A/N: This chapter is dialogue-heavy and for that I apologize, as I personally hate huge walls of text, but it was necessary! Hopefully, you readers don't mind so much and that you enjoy the chapter! Thanks for reading! And huge thanks you to all who reviewed! :D


In a instant, the man's face reverted to human features and Helen jerked. His dark eyes continued to swirl with silver. It was hypnotizing.

"You!" Helen pointed her gun at the man, the vampire, her disbelieving mind thought. "I've seen you before. You were at our hotel in Aix-En-Provence. Why are you following us?"

The man dusted imaginary dirt off his suit. He was even more impeccably dressed than Nikola. "Following you, more specifically, Ms. Magnus. I came here for you," his voice was rich and cultured. "Because I need your assistance."

"Who are you?"

Smiling congenially, the man placed his hand on his chest and bowed his head. "My name is Alain, and it is a pleasure to meet you at last, Ms. Magnus."

Helen did not like to be confused. No one did, really, but it caused her finger to tighten around her gun's trigger.

"You are a vampire." Nikola, it seemed, had come out of his shocked daze. His eyes were wide with disbelief. "How?" he breathed, taking a step forward. Nikola's eyes lit upon the man as if he held all the answers in the world.

Alain kept his benign smile. "I am indeed, Mr. Tesla. Sanguine..."

"Vampiris," Nikola breathed. "This is impossible. You were all wiped out during the purges. The last few seeking refuge in Bhalasaam were completely massacred." His eyes studied Alain with a feverish light.

A muscle ticked in Alain's jaw and he looked sorrowful. "Those were troubling times, and indeed, very many of us were lost. Brethren all. Loved by all." His smile was sad now. "But a handful of us chose not to go to Bhalasaam, deciding it was better for our continued survival to scatter into the winds of the world. When word of Bhalasaam's destruction reached, we mourned. For a long time."

Helen grew concerned about Nikola. For although, it seemed undeniable proof that Alain was a vampire from his physicality, his story could simply be that, a story. Nikola was so entranced with the vampire in front of him that it looked as if his mind had gone. She knew Nikola wanted nothing more than to find a way to re-vamp himself and it seemed like the answer was standing right in front of him. For Nikola, it wasn't about the vampiric powers, it was about who he was, who he really was. A vampire with vampire ancestors. For him, meeting Alain was akin to meeting a long-lost relative.

"Nikola," she cautioned, blue eyes watching the man she loved before returning to Alain. "This seems like a fantastical story, and Nikola would undoubtedly wish to hear more of it if it is indeed true. But first, you said you needed my assistance, explain that and who exactly this man is."

Alain raised an eyebrow. "It was not I who sent this man after you, Ms. Magnus. Please rest assured of that. I like to do my own dirty work when need be." He looked down at the dead assassin. "No, he was hired by those who refer to themselves as 'The Cabal'."

Helen cocked her head. "The Cabal were destroyed."

"Their heads, yes, but The Cabal have leeched their tentacles into everything. They are everywhere. And their plans still continue to move forward to this day. Your Sanctuaries, Ms. Magnus, are in trouble once again."

Sucking in a breath at the news, Helen nevertheless gritted her teeth. This man, this vampire, certainly had a way of getting their attention. Nikola had stopped moving, but continued to study the man with scientific hunger. His fingers twitched by his sides. Troubled by the news, if it was true, Helen raised her chin, still distrusting.

Instead of becoming impatient or frustrated, Alain smiled, as if he were viewing a fond memory. He spread his hands in supplication. "I see you still do not believe me. Perhaps we should ask your father where he got that vial of blood from?"

Nikola shook his head, scoffing and showing he was still attentively listening to the conversation. "Gregory Magnus is long gone, Alain with the no-name."

Alain smiled that little smile of his and turned to Helen, as if expecting an answer from her to his question. "It is true I have not seen him for a long time, but is he?"

