Author's Note: Alright let's start digging in now ma homie gs ^_^. I'm really in love with my character, I feel so conceited or something. I'm gonna be sad when it's all over…yet really happy xD. Anyway I was listening to "Stupid Girls" and "Trouble" by Pink and it's making me think about Ally xDDD so I was reminded to keep writing. New chappie! Read and Review my dawlins.

Disclaimer: Alright I gots nothing to declare. If you haven't gotten it already from all of my other disclaimers I will track you down to your house and beat you with a frozen salami…just because I can. Okay…D is looking at me weird now so I'm gonna stop. Tata! XD.

Chapter Twenty One: Or what?

It had not been long before I was surrounded by others of my kind. Vampires had always never struck me as the type that I would spend my spare time with. I felt out of place yet I was like the queen bee all because Mircea was more than pleased with me. I kept wanting to leave. They were not vicious or anything like that I just… had a different outlook on life than they did. As the one who came to their rescue they were hanging on my every word as I told them how we had freed them. Could they understand that their lives were not the only ones of value? They seemed to think so little of the dying humans around them. I pursed my lips.

We were all in conversation and I was politely adding in my own comments now and then. I felt that I needed to be civilized. I had never really been around other vampires very often except for Vincent. It felt strange how they just accepted me into the majority. I had never been considered in the majority before. My eyes continued to wander toward a certain hunter candidly. I had to wonder what he was thinking.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Mircea looked displeased as he clicked his tongue in disapproval ran a thumb under my eye, breaking me out of my wandering thoughts. "Your eyes show clear signs of irregular sleeping patterns." he remarked with a frown. "It is normally a characteristic common in dhampires." he murmured. I blinked at him. What did he expect? That I could travel around with a coffin? I was fine, I was just off of my equilibrium due to this hectic job I was doing. "How much time have you been spending with that half-ling?" he asked. Okay now I was upset. People gave me sympathetic smiles. I narrowed my eyes and pushed his hand down.

"This trip has been very chaotic." I stated curtly. "Not having regular sleeping patterns has been the least of my worries. As for D…" I corrected pointedly. "He and I have made due quite peacefully actually." I folded my arms calmly. No need to start something. They became interested. The questions began to flow.

"Do you not get bored awake during the day?"

"What is the hunter like?"

Mircea frowned curiously. "What about the sunlight?" he asked. I sighed. Well I suppose I had to tell them a bit about myself. "How can you stand it?" It was obviously something very strange to him.

"I'm sure you've noticed my cloak." I stated, touching the fabric. They nodded. "Normally fabric does not do that much to protect us, but back when I was still with my master he was very paranoid during the day…we took shifts you see so…he had this fabric that I wear taken to a sorcerer where it was made to act as my own piece of the night sky…a literal 'cloak of darkness'." I explained. There were a few impressed sounds and nods of understanding. Mircea frowned.

"Shifts? What a ridiculous and unnecessary thing to do." he shook his head. "What sort of master was he to disrupt his fledgling's health in such a way?" His lavender eyes were hard and shined with disdain. I rolled my eyes.

"A foolish, selfish, unfeeling monster, that's what he was." I answered him simply. My eyes wandered back to the reason I was free of that bastard in the first place. Only he was not there anymore. I frowned and brought my knees to my chest as I turned my gaze back to the fire, resting my chin on them. Mircea chuckled at my attitude. He seemed to like my rebellious streak. He did not seem to notice my distressed thoughts as I huffed softly.

"Well, now you're among friends. No more insensitive males to deprive you of rest. I recommend that at the first sign of dusk you get some sleep-"

I stood up. I made up my mind. I was out of here. "Excuse me…I have some reflecting to do." I said apologetically. I did not belong there. I could not belong, and I did not want to. What I wanted was to find D and talk. It was necessary. As much as I dreaded what might come to light about this whole thing, I knew that it would not do to leave everything so tense, just hanging in the air like the pink elephant that everybody knows is there during their drunken stupor but decide to ignore anyway. They were silent as I walked away from them into the trees. They probably thought that I was being stuck up or something along those lines, but I did not care about that.

