Authors Note:

I want to say thank you to all the wonderful people who took the time to read this and left reviews. That alone, as much as I am enjoying writing this story, is reason enough to keep this going. I love knowing that there are others out there who are wanting to read something more from the movie. I will update as soon as possible. I write nearly every day but I can't update unless I'm in town near a WIFI or go to a family members...oh, the joy of no internet all of a sudden. If I'm slow on updating, that's why. And again, I'm still confused on the time frame I'm aiming for. But still not modern.

P.I've found a way to upload this via mobile. So if there are any or too many mistakes I will keep updating via computer. It will just take longer.

So for here and there and in between...enjoy.

Chapter Two

"Well..." Lucy said, drawing Mina's attention. "That was rather odd."

Mina nodded and craned her neck, but he was already gone. Odd was one way to put it.

"At least he made good on his goodbye. " Lucy said with a small laugh and leaned forward, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

Mina nodded again, her eyes searching through the thin crowd. Daylight was fading, the sun sinking so that shadows slipped over the buildings and streets. The man had set himself apart from the crowd without evening trying. Even though she'd nearly ignored him upon first glance, she'd noticed him when he'd spoken. He had that effect—whatever it was. His stature called for it. Money, looks, his charms. Whatever it was...Mina sighed.

Lucy sighed again. "Where do you find men like him?"

Mina rolled her eyes at Lucy's playful banter. Her friend was obviously smitten. But she hadn't found him; Vlad had found her with his words. How did that make sense? She smiled softly at the reminder. Neither Lucy nor Jonathon shared or understood her fondness for books, or even poetry. Well, Lucy did, but in a whole different genre of books. How was she to resist his greeting when he greeted her with the one thing she held the most fondness of?

"The man made me blush. Can you believe that?" Lucy continued and held her hand out in the manner in which Vlad had first kissed her knuckles. "If he can do that, I wonder what else he can do with those lips..."

"Lucy!" Mina gasped out in a whisper, though there was no real censure in her voice. "Shush, before someone hears you." She kept her voice low, though there was no disguising the laughter in her voice.

"That got your attention." Lucy said laughing while she straightened the silverware on her right. She grinned devilishly. "What can I say? Did you see him? Don't answer that; of course you did. The man is positively sinful." She reached out a hand and curled her hand over Mina's. "You're blushing...my, oh my." She said teasingly.

"I don't blush." Mina said in a far too refined tone, barely refraining from rolling her eyes at her dear friend. Now she was just plain out lying; why was she blushing?

"Tall, sinful and handsome."

"You're obsessed, Lucy."

"Oh, the man is and you know it. Even you couldn't resist his escort."

"And what about David and poor Parker? They'll be heart broken if you turn your attentions elsewhere." Mina said in exclamation, laughing. She wondered exactly how their conversation had taken the turn of this complete stranger.

"Those two sweethearts?" Lucy waved her hand dismissively. "They are nothing but boys..."

"Have at him, he's all yours." Mina murmured.

Lucy went on and on while Mina listened, highly amused. She hid her smile behind a teacup. The man was handsome with his dark, slicked back hair and his tailored suit, his tanned skin. She didn't know him, but she had allowed him to follow her. She knew nothing about him. Even after briefly conversating with him she still knew nothing about him other than he originated from Transylvania. Transylvania of all places. Something about him had caused her hesitation, her smile and then her invitation. She sighed...

Something Lucy said caught her attention and she arched an eyebrow. "Maybe it was his accent." Now she was beginning to enjoy teasing Lucy.

Lucy leaned forward. "That, too. I could imagine his voice while he touched..."

"LUCY!" Mina whispered in a low girlish laughter. "Don't you dare finish that sentence!" She looked over her shoulder instinctively, even though she knew the other patrons were paying them no heed. God help them, were they really having this conversation? "Behave."

"You're no fun." Lucy said with a chuckle.

"My fun differs from yours." Mina murmured.

"Oh, away with your books of history and agriculture and poetry. There is fun to be had without those."

"Oh, really now? And what of your books of..." Mina replied teasingly. She couldn't bring herself to say what was on her mind. Not out loud, anyway.

"One day I will show you. You can't hold out forever."

Lucy's idea of fun was flirting and drawing in as many men as she could before pushing them away. Her lips curved. They were mismatched friends, but they got along oh so well. Lucy was carefree, out going and wild while she was subdued and took everything in much slower.

"Do tell, which one is much more preferable. Jonathon or our new found friend, Vlad."

Her red headed friend just wasn't going to give it up, was she? "We hardly know the man, Lucy. He could be a raving lunatic for all we know."

"A raving lunatic who knows proper English, etiquette and knows how to dress?" Lucy questioned.

"Point taken."

"Afraid to answer the question?"

Mina lifted her eyes to the sky in mock favor. "Hardly."

"So why has Jonathon not proposed?"

Finally, a change in subject, Mina thought. Thought not one she would have taken. Of course Lucy would take one complicated matter after another. "It's complicated." She finally said after a moment.

