The Librarians quickly began to make their plans, dividing up the team between those who would go to Ecsed and do some recon and those who would stay behind and do the research needed to determine what exactly they were facing. Warm clothes and working communication stones were passed around and maps of the area were studied. Arthur and Vlad, after a quiet conversation, parted company with the old warlord returning through the Library's back door to his own home and Arthur staying behind, flipping idly through the Clippings Book.

"Jones, Flynn and I" Baird had called out, moving to stand beside her Librarian "will do the field work."

Stone looked up with a frown. "That a good idea?" he grumbled. "I mean – I know about the history – maybe it would be better…"

"Jones is the master of getting in and out of places – and we may have to get out of somewhere fast. You, Cassandra, and Jenkins are better deployed here in the Library digging a little deeper into the events around the Blood Countess, her arrest and death. See if there is anything to tell us where the book has been hidden all this time – and who might have wanted to find it." The Guardian looked quizzically up at the young Fae King. "Sure you don't want to come along?"

Arthur smiled. "Not that I don't want to come along – it's just better if I don't. And besides – you all have faced some pretty gnarly things before. Finding a book – even if it is one you will need to ultimately destroy – shouldn't be that hard." He looked over at Jenkins knowingly. "I'm a pretty good researcher and since I have some first-hand experience with the events you will be looking into, I'll happily volunteer to help out here."

Baird and Jenkins exchanged looks. "Well – if you're sure…"

"I am" Arthur reassured her, flipping to another page in the Clippings Book.

"What if I insert us into the next tour of the castle?" Jones called out, pulling open his laptop. "We could just blend in with the tourists taking in the sights That way we wouldn't have to hope no one knows who the "Librarians" are when we show up asking questions." He quickly pulled up a website and with a few clicks had acquired tickets for the next tour, pushing the laptop over to Cassandra when he was done. "We can pick up our passes when we get there."

"Yeah – that's probably a good idea" Stone replied somberly. "Especially since that "We're the Librarians" thing only seems to work for Flynn these days."

"And we can't be sure that the person who currently has the Book of Shadows doesn't know who might be looking for it. Best to stay incognito – or at least as under the radar as we can." Baird gave Flynn "the Look" that told her charges not to go off on wild tangents when they arrived. Not that she thought it would work on him – the Librarian was still working out issues concerning teamwork and methods of undercover work that didn't include spouting off irrelevant bits of trivia.

Jenkins re-set the back door and set it to open down the road from the castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Čachtice. "Borders have changed over the centuries" Flynn said, snatching up his satchel. "Use to be this was part of Hungary. Now – Slovakia. Who knows what it will be centuries from now?"

"An antechamber of Hell" Arthur muttered, reading through the assorted current death notices the Clippings Book had collected for the area.

Jenkins frowned at his quiet comment. "Arthur…"

"Ignore me" his friend called out, not looking up from his readings. "I'm just in a mood to be difficult."

"Probably a good thing, then, that he's not coming with" Baird replied with a sigh. "Shall we?" With that she and her companions step through the doorway and were gone.

Village of Čachtice

Jones stumbled through the door, nearly running into the back of Flynn and Baird who had come to a stop at the entrance to a dank alleyway. "Well, that was fun – not" the Aussie muttered, winkling his nose at the damp smell coming from behind him.

Baird and Flynn silently agreed with him, picking their way carefully out of the darkness onto the stone path leading up to the hotel where the tour group was supposed to be gathered. "So – how do we want to play this?" Baird asked briskly. "We start asking too many questions about the women who died from this group and we're going to have targets on our backs before we know what's really happening."

"Play it cool" Flynn said calmly, peering into the shop windows as they passed. "Ask about the tour, where the group will be going next. Make it seem like this was a last minute decision on our part – a delayed honeymoon."

"You're on your honeymoon touring castles used by medieval serial killers, with a buddy along for kicks. Real romantic there, Flynn." Jones tone, though light hearted, had a bit of a sting to it.