I was glad for my sharp senses as I searched the surrounding area. For a moment I was seized by the idea that perhaps he had taken off on his own. It startled me. I mean heck if I were in his shoes I might have done so myself. Depending upon how upset I was. I just barely caught a glimpse of him sitting in another tree. I let out a breath. So…there he was. What now? He was not facing me. I could hear voices. Lefty was probably pestering him about something. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and sighed as I steeled myself. Alright.

I leapt up into the upper branches and D snatched out his sword, nearly slicing me as I pulled myself up swiftly. "Oi! Be careful with that!" I blurted defensively. He relaxed and put it away before looking ahead again. I was silent for a moment before I rested a foot on the large branch that he rested on. "Do you mind?" I asked softly. He only gave me a brief glance. I shook my head and sighed. Great. "I will take that as a 'no' in that case." I stated settling down next to him. It was actually quite nice up here, with a wonderful view of the moon. My legs dangled over the branch and I kicked them back and forth slowly, briefly distracted by the view.

"Why aren't you with the others?" he asked. I scoffed, looking at him.

"What others D? Last time I checked it was the both of us who were the odd ones out." I remarked. His eyes slid toward me. "I know the vampires are bothering you even more than not working alone." I nodded solemnly. "I never meant to force you to deal with their presence. I do not even know why they are still here." I shrugged. It was true too. They had plenty of opportunity to go already. D was silent. "Look. I'm sorry. Really, really, really sorry. Can you at least talk to me about this? I mean, I understand that your ideas are different from mine, but how can I be so cruel to my own kind? I'm the same D." I shrugged my shoulders hesitantly. "So I know you are probably not that crazy about me either…but do you really think us so loathsome?" It was something that never ceased to plague me. "Mircea said that you had a special…'beef' with them but don't all vampire hunters? What makes this so different?" I suddenly asked.

He looked ahead again. "It's my life." he answered simply. "My only purpose for living…is to kill them." he said. I blinked at him.

"All of them, D? Then what?" I inquired keeping calm. "After the last of them is gone, what will you do then?" What could he do? No purpose? Would he just find a way to die? Kill himself? I shuddered at the thought. He made no answer. I sighed. "What about me, D?" I asked in a hushed voice. "Would you kill me? Will you kill me, D?" I looked ahead now as well.

"You haven't given me a reason to." The hunter told me in his normal impassive voice. What sort of answer was that? God this man. The wind blew his dark hair around his mostly statuesque form. What was it about him? I would not be able to say.

"D…" I rolled my eyes. "I am what I am. I may never kill an innocent human being…however…I still count as a vampire, you know that, I know that." I stated. "If you kill them all…what does that make me?" I gave another helpless shrug. "I can't understand you. Yes there are vampires out there who are disgusting and gluttonous and evil…but the same goes for humans." I was not sure how to talk about this without pushing my boundaries too much.

"You may not give me reason now, but if at any time in the future you lose yourself. I will have to kill you." he said distantly. I watched him wordlessly, staring blankly. Oh the irony. If a girl was human he could learn to care about her much easier, even though they would be likely to die and would not live for very long. However if they were a vampire, it was madness to befriend them without expecting them to turn on you or something dire like that.

I huffed in frustration. "I will never fit in anywhere with anybody, so it is not entirely my fault that I am alone…but you…you never had to be alone…at least not always…I mean…there was Leila…and Dorian? Dolores? Oh I don't know the damn name." I huffed at my wandering mind and waved it off. "She must have been very beautiful I suppose…but anyway-"

"Doris?" he asked sharply. "Where did you hear that name?" His expression alarmed me. Oh yes. He was not the one who told me about that. Oops. I blinked.

"Oh…Left hand mentioned it in passing…" I trailed awkwardly.

His expression became dark. How many times had Lefty pissed him off? The parasite laughed nervously. The dhampiel hunter seethed silently but said nothing. Lefty was so dead later on. "They could never be content with the life I have." he finally stated.

