Vlad sat in the den with George. She was playing videogames while he watched. It was the middle of the day. George still hadn't gotten used to staying up at night, so Vlad would spend sometime with her before going to bed.

Vlad yawned and rested his head on his hand.

"You don't have to stay up with me if you're tired," George said.

"I'm fine. I can stay up a little longer."

George held up a controller, "Well do you at least want to play too?"

Vlad accepted the offer. He won, but not without difficulty. George was really good.

"Wow!" she said. "Not very many people can beat me. I didn't know you were so good."

"I used to play this game with an old friend."

"Robin right? Ingrid told me about him. How did you know each other?"

"We went to the same school, and he broke into our old home a few times," Vlad laughed.

"Do you miss him?"

"Sometimes. More so miss my old life there. Things were simple then compared to now."

"Do you ever think about visiting him?" George had turned the game off.

"I thought about it, but that wouldn't be a good idea," Vlad sighed. "He was always in some sort of danger thanks to me. I don't want him and his family to have to deal with that again."

George hugged Vlad, "I'm glad you like humans. You're the only one here I feel safe around. Minus Piers of course, and even he creeps me out sometimes."

"Yeah," he was sure a look of guilt showed on his face, but George didn't notice.

Vlad walked out of the Den and headed to his room. He didn't use his powers much around George so he wouldn't scare her. Vlad got to his room, but was stopped by Draco before he could open the door.

"What now?" Vlad groaned.

"I heard your conversation with you sister," Draco said.

"Don't you sleep," Vlad opened the door and walked around him. He laid on the couch and used his arm to cover his eyes.

"You aren't having second thoughts are you?" Draco questioned.

"About what?"

"You still show remorse to breathers. I understand your sister, but you shouldn't still feel the same for people you knew in your past."

Vlad sat up, "I'm not having second thoughts."

"Then why did you sound so guilty?"

"Only because I don't like lying to George."

"Then don't," Draco said. "Tell her the truth."

"She's been through enough already. She won't feel safe here if she knew the truth."

"You can't hide your true self from her forever. She will eventually find out."

"When she's older. Now wouldn't be a good time."

"Well you are her guardian so of course you should do what you think is best," Draco began to walk out. "But if I do catch you yielding to a breather then I won't hesitate to correct you."

"What does that mean? You're going to drain my powers again?"

"You're father has forbidden me from taking that sort of action. However, I will think of some sort of punishment. Remember those you should trust, and those you shouldn't." Draco closed the door behind him.

Vlad yawned, "He was too tired to worry about Draco at the moment."

Vlad picked up a remote and pressed the green button. A painting on the wall slid down and a screen appeared showing security footage from around the castle. Complements of Piers.

Everyone was asleep except for George who was still playing video games. Vlad walked to another door and opened it. Inside was his coffin. He snapped his fingers to open it. He fell asleep the moment the top closed.

As soon as the sun set Vlad woke up. For once he didn't have any strange dreams. Even if he didn't get a full days rest, he felt fine. He changed quickly and made his way too Piers' lab. Ingrid and Piers were both in there. Piers was working on his video games while Ingrid worked on her nails.

"Sleep well breather boy," Ingrid taunted.

"Will you ever stop calling me that?" Vlad sounded annoyed.

"Your still half breather even if you act more vamp now."

Piers interrupted before a fight could start, "I have something for you both." He pulled out a couple of wristbands and handed them to them.

"They are an upgrade to the trackers," he explained. "Now you can send out distress signals. It also has your family coat of arms on it, and upon Ingrid's request, it's made of leather."

"Cool," Ingrid said.

"I'll be giving them to everyone. Including George."

"Thanks Piers," Vlad said.

"Don't mention it," Piers returned to his game.

BANG! Vlad and Ingrid kept their footing, but Piers fell out of his chair.

"What was that?" Ingrid said.

Piers looked at his monitors, "Explosion came from the alchemy lab."

Vlad and Ingrid looked at each other and said, "Renfield."

Vlad and Ingrid made their way downstairs and were met with a good bit of smoke coming from the lab door.

"Renfield?" Vlad called out.

"Help," Renfield whimpered.

Vlad found him tangled in a tarp and helped him up.

"What did you do?" Ingrid asked.

"I was just working on an experiment," Renfield explained.

"What experiment?" Vlad asked.

Renfield held up a beaker showing a glowing blue liquid.

"Is that UV liquid that the slayers use?" Ingrid frowned. "Why do you have it?"

"I collected it from the wreckage that master Vlad caused. The master asked me to experiment on it to see if a shield of some sort could be made to defend against it."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Ingrid admitted.

"But why would you experiment on it?" Vlad asked. "It's dangerous to you too. And what exactly caused the explosion?"

"Just a bad mixture," he explained. "No worries. It doesn't hurt vampires."

"Whatever," Ingrid had become bored. "Want to go hunting?"

"Oh I would love to," Renfield responded.

"Not you moron," Ingrid snapped. She turned to Vlad, "Well?"

Before Vlad could answer Draco walked into the room, "Not tonight. He has training."

Vlad groaned, "Why?"

"We had an agreement," Draco reminded him. "Your vacation is over. Let's go."

Beep…beep…beep. The hospital monitors held a constant rhythm. Mina VanHelsing sat in her usual chair watching her son. She waited for him to wake up, but there was no change.

I nurse walked in with a tray of food. She placed it next to Mina.

"Thank you," Mina said.

The nurse smiled. She started pressing buttons on the monitors.

"He seems to be more and more stable everyday," the nurse said. "I heard the doctor say that they are hopeful."

"Yeah," Mina said resignedly.

The nurse put her hand on her shoulder, "Don't give up hope. He's young and has a great chance of pulling through."

Mina stared at her son, "I hope so."