author's note: I'm having so much fun with this story! As always, Dracula belongs to a lot of people, none of them me. Please read and review!

I awoke early the next morning, thankfully before most of the other tourists filtered up to the ruins. I packed my things, plus the fur blanket that Vladmir had left, and hiked down the mountain stairs to one of the tiny villages between the castle and Curtea de Arges. I found a little pension there and rented a room, desperate at this point for a real bed and maybe a shower.

The very cold shower helped me come to my senses. I needed something to remind me that I was in the real world, not living in one of my stories where vampires exist and prey on stupid American girls. I scurried across the hall from the communal bathroom to my room wrapped in a towel, clean for the first time in three days. I slipped on one of the few nicer outfits I'd packed for this trip, a long peasant-ish skirt and a matching white blouse. Not exactly hiking clothes, but I could take a bus this time and give my poor legs a break, and I could look a little better this time when I saw Vladmir.

Now let me be clear, my parents didn't raise an idiot. I knew it wasn't smart going to a secluded place, after dark, in a strange country, with a man I didn't know. But my logic said that if he was going to rape me or murder me he would've done it the night before. Anyway, I could use a native perspective for my book, or at least that was the reason I kept telling myself I was meeting him again. A tiny voice in the back of my head kept saying that a nice skirt wasn't necessary for research, but I carefully squashed that notion.

After a good lunch, I hitched a ride with a group of female tourists from France on their way to the castle. I had a very nice conversation during the twenty minute drive, since my French is much better than my Romanian. I set off up the stairs, eager to get there before Vladmir and hoping to see which direction he came from, to satisfy my curiosity. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that 1500 steps are much more difficult going up than going down. By the time I reached the top, I was glad that I hadn't gone completely girly and worn sandals instead of my sturdy hiking boots. I found a low bit of wall to sit down on as I waited for Vladmir to show up. I kept a careful eye on the stairs, figuring that's the direction he would be coming from. It was near sunset, so there were few people still lingering.

I was still worn out, so I must have closed my eyes for a few moments. When I opened them again, Vladmir was standing in front of me. I gave another strangled "eep" and nearly fell off the wall. Vladmir caught my shoulder and helped me steady myself, chuckling all the while. "Jeez," I exclaimed as I tried to slow my heart down again, "How do you always sneak up on me like that?"

He offered me his hand and I took it, standing up and brushing off my skirt. "You would not believe if I told you." He gave me an appraising glance, and I was suddenly very glad I'd taken the time to put on something nicer than jeans and a t-shirt. "So, there was beautiful woman under all that dirt. I suspected, but was not sure."

I blushed furiously, feeling even my ears turn pink as I looked away and smoothed back my hair nervously. "I bet the local girls just love you. Handsome and a flatterer." I looked back up at him, grinning and trying to turn it into a joke.

Vladmir made a very serious face at me and put a fist over his heart. "You wound me, Beta. I do not flatter, I tell truth." When this succeeded in making me blush again, he chuckled. "But now I have embarrassed you. Perhaps I should save truth for later and instead show you history?" He gestured around the ruins.

I giggled nervously. "Yes, some history would be nice. Where should we start?"

He gestured around broadly. "We start here. This was the great hall… where all the business of the province was done." He pulled me along behind him as he moved around the large open area, pointing. "Right here was a huge fireplace, always a large fire burning, heating the whole fortress. And here," he said as he sat down on a raised section of floor and drew me down next to him, "was where the prince and his lady sat and heard the peoples' complaints."

I giggled. "And, I suppose, where he sentenced criminals to become his newest lawn ornaments?"

He looked at me seriously, gazing into my eyes in a way that made me almost made me uncomfortable. "Yes, of course. But what he preferred to do here was to steal the occasional kiss from his beautiful wife…" He raised a hand to brush along my cheek, making me shiver a bit as his voice dropped to a seductive whisper. "Elisabeta…"

I was shaking as I whispered back, my eyes fixed on his lips, which were far closer to mine than they had started out. "You know, that's quite a coincidence… Vlad and Elisabeta… Vladmir and Beta…"

"I prefer to see it as fate." He said as he closed the distance between us and his lips finally met mine.