Nikola glanced at her too.

"You're telepathic." Helen guessed, frowning in consternation and Alain inclined his head. "I don't know where he is."

"Helen?" Nikola looked in askance. "Your father's alive? What, did he inject himself too? How long have you known this?" The news stunned him, though considerably less so than meeting a pure vampire after their supposed extinction.

"The Cabal cryogenically froze him before reviving and then brainwashing him. I didn't know he was alive until two years ago. I don't know where he is; he's in hiding." She glanced at Alain. "You're going to have to find another way to convince me."

"Very well then." With slow movements tracked by Helen's gun, Alain reached into his blazer and pulled out an old ornate-looking, heart-shaped locket. He dangled it from his fingers. "Will this do?"

Helen gasped and her hand trembled. Nikola stepped up beside her; he didn't know the significance, but he lent Helen strength in his presence.

"Where did you - " she uttered in shock, her blue locked on the heavy necklace. "My father would never give that away. He said he'd lost it - " On the return trip home to England. In 1886. The same trip he had brought the Source Blood back. Her father had shown sadness at its loss, his first gift to her mother when they were young. He carried it everywhere with him, in a sealed vest pocket so that it would never fall out -

Alain smiled genuinely, there was no hidden malice or danger in it. "I promise to explain everything to you and Mr. Tesla, but first we must leave here." He stepped closer, but stopped when Helen backed away. His smile turned sad and instead held out the locket to her. "I think I should give this to you as a token of good faith, Ms. Magnus."

Helen's curiosity was overcoming her wariness, a frequent occurrence. She glanced at Nikola who nodded in agreement before taking the locket and holding it close to her heart. "Where do you suggest?"

"A car is parked at the other end of this alley. From there to the airport." Alain began walking, expecting them to follow. "Our would-be murderer here has many other friends. The Cabal is undoubtedly aware of your precise location. You were already planning to leave France, weren't you?"

"Our bags -"

"Already in the trunk." Alain smiled that peculiar smile again at Helen's suspicious look. It was as if he knew how she was already going to react and was amused at her predictability.

A modest four-door awaited them and Helen choose to take the front passenger, sitting with her gun pointed right at Alain's chest. Vampire he may be, but Nikola had proven that even a bullet provided a minute distraction.

Carefully tracking their route, Helen soon turned to Alain suspiciously. "This isn't the way to the airport."

"I chartered a private jet," Alain responded, his hands expertly guiding the car through the narrow French streets, making their way out of the city. "Their hangers are located a bit ways from the main airport." He smiled reassuringly at her, as if aware that Helen didn't trust him.

The ride continued in silence and they were well out of the city before Alain's eyes flicked to the rear view mirror. "Well, it appears we are being followed." Helen's hair flew as she whipped around in her seat to see the single headlight of a motorbike getting brighter as it approached.

"How do you - " She ducked as a bullet pierced the rear windshield.

Nikola, in the backseat, swore, ducking low across the seat. "It must be that upstart from the train station." He covered his head as the glass cracked and splintered, hit with another bullet.

Helen checked her clip, rolled down her window, and blindly returned fire.

"You know, as the man in control of the car, you could help out in making us less of a static target," Nikola snapped, feeling his cheek momentarily sting from the cut glass.

Alain commented lightly, "I've never actually participated in a car chase before." He sped up.

Nikola got over his awe and shock at being in the company of an actual vampire to sneer at the back of the man's head. It wasn't too long ago, that he would have acted in the same way, feeling completely non-threatened by a hail of bullets. He felt a fleeting commiseration with Helen and all the times she became exasperated by him. He thought for a moment before catching Helen's attention. "On my say, I want you to cover me. Empty your clip if you have to."

Helen nodded, trusting him, and unbuckled her seat belt. Maneuvering herself to kneel backwards on her seat, Helen glanced at Nikola, waiting for his signal. Alain watched with interest out of the corner of his eye.

