I strolled around the castle to exercise and do a bit of exploring. I tried to open the main door to take a walk in the courtyard, but it was locked. I tried a door to another room, but it was locked too. A third room was also locked.

A small sense of panic rose within me. I ran up the stairs and through hallways, trying every door and finding them all locked and bolted. There were no windows on the first or second floor. The few windows on the upper floors wouldn’t open.

On the south side of the third floor, I found a large window with a terrifying but fantastic view. The castle was built on the edge of a giant cliff. Three sides of the castle looked down onto an abyss that seemed to me to be 1000 feet deep. Beyond the castle were green trees as far as the eye could see. Occasionally a deep chasm or river cut through the forest.

I quietly sat down on the stairs and tried to calm my racing heartbeat. My face and body were covered in sweat and I wiped my wet palms on my pants. I gathered my thoughts. Clearly, I was a prisoner in this house and the Count has done it himself. Even if I did escape from the castle, the woods were filled with wolves. It wouldn’t be any use telling Blackula that I knew this. I didn’t know his motives and he would only deceive me. I had to continue acting completely normal.

I heard a door shut below and knew that the count had awaken. I crept in the hallway and peeped into my room. He was making my bed and changing my bedsheets. He then went downstairs. Through the spaces in between the door and the wall frame, I saw him set up the breakfast-dinner spread in the dining room. If a nobleman like the count was doing these menial tasks, then this confirmed that he and I were the only people in the entire castle.