supposed to be night. Nick didn't feel the wind. He enjoyed the swaying of the curtains.

It seemed many hours before Nick found the door out of the castle. He closed the gates behind him and ran as fast as he could westward. It took him a long time to find the way, and the moon was dawdling behind the hills. But finally, Nick was out!

"Nickolas?" a voice called from the castle.

Nick ran even faster. Into the woods and the forest, he went further into. He was too afraid of the eerie voice to stay back. "Brian, I'm coming home."

It was some time before Nick treaded under the familiar woods he knew so well before.

"Brian!" He was so happy to see his log cabin and his friend. It looked deserted for the past week. Nick looked confused. Where would Brian have gone without him? Slowly, Nick walked closer to his dark log cabin.

He saw a large, dried pool of blood near the big pine tree. There! He remembered where the attack was. The memories already made him wince and he stepped back a little. He felt for his neck, but there were no marks on it. Suddenly, he heard the log cabin door creak open.

"Nickolas? Is that you?"

Nick turned around. He recognized Brian's pair of eyes from behind the slit of the doorway.

"Brian! It's me, Nick," he exclaimed. Strange, Brian had never been so scared of Nickolas before. He hadn't opened the door further to let Nick in. In fact, the door continued to separate the two friends apart.

"You're not Nickolas. Nickolas is dead already. Stay away from me!" Brian shut the door closed and locked it. Nick couldn't believe it. He knocked on the door.

"Brian, what are you talking about? Someone kidnapped me and put me in these crazy people's castle. I was knocked out cold, but look, I've come back!"

Nick could only vaguely hear what Brian said in the muffled background. "Nickolas is dead. I saw it with my own eyes in the cabin. I saw the dark figure carry Nick's dead body away. Nick is dead. Go away, witch. Or I'll shoot my flashlight at you!"

"Brian, it's me... Nick." Nick cried. "I'm not dead." He knocked on the door harder. Suddenly, Nick felt an immense tearing sensation at his face. He jerked his head back and tried to cover with his hands, but they too stung real bad. Tears streamed down his burning cheeks as he ran from the door.

"Ahhh!" Nick heard inside the cabin. Something dropped. The burning sensation immediately was gone, and Nick breathed hard from the pain on his hands and face.

"Go away, you're not Nick! Nick is dead. My Nickolas will never come back. He died that night the figure carried him away."

Nick ran away from the cabin. He looked at the cabin's window one last time and cried. Why was Brian so scared of him? What had happened to him that night? Nick wandered mindlessly through the woods, but he didn't feel cold at all. Just numb and sad. Nick looked up at the low-lying moon. It hung precariously below the clouds, rolling lopsidedly on the contours of the hills.

Nickolas walked on past the hours. And then a slight yellow tinge from the eastern line spread over the edge. He began to be afraid of the color. He tried to find shelter beneath, but could not find any. In the endless stretch of the open green forest, there was no way to hide himself. He panicked. The yellow hue expanded over the hills already. Nickolas felt the same burning sensation all over his body. It hurt so bad. He wanted to hide himself, but he had nowhere to go. He sat next to the tree and huddled himself. Tears continued streaming down his burning cheeks. He wished it was all a dream. He wished he could wake up from the bad dream and see Brian's face nearby. No. He knew that he would never wake up from this dream. It was killing him already. Nick closed his eyes for the last time. His body was burning so badly from the brightening color. "Goodbye, Brian," he softly breathed out.

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