"Right. Then why on earth do you look at them and-!" I didn't know what to say. "What is it D? I don't get it!" I grabbed the lapels of his cloak and shook him. "What am I missing about this? You are the most infuriating being I have ever met! God! Sometimes I do not know whether to just… impale you and punch your bloody head from your shoulders or-…!" That was when I stopped. Or what? My face softened. "Or…" I trailed off at my proximity to him. My hand brushed some hair from his face and he did not move. Or what? I could not finish that sentence because it was complete and utter madness. It still did not stop me from… well… whatever I was thinking at that moment. I still do not know honestly. What if I could just…?

My other hand rested on his shoulder and I traced his face curiously. He had fairly sharp features. Was it fair for him to be potentially more beautiful than I was? He caught my wrist abruptly when I stopped at the corner of his mouth. I was embarrassed yet…he had not moved away. I cleared my throat. What was I saying? "O-or.." my voice shook as my heart pounded in my chest. Oh yes…that little blunder. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down and get back to normal but my breathing hitched when I felt his own breath caress my face. He was… closer?

"Or?" Left hand chuckled. With that it was over. I jumped back, startled out of it.

"Oh…sorry I simply…um…I don't know." I shrugged with a sigh. I waved it off dismissively. I was not some child…and D did not owe me anything. "I think all of this excitement is just making me…moody, emotional, and crazy." I stated. "I need to keep my mind busy for a while so I'm going to tend to some of the prisoners." I told D. He did not say anything and I was fine with that. Standing up I moved to climb down. "Oh and D…in any case…I just wanted to say that as long as I'm still breathing you wont be entirely alone." I smirked and leapt down instead. A good freefall would get me back into the swing of things.

I could heard Lefty's voice calling after me. "Oh come on! Don't stop on account of me!" I had to roll my eyes at that. Perverted, putzy, parasite.

I landed on my feet and headed back to the makeshift camp. "Hello." A little voice came from the brush. I tilted my head the direction. I remembered that voice. Turning toward the brush I placed my hands on my hips and gave a chuckle. Was she hiding? This child must have been quite shy.

"Hello." I smiled. "Have you been following me?" I inquired. She was silent for a moment. Still not emerging.

"I-I'm sorry." she apologized hastily. "I wanted to say hi and I was so scared that you wouldn't like me either." Her voice was small and melancholy. I shook my head and sighed.

"That is absurd. Why shouldn't I like you silly? It is fine. Wont you come out and introduce yourself properly?" I proposed. There was rustling. I certainly had not expected such a beautiful child as the one who emerged from the thicket. Who had the nerve to make her feel unwanted? She had large green eyes and blue-black hair flowing down in glossy perfect curls. Her appearance was so feminine that her tom boyish clothes nearly made a ridiculous contrast to the rest of her. She was smiling sheepishly at me. "There now, was that so difficult?" I giggled.

She shook her head no admittedly. "Um…my name is Mina, my father named me that." she told me. I smiled. She was cute.

"My name is Allura. It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Mina." I chuckled holding out my hand. She drew away in alarm and I frowned. "Are you alright?" I raised an eyebrow, keeping up a smile. "It's only a hand." I assured. "I wont hurt you."

"Everybody says that." she whispered. I could not help but frown again. Everybody? Did the other vampires count? "The others don't like me very much…except for Mircea….and Kitty I think…but Kovsky is mean to everybody." she shrugged. I stroked my chin.

"Well Mina…I like you. I like you very much. Would you like to be my friend?" I asked in the least threatening tone I could manage. She smiled hesitantly but eagerly.

"Do you mean that?" she asked me.

"Of course." I assured. "Come. Walk with me." I held out my hand slowly this time. Gingerly she touched my hand before taking it. Her grip was cautious as if she was ready to leave at any moment. "I was about to take care of a few of the humans." I told her, testing out her reactions as she followed along. She looked surprised but nothing else.

"I was always told that we were not supposed to make friends with humans, cause then we would be sad every time we had to feed." she murmured. I sighed.

"Who told you that? Your Daddy?" I asked.

"Sort of…but mostly every other vampire I've met…my Daddy thinks sen' sentiminate…?" she looked at me for confirmation.

"Sentiment?" I corrected. She nodded.

"He thinks it's stupid, so I guess he wouldn't like me making friends with them either, he doesn't like me anyway." she shrugged, trying to be tough but I could see her eyes becoming glassy. I frowned. Oh bugger. One of those vampires. I shook my head. "He didn't even…want me anymore." Her little voice cracked and I had to crouch in front of her.

