This part of the castle didn’t resemble the elegance or lavishness that the other areas did. She couldn’t figure out why Matilda was dragging her down this hallway, which resembled a dingy dormitory. They passed door after door and as she peered inside she saw twin sized beds with metal frames around them. Each room was identical to the next. A group of people passed them in the hallway—they looked to be in their thirties or forties but she couldn’t really tell. All she knew was that they were older than she was. She felt alone and longed for the days at AHS and with her family. She felt her eyes begin to swell up with tears as Matilda pointed to a room at the far end of the hallway.

“This is your room. Welcome home,” Matilda said, smirking.

Rachel held in her emotions and walked inside. The smell of the room was anything but fresh, and the walls were painted a deep rust color. She could hardly bare to look at it. There was one window that was covered with a black and white paisley tapestry.

“I’m going to leave you now,” Matilda said as she turned to walk out.

Rachel had no words to express what she was feeling inside, but managed to say, “Fine, will I see you soon?”

“Most likely you will see me tomorrow. It all depends how quickly this war breaks into full force and if they need me elsewhere. If I don’t meet you after practice, you know I have fled the castle.”

“Well, where will I find you if you leave?” Rachel asked, scared.

“I can’t say, and to be honest, I don’t have an answer for you. My location can change like the wind, and at any given moment, my coordinates could change if my powers are needed somewhere else. It’s not definite I’m leaving, but I wanted to give you a heads up. You will be fine here. Keep up with the training sessions and you will survive.”

Feeling a bit overwhelmed and panicked, Rachel said, “Ok. Well, I hope to see you again tomorrow. And maybe you will know more about where your brother is and when I will see him again. I pray that you will have more information.”

“Perhaps,” Matilda said as she turned to walk out the door. “Goodbye, Rachel.”

The door creaked shut behind her and Rachel stood there, feeling alone and scared. The tears that had been swelling up suddenly came streaming down her face and she started hysterically crying. She walked over to her bed and put her face in the pillow and sobbed. She hated this place and wished she had never asked to be turned. She knew this was all a big mistake.

Then, she bolted up and started rummaging around her room for some paper. She cobbled together some scraps she found in the bottom of the small closet and bound them together with a piece of old rusted wire she found sticking out of her bed frame. She knew writing always consoled her, so she began to write in her makeshift diary.

Dear Diary,

I am lost here. I am stuck in this castle, and I have no idea where I am. I have no friends, no family and now, these people are telling me they are my new family and that this is my home. I feel completely disconnected. I want to run away but was warned if I do that, I’ll surely die. I can’t take this anymore. Benji is not here and I’m sitting in this room all alone. I have no idea what day it is or how long I’ve been here. If only someone could tell me and give me some guidance, but everyone here is either too busy, or doesn’t have answers.

They say I am not human too. It’s weird because part of me still feels human. I know that this training session will help me understand what it means to be a vampire, but I am doubtful I will ever fit in here. I don’t want to fit in here. I want to go home. Please God, please take me back home. Please say this is all a bad dream. I will do anything. I promise. Just please make this end.

XOXO,

Rachel

With that, she lay down, feeling exhausted from the day and went to sleep, hoping that when she woke up in the morning it would be in her house at 42 Pine Road.

Chapter Five

The doorbell rang and Rachel’s dad, John, ran to see who it was. His body was on edge from all the commotion with his youngest daughter missing. He and his wife, Betsy, hadn’t felt this worried or scared in a long time and now, hopefully, the person at the door would have the missing link in the case.

RING.

The doorbell rang again as he ran down the stairs in his bathrobe. He quickly peered out of the window and saw three police officers standing on his stoop, a sight he had unfortunately grown accustomed to since they had moved in just over a month ago. He reached for the knob and swung the door open.

“Who is it?” Betsy yelled down from the bedroom.

“It’s the police, you should come down!” he exclaimed.

As he opened the door he looked at the faces of the cops that were staring blankly back at him.

“Any news? Please say you found her,” he asked, looking up towards the sky as if saying a prayer.

The cops looked at each other and then back at him, “Unfortunately, sir, we don’t have anything new to report to you. We don’t have your daughter – yet.”

