Deep in the earth I lay awake listening to the footsteps of the passing guards. Luc had taken me to bed then called the doctor to redo my IV blood transfusion, which hung from my side dripping nourishing blood into my veins. The sickness was awful and the doctor assured me that although it was rare it should soon pass. After that Luc had seen the doctor out and locked the door behind him. Then he lay down next to me and quickly fell asleep.

I wish I could say the same. There was much to think about but little to do. I was trapped in the palace garrison surrounded by guards and medical staff all under the King's command. Louis wanted my baby for his heir and I had to somehow thwart him, one of the most powerful vampires in the world. I thought about including Luc but given his fragile mental state and less than warm relationship with his brother, I could not risk involving him. Luc would inevitably challenge Louis, and Louis would most likely have Luc either locked away like Casper or more likely killed.

So here I lie staring up at the ceiling not knowing what the hell to do, while Luc sleeps next to me in blissful ignorance about the almighty hell that is unravelling before us. It made me hate him a little- he gets to sleep like a baby while I have to lie here wide awake thinking of ways to keep me, him and out baby safe.

My hands slipped down to my stomach and I imagined my little baby inside me safe and sound, and completely oblivious to the utter chaos it was causing out here in the big wide world. Stroking my stomach I silently promised that I would never allow Louis to get his hands on them and subject them to the same isolated and lonely childhood Luc had to endure.

'I promise I will keep you safe.' I swore quietly to my unborn baby under my breath.

"Are you awake?" Luc murmured sleepily.

"Yes, I was just getting up to go to the bathroom." I lied.

"Do you want me to carry you to the bathroom? I can help you out if you need me to." He asked lifting his head off the pillow to look at me with one sleepy eye.

"I can manage." I said kicking the blankets off me and swinging my legs over the bed.

With one hand I took the metal drip stand and pulled myself up. My legs were wobbly, my empty stomach was churning, and my head was spinning. It felt stupid to be walking about in this condition but I had laid in the bed for the past five hours staring up at that ceiling and I needed change of scenery or I would go mad.

Pulling the drip stand with me I walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I found the light switch and flicked it on. Bright light hit my eyes nearly blinding me and covered my eyes with my arm waiting for my vision to adjust. As I waited I noticed that the bathroom was cold- strangely cold.

No, no, no...no more ghosts. This was not going to happen again. I turned to reach for the door handle and let myself out but the light overhead flickered then went out. I was plunged into darkness and I heard the ragged breathing of someone in front of me.

"LUC!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and grabbed onto the door handle.

"Mia!" Luc roared from somewhere in the bedroom.

I frantically twisted the bathroom door handle and found it would not move. I pounded against the door and heard Luc on the other side of the door swearing as he tried to pull the door open. Behind me I heard a strange gurgling noise and then a feminine voice call, 'Mia..'

"Leave me alone!" I screamed.

"Mia!" Luc yelled, and he began hurling himself against the door to break it down.

"Help me Luc," I sobbed as the temperature in the room continued to drop.

"Stand back away from the door," Luc ordered.

I stepped back and felt an icy fingers suddenly bite into the skin of my forearm. I screamed loudly and felt the IV being ripped out of my arm. The drip stand was then torn from my hand and sent flying across the room where it hit the mirrored wall and clattered loudly to ground along with fragments of broken mirror.

The door trembled and shook in its frame as Luc continued to batter it but astonishingly Luc with all his vampire strength could not make it budge an inch. It seemed impossible when I had seen Luc break down so many doors in the past. This door was a plain wooden door yet for some reason it appeared to be made out of reinforced steel.

Luc slammed against it again and then suddenly the bathroom light flickered back on. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was only myself standing in the bathroom. The metal drip stand was on the far side of the room twisted and bent and surrounded by shattered mirror, while the blood bag had been torn open and sprayed across the room. The bathroom was a scene of chaos but there was not a ghostly figure in sight.

Luc continued to pound against the door and I calmly said, "Wait a moment Luc, the light has come on and I can see."

I glanced around taking in the damage and wondered how I was going to explain this one. Luc pounded on the door, "What the hell is happening in there!" he demanded.

"I don't know, the light went out and I got spooked when the door wouldn't open... perhaps you could go and find someone to help you open the door." I said calmly.

"Fuck that Mia, I am going to punch a hole through the wall if I can't get door open in the next ten seconds." Luc said.

"It's okay- I will be fine, just go and fetch someone." I replied.

"No-I won't leave you." Luc said.

I opened my mouth to reply but heard gentle tinkling sounds behind me, like tiny pieces of glass knocking into each other. I turned slowly around and saw hundreds of tiny sharp and jagged fragments of mirror rising up from the bathroom floor and floating in mid-air.

"Luc." I breathed uneasily.

"Mia." Luc replied anxiously.

"Oh God," I managed to say as the first piece of glass went flying across the bathroom and past my ear into the door behind me.

"What the hell was that?" Luc asked.

And before I could reply I felt a warm wetness running down my cheek. I reached up and with trembling fingers touched the wetness and felt the gash in my cheek. I exhaled raggedly as I realized fragment of glass had actually nicked me as it flew past.

I looked up at the other hundred shards still in front of me, still floating in mid-air. There was a moment of frozen horror, a calm before the storm, then all hell broke loose. The shards, every single one of them charged at me. It happened so quickly at first all I could hear was noise, hundreds of tiny whistling sounds and thuds as the glass embedded itself on the walls behind me. I didn't register the pain of the glass grazing and slicing and tearing into my skin. It was only when the whole attack was over in a matter of seconds did I realise the damage.

I looked down at my body and saw the blood pouring from me and pooling around my feet. I felt light headed, and suddenly my knees gave out under me. I collapsed onto the floor, sliding in my own blood. Luc was yelling and hollering outside, but I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. In fact I had forgotten what he was so upset about in the first place.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. The bright light above me was fading into darkness and I could feel my own life fading away...