I have gone through and put parts 1 and 2 of this chapter together because seeing two parts with so little writing annoys me. I am trying to make my chapters longer. Things have been edited and this chapter is now officially done! WHOO-HOO!

Also as a side note for those who did not read the memo, Dracula and Alucard are the same person just different personas. Dracula is who he was before Hellsing came along and restricted his power while Alucard is his newer persona with his powers restricted afterwards. Anyhow, here's chapter 4.

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"As I pray, for what I am! To my god, that made me down. I see myself, in front of me! A man I never choose to be. I turn my face, against the sun, and I feel my heart should burn. I close my eyes to open wide, God you made me cold as ice" – Nomy "Heart of Ice"

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The not so great Escape

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"You Lose" the words dripped from his lips. Sophie froze for just a second before noticing the glint in his eyes.

"You… You're doing this on purpose!" she accused.

Her heart raced as he ignored her and glided closer. Anger took her and she lashed out at him with the dagger. She missed as he leapt back from her, eyeing the dagger with curiosity and did she detect a hint of unease?

"Where ever did you find that my dear?" He questioned. He stood back up from his crouch and loomed over her much like his castle had earlier.

"His home really suits him" Glancing at the dagger she recalled how Mrs. Morris has told her that the blade had been used to kill vampires, Sophie grinned back at him, feeling a little better now that she had some sort of protection.

"It's a family heirloom" the lie fell from her tongue before she could stop herself. "but it might be for the better."

Dracula seemed to take her words with consideration. "So you are in the vampire hunter business after all!" he murmured, sizing her up. He turned and began walking towards the door and Sophie felt her hope rise for a split second that he might leave.

Hope was shoved away quickly as he spun around and fell back, landing perfectly in the throne that had once again materialized behind him.

And he was blocking the only exit out. Sophie felt her breath die like the fire she had abandoned. There was no way out. There was the option of the doors leading into the hallways on either side, but if Dracula didn't get her first with his speed, he had three other vampires somewhere in his god-forsaken castle. If he didn't get her they most certainly would.

The quiet was ruined when she sneezed. Sophie rubbed at her nose. "Well if I'm going to die, I'm gonna die with a cold. Hope I taste icky you jerk!"

He looked amusedly at her for a moment. "I would never have thought that a human as weak as you would ever be a hunter. You have no skills at all with a weapon from your wild display of waving earlier and you clearly lack and fluidity to your clumsy movements. There is no hint at all of any training in thinking either. "

Sophie considered how if she could kill him, just how he would die. Death by fire was always good.

Grabbing hold of her walking stick she made her way to standing up, using the wall behind her. Dracula moved in his seat draping his long legs over the armrest and watched her.

Sophie tried to imitate a stance she'd seen in action/ fighting movies and held the dagger out front leaning a bit on her good leg, in case she had a chance to try and sprint.

The count's eyes followed the dagger.

"The other question is how hunters have managed to have a dagger made from me. ...Unless you bluff about the business and are just a lowly thief..." He hissed.

Sophie watched in horror as his cloak began to morph into a black looking flame. Eyes opened from its depths, staring at her with wide sometimes blinking stares. His hair began to lift up as if on strings pulled by the breeze wafting through. The air in the room grew thicker and his power radiated off of him making her flinch.

Having no religious preference, Sophie had never really sat down and prayed to a god. Now standing in a foreign country, in a time well before hers, facing a devil; Sophie prayed to every god and deity she could think of. "I will never, ever go into Ben's lab again if I survive this!"

The dagger in her hand grew hot and Sophie almost let go as it burned into her flesh. The scream she emitted though, echoed loudly as she watched what she had thought to be a garnet on the top of the hilt blink at her. An eye matching the ones from Dracula's shadowy flaming cloak stared back at her, blinking creepily.

"That dagger is made from me with one of the souls I have now, but I have not made it yet. Nor did I ever plan on doing so. No hunter has ever beaten me or lived after an encounter."

The words seemed to come at Sophie from everywhere, pounding into her head and causing her to flinch. His words continued.

"Two of the same souls; coming from me. If they met, I might disappear. Souls from the future must never interact with their past." He paused taking in her still confused face. "Even worse is the fact that you have a part of me as a blade, and you have no skill with that weapon. Your dumb luck lifting that chair killed Estrella, not your wild waving. I am insulted."

"It was self-defense" Sophie muttered knowing her point wouldn't matter.

The eyes around him shifted and started to spread around the room covering the walls, ceiling and floor.

"That is really creepy. Stoker never mentioned this in his book."

Sophie limped away from the wall as the shadows blended with his cloak. Unsure what to do, she held up the dagger ignoring (as best she could) the eye blinking back at her from the hilt and the eyes she could now feel watching her from all around. She held the dagger with a shaky but firm hand.

"You owe me. There is no way around this. Put Down The Dagger."

She blinked unsure for a moment. "Is he crazy!? No way! I put this down and I'm dead!"

"Put. Down. The. Dagger" he repeated slowly, his eyes glowing stoplight red.

