Before Vlad had gone to sleep Draco approached him and said that they would be going out after sunset. He didn't ask Vlad to. He demanded it. It took only a few hours before Draco started ordering him around.

Vlad hated this. So much has happened in the past year and he still hadn't figured out what was wrong with him yet. Talking to his dad last time helped. Maybe he should do that again, but he was afraid his father would just be happy that Vlad was questioning his morals a encourage him to let go of them. Vlad at least knew that wasn't going to happen. He figured the problem was that he never really knew his morals in the first place. He just did what he thought was right at the time. Up until now it seemed to work just fine. Now things aren't so black and white.

Vlad returned to his room where he found George sitting on his couch playing her Nintendo again.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "It's 5AM."

"I woke up early," George said. "I heard Draco yelling last night and wanted to see if everything was ok."

"What did you hear?" Vlad asked.

"Nothing really. All I could hear was the yelling."

Vlad sat down next to George and watched her play her game.

"What are you playing?" He asked.

"Fire Emblem. It's one of my favorites. You could either buy Birthright or Conquest. Whichever you choose decided what side you were on."

"And which did you choose?"

"Conquest. I like the costumes and the dark tone of it."

Vlad chuckled at that. George seemed to like darker things. When she was here before she was scared a lot of the time, but now she seemed completely at ease with everything.

"So how are the Ramanga brothers?" George asked. "Have the visited?"

Vlad remembered that George had a friendship with the younger Ramanga brother.

"Well I haven't heard from them since you were last here, but we are still getting along. If they need anything they know they are welcome here."

George nodded and returned to her game.

"How have you been though?" Vlad asked. "I know this happened so fast and we haven't had the chance to talk really."

"I'm ok. I've been keeping myself entertained. I think mom is worried though."

Vlad felt guilty for hardly spending any time with them. He decided that he would see his mom before he left with Draco that night.

"Well I need to get some sleep," Vlad said.

George hugged him and then ran out the room.

Vlad snapped his fingers to open his coffin. He laid down for only a second and he was asleep.

The first thing Vlad noticed was that he was back at that damn lake again. Great. Then he saw his sister standing only a couple feet away.

"We're in the dream world aren't we?" Vlad asked.

"Yep," Ingrid replied. "I needed to talk to you."

"You're going to yell at me?"

Ingrid nodded her head, "No. I'm as conflicted as you are with this situation."

Vlad tilted his head, "So what do you want to talk about?"

"You," Ingrid said. "I know we don't have a good record as siblings, but I do know you better than most."

Vlad sighed, "Ingrid I still can't tell you what I'm thinking. I don't even know what I'm thinking."

"I know that," Ingrid snapped. "But I'm going to give you something to think about. I just have one question."

Vlad nodded, "Ok?"

"Is it ever ok to kill a breather?"

Vlad frowned, "I…"

"Don't," Ingrid cut him off. "Just answer yes or no."

Vlad thought for a second, "Yes."

Ingrid looked down and laughed.

"What?" Vlad asked.

"A year ago you would have said no without hesitation."

Vlad knew she was right. A lot has changed. But he still didn't believe in killing just for the hell of it.

"Go hunting with me," Ingrid said.

Vlad was caught of guard, "What?"

"How vampires hunt says a lot about them. I won't tell anyone. Not even Piers."

"Why would I go hunting with you in the first place?"

"Because it will answer a lot of questions we both have. You won't have to kill anyone. Let's just see what happens."

Vlad thought about it for a moment. He understood what Ingrid was trying to do. Still this seemed to be an extreme way to get answers.

"I'm not sure about this Ingrid."

Ingrid rolled her eyes, "Come on. For once in your life take a risk. Unless you are afraid of what you'll learn about yourself."

Vlad knew what she was doing. Intimidating people was her specialty. Still, Vlad didn't have a better way to get the answers he needed.

"Fine," Vlad said. "I'll go with you. We will go as soon as I get back with Draco."

Ingrid smirked, "Great."

She turned as if she was about to fly off, "Oh! And don't have any soy blood before then."

Vlad shrugged already knowing why she said that, "Sure."

Ingrid smiled, "See you soon."

The dream faded and Vlad woke up.

After Vlad got dressed he made his way to the throne room. His mom was there on the coach by herself. She was drawing and had papers surrounding her. Vlad thought this would be the perfect time to finally have a conversation with her before Draco showed up.

"Hey," was all Vlad said.

Sally looked up and smiled, "Hi. I've barley seen you around the last couple days."

"I know. Sorry about that. Things have been hectic. But I have a couple minutes now."

Sally motioned for Vlad to sit next to her.

"So what's on your mind?" She asked.

"A lot. But I am worried about you. George said you were concerned," Vlad said.

"Well I'm just worried about you. I know I still don't know everything that I can about you, but I'm still your mother. Instinct and all that I guess."

Vlad laughed at how cheerful his mother was. She was always smiling.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin. I'm just glad you're here. I know that you're safe here," Vlad said.

Sally tilted her head. Vlad could see that she wanted more information than that, but he really didn't know what to tell her. He didn't want her to worry, but she was going to anyway.

"Just know that I'm looking out for you and George," Vlad continued. "I won't let anything happen to either of you.

Sally smiled, "Well I'm glad to hear it. You can talk to me about anything you know. I want to help where I can."

"I know you do. Let me think about it some more. Once I'm thinking more clearly then we can talk."

Sally seemed satisfied with that, "Sounds good to me. Now what do you think of this sketch? I'm wanting to work on a new sculpture. It's a fountain."

Vlad was about to respond when Draco entered the room.

Sally dropped her shoulders and rolled her eyes. Vlad couldn't help but chuckle. He was glad to see his mom like Draco just as much as the rest of them did.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Draco said. "But Vladimir and I have plans."

"Alright then," Sally said sarcastically. She gathered her papers and stood up.

She gave Vlad a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. Draco waited until the door was closed.

"Ready?" Draco asked.

"Where are we going?" Vlad said.

"Just to the woods. I just want to talk and maybe see what you are capable of."

"So you're going to test me," Vlad guessed.

Draco nodded, "In a way, but don't think of it like that. Think of it as us finally getting to know one another."

Vlad looked at him odd, "You're so strange."

Draco chuckled, "I told you that I don't want to be enemies. I want to help."

Vlad wasn't sure if he should trust that. He sounded genuine, but could easily lie.

"Whatever," was all Vlad said.

"Ok, first lesson," Draco said.

Lesson? Vlad thought.

"Don't be rude to a potential ally. Even if you don't like them you want them to think you trust them."

Vlad decided that it was probably best to just go with this.

"Ok," he smiled. "What's the second lesson?"

Draco smirked, "Learn to keep up."

"What?"

Draco flew out the window. Once he realized what was going on Vlad raced after him.