Beyond Time

From One Lion's Den To Another

When I stepped through the door that was supposed to lead through my house's living room, I felt a resistance and instead the scenery changed. I walked into a place I didn't know—a place that had the aura of a castle embedded into its walls. The door closed with a gust of cold air, and try as I might, I couldn't open it. It seemed to have sealed itself shut. Abandoning my attempts to get it open, I headed down the hallway.

I stopped outside a room, hearing voices from within. Taking the risk of being seen, I glanced into the room and pulled back immediately—three faces carved within my mind. One who had moon-kissed hair, one with glasses and spiky blue hair, and someone else with pink hair, and a smile remnant of a Cheshire cat. I stood outside the room, but it wasn't long before someone called out, "Who are you?" My heart froze in my chest for a second, but I stepped into view, standing at the door.

Both the blue-haired and the pink-haired looked at me, but the silver-haired didn't, and it was this that told me he was the one who had called me out. "I wandered in through the door. Could you please lead me out?"

"But why would we do that?" said the blue-haired man, his eyes holding a challenge in them.

"Faust," chastised the silver hair.

Faust looked at him from the corner of his eyes, and then the full force of his gaze landed on me. "She'd be a nice lab rat."

I shivered involuntarily, unable to look away. The temperature of the room dropped and I was rooted to the spot, staring at the slight curve of his smile that spoke of the unspeakable.

Cheshire cat tilted his head. "I thought it'd be nice to take some of her blood. Drinking from bottles has become tiring." His eyes flashed. "She smells rather sweet."

Back up. He wanted to do what?

The silver-haired man stood to face me, and his eyes were blood-red. "Your name?"

"Aylin Lisha," I muttered.

He looked amused. "Aylin. Moon halo." He tilted his head. "Not to mention your eyes. Mismatched like someone else I know."

I covered my eyes with my hand reflexively, before setting it down again.

"Blue and silver," mused Faust, a hand on his chin. "An interesting combination."

Silver hair's eyes flashed as I looked back to him. I gestured to him, and he understood. "I'm Vlad."

"Charles Henri-Sanson," said the Cheshire cat, still grinning the grin that made me give him that name.

"Johann Georg Faust," said Faust, expression unchanging. He still looked like he was wondering what experiments would be fun to do on me. "How did you come to be here?"

"I wandered in through the door," I said, pointing back at the way I'd come from.

"The one at the end of a hall?"

I nodded. Faust and Charles shared a look.

"A girl lost in time," offered Faust.

"And straight into a vampire's nest at that," Charles added, mirth dancing in his voice.

"Excuse me?"

Vlad smiled, and the blood-red of his eyes stood out more than ever. I thought I could see fangs peeking out from his teeth. I shook my head, bewildered, and the image faded. What had Charles said? He was tired of drinking blood from bottles?

"Lord Voivode, what do we do with her?" asked Charles, as he stood up.

I didn't stop to hear my death sentence. I bolted down the corridor, leaving dust in my wake as I disappeared from their sights.