"What's so complicated about marriage?"

"Lucy." Mina said, the name rolling from her lips in laughter. "There is more to marriage than just a whimsical wedding dress."

"And...?"

Mina sighed and dropped her napkin onto the table. Lucy never made things easy. Sometimes she made things down right difficult. But that was Lucy.

"You've been together seven—"

"Six."

"Six years, maybe you should be the one to get down on one knee."

"We're friends, more than anything, Lucy."

"Yes, friends. He's kissed your hand, he's kissed your cheek, God knows I've caught you two in such a compromising embrace." Lucy said dramatically.

"He did the same thing." Mina said, wiggling her fingers in Lucy's direction.

"Ah, but he's a stranger, Jonathan is not." Lucy commented, her voice mimicking hers in a way Mina would have no doubt said.

"It's just something that hasn't commonly come up...Father doesn't seem to have minded. But..." But there it was. Perhaps he would. Perhaps he wouldn't. Sooner or later, most likely. "...it isn't as if we haven't spoken on the matter." She shrugged. "I've known him for so long, I'm not sure I could say yes."

"Don't be daft."

Lucy always knew how to make her laugh. Jonathan was just that. A friend. A potential lover. A Potential husband. A potential everything. Potential. Why was it so suddenly complicated? She'd rather not think on the matter. Her head lifted when Lucy stood. "Come, we'd better find our way home before your Father sends one of his goons looking for us."

"They are not 'goons'."

"Too bad our dear mysterious friend couldn't have escorted us home."

"By all means, Lucy, you are free to find him."

"If it were only that easy...he's more than likely a tourist with his accent. Just my luck that I would meet someone of his charming personality and never see him again."

"Oh, Lucy, whatever am I going to do with you?" Mina said in amusement as she tugged Lucy in the direction of home.

Hundreds of years had earned him patience. Centuries had earned him self control. He'd watched as the world had sped by, felt the change of day as it became night and granted him freedom time after time. He'd watched as everyone he knew grew in age until they were old and laid to rest. He'd watched from a distance as his son was crowned and reined a mighty kingdom before passing it to his son. He'd watched as y manufactured running vehicles and as they formed the new Cinema. It was the turn of the century.

Time had granted him self control.

Vlad didn't understand the sudden lose of control, the rage that had filtered through him in that split second at the word proposal. Disgust filled him at the thought, leaving a bitter taste as he spat the word. The beast in him raged at the thought. It was the potential proposal from another male that had him snarling. He was normally calm; nothing could push him to so near an edge.

Except for when he'd held Mirena's dead body in his arms.

Her image filled his mind, so fresh in his memory now. The smooth texture of her skin, the pale blush and her soft laughter.

The loss of control had been sudden and was due to territorial fear. No one would take Mirena from him again and the thought alone had shocked him. He tilted his head back to the starlit sky. "Mirena...Mina." He whispered her name to the darkness that welcomed him. She was here, in the present. No longer a memory.

As much as he wanted to go find her, to bury his face in her hair and wrap her in his arms, he knew he couldn't. Not yet. She didn't know him, she didn't know the horrid things he knew. They had a past. They had a future...she didn't remember. She didn't know... But she would. New memories to fill the void.

His body whispered for nourishment, for the sweet nourishing taste of blood. His fangs lengthened. He'd already fed but that didn't stop the hunger. Or maybe it was anger that was pushing him. He was calm now, but the anger was a cool sensation in his mind, reminding him. Anger for his loss of control, for only the devil knew what else.

He took a running leap forward and his body burst into a loud screech of darkness that feel apart, rushing through the trees surrounding him. The park was deserted at this time of night but he would have been surprised if it had been otherwise. He could see the city street lamps ahead, highlighting a far off street and further down into the empty streets.

The bats took hold, closing in tight to form his body from the feet down and up. The moment he heard the loud thud of a heartbeat he dropped down from the sky, his body crouching over and knocking the homeless back with a heavy thud. Vlad didn't wait, he struck without pretense, crouched over his victim as his fangs pierced deep.

Blood pooled into his mouth and his eyes rolled in the back of his head at the warm gush. He hadn't intended to be so brutal, but the rage in him was crouched to close to the surface, the beast inside of him too far. He bit down deeper, the mans cries echoing in his ears. The warm blood pulled some sort of semblance back, soothing his dark side.

With a heavy growl, he yanked his head back, his lips stained red. He rarely fed so sloppy, but at times, he was a monster. His hunger momentarily sated, he picked up the man and laid him down on one of the near by park benches, wrapping the long, weathered trench coat around the cooling body. His ravenous hunger had taken the life of another—again. Another sin on his dark soul.

He reached out and placed two fingers over the unseeing eyes. "I ask your forgiveness." He murmured, his fingers drawing the lids down.

Vlad turned, his body bursting into the whirling bats before he'd even completed the move, taking him air born.

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