Adult content warning.

Not scary, emotional adult content. Happy, consensual, romantic adult content! Yay!

Still, a little NSFW or like Not Safe for Reading in the Vicinity of Your Parents or Small Children. Long story short, there's a sex scene. And just take this warning as a warning for the rest of the story from here on out. We're gonna be moving a little closer to the M zone…

Lots of love!

OOO

His name was Vladimir then.

A disgustingly Transylvanian name, he'd changed it at the first moment he could. There were no papers to fill out on it. With his condition, it was best if there were no papers at all. If he wished to change his name, he only need to start introducing himself as such. So after Viktoryia passed, Vladimir died for all purposes and Alexander was born. Alexander was a different beast all to himself.

This was before.

This was back when Alexander was Vladimir and when Viktoryia was still living. Back when Vladimir was not but a human man living with his wife in Castle Dracula. A Count for all his life, he'd officially inherited the title from his late father. He and Viktoryia lived in luxurious frivolity for all their days. Childhood friends, they been destined for each other from the start. There was never a moment that he doubted Viktoryia would be his wife, it seemed almost a given circumstance. It happened as they had planned, and he was irrevocably happy. Viktoryia was his best friend and now his bed partner.

Things changed the night he was attacked. The succubi were a plague that seemed to have no cure. If attacked, you became a slave to blood and a slave to feeding. But Vladimir thought himself immune. These creatures seemed to only attack the lost and the poor. Surely, they would not come for a Count. He was important. Too important to be cursed.

Curses and plagues do not discriminate by social class, Vladimir realized when he too was taken by one of these creatures. He could not tell Viktoryia. She would never understand. It would frighten her, and he hated to see her frightened. He had to fix it. Vladimir knew of a soothsayer who lived in the woods behind Castle Dracula. They let the witch live upon their lands so long as she never hurt them. The witch, whose name he'd never learned, kept to herself save when the family needed her. Even then she picked and chose who to save and who to let die. They never questioned her for she seemed to have some knowledge that they did not. The witch knew all, and they certainly would not question her.

He hoped desperately that his life was worth saving. A few times before he had glanced the gypsy woman, but she was almost a ghost story to him. She was the scary house on the hill you were dared to touch but never got the courage too. Vladimir ran to her small rag covered hut and found her waiting for him. That unearthly knowledge of hers had told her that he was coming. She did seem to know all.

Instantly, Vladimir was welcomed into her small hut that was inexplicably bigger than it appeared from the outside. It was a wide room of wood, the walls covered with tapestries and shelves full of herbs. A very large caldron sat in the middle, a fire burning beneath it. He knew even though the walls were wood that the house was in no danger from the flames. This woman was in no danger at all.

There was this unsettling air about the gypsy woman that Vladimir could not name. Perhaps it was the way her hips swayed under her sheer purple skirt, or the way her midriff was exposed by the thin fabric that covered only her breasts. The witch just kept smiling at him, and Vladimir felt as if he should leave. But this woman could not have any malicious intent. A woman so beautiful who smiled so warmly could not be evil.

"I knew you'd come here to me some day, Vladimir Dracula," the woman over pronounced his name. She was so young. This witch had lived upon these lands for years and years, how could she be so young? Her eyes were a strange color. They looked red, but that must've been because of the fire. No one had red eyes like that. And her features were so sharp against her skin, but there was something oddly familiar in them...like looking in a mirror...

He cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to say I do not know you're name, miss."

When she smiled then, he could see her age. This woman was ancient indeed though her outward appearance showed it not. The smile of a woman weathered. A very old, very tired creature. Hundreds and hundreds of years, he thought for some reason. The voice sounded unlike his own.

She waved her hand, "My name does not matter, child." The woman just kept looking at him with this odd glint in her eye. Like she knew him very, very well. "You're here for my help."

"I was bitten," his hand reached for the still burning mark.

"I know," the witch smirked. "It was going to happen soon." Vladimir wasn't sure what she meant by it but felt as though he should not answer. The witch stalked back to her shelf. "And I shall help you, Vladimir Dracula," the witch spoke his name casually, without any sort of formality. He knew to ask her to call him 'my lord' would be ill advised.

"There is no cure-"

"That's right," the witch breathed. "But I shall make it better. I knew this would happen, child, I've been preparing for years and years."

Vladimir swallowed, "I have to live." The witch smirked into her caldron. "I have a wife. She's with child."

"No, she's not," the witch poured a green liquid into the pot. A smoke flew out of it. He felt his fist clenching, his face growing red. Who was this woman to taunt him? Of course, Viktoryia was pregnant. They'd consummated the relationship many times. There was no way she was not with child by now.

