YOU GUYS! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for reading and reviewing over the last few days! This story hit quite the milestone yesterday, surpassing the 300 review mark and I'm just... I'm speechless and just so incredibly humbled. I never could have dreamed that this fan fiction of mine would have the kind of following it does (especially for something in the Van Helsing section of all places), but I am so sincerely grateful for your support, your encouragement, and your continuous feedback. You guys are truly the greatest and I can't thank you enough.

I hope that as the story continues (as we still have 40 chapters to go after this one) you will continue to enjoy what I put before you. Whether you do or not, I am still grateful for any feedback you have to offer.

A tremendous thank you to alexc1209, Scarlet Empress, Madam Silver, Countess, She-Devil Red, Bloodsired, 12345678910, the invisible reader, mayfire21, jenny, RegencyPoet, bloodrose2014, ForeverACharmedOne, summerofthe1975, Nyx-Arae, niccalexandra51, ShadowSpade, MercyShadow, and AsaraSahara for recently reviewing! Hugs and free Dracula-shaped cookies for all!

I have the answers to your questions from the last two installments posted at the end of the chapter for your perusal. As always, if you have any additional queries, feel free to send them my way! Otherwise, enjoy this new chapter and, as always, forgive the errors I may have overlooked and let me know your thoughts when you finish!

FOR MY VETERAN READERS (and a bit of a trigger warning): there is a specific part of this chapter that has changed from the original version. Before, where Dracula's reaction to Hera's violation of his privacy was outright abusive, here I try to stick with the revamp-theme of barely restrained anger - although fair warning, he does still lash out and there is a small amount of violence/manhandling in here, but it's not nearly as gratuitous as the original. That's not to say I excuse his behavior, because I don't, but what happens after - the consequences and Hera's reaction - play an important role in his character development.

XXV

Backlash & Reparation

Count Dracula sat alone in his office, doomed to be in there all night once more it would appear. The door was shut, his feet up on his desk, and his hands folded while his elbows rested on the arms of the chair, his thoughts on nothing in particular. Hera had spent the last three weeks combing through his library claiming to be brushing up on her Transylvanian history, but he knew better.

She was searching for information on Ilona.

Although he didn't care for the woman's continued defiance of his wishes, he did nothing to stop her. He knew she wouldn't find anything, and he assumed that when she finally caught on, she'd give up and they could carry on as before. He leaned farther back into his chair, getting more comfortable in his seat as he closed his eyes and soaked in the sound of the crackling wood in the fireplace, the gentle wind blowing against the window outside… Hera's heartbeat just outside in the hall.

His eyes snapped open when he realized how dreadfully close she was to his office. Was she coming this way for a reason? She usually spent all of her time in the library. The past three weeks had proven that routine. Why the sudden alteration?

Dracula removed his feet from the desk and quickly grabbed some random papers so he'd at least appear busy. The door opened without as much as a knock. When she entered, her very presence seemed to flood the room as though she were a beacon of light and he struggled to at least appear unmoved by her.

But heaven help him, she made that remarkably difficult.

"Miss Garret, have you ever heard of knocking?" he questioned her curtly without even looking up from the articles on his desk.

He heard her shut the door and noticed her out of the corner of his eye. She apparently had no response for him and he let out a sigh of irritation.

"Madam, I have a lot to do, so if you're going to be in here to disrupt my work, could you not stand there in silence and just…" He glanced up and fell silent when he saw the rusted trail of tears that stained her beautiful face.

Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, her cheeks flushed, and her lower lip barely quivering as she apparently fought to keep her emotions in check, and with very little success. Something overcame the vampire just then as he beheld the lovely mortal woman and her rare display of tears, and for the first time in a long time, Dracula was genuinely concerned for a person that wasn't himself.

Normally, given any other circumstances, he would have hidden this with ease. But seeing the pain in Hera's eyes moved him in an unexpected way.

"What's wrong?" he asked sincerely, placing his pen down on the desk, a look of deep concern furrowing his brow.

