:) This is officially my most popular fic. Wow guys, I am so thrilled. Thanks for sticking with this. I'm really glad so many of you like it. :)

Erin first tried cornering Esta on the rooftop. She had no idea why the other girl was up there in the first place. When she asked, Esta said, 'I'm looking at the moon.'

'Um… okay,' Erin muttered. She hefted herself up onto the wall and peered down in the courtyard below. Esta continued to stare upwards at the bright silver orb in the sky. Erin tried arranging what she was going to say in her head. She wanted to ask what information Esta wanted from Jonathon, what was her purpose of being here and why was she interested in Vlad. Oh, Erin felt her cheeks blush at the thought, she didn't mean interested in that way, she…

Erin let her thoughts trail away before asking casually, 'so how long have you known Robin?'

'About four years now,' Esta replied, turning her back to the light in the sky she had been so intently studying and joining Erin up on the wall.

'Why did you become friends with him?' Erin asked. Esta tilted her head to one side as if she hadn't understood the question. 'I mean,' Erin frowned. This was difficult to articulate, 'he's not exactly the most… normal of guys.'

Esta laughed. 'That is an understatement,' she said lightly. She turned away, contemplating the question, but the only answer she could give was a shrug. 'I don't know. There was just something… what about you and Vlad?'

Erin started in surprise. She hadn't really been expecting the question. 'Um… I… I met him through Ingrid.'

'Through Ingrid?' Esta queried, definitely interested now, 'sorry, I just didn't think that you were Ingrid's kind of friend.'

'I'm not,' Erin agreed, 'it's a little more complicated than that.'

'I feel like there's a story involved,' Esta said teasingly and before long Erin had told her everything, starting from when her brother was bitten, right down to when the Van Helsings came and went. By that point, the moon was low in the sky and there was a glimmer on the horizon. Erin realised that they must have been talking all night, but for some strange reason she didn't feel tired.

'You've been through a lot,' Esta commented as Erin finished. She glanced towards the east. 'Dawn has come,' she said, 'we should probably go back inside.' With another smile at Erin, she departed back indoors.

Erin paused for a while and then cursed. She'd let herself get talking into talking about herself and had missed her opportunity to question Esta. Angry with herself, Erin followed the disappearing brunette back into the school. Esta must be quick, Erin thought, because as she descended the stairs to the Dracula's attic haunt, she couldn't see the other girl anywhere.

'It's hard getting her to talk, isn't it?'

Erin jumped and spun around. The dark haired Robin was leaning against the staircase behind her. A smirk was lingering around his lips. Erin didn't like that knowing look.

'What are you going on about?'

'I've known Esta for four years,' Robin continued, staring down a corridor Erin assumed the girl they had talking about had gone, 'and it took me ages to get her to open up to me. She is a very secretive person by nature I think.' He grinned, 'but if you're persistent, then she might tell you something.' He straightened up and stretched. 'I'm going to bed now,' he told the startled blonde, 'Vlad's got me a coffin to sleep it. It's going to be awesome! I've always wanted to sleep in a coffin, but Mam and Dad never let me.' The dark haired teen was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

'Well… enjoy,' Erin murmured as Robin sped past her in the direction of the bedrooms.

That was went the thought struck her. There were only a certain number of rooms in the attic. Ingrid, Erin, Bertrand, the Count and Vlad each had their own room, but that didn't leave any bedrooms spare. Which meant… these new guests would be sharing a room with somebody…

Erin darted along the corridor and pushed open the door to her room. She stopped dead. There was her coffin, which she had filled with a duvet and pillows and removed the lid to so that she didn't get claustrophobic. And on a second bed, shoved into the corner of the room, Esta was examining a coffin of her own.

She looked up and smiled as Erin entered. 'I've never slept in a coffin before,' she said, gesturing at the vampiric sleeping arrangements.

Erin shrugged and turned to her own coffin. 'You get used to the confined sleeping space,' she said, clambering under her covers. She didn't bother getting undressed. She'd be up in a couple of hours for school anyway. She was suddenly feeling exhausted.

Esta watched the blonde roll over and fall asleep. She wasn't tired so decided to explore the attic some more. She had just closed the door and was heading towards the sitting area when Vlad appeared in front of her. To his slight disappointment, the girl didn't start in shock like Erin did, but simply stopped in front of him.