Then the gypsy stumbled, catching herself as she fell to the left. Her hands wrapped around her forehead, squeezing it in tightly as though to center herself. Helping her did not seem useful. This woman was not one to be helped. But her eyes lifted from the ground growing in a bright red color.

"It shall be the second," The witch's voice was odd and echoed. "The second to create the first."

Vladimir watched the woman in horror and knew why no one had dared to shoo her off the land. There was a power in her, a power of God. Some gift of clairvoyance and Magic. To take her away would be an insult. It would be rude to God.

Her eyes changed back, "Forgive. I am old, the words no longer make sense to say, but I know them well." She placed something else into the caldron. "And I know you, Vladimir Dracula, I know what you will become. I will pass my power to you, child, and you shall keep these new ones." Something else dropped into the brew. "Til you meet her and create a new life and a new world, child." She lowered her head, "I am old."

"How old?"

Red eyes locked with his, "Older than God."

Vladimir froze and wondered very seriously if he was conversing with the devil. He'd never imagined the devil to be a woman.

"And I do believe I've said enough," the woman threw out a hand. "Sleep."

Vladimir remembered nothing after that. He awoke alone of the grass with no guide as to what to do. All he knew was he had this hunger that would not be met by food. He had to stay away from Viktoryia, else she knew what he was. First, he took one of the kitchen girls. Taking too much, the girl died in his arms. Viktoryia saw, and he was much feared she'd leave him. But calmly she helped him burry the girl in the woods. She told him her brother was a succubus as well and that she would help him. He told her about the witch, and about how he was certain she'd done something to him. His whole body felt odd, like fire could not touch him. Like he would live forever and ever.

Viktoryia became his familiar and then she became like him.

When they killed Viktoryia, Vladimir died with her.

Alexander Dracula was born, and it was then he wondered if the witch had transferred the devil into him as well. For there had been something very odd about that woman. She had said something to him as he slept. Something that had been long forgotten until that day.

The master will find his queen, and then he will reign supreme.

OOO

Mina was running.

The hallway was long and narrow, adorned with ornate wooden linings upon the walls. It was Carfax, one of the many corridors, but it seemed not to end. Something was chasing her, but she was too afraid to turn around and see what it was. Its breath was loud and hot, and nearer and nearer with every passing moment. The hallway was immensely long, unfathomably long. It was never going to end until Mina saw a speck of white off in the distance. Yes, something was in wait there for her, but its form she could not make out. As her aching feet propelled her towards it, she saw it was a bath tub. White and sparkling and sitting under some sort of skylight. The dull light of the full moon shown upon the contents of the water.

It was not water in the tub. It was thick, red blood. Chunks of it floated to the top and Mina stumbled back in horror. Someone touched her shoulders, their hot breath so near her ear but Mina could not move. Whoever it was, they meant her ill. They were going to push her into the blood, submerge her until it filled every orifice in her body.

"Nowhere to run, Mina," whispered the voice of Lucy. Mina knew it to be her, though she still found herself incapable of turning to the voice. Something was dripping from Mina's shoulders now. Thick and red, the blood dripping from Lucy's eerily long fingers stained the white of Mina's night gown like dye from a well.

"And we do know you're so fond of running."

Lucy pushed Mina forward with one great heave, but before Mina touched the bathtub she was transported. The room was vast and filed with people. They wore shades of grey, black, white, and red with ornate lace masks that sat upon their pale faces. Mina knew they were all staring at her. She could see their red eyes through the glimmer of the candle light. A ball, that's what this was. And in Alexander's ballroom. A room that Mina had not entered in ages. It seemed darker somehow, and much, much older. All the people kept staring at her. What was she wearing?

A mirror appeared in front of her, with a black ornate frame. Mina had not mask, but a face that looked unlike her own. Mina was not as beautiful as this woman in the mirror, yet she knew it to be her own reflection. The woman wore a large white ball gown with jewels of a deep, blood red. Mina had never seen such jewels before and certainly never owned any, but she could not remember why she had them now. She could not remember why she was at this ball in the first place.

"May I have his dance?" Asked a man to Mina's side. There was a line of suitors all waiting for her. How long had they been there? Had she just been ignoring them, staring at her strange reflection? The man held out his hand, looking at her with strange red eyes. She did not know him.

Mina nodded, "Of course." She curtsied, and the man took her in his arms and danced her around the ballroom. Everyone had moved to the sides, the woman whispering about her. The unfamiliar man turning her about the room with his unsettling gaze that seemed not to blink. Her stomach turned and swirled with their dance.