"Jones is right" Baird mused, her eyes sweeping the path ahead of them. "The "honeymoon" story won't really wash."

"Okay – then I'm a professor of medieval studies and Jones is my teaching assistant" Flynn said, noticing a quaint café just up ahead. A diverse group of individuals, many snapping photos of the "quaint" locals, were gathered around a set of tables near the street. "I do have a Ph.D. in medieval studies so…"

"Is there ANY subject you don't have a degree in?" Jones laughed.

Flynn motioned towards the café. "I think we might have found our tour group" he whispered.

"What gave them away?" Baird replied sarcastically. "The multitude of digital cameras snapping away at anything that moves or the big sign in English that reads "Haunted Castle Tour"?" She motioned to the sign, with a rough looking man standing beside it.

"That guy does NOT look happy to be here" Jones remarked. "Maybe he's got dragged on this tour and wants out?"

"Probably a local tired of having strangers take photos of him because he's so "quaint" looking" Baird said with a sigh. "Tourists!"

"Isn't that technically what we're saying we are?" Jones asked innocently.

"Let's just make sure your little trick at the Library actually did get us tickets to the tour." Flynn walked up to the group, a bright smile on his face. "Hello? Is this the group going up to Čachtice castle? I'm Professor Carson from Stanford – here to do some research on a treatise on the roll of medieval women in eastern Europe during the war with the Turks. My T.A. was supposed to get tickets for us for the tour but you know how students are." His happy voice babbled on as Baird watched the crowd for reactions.

Most of the group looked mildly interested in the newcomers – at least for a moment. Then their eyes glazed over and other conversations started, drowning out Flynn's excited babble. The man standing beside the sign glared at the Librarian for a moment then turned away, walking quickly down the road. A heavy-set woman walked up from the back of the cafe, stopping in front of the trio with a determined look on her face.

"Prof. Carson?" she asked, holding out a meaty hand. "I'm Dorothy Szolgáló, your tour guide. We were quite surprised to find we would have three new adventurers with us during this walk."

Flynn waved a hand dismissively. "Last minute decision. Thought I would let my grad student take a look at what life in a seventeenth century castle was like. We were actually thinking about touring Ban Castle in Translvania but somehow our travel plans were changed at the last moment by the University. So, thought that while we were here we might take a look at Čachtice."

"Of course, professor, we are glad to have you" Dorothy said with a smile – a smile that didn't quite make it up to her eyes. She glanced over at Baird and Jones. "The young man must be your student, then? The lady…"

"Is my wife" Flynn replied, winding his arm around Baird's waist. "She's been kind enough to put off our vacation in order for me to do some research in eastern Europe on the lives of noble women of the seventeenth century. It's really quite an interesting topic…"

Dorothy's eyes glazed for a moment. "I'm sure it is, professor. But we really must be going. It is not good to be on road when the sun sets."

"Bandits?" Flynn replied, sympathetically.

"Bad roads" Dorothy corrected. She turned and gathered up the rest of the tourist group and started loading them into a van which had almost magically appeared in the street beside the café.

Baird watched as the others climbed aboard, making note of several college age girls carrying backpacks that appeared to be traveling alone. "Flynn" she hissed, nodding to the young women. "They look like they're about the same age as the other victims…Right?"

Flynn frowned, grabbing Jones by the arm. "Yes – and that's not good. Jones, when we reach the castle I need you to find out what you can about those girls."

"Would their passports help?" the cheeky thief asked with an innocent grin. He held out two little books between his fingers. "The blond is American named Cindy Smith, the one with the blue hair is a Brit by the name of Candice Dowel. From the stamps on their passports they've been traveling all over Eastern Europe – and their last stop before this just happened to be Romania."

"Home of Dracula?" Baird said sarcastically, snatching the books from the Aussie.

"Also home for some of the Báthory family" Flynn replied. "I wonder if they have more of an agenda than they appear."

"I hope not." Baird looked on as the last of the tour group mounted the van. "Looks like we're the last ones in. Time to go visiting."