Sophie's hand quivered.

"Put Down The Dagger. You Are Safe. Nothing Will Harm You. Put Down The Dagger"

Sophie didn't think she'd ever felt so secure and peaceful in her life. A goofy smile planted itself on her face as her eyes gained a pinkish hue. Why had she been so upset?

"Nothing can harm me. I'm safe" she repeated; believing the words and letting the dagger drop and clatter to the floor at her feet. She stood there, hypnotized.

"Much better" Dracula smirked. He sat back up in his throne and beckoned her forwards. "Come here child"

Sophie shuffled forward slowly coming to a stop when her feet touched his boots. "You're small for a human. How old are you?" he asked as he moved her hair away from her neck.

"20" was the monotone reply.

"Delightful. And to think you haven't been touched. Since you're such a puny human, you'd be a useless sentry to me. No one would ever be intimidated my you... That and I'm hungry from playing games."

Leaning over her shoulder he extended his fangs readying himself to bite her. He felt her heartbeat quicken for a second just as she screamed out in pain before he could even sink his fangs into her neck .

Dracula drew back and watched startled again for the second time that night, as his prey started to vanish from beneath him. Letting out an angry snarl he tried to grab her, his hands touching nothing but air as she fully disappeared from his sight.

He let out a frustrated roar and threw his throne across the room in anger. Looking at the place where the girl Sophie had stood, he bristled as he hissed "You may have won the battle, but I will win this war. Payment is due and shall be received in blood! Just wait little girl. You can't escape!" The eyes on the walls slowly slid back to him reforming his cloak, no longer needed.

Looking at the brightening sky, Dracula waved his hand and the door to the outside creaked shut. He left the room and headed downstairs through the alcove Estrella had first been standing in, her ashes now being carried away to the corners of the room by the breeze.

xXx

Meanwhile

The sudden pain jolted her from the trance Dracula had put her in.

Her eyes rolled back as her head felt like it was trying to squeeze her brains out through her ear and nose, and Sophie screamed in agony. Her sight was spotty and her insides felt like they were all trying to switch places as she tried to curl into a fetal position. The roaring in her ears was deafening and she screamed again.

The pain! It was going to rip her apart!

She kept screaming as she lurched forward, the pain stopping as suddenly as it had begun. Sophie gulped in air as she heaved for breath, her eyes tried to open to focus on where she was.

It was too blurry. Shapes and colors blended together looking like fuzzy caterpillars as the sounds around her were muffled as if a pillow were between her and the loud noise.

Something wrapped around her tightly, shouting louder nonsense as it pulled at her. Sophie shouted and thrashed back, biting, clawing and lashing out wildly as she tried to kick out of its grasp.

Something was shoved into her face blocking mouth and nose. It smelled unfamiliar but made her feel rather heavy. Before she fainted, Sophie could have sworn she'd made out two bright red eyes. The only clear things, in her world. Then those too were lost to the dark.

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3 Days later…

Sophie awoke to a partially lit, white room. She could see clearer now, but her head still hurt. Charts, graphs and erase boards covered the walls, all the writing blurred by her limited night vision.

Trying to sit up hurt and Sophie cringed at the site of needles in her arms. She was connected to a few machines and IV drips, the constant beep of the heart monitor besides her was the only noise besides a clock's ticking that she could hear. Her foot at least was properly set and in a real cast, her brother's signature already on it. She spotted Ben asleep on a small couch beneath the window. A worried look had adorned itself on his face as he slept, his hands clenching out in front of him.

Sophie glanced around uneasily. "If Ben's asleep, why do I feel like I'm being watched?" She glanced around the room but could see no one else. A nurse might have just walked by doing a routine check.

Sophie lay back again as her energy soon left her. Sitting up was harder than she remembered. She closed her eyes and covered herself up with the blankets.

She missed the red eyes watching her from behind the bed.

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Sophie woke up 9 hours later. The curtains that had been closed before were open and sunlight flooded the room showing that the needles were out of her arms. Ben was sitting next to her in a chair doing a crossword puzzle, his pen scratching across the paper. He immediately set it down when he noticed she was awake.

"Oh gods Soph! I thought I'd lost you! It's my fault this happened to you. I'm so sorry" he started. He was wringing his hands nervously.

"How long was I away?" Sophie asked.

"3 days. We didn't know you had left until Gwen mentioned at lunch that she hadn't been able to find you. She told us about the night before and when Millie searched the house to find you … well she couldn't. None of us could. Dad even came home and we called the police. It wasn't until I went down to check the basement that Webo told me that she'd started back up to the sound of one of my machines going off. That's when I figured out what happened. You somehow got my ATLAS to work."

Sophie blinked slowly. "Atlas? I was in a clock! (pause) and I was only there for a few hours."

Ben looked at her in disbelief. "ATLAS: Alternate Time Linking Approach Structure. It is the clock. You were missing for 3 days. I had tried to tell you about the machine earlier, but you wouldn't listen so I got frustrated and left. I did tell you it wasn't finished though. I had to call an old classmate to come help me find a way to fix it. With his help we managed to locate where in time you'd gone and pulled you back."