"Nowhere to run, Mina," the man said suddenly. Her brown raised at the comment. "You have nowhere to go."

The man changed form, now he was Elizabeth Seward, wearing a gown of deepest black.

"You haven't a house," she said with a cat like grin. Elizabeth changed to her husband's form. "You have no family." Now Mina's father appeared as her dance partner. "You're an orphan." Lucy now. "Everyone you love is dead now...or no longer human." Lucy smiled, her fangs showing prominently. "You have nowhere to run."

Elizabeth, "Except to him."

Jack, "Except to him."

Mina's father, "Except to him."

Lucy, cackling like a witch, "Except to him!"

They spun her around, the ballroom nothing but a blur of candlelight, until she was stopped by the arms another. Mina's visions blurred to black before she saw the man she was to dance with now. She did not have to look to know full well who her new partner was.

Alexander did not speak as they danced with each other. Mina did not know what to say. She loved him. She was not afraid of him. She was not afraid of him. But there was this knot in her stomach that she could not escape. A twisting, twirling feeling that had nothing to do with their whirling around the room. This was an altogether new feeling. Mina did have nowhere to run. Nowhere to run but to him. Everything was compromised now. Her parents were gone, she hadn't a house, and her dearest friend was not herself anymore. John had joined the Protectors, Elizabeth was a member, and they wanted Mina. They had tortured Mina, tried to scare her into submission.

Submission, Mina always hated that word. It gave her odd feelings to think about it. It seemed a dreadful word, with dreadful connotation. Often a word resigned for women, and Mina must be the best of women. Better than all other women. She wasn't sure why she held herself to this standard. Mina wasn't sure why she was not so inclined to give in. To just give in...To just stop running...

Mina was thrown again into a dark room. And empty room with no candles or people or music. A dark empty space with nothing but nothing. The sound of her own breath. The frantic beating of her heart. Alone, I am alone.

It's all right, I like to be alone. I'm content alone. I'm safe alone.

No you are alone. You have nothing. No family or friends. No one untouched by this paranormal phenomenon. You are alone, Mina. So dreadfully alone.

"Nowhere to run anymore, Mina," said the voice of Lucy once more. Her laugh echoed through the room, making Mina wonder just how large of a space it was. Mina backed up expecting a wall, but found nothing but empty air. She began to walk, hands outstretched but found nothing in the black space. Nothing but her alone in the vast emptiness.

"You only have your master now."

He's not my master.

"Oh yes he is," Lucy hissed without a moment's pause. "And you're his too."

Mina began to run. The darkness did not end. It kept going. Infinite darkness, all terrifying and all consuming.

"The master will find his queen and then he will reign supreme."

Shut up.

"The master will find his queen and then he will reign supreme."

Shut up!

"Nowhere to run, Mina. There only him. Only him."

Finally, Mina ran into something. Another body. A man. An unfamiliar man. Mina looked up to see some horrible, monstrous face that made her quake in fear. I am not afraid she tried to tell herself.

The monster growled and Mina screamed into the void of nothingness.
OOO
"Shh, Mina..." He held tightly to her as she focused on her breathing. He could hear it is the way she exhaled. Trying not to cry. Trying not to give into what she thought was weakness. But Mina was not weak, not weak at all. She was strong. Stronger than all humans. Ridiculously strong. It was okay for her to not be that way all the time. Okay for her to be human. Odd it is you who tries to be human and she who tries to be God.

"I have you. You're safe." Alexander's hands ran through her light colored hair as she breathed quaking breaths. "You're safe."

That seemed to only make her shutter more, though he was not sure why. Mina is terrified of you, he told himself. No, she said she was not. He kept stroking her hair as her hand clutched the sleeve of his shirt. Alexander thought back to a few hours earlier when she had helped clean the blood from him. Her lithe fingers had undone the buttons. It made him think of other things that had absolutely nothing do with cleaning. As her small hands had pressed against him, he'd thought of how much he wanted her. Her naked body in the tub that he had tried so desperately not to look at. Even now, under her robe, he knew he'd find her porcelain body. He wondered what it would be like to touch her smooth skin…

"Just a nightmare," Mina mumbled into his arms. "Something is wrong with my mind, Alexander."

"Mina, you've been traumatized, there is no shame in being shaken or tearful-"

"I feel like all I do lately is cry and panic and half the time I feel like I can't breathe at all."

Silence hung in the room like a gaudy chandelier. The gems of it tinkled and plinked against each other making the eeriest of sounds, none of which were words. None of which would quell the worries of either party.

