Chapter 1: Chapter 1 - Hello Annalise

I probably should have some felt some form of fear as the man in front of me continued to bend over me with his hands pressed against my palms. He had two subtle fangs that he kept trying to hide with a smirk and what most would likely consider an unreadable expression on his face. But his eyes betrayed him. Even in my inexperienced state I knew, this man wanted me.

My brain was still barely able to process where I was or what was happening. I was wearing what appeared to be a very fancy red dress and pressed on my back in an even fancier room. I figured I must be on the bed given the tall bed posts next to me. But that still didn’t explain how or why I had ended up here.

And then the man on top of me said it. His eyes for just a brief moment turned to concern as he murmured, “is something the matter Annalise?”

I could barely hide my surprise, “Annalise?” The name of the heroine of the last dark romance novel I had read. The titular female lead who uses her wits to stay alive in the castle of a multiple thousand year old vampire while awaiting her eventual savior: the great Frederick. I could barely remember the plot because I had only been half paying attention anyways. After-all I read the thing at the recommendation of a friend. I felt guilty not giving her a review, but it wasn’t my usual cup of tea. What I did know is that Annalise somehow managed to seduce the vampire: Victor, while battling various obstacles. She only has to hold him off for a little while before the real hero, Frederick, arrives to save her. Of all the novels to fall into this one probably had the most conventional and easy plots to prevail within. But there was just one issue: the last time I’d even kissed someone was a peck with my high school crush before we were both spirited away to college across the country from each other. I was now 30 and besides 4 particularly bad dates, had no idea how to even talk to a man like that, let alone seduce him.

There was also the problem of how I’d even gotten here. “Oh no did I die?” I yelped.

Victor looked moderately offended at this.  I remembered falling before I’d woken up here under him. I must have hit my head. I guessed I just needed to stay alive until Fred showed up. Hopefully then I’d be back to my usual nerdy self instead of the voluptuous 20 something year old Annalise in her beauty and the beast situation here with Victor.

“Annalise how dare you suggest that I…” Victor started.

But I cut him off, “of happiness?”

“What?” he asked. His confusion was palpable.

“Did I die of happiness?” I replied.

His face looked flat as he continued to analyze my features. I responded by  staring at him with as flat of an expression as I could make, when another intrusive thought crossed my mind. He looked, very tall dark and… Well he didn’t look Eastern European as I’d originally pictured. In fact he could almost have fit in with my neighborhood back home. I probably shouldn’t have said it, “you look a lot different than I imagined.”

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“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean I expected you to look more Transylvanian in my head,” I said. My common gripe with seeing my favorite books on film was suddenly betraying me. I almost always pictured people differently than they were cast.

“More so this moment?” he asked, he sounded very confused. “Have you not gazed upon my face before?” he replied.

“Not like this,” I replied.

Victor pushed himself back to a stand, allowing me to sit up. He stood there staring at me as I placed my palms on either side of me on the bed. It did feel like a fancy bed. I was definitely in the room he kept the heroine in during the duration of the novel. If I remembered correctly this was supposed to end up with fervently kissing my bosom before I, I mean Annalise, somehow convinced him she was too frail or sick or something to continue at this moment. However she managed to do it, he opted to not sink his teeth into her jugular. Which was really all I cared about at this moment.

“Are you feeling unwell Annalise?” Victor asked.

Now we were back on script. Except that I couldn’t remember what my lines were supposed to be at all. I cursed myself for not reading more intensively and went for honesty, “I’m uh, working through some stuff in my head.”

“I’ll take my leave of you for now then,” he said, at least he was still on script, “rest up so that I may return to you.” I felt him bend down to take my hand. He was supposed to kiss it and then my lips.

My mind was racing back to my first kiss. What did I even do? What was I supposed to do? Stick my tongue into his mouth? Mine had been so innocent and sweet. Really just a teenage peck between two people who’d clearly lusted after each other for a long time before they’d finally gotten it out in a last minute confession. Sure we’d written letters to one another and tried to stay in touch, but at some point or another we fell out of communication and I never heard from him again. I’d been so busy trying to get into medical school I hadn’t even thought to look him up again. And given that training and the apprenticeship known as residency in my country took infinite years, I really hadn’t even thought of the kiss much since.

Victor was still holding my hand as my mind finally stopped wandering. I felt him kiss my hand as he moved in to cup my face. The way he held his hand did kind of feel like my first time fortunately. Was I supposed to pucker? I felt like a dead fish. But his lips never made the final connection. I could feel him breathing deeply as he moved his head away and dropped the hand.

I would have been disappointed had the look of complete befuddlement not been plastered upon his face. He looked so out of character I couldn’t help but giggle. He offered a weak smile as he bowed and began to leave the room.

I could hear him veer off script from the doorway, “something seems different about her.” It was strange that I could hear him whisper so loudly, was almost like I could hear his thoughts, “I hope this is a good thing.”

He clicked his heels as he passed back down the stone hallway. I forced myself to regain my bearings as I hunted for a mirror or something to stare into in that ornately decorated lavish room prison. I was surprised to see nothing before I remembered who my captor was. “Right, no mirrors,” I mumbled.

I flopped back on the bed as I felt myself finally release the tension in my palms. I hadn’t even known how much I was on edge until I was sure he was gone. I had to make it into Frederick got here. And there was a war raging and at least one house raid between now and then. I grit my teeth as I tried to force myself to recall at least some of the dialogue. I didn’t even have to let my mind go there to know the truth of my situation: I was in trouble. I didn’t need a crystal ball to foreshadow how this was going to go. I had no idea how to seduce this sex pot god vampire, and even then I knew I had no idea just how much more trouble I was about to be in for. But something told me my very own personal Isekai was about to be a much more wild ride than I could ever have imagined.