Dracula Hearts of Fire Book two of Dracula Hearts
CHAPTER TWENTY

LAUREN HEARD SOMEONE OUTSIDE on the steps and strained her neck to see who was approaching; she desperately hoped it was someone coming to her rescue. The sheriff wondered if hearing Michael’s voice had been genuine or some hallucination. Whatever was out there sounded too heavy to be human. Then she saw it. It was a white Arabian horse on the porch. It seemed to be eating something, but she was limited in seeing through the crack in the curtains. The animal had the potential to be her rescuer, unlikely, but at least the possibility existed; if she could only mind the horse and make it smash through the window and knock her out of that coffin.

“Turn this way.” She called to the horse, but it was too late. Jumping off the steps, it trotted by; it was out of sight taking care of its own business in no time. Her potential hero had turned out to be an indifferent horse.

Lauren didn’t know how long she had been trapped in the coffin; she thought it had only been a couple of hours but wasn’t sure. If her situation wasn’t bad enough, now she had a headache. She turned her head and looked at the hourglass as it flowed. The wizard that had kidnapped her had started it but for what purpose? At the rate it was pouring, it seemed likely that nothing good would happen when the sand emptied. Then, she recalled the story she had heard long ago, how a wizard would use some magical sand. Once the sand ran out, it would extract all the properties of a vampire, which would be contained in the hourglass to enhance a wizard’s ability. She also remembered that it was a sneaky way to do it because the wizard wouldn’t return for days, lessening his chance of being caught or identified, for that matter. It looked like she had maybe twenty minutes remaining.

“If only I could move!”

It appeared that her chances of escape were minuscule at best. Time and luck were both against her. If the end came at the hands of some coward that didn’t have the guts to face her. She would go to bones without even having the opportunity to defend herself. Lauren would never know who did her in unless she could come back as a ghost and kick his ass.

Grains of sand continued to fall, with a slight mist commencing to form inside the hourglass.

Again she concentrated with all she had in her to move her right leg so she could kick her way out of that contraption. She thought that she felt her right toe move. Perhaps the binding spell was wearing off, but she was scared it wouldn’t be in time to save her. It appeared that maybe ten minutes were remaining. Once her essence was sucked out, she would turn to bones within minutes. She wondered if the end would be painful. A clunk at the bottom of the window took her attention. The horse was again outside. It was playing with a small tire, tossing it around. It picked up the tire and threw it, and again it was gone, and because the crack in the curtains was small, it was almost impossible to make eye contact with the horse. She was unable to get into its mind.

Time was flowing way too fast. The hourglass now had less than five minutes remaining. A degree of panic had set in, and beads of sweat ran down her face making her itchy, and of course, she couldn’t scratch it. In a panic, she attempted to bang her head and break the coffin open, but it didn’t work; all she accomplished by the act was to worsen her headache. The mist was now drawing towards her, preparing the commencement of its evil incantation.

She could move all her toes at four minutes, but it did her no good. By the time she could move her legs and free herself, she’d have been bones for hours. Hope was a precious thing; without it, all was lost. Without it, a person didn’t even have the desire to continue. With it, the possibilities for the future were endless. Lauren now had no hope.

Outside, the white Arabian ran with the tire and tossed it. The tire bounced and rolled down the incline, and he chased it, moving further away from the ranch house. The animal was like a child with a toy. He caught up to the tire and tried to bite it but missed. The horse then stopped and listened. He could hear Lauren calling him in his mind, but he didn’t know her and refused to go. The tire fell on its side, grabbing his attention, and again the horse took after it.

With about three minutes of sand remaining, Lauren wanted to stop staring at the grains of sand counting down the seconds of her life, but she couldn’t. It was like looking at a train heading straight for a car stuck on the tracks. Looking away was impossible. Grain after grain continued to fall, and it was maddening. She thought that if she had any magic in her, she could perhaps reverse the flow of the sand by willing it. She concentrated on its reversal, visualized it, and commanded it, but nothing happened. There was no stopping the sand from flowing.

Lauren was waiting for the guillotine to fall.

When approximately two minutes of sand remained, she recalled different moments in her life. How she had been involved with drugs and how she had gotten herself out of it. She remembered how she had always been for the underdog, even in grade school. She envisioned her two past loves before Michael and how they had cheated on her; one had been a vampire. She closed her eyes and remembered the best times of her life. The situation was surreal and unforgiving.

“Oh, Michael.”