"There, there now. It's okay." I assured with a bright smile. "If you ever need a thing you can come to me." I promised. She smiled sadly.

"Mircea says the same thing. I think he's going to take me with him to his house." she perked. I chuckled. As insensitive as that noble could be. It was plain to see that he had a heart.

"Well if he does it will be very nice of him." I nodded, standing up and continuing to lead her along. I decided to be extra cheery just for her, and to stay away from the topic of her father. Mircea had better take this child in. She began to behave more confidently around me slowly and surely as we walked. As we neared the camp, a female vampire came running up, looking relieved.

She had a big smile and one of the shortest skirts I had ever seen in my life. Her hair and eyes were the same color as mine, but her facial structure was different. Just like in the photos. I recognized her right away. "There you are Mina!" she happily took the girl's other hand. "Thank you so much for not allowing her to wander too far away. Mircea is looking for her!" she giggled. Her voice was light and bubbly.

"You must be Kitty Andreev." I blinked at her. Was it even physically possible for anybody to be that happy after what had just happened? Wow. She blinked back at me in surprise.

"Um…have we met before?" she asked me curiously. I shook my head no. I was getting diabetes slowly and surely the longer I stayed in her sugary presence. There was nothing wrong with cheery but right now….was the worst time possible for me. D would probably be surprised to see just how accurately I had portrayed her. "Well that's okay! You are Allura of course. Mircea seems to think very highly of you." she shook my hand without waiting for me to hold it out. Words seemed to have escaped me.

"Yes…that's me." I smiled politely. "…and um…Kovsky seems to be very fond of you." I added. She blushed.

"Oh…well Master is very good to me and I'm learning!" she smiled brightly. I nodded. Mina seemed pleased to listen to us talking. "Come on, Mina! Mircea is over this way! Thank you again Miss Allura!" she hurried off with the girl who waved at me over her shoulder. I shook my head at them, and waved back at the child mouthing a quick 'bye.' Placing my hands on my hips I looked around. I did not want to sit with the vampires. I noticed Todd polishing his cannon so I made my way over to him.

"Hello." I greeted. He gave a start before smiling back at me.

"Oh…hello." he went back to polishing.

"You seem to like that cannon." I remarked. "Is this seat empty?" He shook his head no and invited me to sit with a motion of his arm. I gratefully accepted the invitation, sitting beside him.

"This cannon belonged to my brother, him and Captain Chevalier were best friends once." he explained. I nodded in understanding. That explained his loyalty to Rico. "I kept it after he was killed on one of his jobs, and took his place in the group." he added. "They never thought that I could survive long, but the Captain…er…Rico had faith in me. He always told me that I could do it." A smile took over his youthful features. I smiled back. "I think I've done pretty well so far." he remarked. I chuckled.

"Yeah well so do I." I assured patting his arm. This was a good kid if I had ever met one.

"Oi, Todd!" a voice piped up. We both looked to see Luc waving him over. "Come over here, and play a hand with us!" he called to the boy. His gaze met mine mistrustfully. I narrowed my eyes feeling quite annoyed. He was holding up a deck of cards and there was a cigar in his mouth. Todd's face brightened into another smile.

"You mean it?" he asked.

"Yeah, park it here kid." He chuckled. The young man hurried over, giving me a quick "Excuse me, Miss Evans." before he was gone. I sighed and leaned back against the trunk of a tree. Everybody was being such a prick to me today. Well not everybody that was not a fair statement. I needed to remind myself of why I was here. I reached into my bag and pulled out a certain little blond doll. I stroked her golden locks.

"Well it looks like it's just you and me, Miss Daisy." I told her dryly. All around me there were sleeping people, recuperating. Probably asleep so I would not have to worry about making them nervous. Lots of steady, even breaths were proof enough for me at the moment. I traced the little doll's features deftly, wondering at it's craftsmanship. It certainly was a beautiful doll and it made sense for any little girl to absolutely love it. I heard the faintest of stirs and looked up. There was a woman facing me as she laid on the ground. She stared at me with hauntingly familiar blue eyes, where had I seen those eyes before?