He looked at her foot, wonder underlying his tone. "Your foot was bitten and fractured badly by a wolf from the saliva the doctors took from your skin."

Sophie nodded. "I landed in a town and ran when a stranger came at me. I tried running into the woods and was chased by wolves. I escaped by squeezing through a closed gate. The wolf got my foot though." She purposely left out her encounter with Dracula. Ben would never believe her and frankly, Sophie didn't want to believe herself either. Still there was no way she could have imagined everything that had happened.

The last bit she could recall was fuzzy. She'd been ready to try to escape but her brain couldn't remember what had made her stop.

Ben groaned, his wonder abating. "This is my fault!" his head collapsed into his hands and Sophie looked away not knowing what to say. True it had been partly his fault for not at least telling her the machine he was using was a time traveling device, not that she would've believed him. It was however also her fault for going into Ben's lab in the first place, but she was still a little angry at him for before so she would let him think it was all his doing.

A nurse chose that moment to walk in and check her vitals. "Well Ms. Turner, you seem to be doing much better. The doctor says that as long as you get plenty of rest and take these pills once a day, you should be all set to go home." She stood and waited for Sophie's answer.

"I think I'm ready to get out of here."

The nurse and Ben helped Sophie to slide off the bed and stand up. Feeling just a little shaky, Sophie reached for the crutches the nurse held out. After being told and shown how to use them, Sophie limped over to the bathroom to change into the clothes Ben had brought her.

Ben was waiting for her at the door after she'd finished and she followed him out into the hall. The nurse handed her some papers which she filled out quickly, handing them to Ben when she didn't know how to fill out some of the items.

The walk out of the hospital was slow and Sophie decided she did not like crutches at all. She felt awkward having Ben slowing his pace down to match hers. Ben opened the door to his Subaru for Sophie and waited until she had situated herself comfortably before getting in on the driver's side. The car ride home was quiet and just as frustrating as the walk to the car had been. Sophie looked out the window as the scenery of houses and gas stations blurred past.

"So there's something else I need to mention." Ben said, breaking the silence.

Sophie turned her head towards him. Noticing that he had her attention Ben continued. "The friend I mentioned earlier is Mr. Brenner. He's the one that helped me fix the machine will be staying with us for a while. I want you to thank him when we get back for without his help I might not have gotten you back for a few more days."

"I didn't know you had any friends. Why haven't I heard of him before?" Sophie grouched. Her foot was starting to hurt and she really didn't want to deal with a new person.

"He's a friend of sorts from college. Well the only person who was able to stand me anyways. He appreciated my work and his silence was highly appreciated by me. He was popular with the ladies and even some of the men, he skipped his classes, kept to himself and would leave for days at a time for work. I would help him locate people for his job, and in return he would back up my machines with his company's money. I got lucky when I called him. He was planning a visit here sometime soon and his job sent him on their fastest plane over" Ben replied.

"Where is he staying? There are no extra rooms in the house"

"The attic. He has called his agency and is having them ship over his things. Until then we have set up a spare bed and he will be sharing our bathroom."

Sophie turned to look back out the window and the car ride's silence ensued.

18 minutes later Ben pulled the car into the driveway.

Sophie let him get out and open the door for her. Millie's car wasn't there so Sophie assumed that she had taken Gwen and left for the afternoon. "You trusted this guy that you haven't seen in years, alone in our house?" Sophie scoffed. Ugh. All she wanted was some food and another nap.

"He's better off than dad is so I know he wouldn't steal a thing. Plus I do trust him. If I didn't trust him then he wouldn't stay with us." Ben shot back.

Sophie had to admit he had a point. Following Ben as he walked towards the door she couldn't help but shiver. She was wrapped warmly enough so the winter weather shouldn't affect her.

Ben hung up his coat and headed into the kitchen. "I'll make you a grilled cheese. Go sit down and rest."

Sophie took off her coat and limped into the living room, throwing her crutches down on the floor as she lay down on the sofa. She could hear Ben talking to someone in the kitchen, who she assumed to be Mr. Brenner.

The smell of grilled cheese was soon too much, so sighing heavily Sophie sat up and grabbed her crutches, forsaking the couch to hobble into the kitchen. Ben was standing over the stove flipping her sandwich but no one else was to be seen in the room.

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her examination.

"Excuse me…you must be Sophie. I have heard a great deal about you from your brother" came a smooth voice behind her.

Sophie froze. She recognized that voice. "There's no way… It's just not possible!"

She turned her head over her shoulder and paled, staring into a pair of familiar eyes covered by a pair of orange tinted glasses. "Pleased to meet you at last" Dracula grinned.

Sophie screamed.

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Heheheheheh. Poor Sophie. I feel sadistic whenever I put her in these situations. Either I've got to lighten up, or give Sophie a backbone… I think I'll just make her suck it up.