Hera covered her mouth as she fought back a sob, but she couldn't keep it in. She started crying softly, just standing there, her hand over her mouth to suppress the noise as those tears bathed her cheeks. Human emotions and mortal instincts were something the vampire had grown very unaccustomed to, but within that moment, he could think of nothing else to do… nothing else that he wanted to do…

He made his way over to her, his concern only increasing as Hera continued to weep more freely as he approached. He had never seen her like this before and he didn't like it.

"Hera, what happened?" he repeated, but her distress only worsened.

When Dracula reached out to brush a few tears away from her face, the woman broke down completely in his arms. He had been around hysterical women before and holding one of them was an awkward occurrence he often tried to avoid.

But for some reason he could not begin to understand, when it was Hera, it felt natural. This alarmed him for all of five seconds before he dismissed the thought, allowing her to cry into his shoulder as he sweetly rubbed her back, whispering soft reassurances and soothing words into her hair as she wept.

Hera didn't know what had come over her, why she was so upset.

Logically speaking, she was exhausted. She had barely slept these last few days and the fatigue, coupled with her ever-present homesickness, had certainly taken its toll on her. But the guilt she felt for reading the Count's journal without his permission and the genuine empathy that came with knowing the truth – Hera had come into this office with every intention of coming clean and facing the music that ensued, but seeing Dracula's face, seeing the hard, calloused shadow of the man he had become, recalling the terrible things Ilona had said and done to him.

Knowing that another human being had been forced to carry the weight of such pain and loneliness – even if the latter was self-inflicted – she felt sorry for him all the same.

She pitied Dracula because after everything he had endured in mortality – the betrayal, the manipulation, the disappointment, the sexual abuse by a woman who was supposed to be his wife – after all of that, the posterity of his own father to this day continued to seek the end of his very existence, and all because of the ravings of a mad old man who could not see that his prodigal son had needed him.

The thought of Valerious the Elder's thoughtlessness made Hera miss her own father all the more. How grateful she was that despite Henry Garret's short-comings, he was still a kind and affectionate parent. Hera's father had been her rock in her times of need, one of the few persons she could fully depend upon.

Dracula had had no one.

That didn't excuse his behavior, but it made his situation more pitiable and this caused Hera to be more forgiving.

As her tears began to lessen, Dracula pulled back so he could look at her. He caressed her cheek, not quite certain where this tenderness was coming from, but he chose not to question it.

"What's wrong, my spitfire?" he asked her once more, though this time with noted affection, wiping her tears with the back of his fingers. "What happened?"

"Count…" she began, but she paused in order to better collect herself. "I've misjudged you," she whispered softly, diverting her gaze to the floor. "And I beg that you will forgive me for my ignorance. I did not know."

"Did not know what?" he asked.

Hera looked directly into his eyes as she gathered what courage she had and swallowed hard.

"I didn't know about Ilona," she replied.

Dracula went notably rigid at the name of his long deceased spouse. He released Hera from his hold and took a step backward.

"She was your wife," Hera explained. "And after all that she put you through, what has become of you because of her, I can understand to a degree why you think so ill of people as you do. I cannot condone it, but it does make sense now. I'm sorry I assumed the worst of you. You are not the unfeeling monster I thought you were."

The Count's face had gone from utter shock and disbelief, to barely contained rage, and though the voice in the back of Hera's head told her to stop talking, she couldn't stop. Her mouth was soon to run away with her.

"Who told you about Ilona?" Dracula asked her in the calmest way he possibly could, although he was visibly trembling.

"Nobody did. I... I read your journal," she answered timidly.

In that single instant, Dracula felt as though someone had torn all of his carefully crafted armor from his person only to point and laugh at his nakedness. He felt vulnerable and the feeling of violation, coupled with the pity in that human's eyes – it humiliated and infuriated him, and he went from utter calm to the edge of insanity in the blink of an eye.

"You what?" he clarified. Though the level of his tone was low and even, Hera quickly detected a scarcely bridled fury when his voice quivered with the last word.

She took a step back, uncertain of what he would do next.

"I – I'm sorry. I shouldn't …" she began as she reached for the door in a futile effort to make her escape, but before she could even turn the knob, his fist collided with the wall beside her head before grabbing her roughly by the arm and he turned her around so she would face him.