Upon further inspection I noted that they were the doll's eyes. "Where did you get that doll?" she asked breathily in her sleepy, weakened state. Could this be? There was no other explanation. It had to be…

"Mayra Graham?" I inquired calmly, despite my excitement. She frowned and tried to sit up. "No." I shook my head. "Stay as you are. I wouldn't want you to strain yourself." I added in. She looked surprised but not entirely convinced of my trustworthiness. Frowning, she shook her head.

"My children…you know them…how?" she demanded. I smiled softly.

"They are the most wonderful children I have ever met, and yes they are safe. I promised to bring you back to them and that is why you are all here now. Safe. You have mostly the dhampiel hunter to thank for that." I informed. I held out the doll for her to grab. She reached out and in the firelight I could see that she had the loveliest golden blond hair, like spun gold even in it's unkempt dirty state. The hair on the doll was her's. Had she made it herself?

"It is a beautiful doll." I remarked. "Did you make it?"

She let out a sad sigh. "My husband did…before he died. It was a gift for our daughter and he modeled it after me." she explained. I nodded.

"I hope you do not assume that I am trying to trick you or anything of that nature." I murmured distantly as I watched the moon. I could see her shake her head out of my peripheral vision.

"It would be too much trouble to do all of this for one meal." she murmured. I looked back at her. She stroked her daughter's doll wordlessly. "Besides…Captain Chevalier speaks very well of you." she smiled softly. Rico? Ah so she had met him already. I had to smile at the mention of him. I chuckled.

"Rico is a delightful man." I stated. "I am glad to be able to call him my friend." I did not know who wouldn't be proud of him. "Tomorrow, I'm going to have the mercenaries take all of you to your homes meanwhile the dhampiel hunter and I will decide what to do next on our own." I stated. She pulled herself upright at this, despite my protests.

"Please do not dote on me." she shook her head, leaning back against a tree trunk. "Here is the deal. I want to help." she stated. My eyes widened slightly in surprise. It did not seem like a good idea. She had children to get home to. If she died I could never forgive myself. I pursed my lips. "I know what you're thinking." she stated dryly. "I can do it as well as any of these men, and this is personal." she said stubbornly. I sighed.

"What good can you do in your state, Ms. Graham?" I reasoned. "It is wiser that you do not take the risk and quite possibly deprive your children of their mother." I could not let that happen, even if I could relate to what she was saying. I respected a woman who had the desire to prove herself. She cast her eyes down, feeling obviously frustrated at the situation and the feelings she was having.

"Please just call me Mayra." she said simply. I gave a nod in response.

"Hey, nice to see you guys met. I knew you'd get along." Rico appeared sitting next to me and smiling at Mayra. She nodded to him and smiled.

"She seems to be everything you said so far." she told him honestly. I leaned back against another tree trunk with a sigh.

"Rico is a flatterer." I remarked with wry amusement. "Anyway Mayra and I were just-"

"I suppose the lot of you were wondering why there was so little resistance." A familiar voice echoed above the camp. We all shot up in an instant snatching out our weapons. Even the vampires. The creature laughed as he materialized into view on a tree branch. "Hello again my little friends." Green eyes gleamed in the glow of the moon. Bugger. I really hated that thing.

"…Varion." I spat with disdain. What the hell did he want here? He nodded his acknowledgement to me. I heard Rico mutter and spit at the ground when I said his name. He laughed and chills shot through all the humans present. I caught sight of D and we exchanged glanced briefly before refocusing on the body snatching freak. Mircea and Kovsky were at the scene like lightning.

"What the devil is that?" Kovsky narrowed his eyes up at him. Mayra stared up at him in unrestrained shock and silent awe. She pointed at him, gaping, her lips trembling as they tried to form words. It an unmistakable uncanny image to obvious photos of her husband's relatives. No doubt they had told her the story. He stood and grinned down at her.

"Little human woman. Are your children still living?" he tilted his head. Rico stepped in front of her.

"Stay away from her, mother fucker!" he snapped. I stepped in to back him up.

"What is your purpose here?" I demanded firmly. He held up his hands in mock appeal.