"Father is gone and it feels like someone ripped a hole in me," Mina began quietly, melting into his arms. He wanted to hold her there forever. At least now while she was not scared of him. "Now Lucy's gone mad and I'm getting taken from my home and I feel like I can't go a day without someone trying to make me a pawn in their schemes or trying to murder me." Up and down her chest went under his arms. He could feel her flushing. "And now I'm having these feelings that don't make any sense-"

"What sort of feelings?" Alexander asked, tracing his hand upon her arm. Something clenched his heart wondering if Mina had considered suicide. He knew he had in his depths many times, though that was not a simple solution for him. I'll revive her. I wouldn't let her. I'd turn her before she could die. Mina cannot die.

She'd hate you.

"Nothing morose," she sniffed, calming the instant worry inside of him. Mina rubbed her nose with the sleeve of the robe. It was then he noted the coarseness of her breath. Such strange breathing she was doing, like crying but not entirely. "Never mind it. I shouldn't have brought it up. It isn't pertinent."

Mina said, laying her hand upon his bare chest. It rested there oddly as it had earlier, when she'd been washing him and stopped. When she'd pulled away and back up into herself. How he wished she'd confide in him. Mina was quite accustomed to being left alone, he knew that, but he wished she'd speak to him. Give her thoughts to him. It had been so many decades since someone had done that. So many decades since he held someone as he held her. Alexander kept think about how she was quite naked under that robe. Quite bare indeed...

He brushed back her hair, pulling away her face ripping from his chest it felt. Mina was so tired, he could see it in her drooping eyes. His thumb brushed along her temple, though his eyes quickly glanced down her body. His suspicions were correct about what was under the robe for it had come open.

"Never mind it," Mina grumbled, pulling away from him and he felt all the warm fly from his body. She laid her head upon the pillow, turning away from him.

God, he was going to hell for thinking of these things now. How could he be thinking of sex after what Mina had been through? Certainly, she did not want him now. See how she turns away from you. She always turns away from you. No, he was being disgusting to think about putting his hands upon her and touching her and her doing the same. Yes, he was certainly a demon to be having such thoughts. A monster.

OOO

Hours past. Or perhaps just minutes. Mina did not even know anymore, but all she knew was that she could not sleep for this beast had coiled up in the pit of her stomach and refused to be put to rest. This strange, ridiculous, nonsensical, vastly inappropriate feeling had swelled up inside and would not go away. Not to mention her thoughts. Her horrible, taunting thoughts mocking her like she were the Whore of Babylon. Evil girl, disgusting girl, terrible… It's your fault this happened. Your fault. Your fault.

"Can I still ask you questions?" Mina said aloud to quiet the demons in her mind. She was afraid she'd startled him, but he was unmoved. He must've known she hadn't fallen asleep. Perhaps it had been just minutes.

Alexander responded, "Of course."

Mina just nodded, turning to look at him. That was no good, it was only going to make the words more difficult. God, how did people do this? Certainly, it just happened. You don't have to make some sort of formal request, idiot. But she could not stand him looking at her, it made her cheeks feel like fire. She didn't want to feel shame but she did. The wanting came with an awful lot of shame, it seemed.

"It's more of a…request," Mina continued with trepidation. This was a terrible way of going about it, she was sure. Clunky and ridiculous. He was going to laugh at her. She would laugh at her. No one asks it like this. Stupid stupid stupid... His eyes studied her like he was trying to probe into her mind. She was glad he was incapable.

"Anything," Alexander said with some subtle change in his voice. It was dark, but Mina thought she saw some change in his face too. That other part of him appearing on the surface. It was hard to describe the look of it. It was beautiful, but absolutely horrifying. Like a part of her brain knew it was impossible that he look like that. A part of her wanted to run from him. But most of her wanted to stay.

He stroked her face, "My Mina." The beast in the bottom of her chest set itself on fire.

Mina moved nearer, "Distract me." He looked confused. She had to elaborate. To speak more. To speak what she wanted even though it made her whole face feel on fire.

"I need to get out of my head and I'd like you to distract me." Mina said in lieu of something more specific. He'd understand, she was sure. Especially since his face was greatly changed now. Yes, he knew very well what she was asking.

Alexander did know, but dared not hope as much as that. He looked so fearsome now, how could she want him? Vampires appeared in reflections, contrary to the popular myth. Alexander knew how his physique turned when his heart rate accelerated. His face grew paler, more ashen and grey. The red on his eyes grew to the shade of fresh blood. The bones upon his face appeared to come out, the rest of it sinking it. Fuller lips and more defined eyes. The look was mean to be intimidating. It was meant to entice. And Mina's large eyes just kept staring at him, making the monster inside want to rip out and take her. Surely she wanted him. Why would she look at him in such a way if she did not?