'I saw you and Erin talking earlier.' Esta said nothing. That was a statement, not a question. Vlad shrugged. 'You looked like you were having fun.'

Esta shrugged. 'Yeah, I guess.' She rocked slightly on the balls of her feet and then smiled at Vlad. 'Erin's nice.'

Vlad smiled sheepishly and nodded at the ground. 'Yeah,' he agreed, 'yeah, she is.'

Oh my, Esta thought, this guy really is a sheep in wolf's clothing. She couldn't help it; Vlad's soft heart seemed to touch her. 'Could you show me around?' she asked, linking arms with the taller vampire.

Vlad was very glad that vampires couldn't blush. He felt like complaining that he had a girlfriend, but there was something reassuring about Esta's presence. When he was with Erin, he was always conscious about her and keeping his vampiric urges under control. He may not like being a vampire, he may really like Erin, but he couldn't always resist the calling in his blood. But with Esta, he didn't feel anything like that. He felt just like he did when he was a young teen hanging around with Robin. There were no blood urges or the want to dominate. He felt like a normal teenager all over again.

Yet it was a feeling he had had before.

The tour of the attic didn't take long. It ended in the Count's book collection, mainly because Esta became fascinated with the numerous tomes. Vlad gave her permission to take a few for "light reading"; Esta left with her arms full of books.

It was Vlad who departed first, saying that he was tired and needed to rest. Esta smiled and said teasingly, 'I didn't know that vampires got tired,' but let him depart, adding that she was fine with the company of books. As soon as Vlad was gone however, Bertrand took his place. Esta's expression turned wary.

'Can I help you?' she asked, opening the book on her lap and beginning to read to help distract herself from the vampire across from her. This was not what she wanted to be dealing with right now.

A hand thudded down on the book pages. Esta looked up in shock. Bertrand's face was two inches from hers. Esta felt a blush creeping up the back of her neck.

'Are you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to drag it out of you?'

Esta kept her face calm. 'I don't understand…'

Bertrand banged his hand angrily against the sofa arm, causing Esta to jump in surprise and fear. 'Do not play games with me?' he hissed. Esta could see the danger signs; his eyes were glowing and his fangs were slowly creeping downwards. Shoot, she thought desperately, how have I managed to piss him off so quickly? I've barely been here 24 hours. What to do? What do I do? 'You may not live to see the end of it…'

'Bertrand?' the vampire tutor snapped upwards so quickly Esta was surprised she didn't hear his back click. They both glanced towards the door.

Ingrid was standing in the doorway. She smirked at the uncomfortable tutor and flushing girl. 'Are you behaving?' she teased playfully.

'None of your business,' Bertrand snapped and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

That left Esta and Ingrid alone. Esta shuffled on the sofa and murmured, 'thanks.'

'Why?' Ingrid asked, now glaring in the female breather's direction. She was another person with a grudge against the girl.

'He was kind of scary,' Esta muttered, staring down at her book.

'Scary?' Ingrid queried, prowling closer, 'you have faced slayers, played with fire and come four feet of my coffin, and you're frightened of Bertrand?'

'I didn't say I was afraid,' Esta corrected calmly, 'I just said, he was kind of scary.'

Ingrid snorted and stepped even closer. Esta sighed and put the book down. 'Is there a reason everyone seems to be interrogating me today?' she asked.

'Maybe because we all don't trust you,' Ingrid hissed. She was at the foot of Esta's sofa now.

To her surprise, Esta stood to face her. Her face was stony, her eyes were hard. 'Keep back,' she snapped. To Ingrid's internal horror, she took a step back. Esta didn't look surprise. 'Does it matter why I came here? I am here for Robin; Vlad I considered interesting but nothing more. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. Will people stop questioning me?' With that, she gathered up her books and strode away towards the bedrooms.

Ingrid turned and found herself staring at the Count, Renfield and Bertrand, who had been hovering out of sight, listening in. 'You couldn't help yourselves could you?'

'She finds Vlad… interesting…' Bertrand repeated in a low voice, his eyes narrowed towards the door.

'She kept her own against Ingrid,' the Count remarked, smirking at his daughter, 'I like her.'

'You'd like anyone if they were against me,' Ingrid snapped.

'Well… yes,' the Count admitted.

