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A FEW MONTH had past and nowArabella strode into the village. She hadn't been there since she was an orphan. She glided her hands along the cobbled stone walls leading to the nunnery. The same one she stayed in when her parents abandoned her 400 or so years ago.
The villagers, drunkards or prostitutes around the dark alleys scurried away at the sight of her. Or perhaps it was the sight of the drooling wolf trailing behind her. She saw the nunnery in the distance and smiled with mischief. Her dark brown orbs rolled back in her head, leaving a white haze to cloud over her eyes. Her head lulled back as she stretched her hands out by her sides. Arabella summoned a colony of bats to swarm the skies above the village, all travelling to the priory. The witch and the vampire dressed in wolfskin followed their trail only to be met with a large metal gate.
The wolf stalked towards the gate, marching up and down the length of the closed entrance. Arabella leant against the wall by the convent as she walked a herd of nuns gather by the entrance, all with scared expressions.
A tall nun dressed in pale blue and white approached the gat a confident look contrasting to his sisters. "I know who you are," she spoke, her Dutch accent thick. "I've studied the legend. I am fully aware that I am addressing Count Dracula."
The black wolf propped up on the gate, staring at the sister. "The bats are a little noisy. Would you mind?" The nun yelled out the screech of the bats. The wolf turned to Arabella with a tilt of his head. Arabella nodded, twisting her hand slightly, ushering the bats to disperse. "Who is your friend?" The nun squinted her eyes in Arabella's direction, stepping the slightest bit closer to the gate.
Arabella stepped from the shadows, allowing the flickering orange hue of the flames to lick at her face. "Arabella Victoria Andrei, the pleasures all yours."
The nun gasped at her face. The shorter, plumper prioress stepped behind the taller nun, shock written all over her face. "Arabella Victoria Andrei?" The witch grinned with a nod. "H-how? The last living Andrei died in 1448 at 16, right here in this village. She had no children?"
"Your half correct, there, prioress," Arabella stepped closer, her face on full display for the nuns. "She didn't have any children, but she didn't die." The two nuns gasped at her complexion.
"She looks exactly like Arabella's portrait," the taller nun whispered, yet the quiet words reached Arabella's ear.
"Ah!" She exclaimed. "You got a portrait of me?! Can I come in and look at it?" She asked, her dopey grin as large as the crescent moon. Her pressed her face between two of the bars.
The nuns' eyes stayed wide at the girl, but the taller one directed her gaze to the wolf. "The sun is down. You don't need to hide anymore. Or are you too afraid to step from the shadows?"