But Alexander was not a monster, or he would not be one now. Not with Mina. Dear Mina…sweet Mina…enticing Mina…sensual Mina…

"How?" Alexander asked, trying to shut off the thoughts he was thinking.

You cannot just assume things. You cannot assume she want you as well even though she… He ran a finger along the robe wishing he was touching the skin underneath it. He was certain her pale skin would be quite soft. He wondered what she would look like if he touched her. What she would look like if she were pleasured… Stop it. He was certain he'd go mad with her lying so close to him.

And yet Mina moved closer again, "You know how."

"Yes, but I'd quite like to hear you say it."

She pursed her lips again, but couldn't hide a small smile there despite. A stubborn woman. A proud woman. Getting Mina to admit anything she felt was far more difficult that anything he'd ever known. Coyly innocent. She was going to drive him mad. She already has. Alexander needed to kiss her and kiss her now and kiss her and again and again.

"I want you to touch me. Alexander." Mina said in a quiet voice. She felt so stupid in saying it. What if he laughed? Mina thought she might cry and she did so detest crying. You shouldn't be wanting this. You shouldn't be wanting him. You know what he is and what he had done. You should not… You should not… You should…

His fingers pulled loose the tied knot of her robe. His hands ran over her so slowly that she felt goose flesh rise upon her skin. That creature inside of her was running all around her body now, from her chest to her head and out through her hands.

Perhaps this was all a ridiculously terrible idea and perhaps they should not be doing this at all, but all Mina kept thinking was how all she'd felt for the past few hours was pain, fear, loathing, and emptiness and she just want to feel something that wasn't horrifically melancholy. She wanted to feel love and pleasure and not like she had some giant hole ripped into her chest for the world to see.

Alexander seemed not to notice the gaping hole inside of her. He began kissing her neck, trailing down onto her breasts. She always thought they were far too small but he seemed not to mind. And whatever these feelings he was giving her began increasing tenfold as he cleared away the melancholy from her mind. Was she making noises? Yes, some strange sounds were coming from her mouth. She did not care. There was nothing to be bothered by now, not now when everything felt so wonderful. Not now as his hands went lower…

Mina was not sure what she had been afraid of before. Alexander was nothing to be afraid. Emptiness was something to be afraid of. As were those creatures who'd taken her. The Protectors were something to be feared. But not Alexander, never Alexander.

Mina had idly explored her own body before, but this was something entirely different. He seemed to want to pleasure her, and not just because she had requested him too. As her eyes gazed down upon him, he trailed kisses from her stomach back up to her lips, holding there while his hands reached downwards...

"Alexander?" Mina breathed. Alexander pulled away from her, worried she had changed her mind. Staring at what was sure a monstrous face, she reached out and touched it. Mina touched him like he was not some terrifying monster. There was some strange, new light in her eyes. They almost looked red.

"Yes, love?" Please, don't say you want to stop, said some desperate voice in his brain. Why did Mina always flee from his arms? Always, always, always…

Mina breathed, "Wait."

The monster inside of him was not privy to this plan, but he would not harm Mina. The beast inside of him hardly cared about that, but he quickly chained it away. He wondered how long the chains would hold. The human hummed alive, pulling away to gaze down at her. Still so bare she was beneath his arms. Alexander was not quite sure he could keep the man in control for too much longer. The temptation was too much for even him.

Then Mina sat up, her reddish haze boring into his own mind. Moving against her, Alexander sat now in front of the creature, unable to take his hands from her birdlike body. Unsure of what she was intending, Alexander was quite surprised when Mina began undoing the buttons upon his shirt. Not undoing them so much as tearing them from his body. His shirt was undone before he even registered what his Mina was doing. Her small hands push the clothing from his body. For a woman who had been so frightened by intimacy, she seemed certainly not to be afraid anymore.

As is possessed by some unworldly spirit, Mina began kissing against his skin until he was quite certain she was not human herself. This little woman, who had been so prim and professional when they'd first met was now kissing him with wild abandon. This woman who'd flown from his arms many times, was now in them and certainly making no attempt to flee. This creature who had been so afraid of him seemed anything but frightened. God, how he needed her. His Mina. Perfect Mina. Alexander ran his hands along the side of her face as she moved to kiss his lips again.

With a swift motion, he pushed her back to the bed pining her arms beneath him. The veins in her ivory neck pulsated out to entice him. Her eyes, so clear and blue now, looked at him with wild innocence.