"How dare you help yourself to my things after I expressly forbade you to do so," he snapped, his awoken inner-demon making him immune to the tears the mortal was now shedding. "Does your word mean nothing? You know I do not make idle threats. Did you honestly think you could go against my wishes free of punishment?"

"I'm sorry, but I had to!" Hera insisted, voice broken by the sob building in her throat. She was shaking horribly as she pressed her back against the door in fear, trying to get away from him, away from the demonic anger in his eyes.

His monstrous change was horrifying and she had never been so afraid in all her life. His fangs were extended, face physically contorted with the rage of a hellish demon and Hera watched helplessly as all light in the room rapidly diminished. She could see the darkness that surrounded him, a blackness of aura that was terrifying to behold.

Hera had been afraid of him once before when he had confronted her after she had slept with Velkan, but this… the horror chilled her down to her very core, stealing her breath. It was like staring into the face of hell and try as she might, she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"You didn't have to do anything!" he barked. "Where did you find the journal, woman? WHERE?"

"I… I…"

"SPEAK, DAMN YOU!" the vampire shouted, his voice shaking the room and he struck the door on the other side of her head, making her jump.

"I... I – in the room you told me not to go into, in the library. Aleera showed me the journal last night before the sun rose. I didn't know what it was until she had me read the first page. I told her I shouldn't read it and she put it away, showing me where the key to the room was. I wasn't going to read it, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to know the truth. I had to know it for myself!" she gushed, the words flooding out of her mindlessly as she trembled before him.

"Aleera showed it to you?" he questioned in disbelief. "I know how much you two dislike one another. Why should I believe you? She'd never betray me like that, not when she knows the consequences!" and he grabbed Hera by the throat, forcing her to look at him. "You vicious little liar," he hissed, and without even realizing it, he had begun to lift her up to his level until her feet were dangling just so off the floor. Although she couldn't speak, the look in her eyes was full of desperate pleading.

Vladislaus, please don't do this, came her voice in his head.

But he wasn't responding.

Something had hijacked his brain – something far more terrible than just the anger he presently felt.

Read my mind! Please! I can prove it to you! Read my mind!

Buried deep beneath his madness, the Count was surprised by her desperate request. He knew how much she hated having him in her head, but at her insistence, he complied. Still absently squeezing her throat, he rummaged through the past few hours of her mind.

He saw her reading the journal, he saw her tears… felt her pity… he had feared that by her reading the journal, finding out the truth about Ilona, that she'd hate him, call him weak and a monster for what he had done, just as everyone else had. But she didn't. She felt sorry for him.

He rummaged farther back and then he found what he had been looking for. He could see Aleera through Hera's eyes, presenting the journal to her, showing her where the key was… he even saw the incident when Hera had been sitting with his brides a few weeks back. Verona and Marishka had kept their mouths shut, but Aleera was all too eager to disobey.

The wheels in Dracula's head began to turn.

Aleera had been trying to get Hera into trouble ever since she had first arrived all those months ago. Aleera was the one who told him about Hera and Velkan, and now his youngest bride had been the one who showed the human his journal. His anger took a shift towards his own bride as the truth became crystal clear to him.

Aleera was the one trying to thwart his plans… at least where Hera was involved.

But why?

Well, the answer was simple enough – Aleera was jealous.

Aleera had always been the most insecure of his brides, the most conniving, the most vicious when threatened. He even remembered when she had tried to kill Marishka and Verona shortly after he had sired her. She was trying to dispose of Hera now. She felt endangered, at risk.

It all made sense.

While Dracula was having his epiphany of sorts, Hera had lost consciousness as he had been unwittingly depriving her of oxygen. That is, until he realized how her heart had slowed dramatically and now she was deadweight in his hand.

The Count released her abruptly and watched as she fell to the floor in a heap, her neck reddened by his earlier hold, and her body – outwardly lifeless.

Dracula panicked.

He had been killing her!

He fell to his knees on the floor, sick with guilt as he lifted the young mortal's head, lightly smacking her face in an attempt to rouse her. He cursed the devil silently as he called the woman's name, disgusted that he had surrendered to the darkness so easily, that he had raised a hand to harm the mortal in the first place. The anxiety in his chest tightened.

