-Caroline-
There was an ear-shattering explosion that jolted her awake, and as she rubbed the sleep from her weary eyes, she heard a few cries of what seemed like surprise and a general commotion arousing from around where the bar was. Caroline wanted to investigate, but she was tentative about it. What if all those rumors and stories that the others had deemed childish and superstitious were true? Caroline slipped on a thin shawl that didn't do much to stop the wind from reaching her bones and put a hesitant hand on the doorknob, poised to leave her house, but unwilling to. She slowly put on her shoes as the ruckus got louder and louder. It sounded like someone was...screaming? Screaming, or shouting, or something of the sort. Her heart fluttering like a hummingbird, Caroline stood there for a few more moments of indecisiveness before finally strengthening her resolve and twisting the door open.

What greeted her was far from what she expected. The racket had sounded closer than it actually was because it was just so [i]loud[/i]. She hurried towards the area of where the noise seemed to be coming from, and stood on her very tiptoes to try to catch a glimpse of the hunched figure in the middle of the circle of villagers. A familiar-looking woman seemed to be pleading with him or her, and she helped him up, escorting him into a cottage. The villagers separated and made room for the woman and the strange, cloaked figure to pass through.

As the door to the woman's house shut, the villagers started murmuring and whispering to themselves. "What was [i]that[/i]?" "Who was it?" "Could the stories be true? No...that's impossible!" "Cursed, I tell you! That godforsaken manor is cursed!"

But the one, single accusation that stuck in Caroline's mind as she ran back to the safety of her home was the most serious one of all. For as she had pushed her way out of the throng, the most repeated word had been: "Vampire!".