"It's just me," Alexander said, feeling some need to soothe her. That constant anxiety that she feared him pressing into his mind. He moved to kiss her again and Mina gripped him with her beautiful hands. Her heart fluttered in her chest, he could feel it. He could feel the blood pulsing through her body as he kissed along her neck. Mina muttered something he could not hear clearly.

"Mina?" He asked, moving away to face her.

Mina met his eyes, "Make love to me." Alexander raised brow.

"You know what I mean." Mina repeated with a smirk in the corner of her silken mouth.

"Yes," he kissed her again. "But I'd quite like to hear you say it."
OOO
It hadn't hurt like Mina had been told it would. She felt none of the pain Lady Westenra had once warned her and Lucy and about when the lady had taken too much from the spirits shelf. When Lady Westenra had described it she'd made the whole ordeal sound rather awful. Words she'd used included penetration, breaking, ripping among other horrifically unpleasant words. But these words could not have been more wrong. Mina had felt nothing of these words Lucy's mother had described. Lady Westenra had also mentioned the selfishness of men. They want only to pleasure themselves, you are but a place to put it, she had explained to a far too young Mina and Lucy. Mina had not understood those words until she'd grown older.

But Lady Westenra was quite wrong. So, so very wrong. Perhaps that was the way with some men, but it was not the way with Alexander. In fact, he seemed very inclined to pleasure her before he did himself. Mina certainly wasn't complaining. She wasn't entirely sure what had come over her during the whole ordeal. It felt like some other being had possessed her; a more sure, confident, tenacious being had come and taken her body as it residence. How Mina had kissed him like she was trying to inhale him…she could not help but blush at the thought of it. My Mina, he'd called her. In those moments, she did not mind belonging to him.

As she lie now, her head against his body, feeling the rise and fall of his breath, Mina felt some odd bit of melancholy. That was too be expected. Mina had read these things before in fiction. Honestly, Mina had plenty of things to feel melancholy about, this needn't be one of them. The bond was remade and Mina's mind felt oddly at rest for it. The warring factions of her mind had put down their weapons and joined back together as one. No longer did she feel as though she were tearing apart at the seams.

The remaking of the bond had brought about thoughts of her readings. She remembered the stories about how the familiar bonds were usually between a couple. A couple who…copulated. Mina giggled a bit at the phrasing. Mixing the feeding with sex had been bizarre and pleasurable. The usual feeling of the bite elevated to a new level. He'd bitten into her neck as they made love, and Mina cried out, unable to do much else. It was far too much. Too much to feel all at once, but she did not wish it to stop. Her hands dug so into his back that she thought she may draw blood. She did not care.

Pulling back, her blood upon his face, Alexander bit into his own wrist and pressed in against her mouth just for a moment. Bitter and pungent it was but she did not care. She just did not want him to stop touching. She did not want it to stop.

It is odd how desire takes over a person. It was blinding in its nature, with no room at all for shame or second guessing. Nothing had seemed odd or disgusting as they did it in passion. As Mina thought back, the person in her memory seemed little like her. For she was an animalistic creature that had lived in those moments past. She was hardly even human, hungering for just one thing. Mina could not believe she was that same person. It made her turn red to think of it.

"You're flushing," Alexander said to break the silence. They had just been lying together quietly until then.

"So I am," Mina noted, turning further into his chest. His arm placed around her made her feel safe. Like she belonged to him, but not in the way one owns a pet or a doll or prized jewelry. He owned her like one owns their own soul, their own being. And Mina knew she had possession of him as well. They were one now in a way they had never been before. In a way Mina was quite certain they would not be severed from.

"How are you feeling?" He inquired after some moments of silence. From the curtains, Mina could see the first bits of the morning sun appearing. The terrible yesterday had ended like the closing of an awful chapter in a book. She would not think of those monsters now. They had no place in this bed or in her mind.

Mina smiled, pulling herself up, "Wonderful." The gold, unruly curls of her hair fell into his face.

My Mina, he thought as he reached up to brush back the falling pieces. Mina smiled to have his voice back in her head, which is not something she ever thought would happen. But it was far better than whatever those demons had been. Yes, Alexander's voice was far more comforting a visitor. His hands trailed down her arms, and thoughts flashed into her head of him touching her. Memories of the feelings played in her head like a dream…

Alexander raised a brow, and she remembered that he was privy to her feelings now as well.

Mina pursed her lips, "Oh, stop." She fell back onto the bed, the pillow fluffing beneath her head.

"What do you wish to do today, darling?"

"I don't want to think about it," she said as a myriad of troubling thoughts raced into her head. "I want to lie here all day."

