London 1898

It was dark times in London. The war with the Chinese had taken height and many men had left for the great ocean to fight the spirit wariors they called the Boxers - babaric criminals who slaughtered Christians, if the newspapers were to be believed. Of course Mina was aware that there was another side to the story but in the last years she had learned when it was time to speak her mind and when not. The boxer rebellion did not only threaten the British nation but every stronghold that was each family, bank and business on it's own, for the war cost great money.

Doctor Mina Murray felt she was the sole defender of hers at times.

The hospital was overflowing, not so much with soldiers from the battlegrounds, though they were present, but as with starving people, hoping they would be better accommodated in the hospital. It was a tedious and bitter process to sort those out, to send young hungry adolescents away. But it was necessary.. There were only so many doctors and resources and should the wounded have a chance at survival, one had to make compromises.

Mina smiled sadly at the thought, while she was tending to flesh wound of an unfortunate construction worker. 'Compromise' had become somewhat her life amendment.

The evergreen gossip was, of course, was that she, now at nearly 32 years, was still not married and probably never would be. When people asked her about it, pity or disapproval in their eyes, she would tell them she had to choose this way in order to become the independent doctor she was now. No husband would ever have allowed it and besides, how could she make a good mother and wife, being busy as she was? These were all truths - the most profound one, however, lay far deeper and stung evermore so.

She couldn't find it in her heart anymore to love someone. The years had dulled the pain and desperation aligned with the events so many years ago, but she had never managed to completely heal.

Hawker - Jonathan was dead to her - was now a mildly successful businessman in Manchester; as she was told a bootlegger of the higher society, as ever. He was married to a pretty silent bore and had two children with her. From time to time came a letter from him - she never opened them.

As for the monster she had fallen prey to for some and far too long time, it was finally whipped from this world, it's evil vanished. He hadn't left a trace of him - he had used his unnaturally prolonged existence for nothing but destruction and revenge. Like all these creatures did, it seemed.

She visited her old mentor, Professor Van Helsing, at times. He had survived the final battle with the creature, though barely.

He was now almost immobile, an old man in a wheelchair. Mina knew now of his past life as a vampire hunter, she knew of the unspeakable crimes and sins he had committed. Still she made sure he was taken care of. Why, she hardly understood herself. Perhaps, because he was the last person left from her old life, that was still around her. Of course they could never know for certain with Lucy.

"Are you aright, Doctor Murray?" asked the worker. He was a kind elderly man and they had taken up little conversations now and then. Mina forced a smile to her lips.

"Of course, Mr Williams. Why wouldn't I be?"

"For a moment there, sweetheart, you looked as though you'd seen a ghost!"

"i was thinking about one, Mr Williams. But that shouldn't bother you. Rest now -your arm looks promising. I'm quite certain we might release you in two days."

That brought little joy to the man's eyes.

"We, I don't know if I should be happy about that. Not all of us live a life so ravish as yours, Doctor. Not to say you don't put it to good use, I'm not saying."

It was in fact true, that Mina was rich now. She had inherited not only the fortune of the creature - but that of the Westenras as well.

It had been Lucy Westenra who ended the evil creature's existence. It was a moment that often haunted Mina's dreams; a woman, a powerful creature of the night in her Lucy's body, ripping of her creator's head. She had stood her naked arms extended, two lean and marble lights in the dark, in a white dress covered with blood from head to toe, her face an animalistic mask, with her fangs bared and her eyes wide and red.

Hawker and Van Helsing had layed motionless on the ground, their wounds having taken them unconscious.

Mina had watched the finale of the tragedy from the floor in chains. The creature wouldn't let her go once she had realized what he was and had wanted to leave him. That was enough to drive him to insanity, claiming she was his and his alone.

Mina had watched shaking and with silent tears running down her cheeks, the debris of her life on the floor. When Lucy had approached her, she had screamed and backed away as far as her restraint had allowed it.

Lucy had halted and sefcounsiously whipped her her face with a cloth until it was clean of blood.

Then she had broken the chains with her bare hands and scooped a protesting and kicking Mina into her arms,; but Mina had soon found that her strength had left her and so she lay limp as Lucy carried her to the old Westenra home. Lucy had taken care of her, treated her wounds as best as she knew how to; in hindsight Mina knew all about her state back then. She had been in deep shock, psychological trauma and dehydration,probably. It had been easier to think about this side of things.

She had fallen into an unrest-full sleep of exhaustion and whens he had awoken Lucy had sat at her bed as if guarding her.

She had changed into a simple traveling dress - the Lucy Westenra Mina had known wouldn't have been caught dead in a dress like that, but then, Mina thought, she was dead now, wasn't she?

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked quietly.

Mina stared at her for a long while. She wasn't afraid anymore - perhaps she had been simply too tired to be afraid.

"He made you like him", she whispered. "You're a Nosferatu."

"I am more than that."

Lucy's voice was calm and emotionless. Mina's gaze trailed to her full, red lips. Red that meant blood circulation.