"Hera? Hera… come on… wake up," he urged, but she did not move.

Still cursing himself for losing his temper with her at all, as he laid her flat on the ground, positioning himself beside her on the floor. Not knowing what else to do, he plugged her nose delicately with two fingers, placed his mouth over hers, and breathed deeply into her before pushing hard onto her chest, forcing her lungs to pump the air, and her heart to get the blood flowing through her body.

He then listened for her breath… nothing.

So he tried again.

"Hera? Hera, please… don't die on me," he pleaded as dread ensnared him.

In a final moment of desperation, he bit into his wrist and pressed the bleeding wound to her mouth. He could see the effects of his blood on her neck shortly after. The marks of his grip on her neck were gradually beginning to fade and soon he could hear her heart beating strongly in her chest once more. With one final puff into her mouth, he was startled – and then deeply relieved – when she started to cough, wheezing horribly as her eyes watered while she gasped for air.

"That's it, breathe… breathe…" he encouraged, moving her hair out of her face as her cough persisted.

When Hera finally started to come to, she realized Dracula was hovering over her.

Screaming, the young woman began to scramble back in fear, desperately trying to get away as her pleas for him not to hurt her were choked between sobs of genuine terror.

Unable to bear the sight of her fear of him, though God knew he had earned it, Dracula's person was abruptly hijacked by an uncharacteristic need to make restitution. He reached out for her, and in a swift movement, the Count pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly to him, the words "I'm sorry" repeated over and over again into her hair.

Hera's struggle against him was short-lived as she quickly fell to pieces in his arms, clutching onto him as he held her there, the two seated on the floor in front of the door. He consoled her, gently rocking her as he whispered the first apology he had offered in centuries to the rightly upset mortal in his embrace.

He could feel the catching of her breath as she cried, her hands gripped tightly at the front of his shirt as though she were a small child, clinging to him for support. The Count, tormented with guilt, was rooted to the spot, unwilling to relocate from their position on the ground, despite how undignified it felt.

There was a part of Dracula's brain, that dark passenger that had controlled him just moments ago, it begged him to flee from the private agony her tears left him in. But the Count remained, unwilling to leave her in such a vulnerable state. In his mind, it had been he who had broken her just now, and his pride be damned, he would hold her until she was whole again – or at the very least, until she pushed him away.

But Hera never withdrew from the Count's hold.

Despite what had just occurred between them, for the first time in what felt like months, the young woman felt strangely safe, as if some instinctual part of her understood that the monster from minutes ago had not been him, but someone else, something much darker and nefarious. The man holding her now was the one she knew, the one from the journal... the one as human and frail as she.

Her weeping eventually died away and the two of them remained situated on the floor for several long minutes, the woman's head resting against the vampire's chest. After some time without a word passing between them, the Count carefully cradled her head back with his arm so he could look into her eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

She nodded apprehensively.

"I'm… I'm sorry for losing my temper with you, Hera… My behavior was inexcusable. You were right about Aleera. I should not have doubted you."

"I forgive you," she answered softly and without hesitation.

Something very genuine and foreign passed across Dracula's face when she said those words – relief, gratitude, and a reverent kind of awe.

He could not recall a time in recent memory when someone had offered him forgiveness for anything and he knew deep down that he would never be worthy of her mercy, not after his unjustifiable behavior. But he was profoundly appreciative of her pardon and he swore in that moment that he would never raise a malicious hand against this woman ever again.

Helping her to her feet, Dracula steered Hera towards the sofa by the fire, urging to her sit as he poured her a generous helping of bourbon, watching in silence as she downed the offering in a single breath before wordlessly requesting a second helping. She drank the next one much slower and as she did so, he took a seat beside her on the sofa.

"How's your head? I'm sure the alcohol will ease the pain a bit."

"It's not throbbing like it was earlier," she admitted, and it dawned on him how exhausted she looked.