"We can do that, if you'd like."

"We'd develop bedsores," she yawned, finding odd that she was so tired. "I think I may need to rest just a bit…"

Alexander turned to her, "We can stay here forever if you'd like, Mina."

She smiled at the silly thought but knew it could never be true. There was too much to be done. So much to be figured out that it made her head want to burst. Mina needed to discover this plan The Protectors had laid out. She needed to find out what that bizarre rhyme meant, and why The Protectors might know the answer. This illustrious leader needed to be found out, as did this Thomas fellow who'd attacked Lucy. Poor Lucy, where was she now? Had she locked herself away? Had she hurt another person…

Do I need to distract you again? Alexander said with a smirk.

Mina folded her hands upon her chest. Perhaps later.

OOO

"Of course she flew with him." Ronald Renfield had been muttering phrases like that for the entire carriage ride. John spent the ride with his head lain against the window, looking onto the dark night sky. Surely, it was morning by now. Jonathan did not like that The Protectors had elected to have a meeting as such an obscene hour. He knew the reason. The plan had been in discussion for months. A rather stupid and illogical plan if you asked him. Which they had not. John took to silence during the meetings, for he quickly realized there was no room for opinions. The Leader ran them with a tyrannical grasp that no one seemed to note or question but him. And he could not believe that The Leader was so keen to subject Mina to torture. Maybe Mina's choices of company were unsavory, but this plan had seemed a bit over the top.

The leader was desperate, but Jonathan had always known that. He'd known it from the moment he saw her. She was meant to be dead, this woman. Her explanations for not being so were ridiculous and farfetched, but so convinced was she of her own innocence. So desperate she was to save Mina from this demonic creature that had seized her. Perhaps The Count was a demon. Certainly, his condition was not a holy one. He was not something of God, so he must be of the devil. But the plan to free Mina from him was depraved, at best.

It hadn't worked, that's why the meeting was being held. They would not hold an early morning meeting to say that everything was fine. To say that Mina had joined them with open arms. No, of course Mina went with him. Only an idiot would think she'd run from him. He'd rescued her from the grips of evil, if anything, he was more desirable now than he ever was before. Jonathan had a very strange vision of The Count making love to Mina and it made his stomach turn. He was not sure why. He certainly didn't love Mina…but hadn't they been intended? They'd always been intended. Their mothers were such good friends, which is why The Leader was so keen to get him on their side.

Maybe he was Mina's intended now. Maybe he'd marry her after she left The Count, for she certainly would. No human can live with the devil. Jonathan thought of a life with Mina as he oft had before. It would be a good life, a normal life. They'd rarely see each other, for he'd be working all day. They'd have nights together though. Jonathan thought on that same vision, but now he was the one making love to her. It didn't make him feel any better.

Renfield slapped his hand on the window so hard that John jumped back immediately.

"Stupid little harlot!"

"Would you please calm down, Renfield," John replied with equal fervor. The tiredness taking him again, he leaned his heavy head against the back on his seat. "Wherever she is, she can't hear you."

Renfield grumbled, "The Leader doesn't need Mina as her second in command. She has me."

"What makes you think she wants Mina as her second?" John yawned, hoping this bouncing carriage ride would soon end.

"Flesh and blood always outs," Renfiled shot back acidly. "She gets her precious Mina and she doesn't need me. She doesn't need Elizabeth." His strange eyes met John's. "And she doesn't need you."

The carriage moved along the crumbling streets of Whitby bouncing the two men around too violently for Jonathan to get any semblance of sleep. It seemed sleeping was not something The Protectors cared too much about. They were night creatures, like those they hunted.

The trees tumbled by outside as the men drew nearer to the city.

Renfiled cleared his throat, "What do you think you would do, John? If you weren't in The Protectors, I mean."

John sighed, "Work at the hospital, I suppose. Marry, probably." He thought about it. "If I did marry Mina, I'm sure Jack could get me a job at his asylum."

"An asylum doctor?" Renfiled mused. "How gothic." There was a silence before John spoke again. He knew what Renfield was wanting. Renfield had a knack for orchestrating conversations. Like a master chess player, he set up all the moves before they even happen.

John accepted his checkmate. "What would you do, Renfield?"

Renfield had asked several times for John to call him Ronald. He would not.

"Research, I suppose," Renfield answered.

"Would you marry?"

He smiled at some secret joke John didn't know. "I'm afraid that's not an option for me."

Jonathan did not get to ask what he meant of that, for something truly horrific caught his attention outside the window.