"You killed people."

"Bad ones, mostly. Only in the beginning... I had to learn to control myself first."

Mina thought about that for a while, before her eyes widened with yet another terrible realization.

"Lucy.. your mother... you..."

She trailed of, not finding words for the sheer terror of it.

For a short moment Lucy's face was painstrucken before it became stone again.

"You don't now anything about it, Mina.. So spare me your accusations and moral preachings."

It took Mina's breath away. It was this very moment of all that she realized that never in their entire lifes had Lucy raised her voice against her. Their eyes met, before Lucy averted hers quickly.

"I will leave you this estate and everything in it. It should make it possible for you to maintain your independence even if there should be obstacles, once your father passes away. You won't have to marry if you don't want to."

Mina's mouth opened and closed.

"Lucy. What are you talking about?"

For the first time Lucy looked at her, really looked at her.

"Oh please, Mina. Can you say that you want me to stay?" Her voice was suddenly full of emotion. It had both desperate hopelessness and hope in it.

Mina stared right back, dumbstruck.

"What happened to you?"

"Is that not obvious?"

Mina opened her mouth but had to cough. Lucy sighed, reached forward and put a glass of water to Mina's lips. At the same time her other hand tangled itself in Mina's locks and neck to support her head while she drank.

Mina stiffened, Lucy shuddered and her touch left her. But she could feel those burning eyes on her and hear her old friend's shaky breath.

"You need to be in a hospital. As soon as night has fallen I will bring you there."

Mina found she had nothing to say anymore.

And when the moon stood high at the sky, Lucy wrapped her carefully in blankets, gently lifted her up and carried her to the hospital. Neither of them spoke during the way, Lucy staring dead ahead and Mina focusing on the cold skin of Lucy's neck beneath her arm and listening for a heartbeat she never heard. The hospital lay dark in the night, save from a a few lighted windows.

Gently Lucy lowered her at the doorstep, and Mina found herself still half resting on the now strange woman's body. More from reflexes of years of friendship than conscious decision she grasped Lucy's cold hand in her own and looked her in the eyes.

"What are you doing?", she whispered and realized she was actually afraid of the prospect of Lucy leaving.

Lucy looked at her and there were tears in the brink of her dark eyes. Hurriedly she reached inside her dress and took out two envelopes, that were adorned with official signs.

"Lucy -"

"This should take care of everything", Lucy announced and she almost sounded like her old self then, businesslike and optimistic.

However her voice shook and her fingers trembled when she put the envelopes on Mina's lap.

Then suddenly a cold hand grasped Mina's cheek and Lucy stared desperately at her.

"Please Mina. Dear, dear Mina. Do not forget me."

"Lucy..." alarmed and hesitantly Mina put a hand on her friend's arm.

"No! You must believe me that... that all those times we cried and laughed and dressed together were real. Al those times...and that they meant the world to me." Lucy's voice faltered at the end and she broke into a sob.

A whirlwind of emotions stormed in Mina's heart. Her mouth opened but no words would come out.

"Please forgive me, Mina."

And Lucy pressed her lips to her forehead and Mina breathed in a trace of Lucy's old smell of flowers and vanilla and before she could say anything Lucy had knocked loudly at the hospital's door.

"NO! What are you doing?", she cried.

Lucy stood with inhuman grace and looked down at her through tears.

"Fair well."

"Lucy!"

In that moment the door was opened and Charles, a young doctor stepped outside, his eyes widening.

"Miss Murray! Good Lord! What happened?"
Mina quickly looked back up but there was no one there anymore. Lucy had vanished into the night and had left behind not a trace of wind. Only the faint trace of her smell.

Charles knelt beside her now.

"Miss Murray! Miss Murray can you hear me?"

And Mina started to break down into sobs.

"Doctor Murray? Hello?"

Mina shook her head and pressed a hand to her eyes to dampen the tears that were threathing to spill.

"I'm sorry Mr Williams", she whispered. "I'm afraid I have exhausted myself a little too much these past days."

Mr Williams nodded compassionatly.

"Of course, honey. But don't you worry - with this new hero in our forces it can't take much longer until we fought off those chinese babarians!"

Mina looked at him through moist eyes, still so caught up in her painful memories, she had heard only half his words. Mr Williams now leaned forward, excited.

"You have read of him, haven't you? This fellow who appeared out of nowhere and battled an entire force of the boxers alone? Who can match their powers?"

Slowly Mina nodded. She had read the papers and the people of London talked about almost nothing else. The mysterious young English man that had joined the alliance and was instantly famed for his inhuman strength and his mysterious background. Almost as mysterious as the fact that he only fought at night.

Mr Wiliams had a boyish gleam in his wrinckeled eyes.

"What do you think, Doctor Murray? Why does he only fight in the dark?"

Mina stood and looked out of the window into dusk.

"Perhaps he is afraid that people see his face. Maybe he runns away from a past better forgotten."

The smile vanished from Mr William's face and he frowned. Mina closed her eyes.