Karen in Castle Barenczy by Aletessa -- http://deviantart.com/aletessa The sky had darkened into night by the time Karen reached the short bridge that led to the castle gate. She'd kept her doubts at bay throughout her long walk up the winding forest road, but now that she was confronted by the castle itself, her heart was hammering at the thought of going any further. But she had no choice; her friend Ella had disappeared from the village, a few days before, and had neither returned nor been found. If she was still alive, and Karen refused to think otherwise, this was the only place left to look. But the villagers shunned the castle, even to the point of pretending it didn't exist; none of them would come here, which left Karen to make the journey by herself. It was empty, she told herself. The Countess Barenczy was dead, her reign of vampiric terror ended decades before Karen was born. The only things to fear in the castle were crumbling walls and w...