"Now!"

Helen popped her top half out of the window and began firing.

Nikola sprang up to see the motorbike out of the shattered windshield and concentrated. A motorbike, a wonderfully cool invention of transportation, was essentially made out of metal. Putting the practice of his powers into use, Nikola caused the swerving bike to jerk wildly, repelling it away from the metal of the car and attracting the wheel hub to the metal guard-rail alongside the road. The wheel turned completely with the magnetic force and lurched toward the rail, toppling the bike over and skidding across the road, dragging the driver along for the ride.

Helen emptied her clip and ducked back inside. She shared a grin with Nikola. "Very nice," she complimented. Nikola wiggled his eyebrows at her, causing her eyes to crinkle with laughter.

"Yes, magnificent, Mr. Tesla."

Dusting himself off, and carefully brushing glass of the seat, Nikola leaned against the door. He checked for any signs of their pursuer. "Dare we hope that that is the last we'll see of our troubles?"

"Forgive me for saying so, but it seems to me that trouble tends to follow you two around, doesn't it?"

Pumped with adrenaline, Helen smiled. "The only difference is that Nikola invites his trouble." She shot him a teasing glance in the mirror, only to find him grinning back at her.

"And Helen inadvertently stumbles into hers. Stealing three witches from a crypt ring any bells?"

"A perfect match between you two," Alain commented indulgently and it was as if with another brush with death in that single night had allowed Helen to drop her guard slightly and believe that this mysterious Alain was not actually trying to kill them. She dug her mother's locket out of her pocket and opened it to see the black-and-white picture of herself as a little girl and one of her mother that her father had put in. Helen smiled sadly before feeling the car stop. They had arrived.

Helen scrambled out of the car, eying the shattered glass of the back windshield. "Your car is going to raise some questions."

"Oh, don't worry." Alain smiled placidly. "It's not my car." He closed the door and gestured to the airport hanger. "Shall we?"

Nikola couldn't help grin at the man's blasé attitude. Alain reminded himself of someone. He gathered an astonished Helen by the elbow, also enjoying her gaping expression, and murmured, "Shall we then, love?"

The plane was a private one, luxurious and plush and much to Nikola's approval. He took a moment, ignoring Helen's amused look, to settle deep in the smooth leather chair before pulling her in right beside him. She swore he even began purring when Alain served them glass flutes filled with wine before the man sat across from them and began his explanation as promised.

"Your father stumbled on top of us, quite upon accident really. Both sides were startled. We...were not at our best then. But your father recognized us for what we were and instead of running straight to the nearest church to reveal us, he offered us sanctuary." Tears formed in Helen's eyes. "We refused, out of pride mostly, and determination to see our way back into this world that had turned upon us. Your father insisted upon helping us find adequate shelter, medication, and theories on how to sustain our blood lust." Alain smiled as Helen and Nikola exchanged long looks, no doubt remembering when Helen had helped develop a similar medication for Nikola's own blood-lust. "We were wary to trust this sudden stranger, and were set upon silencing him, but he showed us this locket of his. That bore a picture of his loved and deceased wife on one side, and his daughter waiting for him back home on the other. He laid it out on the ground and spread his arms wide, pleading for us to believe that he only wanted to help.

"It had been so long since we'd trusted a human, knowing that they were the ones that hunted us, but...wise in all manner, we too recognized that not all humans were alike, and that time had passed since the Purges. We searched this man's mind, and saw nothing but passion for all types of outcast beings. Abnormals, he called them. Even vampires. And so, we allowed him to help us, he spent four months with us, before returning to his daughter."

Alain looked at the locket still clutched in Helen's hand with some fondness. "Your father had great dreams of a sanctuary, to shelter all sorts of Abnormals. He hoped so dearly that we would be some of them. He wished to stay longer, but feared others would come looking for him. He bade us to keep the locket, an item so precious, until time came when he would return for it." Alain frowned. "Your father never returned to us by the time we moved on." His silver eyes gazed at Helen, and he gestured to the locket. "And now, it is back where it belongs."