He recalled how very little sleep she had been getting as of late, and that incessant twinge of guilt gnawed at his insides. How he wished he had just been honest and upfront with her from the beginning. But that boat had sailed weeks ago and there was no way he could go back and change the past. All he had control over now was the future.

Her words from their last real conversation came flooding to his mind, how she had insisted that honesty and openness went both ways, how if he desired her respect, he needed to show her that same courtesy.

In his pride, he had dismissed her. How he deeply regretted doing so now. Hera may have been a fraction of his age and out of time, but she was wise beyond her years. He was finally beginning to understand that now.

"I'll be fine," the mortal continued as she nursed the amber liquid in her glass. "I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that you vampires are always trying to strangle the life out of me."

He cringed at her attempt to find humor in an otherwise deplorable situation.

Dracula had never been more ashamed.

"I'm not the type to offer profuse apologies, but I am truly, truly sorry, Hera. I should not have lost my temper with you, and certainly not to that extent. It was inexcusable and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but..."

"Dracula, please," she breathed, staring at the beverage in her hand. "I'm sorry I invaded your privacy like that. I should've at least asked you first, although I'm not so sure you ever would have allowed it even if I had."

"Yes, I suppose that much is true."

There was an awkward silence that lingered between them for several moments as Hera drank and the Count stared off into the distance, silently berating himself for his behavior until the human interrupted him.

"You're probably wondering why I don't hate your guts right now," she said, her eyes searching for his. Her gaze always made him feel warm and right now was no exception. "That's why you didn't want me to read it, isn't it? You didn't want to risk me pitying you for what you endured or thinking less of you because of what Ilona did – I'm assuming all for the sake of your pride."

"It is true, although I also do not desire for you to fear and hate either," he admitted.

"Why?" she asked him, her question taking him by surprise.

Even he didn't know the answer.

There were several possible scenarios that would have fit, but they were out of character for him. He didn't like Hera like that... he wasn't in love with her. It was just an unexpected… attachment. Like a master to his pet dog, although Hera wasn't exactly a dog. She could certainly be a bitch sometimes, and the thought made the corner of his mouth twitch.

"My dear, you are a very clever woman. I'm sure, given enough time, you'll be able to figure it out," he offered with a teasing lilt.

"It's probably the same reason why you wanted me here for seven months," she sighed heavily. "Although, I'll admit, I haven't entirely figured out your reasons on that front, either."

"Between the two of us, my motives keep changing," he muttered absently while studying the dancing flames in the hearth. He suddenly felt her hand on his knee and he glanced over at her with curiosity.

"Remember how you told me that you wanted me to be more honest with you?" He nodded. "I'd like to… starting right now." He smiled and patted her knee before using it as a support to push himself to his feet.

"Why don't we start tomorrow night? You look like you could use some sleep," and he helped her up.

"Isn't tonight one of our designated evenings, though? I'm fairly certain I owe you a decent conversation and I have the perfect topic!"

The vampire smiled in response to her comment, but still he led her toward the door, opening it and following her out into the hall, deciding to walk her to her room.

"What topic might that be?"

"It's about your son, Mihnea."

Hera saw how the Count's smile disappeared and her expression softened.

"I know you think Ilona was responsible for his death, but she wasn't. He was still alive before Gabriel killed you."

"Hera…"

"It's true. And Ilona's sons – Vlad and Mircea – they were biologically yours as well."

"Hera, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but that was a long time ago. You don't need to assuage my guilt or pain by telling me what I want to hear."

"But I'm not. I would never give you false hope like that. I'm not cruel," she insisted, and though he said nothing, her words pleased him immensely. "In my time, in the future, there were scientists that were able to find a way to use genetic fingerprinting to determine biological parent-to-child relationships, and it's far more sophisticated and accurate than the stuff scientists today are tinkering with. I can give a more detailed explanation of it later, but what I'm trying to say is that your children, your boys – Mihnea, Vlad, and Mircea – they were biologically yours and, despite Ilona's lies, they did live. Remember that period of time after you became a vampire when you were in isolation for a while? Mihnea was ruler Wallachia for some of those years before the boyars overthrew him."

Hera was watching the Count closely, eager for his reaction, but the vampire continued to stare in front of him, his expression difficult to read.

