Deep in the mountains of Romania stood the Nicolescu castle. It was an impressive mansion, ruled for centuries by one of the most powerful families in the country. Villagers in the surrounding towns knew of the castle's existence, but fear of its ruler the Count prevented anyone from ever attempting to find it. Very few would even dare to brave the dangers hidden inside the forest itself, such as the fox who served as the castle's guardian and protector.

Gerrit, a gray fox with black-tipped ears and feet and a white underbelly, patrolled the dark forests surrounding the castle at that very moment and had just returned home from a successful hunt, carrying a dead rabbit in his mouth. With a contented sigh Gerrit laid down by the castle wall and enjoyed his meal.

However a few minutes later Gerrit's sensitive ears perked up when he heard a noise and he paused as he saw a lone mouse approaching the castle gates. When Gerrit recognized the long black hair and gray fur he yelped happily and jumped up to greet his friend.

The fox trotted up to the mouse eagerly wagging his tail, but a few feet away he froze in his tracks. From a distance it was easy to mistake the mouse for his friend, but this mouse's scent was different from the Count's. It was indeed a vampire he recognized, but it was one with whom he did not get along with well at all, and Gerrit was angry that he had almost been tricked and that his meal had been interrupted.

Gerrit lowered his head with ears laid back flat and growled, but the mouse paid no heed to the warning and kept walking, ignoring the fox. As the mouse walked by Gerrit crouched down and growled louder looking ready to pounce on him. However that didn't phase the mouse; instead he bared his own fangs and hissed back. The fur on Gerrit's back stood on end and he glared at the gray mouse with his yellow eyes, but decided this imposter wasn't worth his time. Giving one last snarl Gerrit snatched up the remnants of his kill and bounded away back into the forest.

"Fandens køter," the mouse muttered under his breath as he went inside the castle. As he entered the foyer he removed his coat and tossed it at the nearest servant before storming off through the hallways toward his chambers.

"Welcome home," a voice said from behind him, and he turned to see another mouse leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. It was another vampire like himself, the Count and Master of this castle. The other mouse ignored him, being in an irate mood he wasn't in the mood for idle chitchat. "Tired, brother dear? I told you to take Gerrit," the Count tutted almost scolding. "He is a much swifter means of travel than hiking through the forest on foot."

"I'd rather walk," the other mouse replied with a grimace. "I don't like him, and he doesn't like me." He removed the ribbon holding his hair back and let it fall down his shoulders. Normally he kept it cut short but for the last few weeks he'd let it grow long per the Count's request. As the two faced each other now they looked like nearly identical mirror images, both with gray fur and long raven black locks.

"The new look suits you," the Count chuckled. "You look as perfect as me."

"And the last thing I want to look like is a princess," the first mouse retorted irately as he loosened the cravat around his neck. "I'm getting tired of this stupid charade, Stefan..."

"It's Fane," the other snapped, but recovered quickly and smirked in amusement. "And it's only for a little longer," Fane added putting his hand on the other mouse's shoulder. "You are my eyes and ears, Lars. Although I can do many things, unfortunately I cannot be in two places at once. Therefore I need you to act in my stead."

Lars rolled his eyes and swatted Fane's hand away. "You mean you need me to do all the dirty work while you sit here in hiding."

"I've been occupied with more pressing matters," Fane replied with a brief warning glare. "This ordeal of translating Azu Vithel seemed more difficult than I first imagined; but thanks to our witch we're at least making progress."

"Speaking of that, how is our little witchy friend? I can always help loosen his tongue a bit more if need be," Lars smirked evilly.

"That won't be necessary," Fane smiled in amusement. "He has finally learned his place and is in the palm of my hand; he will do anything just to avoid more pain and suffering. And now that we have his full cooperation, I anticipate that he'll give me the answers I seek soon. However, I do require your services in another matter should you be interested."

"Ugh, I'm not your errand boy, you know," Lars groaned. "I do have better ways to spend my time."

"Such as exterminating the family you're so obsessed with?" Fane chuckled teasingly. "It's taken this long and you still haven't killed them all yet. Three hundred years..."

Lars scowled. "I killed the ones in Germany, so all that is left live in Denmark. Only two left, Stefan," Lars said holding up two fingers, "so my work is nearly done. I've almost exterminated an entire bloodline; yet you couldn't even kill one simple detective."

Lars smirked as the Count glared at him angrily and the two locked eyes for a moment. They were not family but they had shared blood when Fane turned Lars all those years ago, making them blood brothers; however, the two alpha males clashed often. The Danish vampire had proven useful to Fane over the centuries, but Lars knew exactly how to push Fane's buttons and try his patience. At times Fane was close to kill him just to shut him up, but for now he was still useful and Fane needed him around just a little while longer.

"That will be rectified soon enough," Fane finally growled, deciding to push it aside for now. He turned to the window and gazed outside into the night. "All of the pieces are falling into place, so my game of revenge can finally begin."

Lars smiled knowingly as the scar over his eye glowed faintly. "Let me guess… you want me to return to London?"

Fane felt his skin crawl as Lars used his powers to see his motives, but he tried to ignore it and smiled darkly. "It's time we pay another visit to our little doppelganger."

Next installment of the Echoes series (or "Echoes 4" as I will be nicknaming it). Short prologue but just enough to set up for what's to come I guess ^^

Some explanations:
-Technically Lars is not related to Fane; he's not a Nicolescu, nor is he even Romanian as Fane is. But, Lars was the first person that Fane ever turned into a vampire, and when they shared blood they considered themselves to be "blood brothers." Even so, they still clash as two alpha males normally would. But like everyone else Fane comes into contact with, he has ways of manipulating people and Lars is no exception. But you'll learn more about that later ;)

-The curse Lars is working on...? Well you'll learn more about that later too.

-Also Lars hates dogs of any kind, which is why he dislikes Gerrit so much.

-"Azu Vithel" and the witch they refer to is Dominique Flagrantia, whose story you can read about here in "Echoes of Fear"

So I know you may have a lot of questions but I promise all will be revealed in time ^^ I'm very very excited about "Echoes 4" and I hope I can get it updated faster than previous fics and I hope you enjoy it too 3

And here's a handy little list of the series in chronological order:
"Echoes of Memory" (Prologue of the series) (Not completed yet)
"Echoes in the Night" (Echoes 1) (May possibly be re-written in the future because I've changed Amber's origins)
"Echoes in my Mind" (Echoes 2)
"Echoes of Fear"(Echoes 3)
And now you are reading "Echoes of the Past" (Echoes 4)

Also, please check out Damien's story, which you can read in Mimmime's dA gallery. Damien is a huge part of Fane's life, so in order to get a better understanding of them it would help to read that as well ^^ Plus it is a wonderfully written story and one of my favorites ever 3 Just be sure to bring tissues as it is also heartbreaking D:

Lars and Gerrit (c)NightMagicanFane cel Rau (c)Me