I was lost in my thoughts the entire tour, observing the beautiful countryside through the many windows of the impressive halls, watching as the evening descended slowly, then morphed fast into night.
It was dark outside when we reached the Entry Hall where our tour had started again. Now it was illuminated by many candles.
The guide said his goodbye to our little group, and I saw my friends strolling across the courtyard towards a little bus, which would take us back to the hotel. We were not supposed to walk down, after dark.
Before I followed them, I looked around one last time, and noticed 'Vlad' vanishing inside one of the rooms down a corridor that had been cordoned off. Something made me follow him, and as soon as I made for that dark corridor, the heavy front door closed with a loud thud on its own, making me jump. The candles were blown out and I was left alone, surrounded by a perfect blackness. The only, faint light was coming from the room I saw the guide entering before.
I reached it, and walked over its threshold, but my feet failed to find a solid ground. I was flying through a long, lightless tunnel, or rather, falling down a deep well. When I landed, I noticed with a shock that everything had changed.
I was in the same spot as before, I could still see the closed front door. But this was a different time, a wrong century.
My clothes were strange-- my jeans and a jacket were replaced by a floor-length, burgundy coloured velvet dress. Its sleeves were really wide and incredibly long, sweeping the floor whenever I moved. Even my long, curly, copper hair, which I usually wore loose, was tied up in a bun protected by a kind of a hair net I could feel under my exploring fingers, and topped by a short, transparent veil, brushing against my cheeks like dragonfly wings.
The light I could see before was getting stronger, and I could hear loud music coming from the room in front of me, too.
Collecting all my remaining courage I walked over that threshold again, bracing myself for another fall.
This time, I didn't fall. I walked inside, I was sure about it, a living Renaissance painting.
There were people dancing everywhere, all dressed in the same fashion as me. When they noticed me, they pulled me among them. I was pushed from one laughing dancer to another. After a while, all I could see around me were those red, smiling lips. I felt confused and even scared, they were crowding me...
Then I heard a familiar voice, so sweet to my ears.
"Disperse! She is mine!"
"It's you..." I whispered, once we were alone.
"And you, Samara...why did you follow me, my love? It's not safe here for you." Vlad whispered, embracing me.
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