Mina smiled kindly and reached out to touch the first woman's face. "My sisters," she whispered.


The others fell in behind Mina as she strode away from the campsite. She stopped, however, when a sudden thought struck her. Turning to the leader, who was about two feet behind her, while the others flanked her from behind, Mina asked in a slightly worried tone, "Has he returned?"

The other woman did not need to ask who she referred to. "No, he has yet to return," she replied softly. Seeing Mina's concerned frown, she added; "I would not worry. Our Master is old and strong, and your humans are foolish to stand against him."

Mina's expression did not immediately change, for she remembered Van Helsing drilling the men on the Count's weaknesses. But then her eyes narrowed and her face hardened. "My humans?" she almost growled. "And how do you know of the hunt, if he has not returned?"

The other woman shrugged gracefully. "You married one of them, did you not? And Prince Vlad is our Maker. He informed us through the mind link of some of the events that have transpired."

Mina was still worried, but she shoved these thoughts to the back of her mind as she focused on her new sisters, all of whom wore revealing white gowns.

The leader had liberally curled just-past the-shoulder hair of a rather dark shade of caramel, and big, dark, chestnut-coloured eyes. Her skin was pale and flawless, and her body appeared both slender and strong. Her face was one that could incite men to start wars, or to fall into jealous rages at the very least.

The other two women appeared slender and fragile; an appearance that Mina knew was misleading. They were vampires, and even the least of them is at least five times stronger and faster than the strongest of humans. They both had straight, mid-back length hair.

One of them had black hair, and a face that looked surprisingly similar to Mina's, but with higher cheekbones and slightly more angular features. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black.

The other had glossy blonde hair that shimmered where the light hit it, and blue eyes that caused Mina to recall sapphires. She was even paler than her sisters, and her head was adorned with a circlet of silver and moonstones. She reminded Mina of the famously beautiful Princesses featured in the fairy tales she used to love.

Looking once again to the leader, Mina declared, "I have yet to learn your names, my sisters. Will you tell them to me?"

The woman Mina had addressed grinned, revealing her fangs as she did so. "I am Ursula, Countess," she informed her. "She is Delilah, and she came after me," she added, gesturing towards the black-haired one. "And she is Bianca, our youngest save for you," she finished, gesturing towards the blonde.

Mina smiled. "Ursula, Delilah and Bianca," she said softly, nodding to each of them in turn.

"Tell me, Ursula; why do you address me as Countess?" she inquired, genuinely curious. She knew that there was something that drew her to the Count, some memory previously buried in her subconscious that made its presence known more and more often ever since she had met her Prince. Perhaps Ursula's answer would shed light on this mystery.

"You are Countess, sweet Mina," replied Ursula, cryptically. "You are the one he has hoped to find ever since a time long before I met him. You are the only one he loves."

Mina frowned. "But does he not love you, my sisters?" she inquired. Ursula laughed softly. "As daughters, maybe, but never the same way that he loves you," she informed her, a trace of sadness lingering in her voice.

Bianca spoke up. "There are paintings in your likeness all over the castle. He has been waiting for you for a long time. Now I know what he meant when he said that he would love again." Wonder and excitement livened up the tone of the lovely blonde's voice.

Mina just felt confused. "But how could he know of me before I was born?" she asked, but even as she spoke, voices murmured in the back of her mind. 'Princess… There was a princess… Man's deceit… River of the Princess… You've found me, my love…'

"Elizabeta," Mina spoke before any of her sisters had a chance to reply. "I was the Princess Elizabeta. I remember now. I jumped to my death after I heard false news of his death, and now I am reborn; I have returned to be with the one I love."

To Be Continued…