The voice was calling again. It slid through the air, streamlined, drifting on the wind.

Agnes...

Agnes Nitt sat bolt upright in bed. It wasn't the first time she had heard her name called in the night, by a disturbingly familiar voice. She would never be able to sleep now. She swung her legs out of bed and made her way to the kitchen.

Agnes didn't get angry, not often. But she did get exasperated. Ever since Escrow she had felt...restless. Life in Lancre had lost whatever appeal it used to have. Recently the voice had been whispering to her, luring her away. She knew who was speaking to her. What she didn't know was how to get him to leave her alone. Or if she wanted him to.

Agnes...

'Stop it.'

But you don't want me to...

'Yes I do!'

Don't lie. Come to the gorge...

Perdita wanted desperately to go. So did Agnes. One way or another it would sort things out. She grabbed her long black witching cloak, hurriedly shrouding herself in its soft, familiar folds, before striding out.

It was colder than she had expected. Lancre winters did not hold back. She forced herself to moderate her pace. She was not desperate to see him. She really wasn't. Yes you are added Perdita. It comes to something when you tell yourself to shut up.

The gorge wasn't far away and memories from a time not too long ago assailed her until she glimpsed a tall figure gazing into the depths of the gorge. Thanks to Perdita her steps did not falter.

He turned. Moonlight suited him, she knew that much. Just as well considering...

'Agnes.' Suddenly he was right in front of her. 'It's been too long.'

'Granny will kill you.'

'Why? You won't mention it. Not to her.'

Agnes sighed. Vlad had an unerring ability to know her better than she knew herself.

'Stop it.' He was playing with the hair at the nape of her neck. Necks were not an area she wished to broach with a vampire.

'Again, why?' He leant down to whisper in her ear, 'you love it really.'

Agnes shook herself.

'I don't even know why I'm here.' Her frustration tore through the sentence.

'You're here because I'm everything you wish for in the dark hours of the night. Every time you wake alone you think of me. Admit it.'

Agnes was speechless. The sheer arrogance...he's right Perdita screamed.

'You're miserable...and stunning,' Vlad was whispering again, 'and you know I could transform that misery.'

She took a step backwards. Her mind was chaos. She had quite a few ideas about what she wanted-and why she shouldn't have it.

'I'm not miserable. At least I don't have to farm the local population.'

He sighed. 'Escrow was just an experiment, you know that. Father was rather misguided admittedly, but no harm done.'

'The mayor was killed.'

'So were several vampires. I find it is best not to consider past morals. The future is full of promise, the past is full of ash and the present teeters between the two.'

I know that, thought Agnes. And whatever happens the happy ending is never mine and I end up back in Lancre. Witching no less. The black is fine, so is the job come to that. But why don't I take the chances to do what I want instead of what's right?

'If the past means so little why are we here? At the gorge-'

'-where we spent that perfect time together?' The smile was back. 'I said the past was useless only in comparison to the future. I have made my feelings for you clear before.'

'You have. But you don't understand humans. Or witches. You only want what you can't control.'

He frowned, then took her hand, holding it in a strong but gentle manner to prevent her from pulling away.

'I want what everyone else does. I want to be loved by the one I love. I want eternity to be just a little brighter. As for not understanding humans-or witches-how many people do? Vampires have a better knowledge than most, due to our...particular talents.'

'You're a long way from Uberwald.' The blush was starting. Why was she so cursed? She persevered. 'We all made choices. Now we should live by them.' She closed her eyes as she said that. She had sounded like Granny then. The breeze caressed her face, then stirred her hair so that it billowed around her face.

'There are more choices. There always are.' Agnes still hadn't opened her eyes so Vlad continued, 'maybe sometimes the right choice is what you want. Maybe sometimes the world isn't working against you.'

There was no reply to this. What she wanted glowed in the depths of her mind. She didn't want to become like the other witches. She didn't want to age or die. She wanted to give up chocolate and loneliness. But what she wanted really didn't matter-she was supposed to act morally and that meant...

Her train of her thought was derailed by soft lips on hers, a gentle hand supporting the back of her head and an arm coiled round her waist-if they hadn't she way have collapsed with the shock of current events.

Vlad pulled away; moonlight embellishing him and shining in his eyes. Her shock metamorphosed into anger, mainly because that was its default course of action.

'What the hells did-'

'We could drift over Lancre again of you like.' He interrupted smoothly and calmly. Agnes could not believe how composed he was, considering the emotion he had quite clearly shown moments previously.

'Not again...'