Mina was surprised to find him still there when she awoke.

This room was entirely new to her, so she figured she must finally be in his own. It was rather dark, as she expected, with light only coming from a few candles around the room. The bed itself was covered in a red quilt, and surrounded by dark, tapestry like curtains that had been pulled open. On the black and grey walls were a few scarce paintings of things Mina couldn't make out in the low light.

She felt rather cool under the sheets and soon realized it was because she was naked. Memories of the last hours flooded her mind. She recalled their passion almost perfectly. Mina wasn't sure how she knew how to do all of the things she had done. Perhaps it was some natural thing everyone knew, or perhaps he had put the thoughts there himself. She didn't care too much. It had certainly done a good job of getting her mind off of things.

Mina rolled to face him, only to find he wasn't asleep at all. He stared up at the canopy, one hand behind his head on the pillow. Mina placed her hand upon his chest, leaning further into him.

"You're freezing," he said, taking her hand in his.

Mina sighed, "You're warm." She moved even closer, pressing herself even nearer to him. She felt some sores on her chest and remembered that he had fed from her during their passion. It all seemed so strange and ill-advised now, but Mina wasn't blushing. Though it may've been odd and rushed and out of character, it did not feeling wrong to her. "I've been thinking."

"Yes," his voice vibrated inside his chest.

Mina pushed herself up, as to perch herself over him, "We need to leave London."

He nodded, "I agree." The Count reached up and brushed back her loose blonde curls. "There's too much danger here for us."

"I think we should go to Transylvania," Mina continued, looking down at him.

He smiled, "To Transylvania?"

"I am not in jest," Mina said very seriously, wishing she were wearing something more than her skin. "I am frightened, Vladimir. I'm frightened that Van Helsing will come for us. I am frightened that Lucy will come for us."

He averted his eyes down, still with that smirking look upon his face. Mina lowered herself, kissing him once again. It brought back memories and a yearning to give into the passion once more. But she needed him to listen. She was afraid. More afraid than anything. Afraid for Johnathan. Afraid for Seward. Afraid for herself.

Afraid of herself.

Who was this Mina she was now? Some mistress of darkness. Being with Dracula was against everything she had been told her whole life. You were not to make love to a man who was not your husband. You were certainly not to be the lover to a dark creature of the night. Lover…the word was so strange to Mina, but she liked it all the same. All of this was strange to Mina and was strange when she thought about it as a whole.

Yet she liked it. She couldn't turn back now. She loved him. Maybe it was an odd love, but it was love nonetheless. He unlocked these feelings inside of her that she didn't know she had. He gave her all the things she desired but could never say aloud.

Mina laid herself atop him, her head upon his chest. He stroked her hair lightly, and she felt a wonderful wave of peace rush over her.

"We can leave tomorrow," he said into her ear. His accent was so wonderful. She wondered if everyone's was that wonderful, or if it was just his. "I'll get us a good ship with a nice cabin and a crew who doesn't ask questions. We'll be safe in my castle. No one can get to us there."

"Good," Mina said, almost wanting to cry for some reason. She kissed him again.

He smiled at her, "I love you, Mina. I'm sorry for frightening you. And…"

Mina kissed him again, this time deeper. She didn't want to speak of the previous night. She didn't want to think of the previous night. Dracula had a darkness to him, she knew that. He could kill people. She'd always known that. Yet he was tender as well. He was wonderful. He was the only man she'd ever truly felt love for.

But he was dark. Mina could not deny the darkness within him. It was terrifying. It was exhilarating. She adored it. She loved the darkness, the deepness, the passion. Mina craved it. It was strange that she did, but she knew now that she couldn't dare to be separated from him.

He ran his hands up her back and she felt herself shiver a bit. Her mind filled with memories of passion…memories she wished to repeat…

"Are you going to stay with me?" He asked quietly.

Mina blinked, "Yes, of course."

"No one's ever wanted to stay with me."

Mina kissed him once more, "I love you."

They didn't speak again for quite a long time.

OOO

He didn't tell her that she would get headaches. Well, not headaches: migraines. The worst migraines she'd ever had. It felt like some thick band was wrapped around her forehead constantly squeezing in from all angles. It hurt to have her eyes open; it hurt to have her eyes closed. It hurt when she sat up; it hurt when she lied down. In the times before, she remembered having pain. If Dracula did not feed from Mina regularly, she would became nauseous and often feel out of sorts. But never migraines. No, these were new.

Lily had decided that it was from her returning memories. The pain felt like another brain was being stuffed inside her head, which, in honesty, it was. Though Mina's life was hers, it was strange to have it appear so suddenly. It was like she'd woken up after some long blackout. Like recovering from amnesia.