"Your sons fathered children of their own," she continued. "And your grandchildren had children, and so on all the way down to the day in which I lived. The Queen of freaking England – Elizabeth II – is even related to you!"

"When did they change the country's name to 'freaking' England?" Dracula asked with a sly smirk, hiding how deeply Hera's words had moved him. Fortunately for him, his joke distracted her from the faraway look in his eyes and she laughed.

"You know what I meant," she replied.

"Well, Miss Garret…"

"Ah, so we're back to Miss Garret again, then?"

"Yes, Miss Garret," he maintained with a teasing smirk as they stopped in front of her bedroom door. "I should let you get some rest. Besides, I have a few things I need to take care of."

"Of course – I had interrupted you earlier. I apologize for that."

"Yes. Although I am intrigued by this genetic fingerprinting you were speaking of. I would certainly enjoy hearing more on that topic tomorrow evening when you are better rested."

"I'm a bit rusty when it comes to the subject of genetics, but I'm sure we can manage," she answered cheerfully as he opened the door for her and she made her way inside.

"I feel I must apologize once more for my behavior this evening. I give you my word – that will never happen again."

"I know," she said. "And again, I forgive you. I am determined to be friends with you, Dracula. Even if it kills me."

"That got dark rather quickly."

"Good night, Count," Hera said with a laugh.

"Good night, Miss Garret."

She bowed her head to him and then he shut the door. As soon as he could sense that she had finally laid down, he summoned for Jane through his mind. The woman appeared directly.

"Yes, master?"

"Miss Garret is catching up on some much needed rest. I want no one to disturb her until tomorrow evening. Understood?"

"Of course, master." Dracula nodded his head resolutely. "Is there anything else I could get for you master?"

"Tell Aleera I'd like to speak to her please… I'll be in the East wing."

"Yes, master. I'll go tell her at once."

Jane excused herself and when she was gone, he turned to head toward the stairs that led into the main foyer of the fortress, his footsteps taking him to the more abandoned part of the castle, the Eastern Tower.

Although the news Hera had shared with him regarding the survival of his legacy had pacified his temper, he had not forgotten Aleera, nor her defiance of him. She needed to be punished for her disobedience, reminded of her place.

And she would be.

She'd never defy him or attempt to harm Hera again, he'd see to that. Hera may have proven herself to be a rare exception to his opinion of women, but Aleera, unfortunately, stood true to his prejudices, through and through.

After he was done with her, when Aleera – humiliated and sore – would trudge back to her chamber, none of his brides would dare lay a foul finger on Hera ever again.

But one thing was abundantly clear to Count Dracula's brides when they retired that morning in their shared chambers – their master's feelings for this human clearly ran far deeper than just mere fondness.

Although the feedback for Friday's chapters were overall very positive, I received a lot of questions pertaining to some of the contents within. I'm not sure if the questions arose out of some of you just reading so quickly that you may have overlooked something or if I was just too subtle in my writing or flawed in my way of explaining things, but whatever the reason, I have done my best to capture all of your queries and have provided the answers below. Hopefully this helps.

Q: When is Aleera going to get what's coming to her?
A: You mean outside of her punishment at the end of this chapter? ;) Well, for now, she will remain alive. Have no fear, the karma bus will run her sorry ass over eventually; but for now, she still has a role to play so we're going to have to put up with her for a while longer. She'll still get that silver stake in the heart before the end. I just need you to be patient. All in good time. :)

