A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

I do not own Doctor Who, and I am making no profit off of this.

CHAPTER 1

Transylvania, 1897

A little girl about ten years old was walking through the fog infested night all alone. She had just been involved in a horrible carriage crash, and both of her parents had been instantly killed. She was all alone now and had no idea what to do.

She was a stranger to this country and had no idea of where she was or even how to speak the language. She had just come here today with her parents. Her father had been sent here as a part of his job. He was a solicitor for a law firm back in her native England who had been sent to negotiate a land deal for a wealthy businessman who wanted to buy some property in this area.

The little girl could care less about the reasons for her being here now though. All she was worried about was what was going to happen to her. She had been wandering now trying to find some sign of another person for over an hour. All she had found so far was endless forests and local wildlife that ran from her at her approach.

She began to get even more worried once it became dark, and she could barely see a foot in front of her in the fog. She debated on whether to just sit down somewhere and wait until daylight or to keep going until she found someone.

She had tried sitting down on an overturned tree for a few minutes, but she immediately began to grow frightened when she heard the sounds of wolves nearby. She got up and began to start running away from the distant howling that sounded like it was growing closer by the moment.

A blonde woman dressed all in pink smiled as she watched her run. No one could see her because she had made herself invisible. That had been a close one! She would have been found by the wrong person if she had waited there any longer!

The little girl continued to run for several feet until, thanks to the fog blocking it from her sight until she was almost on top of it, she tripped and fell over a large branch that had broken off of a nearby tree. She hit the ground with a loud thud, and all of the breath was instantly knocked out of her. She lay there unmoving for a minute while she struggled to breathe again.

She immediately got up as soon as her breath returned, and she began to make her way forward again. She was walking at a slow but steady pace now.

She silently vowed to herself to make sure and be aware of her surroundings from now on. What if a wolf had been around when she had fallen? She would have been helpless to do anything about it!

She continued to slowly walk away from the howls of the wolves, but she seemed to never be able to leave them behind no matter how long and how far she walked. The girl was afraid that they were following her. She tried to push that thought out of her mind though. She knew that if she thought too much about it that she would just do something stupid again out of fear. She was very precocious for a ten year old, and her natural intelligence had helped sharpen her survival instincts. The realization that she shouldn't dwell on her fear of the wolves for too long was a result of that.

Suddenly she heard a voice calling to her through the fog. It was the voice of a young woman.

"Hello! Is there anyone there? I heard someone walking! Is someone there?" the woman's voice said sweetly.

The little girl squinted and tried to see the woman, but she couldn't make her out in the dense fog. She was afraid to go any further ahead so she just stood where she was. Something in her gut told her not to answer the woman and to just be quiet and hoped that she passed her by.

She stood there for several moments and tried not to even breathe too loud. She really hoped that the woman went away. She knew that it was exactly the opposite of what she had been praying for, but for some reason she really felt like she shouldn't talk to this woman.

The woman wasn't going anywhere though. She continued to call out to the girl, and it sounded like she was getting closer and closer to her as her voice grew louder by the minute.

"I know someone's there. Don't be afraid! I won't hurt you! I just want to take you somewhere where you'll be safe!" the woman shouted to her.

The little girl continued to remain quiet though. She didn't trust this woman at all. Her voice had the sound of a lie in it. She had heard people talk to her with that tone before when they were trying to fool her. She was usually too smart to fall for it though in the past, and she wasn't going to fall for it now.

She continued to stand still and keep silent. This was a record for her. She was usually very talkative. That was before what had just happened to her parents though. She wondered if she would ever feel like talking again. She certainly would never be that happy and carefree again. She was certain about that.

She jumped in fear and gave out a little squeal as a hand grasped her arm. Fear instantly filled her mind as she thought that she had been found by the woman who had been yelling to her. She could tell that this was someone else though when she heard the woman continue to yell.

"What was that? Are you alright? Let me help you!" the voice called out to her.

The owner of the hand on her arm came into view now with a finger on her lips to signal that the little girl should stay quiet. It was another young woman. This one had kind eyes and a soft smile. The little girl decided that she trusted her for some reason so she kept silent.

This new woman began to motion for her to follow her while she silently led her away from the other woman's still calling voice.

"Hello? I can hear you walking again. Please come to me and let me help you! I want to take you to the nearest town. I know you must be lost," the first woman called out to her.

The second woman shook her head no, and the little girl continued to trust her. She let herself be led into a nearby cemetery. The graveyard was very old and covered with weeds. No one had been here in a long time. No one living anyway.

The two of them continued onward as they walked past disintegrating tombstones and crumbling monuments. The little girl began to shiver in fear as she saw all of the reminders of the death that had just greeted her parents not too long ago.

The woman with her noticed this and softly stroked her hair while she smiled at her in an attempt to calm her down.

"It's all right. There's nothing here that will hurt you," the woman whispered to her in a gentle voice.

The little girl calmed down and let herself be led further into the cemetery. She still trusted this woman implicitly, and she had no idea why. She just felt kindness radiating off of her in waves and being projected out of her eyes whenever she looked at her. She felt safe now that she had met this woman.

She followed her into an old crypt and the woman locked the door behind them so that no one else could get in. The little girl was afraid for a minute now that the two of them were alone, but the woman's expression and posture never changed so she let the fear go.

"What's your name?" the woman asked her in English with a trace of an accent.

The little girl didn't answer. She felt too depressed over what she had just seen to ever want to speak again.