Ingrid snarled and stormed out of the room. It was that girl, she thought angrily, it was her…

One and a half years ago, Esta and Robin had run up a grassy slope towards an eerie abandoned castle. Dew and rain seeped through their trainers and a bitter wind whipped at their coats. Overhead, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. It was the sort of day you'd be glad to be inside in your central heated house. It was the kind of day Robin would have been staring out of his window murmuring, 'cool,' at, but admittedly would have been reluctant to step outside in. But here they were, two bedraggled teenagers, steadily clambering up the hill. They had to get there before the slayers did.

'The chances that Vlad's still in there is practically zero,' Esta screamed over the whistling wind and loud thunder crashes.

'There is still the chance,' Robin gasped, 'there is still the chance…'

They reached the top of the hill and stood, panting and huddling deeper into their coats as protection from the wind and driving rain. Glancing down the road, they could see the glimmer of headlights as the slayer's vans started up the winding drive. They were a way away but still too close for comfort.

'Where do we go now?' Esta yelled to Robin.

A white bolt lit up the sky momentarily, illuminating the abandoned castle before them. Robin gestured and shouted something about, 'this way,' but Esta missed it under the following thunder. This storm was worse than she had ever seen. She wondered if this was a vampire's doing.

Robin led the way around the side of the castle, to a low window that had been boarded up. Robin got Esta to hold his backpack for him whilst he loosened one of the boards for them to slip through. Glancing back, Esta saw the slayers black vans approaching the final stretch. Then Robin tugged at her coat and she scrambled through the gap after him.

Esta found herself in a musty, dusty deserted hall. She could understand immediately Robin's attraction to the place. The gothic architecture and dark lighting was the perfect settings for some vampire movie. The perfect living quarters for real vampires.

Esta followed Robin as he first climbed a set of spiralling stairs to the highest room in the tower. But they didn't stay there for long. The roof had caved in since Robin had been there last and the room was drenched. It was clear from the state of it that no-one lived there anymore. That depressed Robin further. It seemed like there was no prospect that Vlad was still in the castle.

Instead Robin hurried down to the basement, Esta swift on his heels, just as they first the clash against the door. The pair sped up and disappeared down to the larger part of the castle as they heard the front doors finally give way.

'Do you have a torch?' Esta asked Robin as they heard slayers spilling in above their heads.

There was some fiddling in the darkness, and then a narrow beam of light lit up Robin's face from below. Esta rolled her eyes as Robin grinned eerily.

'Ooo!' he murmured, 'Oooo! Fear me! I am a demon of the-ouch! Esta that's bright!' Robin turned away, shielding his eyes from the glare of Esta's light. Esta grinned as her light beam illuminated the dark corridors, overgrown with ivy and thick with dust and cobwebs.

Robin compared and muttered, 'yours is bigger than mine.'

'Not now,' Esta hissed, 'which way now?' Robin hated to admit it, but he hadn't a clue. Where would a vampire hide during the day?

'We could try the boarded up part,' he suggested, 'the part I couldn't get into last time I was here.'

'Which was nearly three years ago,' Esta pointed out, but followed him down the twisting passageways that Robin insisted he knew. After a few minutes, it was pretty clear that he didn't. Esta followed, irritation growing, as they hurried down different passageways, searching for the barred section. More worryingly, the slayers activities above them had quietened down.

Did that mean that they were in the basement area too?

Finally, Esta spotted something and tugged Robin down a corridor they had walked past several times. At the far end, was a door that was barred and chained shut. Robin's excitement and Esta's nerves increased.

They could definitely hear slayers voices now. They glanced at each other, eyes wide, as Robin dipped into his bag again and pulled out a pair of pliers that he insisted would cut the chains. Esta rolled her eyes as he tried, and failed, to do so. She shoved him to one side, got down on one knee and pulled a pin from her bag. 'This shouldn't take too long,' she whispered, putting the pin in the lock and twisting. Footsteps echoed closer. 'Robin, turn off your light.'

Robin did so and the corridor was plunged into darkness. They would hear the voices of incoming slayers, one of whom Esta was certain was Jonathon, and see flashes of light as the slayers swung their torches around. Then they heard one word that made both of them go cold: fire.

'Fire,' Esta whispered, 'fire! They're planning on burning the castle down!'

'We have to get in and warn Vlad,' Robin squeaked, turning back to the chain locked door. That now stood open.

Two cold hands grabbed Esta and Robin by the shoulders and hauled them through the door, which slammed shut behind them.

:) So close now... so close...