"Whoa there everybody." he grinned. "I am here simply to inform, I have been watching along side his excellency and he decided to compliment you on getting past his creatures. You see we knew you were there the moment one of the hybrids had been torn apart." he explained. "The 'composer' keeps them under control through surveillance and close tabs on their vitals. If they betray be destroyed with the flick of a wrist." He shrugged. "It's a very cautious way of handling things but as long as it is efficient his excellency and I care little."

Wait. His excellency was not the composer? Who the hell was he talking about? My mind was working quickly. There was somebody else. "Where is this…'excellency' that you speak of, and why did you not attack us and allow your human guards to be destroyed?" I demanded. I can not say what the others were doing around me. I was too focused. Lost in my train of thought. Varion leaned against the tree casually.

"I like this female, you are possibly the only vampire besides his excellency that I respect." he stated. I scoffed. "He was left in charge of the labs, and he cares not that much for the cause, offering his aid only because he wished to see how this would all play out and get his own part of the shares." He looked over at D and tilted his head awkwardly, blinking. "When he noticed who was here…he ordered the hybrids to withdraw, quite pleased with the 'visit', and as for the human guards…pah! They were useless to us anyway." he shrugged. I seethed.

"Why are you here?" D demanded.

"Ah yes, back to business." Varion grinned widely. Mina suddenly appeared between Mircea and I staring in terror. She knew more about what was going to happen than we did obviously.

"Papa…" She whispered, barely audible.

I blinked down at her. "He can introduce himself to you I suppose. I have things to do. Wonderful seeing you again." He winked at me and I shuddered. With that he vanished.

"Oh dear. Varion is rather forward is he not?" Another Romanian voice crooned. The other vampires all made sounds of shock and fear. Even Mircea blinked and shook his head in disbelief. "It is good to see that I still hold the same recognition." A tall dark figure emerged. Mina hid herself away from him. "You." he looked at me. "Are magnificent." I felt the swift and sharp urge to run deep within me. D was in front of me in an instant.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The ancient vampire laughed.

"My name is Radu cel Frumos Dracul…and it is a pleasure to see you here…my nephew." he grinned. I choked. Dracul…nephew….HUH?

Author's Note: MUAHAHAHA! Now you see why it seemed so easy. I hope yall enjoyed this. Idk much about the novels really, but I don't think they mention that Vlad the Impaler had a little brother. In any case hopefully my readers don't mind much. Review and let me know. We shall see what happens in the next chappie. :D. It looks like Ally's mind has just been blown. Teehee xD. Ciao!

Tsuki no Rekuen: Yo! Yeah well we stalkers must stick together. xDDD! Dun Dun DUUUN! Yeah I did a cliffie. Anywayz yeah maybe he was a little jealous ;D. I think our love birds need some more alone time to figure their feelings out hehehehe. I'm not being pervy I swear...(LOCK THEM UP AND DEMAND OFFSPRING!)...um...i mean...ignore that. Even if their reactions would be priceless. (that would make an awesome fanart lmao XDD!) Let's see how Ally takes this information about D eh? LMao actually I think his I'm a loner routine makes her want to punch him in the neck. Can't wait to hear from yaz!

yorushine: Why thank you dawlin. THank ya, thank ya, thank ya! Yup Mircea IS smexy! I can send him to you wrapped in red ribbons for christmas if you like XDDD! Yup Rico got his bro back. Happiness, even if he's a douche to Ally. Ah well. Your reviews always crack me up. I love the crackish spazzy humor. Two thumbs up. And you are correct Adieu is French. Anywho Ciao!

Hellysion: Hey you! *waving hi frantically* Yeah plastic burrito. Hmmm...I want a burrito now. I guess I can settle for my cookie here though. Anywho good to hear from my accomplice xD. I've been driving my friends insane with my fics. Read from ya laterz :D.

Methodical Madness: Omg Yay! But it's cool. If it happens i will let you know xD.

Gaarasmyboyz: That is okay. I actually have a giant chocochip cookie here with me and I shall pretend that it is the one you sent me. Also I will break it in half and imagine that I am sharing it with you. lmao. Hope you liked the new chappie. Later! Ciao! Bye bye!