"It's okay if you don't want to speak. Just nod for yes and shake your head for no, okay?" the woman said in a patient voice.

The little girl nodded, and the woman smiled at the response.

"Good. Where those your parents back there in the carriage?" the woman asked her.

The little girl nodded as her eyes widened in surprise.

"I found them over an hour ago. They're both gone. I'm so sorry!" the woman said, and the little girl could sense that she meant it.

"It's good for you that I saw your footsteps leading away from the accident and decided to follow you. If I hadn't, you'd be dead by now or worse," the woman said to her as her face turned deadly serious.

The little girl looked at her in terror. What was she talking about?

"It's okay now. You're safe in here. You wouldn't have been though if I hadn't found you. That other woman wasn't human. She was a vampire! Do you know what that is?" the woman asked her.

The little girl nodded. She had heard a lot about them just recently. Her father had been reading that new book that had just come out a few months ago. What was it called again? She couldn't remember.

"She was trying to trick you into coming close enough for her to either kill you or convert you into another creature like her. This place isn't like your native land. It isn't safe to walk out here alone at night. Vampires are constantly on the prowl looking for new victims. You must stay here until sunrise for your own safety. Alright?" the woman explained to her.

The little girl nodded with a sense of relief at the horrible fate that she had just escaped. She knew that that woman had been trouble. She could just sense it from the sound of her voice.

The little girl's curiosity overcame her sadness, and she finally spoke to the woman.

"How did you know that I was from England?" the little girl asked her.

The woman smiled at her cleverness as she said, "I found a book in English in the carriage. I deduced from the book that you must come from England. I've been there before so I knew your language already. I went there once years ago. It was a beautiful place but not as beautiful as home to me. Of course, I may be a little biased!"

The little girl laughed for the first time since her parents had died and then stopped immediately. She felt so guilty to be laughing when they were dead!

"It's okay. They would want you to continue living. Laughter is a part of that," the woman said reassuringly as she immediately realized what was bothering her.

The little girl nodded and said, "My name is Amanda Thomas. What's yours?"

The woman smiled as she finally got an answer to her original question; and she responded with, "My name is Ecaterina. It's the equivalent to your English name of Katherine."

"It's very nice to meet you, Katherine," Amanda said with a smile.

Ecaterina was surprised by the use of the English form of her name, but she decided that she would let Amanda continue to call her by it. It didn't really bother her that much, and it might make the little girl more comfortable as a reminder of home.

"It's very nice to meet you too, Amanda," Katherine, as she now decided to think of herself, said to her new friend.

Amanda grew serious again as she asked, "What's going to happen to me, Katherine? I have no other family. I'll be put in an orphanage. I don't want that. Could I stay with you? I know that you only just met me, but I'm not a bad child I promise. I'll be good, and I won't cause you any problems. Please!"

Katherine's heart broke as she saw the worry and stress on the little girl's face.

Without even thinking about it, she found herself saying, "I'll let you stay with me a little while, but I'm not sure about forever. You see, I have no real home. This is where I stay at night in this crypt. This is not the proper place for a child to grow up."

"I just want a home with someone who loves me. How do I know that I'll ever get that at an orphanage?" Amanda asked upset.

"How do you know that you would get that with me? I've only just met you. I don't love you. I am fond of you; but I'm not your mother, Amanda," Katherine said with brutal honesty.

"That's okay. You don't have to be. I just want someone to stay with that will protect me and keep me safe until I can take care of myself. You've already proven that I can trust you to keep me safe. Please let me stay here with you, and I'll help you in whatever way that I can. Please!" Amanda begged her.

Katherine hesitated. She didn't know what she was asking for. Not really. Katherine did though. She knew that she shouldn't do this but part of her wanted to so badly. It was the part of her that had lost her own children so long ago and that wanted to be a mother again.

Finally, she relented and nodded.

Amanda jumped up and down with joy.

"You won't regret it, Katherine. I'll make sure that I don't ever cause you one moment of regret! I promise," Amanda said with a huge smile on her face.

Katherine just smiled back at her without speaking as she masked her inner worry about the subject. She hadn't told her the whole truth about herself.

She hoped that she never had to. Although she was sure that Amanda would find out someday. She just hoped that by that time she would trust her enough not to fear or hate her for what she was.

She had known that the other woman was a vampire out to kill Amanda because she was a vampire herself!

She now had to hope that she was still capable of raising a child as a creature of the night. It wasn't a question of her hurting the child. She knew that she would never do that. She had never attacked anyone. She only fed off of the wild animals in the forest.

The problem was that she could never provide a proper life for the girl as someone who could only exist at night and who lived in a crypt. Still it was what Amanda wanted so she couldn't deny her. If she had ever changed her mind though, she would of course let her go. She had to admit that part of her never wanted her to go.

She realized that she wanted Amanda here because she had made her feel human again for the first time in a long time. She didn't feel like a thing anymore. For the first time in a long time, she felt like a person. She wanted that to continue.

She decided to go ahead and do her best to raise Amanda. She only hoped that both of them didn't wind up regretting it later!

Watching them invisibly, the blonde woman in pink clothing, known to the people in this time as Daciana, smiled. Mission accomplished! Sometimes people just needed a helping hand to get them to where they needed to be. She had been the one who had commanded the howling wolves that had pushed Amanda in the right direction to meet up with Katherine.

She then teleported out of the crypt and went back to her temporary home in the nearest village. She would continue to watch over these two until the time was right for her to intervene.

Next: Amanda isn't stupid. She finds out the truth!