"So there were survivors," Nikola breathed, his eyes awed. Helen suppressed a smile. There was less than a handful of things in this world that could hold Nikola spell-bound. His ancestral race was one and she, a smug smile lurked, was another. "More than anyone thought. You're all still out there."

Alain smiled sadly. "The hunt for us was relentless. The Church did not care who was hurt in their pursuit. Their soldiers were sent out to question everyone; a simple cut on the hand would reveal us, our self-regenerative powers. A vampire's body can withstand a great deal of injury, but even we cannot live without our heads. One of my brothers, they took him, shoved steel lances through his body by the dozens and left them there, so he could not heal, and locked him up. There, they starved him, until he perished; a skeleton with withered skin."

Helen interrupted, trying not become enthralled in this man's forgotten history, sad and barbaric as it was. "You said you needed my help. With what?"

He looked at her, with old eyes, hypnotizing Helen with those silver swirls. It occurred to her that for all of her one-hundred and fifty-eight years of experience, Alain had lived and seen much more. Maybe that was why he was so different from Nikola. There was no arrogance, no superiority, no list for world domination. Helen smiled wryly. Or perhaps those traits were part of Nikola's character; being part-vampire only heightened them. "My race, Ms. Magnus. The vampire race needs your help."

"The revival of our race!" Nikola breathed, the excitement in his eyes akin to the unveiling of one of his inventions.

"Not...quite, Mr. Tesla." Alain smiled. It was smile of sadness and old wisdom. "That is one path we have no wish to venture down again."

"But, the world is your oyster." Nikola burned with suppressed passion, caught up in his idea of ushering a new era of peace. And before him stood a man who could accomplish it. He found it hard to understand.

Alain smiled. "Was, Mr. Tesla. The world has changed, as have we." He spread his hands. "Our perceptions have changed, shifted. It is not world domination we seek; instead, we have adapted to integration." At Nikola's confused and disheartening look, Alain asked, "How old are you, Mr. Tesla?"

"One hundred and fifty-five," Nikola answered confusedly.

Alain's wise smile remained. "You are quite young. And it shows." He looked amused at their faces. It wasn't every day someone called them young. "Would you believe I am nearly two thousand? But," he clapped his hands, "you are tired and after a day like you've had, I do not blame you. There is a bedroom at the back that you may make use of until we arrive. There is still much we need to talk about."

Helen and Nikola's bodies took that moment to agree and the two realized how exhausted they were. After nodding to Alain, the two retired to the bedroom at the rear of the plane, tiredly changed into proper clothing, and collapsed onto the soft mattress.

But even though she was exhausted, Helen's mind raced with what she learned today and worried about what would happen tomorrow.

"You're worrying," Nikola pulled her close, "your forehead gets that little crease in the middle. Stop it." He leaned against the pillows, wrapping his arms around Helen and enjoying her warmth. "There's nothing to do now, but wait."

Helen brushed aside her hair to glance up at him, still feeling shivers underneath her skin as Nikola absently stroked her arm. "You're not the least bit worried about walking into more danger?"

"We've been doing good so far, Helen." Nikola nosed his way into Helen's brunette curls, closing his eyes and settling in. "You and I, that's all we need. We should sleep; we didn't get much last night."His lips curved into a smirk as he vividly recalled the reason why. "Or this morning."

Helen blushed. "Whose fault is that?"

"Yours," he retorted, a chuckle in his voice. "Who was it that woke me, whispering I want you? It wasn't me, ergo..."

Her blush flared. "Quiet, you."

"I want you too. In fact..."

"Nikola," Helen hissed, but her insides jumped with anticipation. "We're on a plane! And we're not alone!" She slapped his hand away from her thigh.

"Haven't you ever had the desire to join the High Mile club?"