John gasped, "Dear, God." He banged the roof of the carriage wildly. "Driver! Driver, stop!" The old driver obliged, but John leapt from the carriage before anything came to a full stop. What he saw was… It could not be so. In the distance, John saw a man sitting on a bench. Maybe 'man' was not the best word…a body. A body that was covered in furiously red blood coming from the neck. And a most familiar face completely drained of color.

"Arthur!" Jonathan exclaimed, running to the side of his old school friend. "Oh, good God, Arthur." Johnathan felt blindly for a pulse, his medical instincts taking over. There wasn't one. Of course there wasn't. And those marks on his neck could only be caused by one thing. "Arthur, Jesus Christ." Impossible. It was impossible that he'd been attacked. Dracula had killed the other vampires, Renfield had said. Dracula certainly wouldn't waste time killing Arthur…killing Arthur… John was going to be sick. He remembered playing games with Arthur in the school yard, pining over girls together at balls, studying in the library. They had not talked much in a while. John should've talked to him more…

Get yourself together, you are a doctor, not a school girl.

Renfield came up behind, a huff in his breath. "A friend?"

Jonathan nodded, staring at the cauterized blood upon the neck. Clear as day were two puncture wounds. They were so small. How could they have caused so much blood? Poor Arthur. His shirt and pants were drenched in it. This was not an old wound, it was rather fresh. A few hours at most. It's a miracle we found him before the dogs. John was going to be sick.

"Are…" Renfield put an awkward hand on John's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," John said in a strained voice. "Who did this?"

"A vamp-"

"I know," John hissed, "what. I want to know who. You said Dracula killed all the vampires."

"No, I said he killed two."

John turned cold eyes to Renfield, "What?" Refield pulled back his hand, brushing it off like Jonathan was something unclean.

"Vampires travel in packs," Renfield explained. "It's quite possible there were more than the two that he killed. Very possible since…" He stopped talking. Renfield did that quite a bit. Well, all The Protectors did that quite a bit. They told Jonathan enough. No more than that. Enough to keep him sated but not entirely satisfied. He knew the leader kept secrets. Yes, she kept terrible, terrible secrets. That's why Renfield feared Mina. He feared she'd take away his power. His power of secrets. It made him feel important. And Renfield did so love to feel important.

Jonathan stood, "What aren't you telling me?" A look of fear greater than John was expecting fell upon Renfield's face. The tight ribbon he always kept his hair tied in made his face look even more pulled back.

"What are you talking about?"

Jonathan threw his arms in the air, "Secrets, Renfield!" He had to get away from him. He had to get away from this body that smelt like decaying flesh. All the bodies they'd studied in school had been preserved. A fresh one was riper than he could've ever imagined. Stop referring to him as 'the body'. It's Arthur. Your friend Arthur. Oh, God his family. His poor family.

Who will morn me if I die? John thought very suddenly. I'm just as alone as Arthur. I could've been Arthur, my body left on the side of the road with no one even worried that I wasn't home yet. No one even caring that I was gone…

"The Protectors keep secrets, and things like this happen!"

The driver looked over his shoulder. Jonathan's voice was quite loud now. He decided he no longer cared.

John moved closer, "What secrets are you keeping from me, Renfield?" Was his face flushing? Surely, Renfield was not being coy. Not perfect Renfield. Second in command, cold hearted Renfield could not be flushing. Jonathan could not be actually scaring him. But it was an intriguing thought, Renfield being scared of him. John having the power for once. Yes, and intriguing thought indeed.

For a moment, Jonathan thought Renfield would break. He thought something would click in the strange man's head and make him see reason. For just a second, John saw some weakness in his partner's eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. Renfield moved closer. They were too close now. Uncomfortably close. It was John's heart pound in some odd way. Why was he standing so close? Why was it making him feel even more ill?

"Put the body in the carriage. We'll examine it when we get to the meeting." Renfield walked off without another word, leaving no room for discussion. That was Renfield's favorite thing, leaving no room for discussion. Having some type of power. Yes, how Renfield loved his power plays. Loved to put the kings in check. Loved it so much that he left Jonathan alone to put the dead body of his friend into the carriage. Left John alone to deal with that.

John wondered what would happen if he ran off into the trees. Would he be free of The Protectors? Would he find the monster that had attacked Arthur? Perhaps John could kill it and be a hero. People would remember him if he were a hero. John was a mediocre doctor. He'd find no cures or make no great discoveries. John would not be remembered. John too would die alone on the side of the road with no one caring enough to come and find him.

John contemplated putting his head under the carriage wheel and spooking the horse.

Instead, John did as he was told and put the mutilated body of his friend into the carriage hold.