But there were still puzzling bits to her. Lily had no explanation as to how she had returned. She remembered dying. She could feel the fear like a knife piercing her skin and then nothing. If she had had some kind of an afterlife, it was long forgotten. Lily remembered dying as Mina and waking up as Lily. There was nothing in between to explain this new life.

The other puzzling bit was her friends. They bared an eerie resemblance to Mina's friends. In fact, her whole life seemed a mirror of her previous one.

Lily had brought this up to Dracula soon after her memories were recovered. It took a few days after the breakthrough for all her thoughts to come back to her, but they all seemed rather settled in her mind now.

"Can I ask you something?" Lily had said as she lay against him. They were up in his apartment, sitting in a large leather chair watching the fireplace before them.

"Of course," he said warmly.

Lily breathed, "Most of my memories have returned, but there's still something missing. I can't figure out why I'm back. I mean, I died, so why aren't I still dead?" Lily could feel him stiffen at the words. Honestly, she'd been expecting that, but she knew he had an answer. She also knew he certainly wasn't going to give it easily.

"Would you rather you were dead?" He asked coldly.

"What?" Lily sat up to face him. "Of course not. You needn't be so angry."

"I'm not angry," he said with a harsh look. "I just don't see why it matters."

Lily pulled back, "I'm dead one moment and alive the next. A little weird, isn't it?" Dracula brushed her away, standing up too swiftly for a mortal. He was across the room in an instant, looking somehow taller than before. That darkness inside of him flickered up on his face, and Lily got a glance of the man who had easily killed before.

"Would you please stop talking of your death, Mina?" His rising voice seemed to manifest tension into the air. Lily said nothing, unable to think of something clever to say. She was always bad at talking to him when he got like this. He looked ready to kill her in an instant, which she knew he was more than capable of doing. Lily's body would break easily in his grip. What was she to a centuries old monster?

Lily breathed, gathering any bit of courage she could find.

She stood, "You know, don't you? You know why I'm back, just tell me. What's so wrong about it?"

The look he gave told her something was very wrong about. In another flash, he was right in front of her. So close to her in fact that she felt scarcely able to breath from it. There was a part of her intrigued by this. Lily could feel her stomach filling with excited butterflies. Anger and love were both such passionate emotions that bodies could hardly tell the difference.

Lily met his eyes.

He spoke, "Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."

"But I do want the answer," Lily said strongly. "I want it." Dracula looked ready to kiss her or strike her. She had no idea which.

But instead, he backed away. "You should leave now, Mina."

She blinked, "What? Why?" He was already walking from the sitting room, down the hall to the door. Lily felt some fire setting alight inside of her. She was not some foolish child who could be easily dismissed and lied to. Lily was sick of his silence. All the time they'd known each other in this life, he'd said nothing of the past. Lily had thought she was going insane for weeks because of him, and now felt little better than that.

"No," Lily called to him. He turned back, his face completely changed to his monstrous form now. It was the strange look that made him both handsome and horrifying. "No, I'm sick of you not answering my questions like you did for months!" He stepped closer, like a hunter stalking its prey. "I've noticed things, you know. Like how Alison is just like Lucy. How Tom is like John. That can't be a coincidence either. I'm not stupid, you know."

"Mina-"

"No," Lily pursed her lips. "I want you to tell me what's going on."

He just kept coming closer, moving as slow as time. For some reason, Lily thought of a zombie movie she'd watched with Tom and Ali. Lily remembered laughing about how stupid it was for the zombies to move slowly. It wasn't even scary. You could get away so easily. But now Lily understood it. She felt herself frozen to the floor as Dracula stalked towards. In fact, she began to wonder if he'd somehow used his power to make her stick to the floor.

Then he was right in front of her once more.

"You should know better than to make me angry, Mina."

At the moment she was certain he'd yell, he came forward and kissed her hard on the lips. Lily felt something like a small explosion inside of her as he kissed her more passionately than she could remember him doing. It was almost like an exertion of power, but honestly Lily didn't mind. She welcomed it.

Then he broke it, "No. I can't…use you like that. You have to go."

Lily studied him, "Are you sure?"

"I can't answer your questions yet."

"Why not?"

"You have to go."

OOO

They'd hardly spoken since then, and it had been a week. He hadn't fed from her in a week, when usually he'd go no more than two days. Lily knew he was starved. She could feel it herself, yet his foolish pride kept him away. He wouldn't answer her questions.

So Lily had come up with a plan. It was a crazy, stupid plan, but it would get her answers.

And at this point, that's all that mattered.