“Please! Someone find her!” Betsy’s voice cried through the doorway.

“Did they find her?” Rachel’s sister, Sarah said as she came barreling towards the front door.

“No, we do not have your sister,” the police stated again.

“Is there any way to track her down?” John asked, hopeful.

“We have traced her cell phone records and know where she was right before her phone went dead. She had been sending text messages, to you I think?” the police officer said, looking at Sarah.

“Me?” Sarah said, looking down at her phone. “I haven’t gotten a text from her?”

“Well, maybe it was someone else. We are not positive, but the signal was sent in this location.”

“Do you know anything, darling?” Betsy said, looking at Sarah.

“Mom, I already told you. She was going to meet that guy, Benji. That’s all I know.”

John grumbled. “I wish she’d never laid eyes on that kid. He’s caused us nothing but trouble and aggravation.”

“There’s one thing we may be able to do, to bring us closer to finding your daughter,” the police said, looking at the family.

“What? Anything?” cried John.

“Please,” said Betsy. “Anything to have our daughter back in our arms.”

“We can ride out to Lyndvia Castle. The place where we traced her calls from. Do you think you would want to do that?”

“Yes! When?” John asked back quickly.

“We can head over there now. There are troops over there, assessing the grounds for safety.”

“John, go thrown on some clothes, I’ll start the car,” Betsy said.

“Why don’t you follow us? We will meet you outside as soon as you’re ready, Sir,” the police said.

John shut the door and ran upstairs. “Get ready, you two, I’ll meet you in the car in one minute.”

He scurried to get his clothes on and then came running back downstairs and into the garage. He hopped in the driver seat as Betsy and Sarah sat there anxiously waiting. The mood was tense and silent. John backed the car up and almost drove right through the closed garage door before he realized he had forgot to open it.

The two cars followed each other down the street and onto the highway. John had never been to Lyndvia Castle or ever heard of it, for that matter. He was not one to go exploring in ancient old homes or castles. He was much more content sitting on his sofa, watching sports, or having a BBQ in his backyard.

The drive felt like it was taking forever. Turn after turn and then, down a gravel dirt road, the dust flying high into the sky as the two cars drove quickly through. Out of his windshield, he saw the police put their right blinker on, signaling that they were pulling over. He followed them, and pulled his car behind theirs on the bumpy shoulder of the street.

Looking out the window he saw nothing but an overgrown gate and large stone wall. He wondered how they were going to get through, then saw an opening, where the police were squeezing through. Inside, was a large castle, with yellow police tape surrounding the perimeter, which read CAUTION.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. He felt like he was walking into a major crime scene. All around him were police men, FBI agents, HAZMAT workers in gas masks and protective gear scrubbing what looked to him to be blood off the façade of the castle as well as the castle grounds. He heard the sound of scrubbing which rang loudly in his ears. He also heard the voices of the police yelling from one end of the property to the other with various clues, artifacts and information. He couldn’t make sense of what they were saying because it sounded like they were speaking some foreign language, or speaking in “police codes.”

“Stay close,” John whispered, as he summoned Betsy and Sarah closer to him. “This is no place to wander off. We need to stick together. Keep your eyes peeled for anything that could possibly lead us to Rachel.”

“Sir, this is the location at which your daughter was last traced through her cell phone,” the police stated again, looking back at John. “I’m sorry to bring you and your family here, to see all this, but you may be able to help us identify some clues. We will walk the grounds and the inside together.”

All of a sudden he heard Betsy break out into tears and then start screaming, “How did this happen? How could we let our little girl get into this mess?”

“We didn’t know,” John replied, trying to clam her down, but she was inconsolable.

“This is all our fault. We are terrible parents!” Betsy cried.

“Guys, come on, pull it together, this is not the time to freak out. We don’t have much time here and we need to focus on finding clues,” Sarah said, trying to be the voice of reason. “None of this is your fault. If anything, it’s mine. I knew she was going to meet Benji that day, but I had no idea she was coming here, to this place. None of us could have stopped her.”

The police continued walking and John knew this was no time to debate what had already happened. He knew he had to put his emotions aside, and get to the bottom of this.