Q: Did Ilona really rape Dracula during the daytime when he was transitioning into a vampire or am I reading too much into that?
A: A couple of you picked up on that subtle hinting in the last chapter, and a few others probably thought they were imagining things (at least that's how it sounded in your reviews), but sadly, no, you did not misread that single line in the last chapter. When I rewrote chapter 24, I had a few goals in mind - and one of them was that I needed a really good reason for Dracula to absolutely loathe the very mention of Ilona's name and the only thing that made sense (outside of turning a servant of God into a home-wrecker like I did in the original) was to have Ilona take away Dracula's sense of control. Also, because I wanted to keep his backstory aligned with history, I needed a reason for Ilona to get pregnant with a second child via Vlad and I didn't see him sleeping with her willingly after learning that she had been responsible for the death of his first wife (and, as far as he knew, his firstborn son). Since she wanted to control him, the best way to do that was for her to take what she wanted from him when he was at his weakest. It was a risk I took as a writer that I'm still on the fence about (in part because rape is such an ugly and controversial topic) but for the sake of the narrative and given the way he treats women (including Hera, to a degree) I felt it served a purpose. You are of course welcome to disagree, but overall the response to that plot point has been fairly supportive and for that, I thank you. I love Count Dracula as a character and I hated putting him through something so awful, but in my mind, for the sake of his character, the development he is presently undergoing, and for the sake of some of the happenings later on in the story, it was necessary.

Q: Who is the father of Ilona's children? Vladislaus or Gabriel?
A: Definitely Vladislaus. She only slept with Gabriel once (she seduced him in exchange for her own life after he "killed" Vlad) and at that point, she was already in early stages of pregnancy with her and Vlad's first son. It was Gabriel's moment of weakness that led him to fall in the first place - at least, that's my spin on it. But I didn't want to turn Van Helsing into another stereotypical adulterer like he was in my original version. I feel like that goes against his character (canonically speaking) and it just didn't suit my narrative.

Q: Did Ilona murder Mihnea or just kidnap him so Dracula thought his son was dead?
A: Hopefully this chapter put all doubt out of your mind in regards to this question but if not - Ilona did not murder Mihnea. She did murder Dracula's first wife, however. With Mihnea - I like to think that he caught Ilona murdering his mother and in order to save her own skin, Ilona threatened Mihnea, stating that if the boy wanted to live, he had to disappear. Mihnea was just a child and he naturally wanted to live, so he agreed to the madwoman's terms and allowed one of her allies to hide him away where he was left to suffer alone, away from his father (who believed him dead) and as the only person alive with the knowledge of the true reason for his mother's demise.

Q: Is there a connection between Ilona's charming personality/seduction abilities and the Count's?
A: That is a really great question! Dracula has always had it in him to be charming and seductive. I like to think of it as a survival technique of his. Did he pick up some pointers from Ilona after she died that he carried on with him through immortality? Perhaps, but I think it would have been subconsciously done. Also, being the son of the devil has its perks, I think ;)

Q: What is happening in the future (21st century)? Hera's dad must be worried sick!
A: Actually, because Hera is in the past, no one would notice her absence because technically they don't exist yet (if that makes sense). Let's just say that time in the future has kind of frozen in place while Hera is here in the past. It'll make sense later on, I promise. But for now, no stress. Her dad has no clue she's missing.

Q: What are the others (Anna and Velkan) doing while Hera is with Dracula?
A: Another great question! To be honest, I never really gave it much thought until now. They're probably doing the usual, most likely - hunting werewolves, stressing out about what Dracula is up to, worrying about whether or not Hera is okay, wondering where their dad is, etc. And I'm certain Velkan has been working on his fencing abilities since his disastrous failure. But things in Visceria are quiet with Hera gone - which isn't entirely a bad thing.

Q: Do you have the original version of this story laying around somewhere? I would love to read it.
A: I do have the original still in my possession, but I have no plans on posting it anywhere in the foreseeable future. There are so many errors and instances of OOC-ness and I just... the thing embarrasses me. The whole purpose of this revamp project was to create a kind of compromise between myself and my readers via satisfying the original fans of the story by giving it back to them and appeasing myself by cleaning up and editing the things that made me cringe in retrospect. So this is the version you're stuck with. I hope you understand :)

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter or if you have any additional questions! Chapter 26 will go live on Wednesday morning, PST.

Also, one final note: it looks like the fanfiction website no longer supports outside links in profiles outside of a select few websites on their very small "white-list" : Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Flickr. Because of this, I spent a good hour last night updating my profile with the names of the original artwork (and their corresponding artists) that I use for my cover images. As a friendly reminder, I don't take any credit for any of the artwork used. Please don't sue. I'm not worth much. And think of this as free publicity :)

- T