Well hello! Sorry it has been so long! So I think I finally have something here for y'all. Went camping this weekend and inspiration struck. The next few chapters are all but complete and a few chapters after that are in the draft phase. To thank y'all for your patience, here is the next chapter! I hope to have the next one up before too long. This one is longer than usual, but it's a lot of dialogue and set up. Hopefully y'all will still enjoy it. Love to hear y'all's thoughts! I have some great ideas in the works... at least I think they are great. See y'all again soon! I hope!

The slayer's body fell back and hung off the roof. Vlad stood up and faced his sister, "We should head back."

"What's the rush?" Ingrid asked. "It's not even midnight."

Vlad shrugged, "I promised George we could play video games tonight."

Ingrid rolled her eyes. Vlad insisted on keeping up the breather friendly sharad for the sake of his little sister, but Ingrid didn't see the point. George was bound to find out eventually.

"Fine," Ingrid said. "But the next slayer we find is mine." She stared at the body, "Looks like none of the slayers know where your friend is."

"He isn't my friend," Vlad said harshly.

Ingrid put her hands up in defense, "I was being sarcastic. What do you plan to do once you find him anyway?"

"Just need to talk about something," Vlad said.

"What about?"

"That's between me and him."

XXX

Mina VanHelsing stood in front of 10 members of the Slayers Guild board.

A screen behind her displayed a map of Europe with 30 red and yellow marks placed in multiple locations in almost every country.

"Every mark here represents one of our slayers. Red means they were found dead, yellow means they are missing and that was their last known location," Mina explained. "The majority are yellow."

"Every one of these attacks on slayers happened following Vladimir Dracula's turn and he's suspected to have some involvement in. What's interesting is that these slayers found dead were not at all hidden. We took their bodies from the street and confirmed that it was Vlad who killed them through testing, but yet those who are missing there was no evidence left behind. We are starting to think they may never be found and we are too low on resources to focus on trying to locate them."

Pictures of all the missing slayers were displayed on the screen. Many of them she trained herself. Mina always tried to appear strong, but found it difficult to hold it together lately.

"This leads us to believe that there are slayers he wants us to find and those he does not," Mina continued. "I can't even guess why he would do this or what message he's trying to send."

"So what are you proposing?" The chairman asked. Mina had once been on the board herself, but had stepped down after her last term expired.

"We need a task force," Mina said. "With the specific goal to track down and slay Vlad. He has proven to be too dangerous and we must make this our top priority."

"But you said yourself we are low on resources," The chairman said. "The cost of recruiting, training, purchase of equipment just to slay one vampire is too much."

"Sir, he killed 54 of our slayers in a single attack, destroyed our headquarters and put my son in a coma for 3 weeks," Mina said. "We must act now. He will only get stronger."

"There is no proof all of that was caused by a single vampire," he said. "We have many witnesses and they all say something different, but the majority claimed they saw many vampires attack."

"Jonathan says differently," Mina said. "He saw Vlad himself. He knows more than anyone what happened that night."

"He's still recovering in the hospital. Once he's been released then he may come before this board and give his testimony."

Mina looked away unable to keep the tears back.

"I'm sorry, Mina," the chairman said. "I understand how you feel, but you can't deny that you are motivated by your son being a victim in that attack. We have to do what's best for the Guild and put our funds where they are more immediately needed."

Mina shook her head, "More slayers are going to die," she spoke through her teeth. "Innocent people are going to die. Do you not get that?"

"And we will do everything we can to slay Vladimir with the resources we currently have," the chairman raised his voice. "I've dedicated my life to protecting the innocent from these monsters, so I do get it. As I said, when your son returns we will revisit the matter."

Mina lowered her head in defeat.

"I move that we adjourn."

XXX

"You're cheating," George said.

"I'm not cheating," Vlad argued.

"You're using your powers, reflexes or whatever," George pointed at the screen of the racing game they were playing.

"I'm not, you just suck," Vlad laughed.

George reached over and tried to slap the controller out of his hand.

"Ok, now that's cheating," Vlad said as he leaned away to stop her.

"I call it leveling the playing field," George said.

Vlad and his family were back in Transylvania while their new home was being built near the site of their old one.

The temporary house they were staying at was much smaller than they were used to with only four bedrooms, so the members of the Dracula family had to see a lot more of each other than they cared too. It also made it very difficult for Vlad to keep it a secret that he was killing breathers from his little sister. She noticed when he wasn't there and insisted on staying up at night so she could spend time with him.

Ingrid walked into the den. "We need to talk."

"About?" Vlad kept his focus on the game.

"Things," Ingrid said looking at George. Vlad figured that was her way of saying she wanted George to leave.

Vlad paused the game and looked at George. "You've been up way too late anyway," he said.

George rolled her eyes, "Fine, but I want a rematch tomorrow." She went up to her room and Vlad listened for the door to close.

"You know, I find it very entertaining watching you switch between heartless murderer and sweet big brother," Ingrid snapped her fingers. "You can't keep that up forever though."

"What do you want, Ingrid?" Vlad asked.

Ingrid handed him a note, "Piers found where your slayer is staying. The hospital is all the way back in England."

Vlad stood up, "That won't be a problem."

"You shouldn't go there alone," Ingrid advised. "And dad and Dracu will notice you're gone."

"Cover for me," Vlad said. "You're good at lying."

"What's in it for me?" Ingrid asked.

"I'll owe you," Vlad said. "Please, I need to do this alone."

Ingrid sighed, "Fine, but if you get yourself dusted it's not on me."

XXX

Mina unlocked the door of her office and carelessly threw her notes from the meeting on her desk. She sat down, put her head in her hands, and rubbed her eyes.

The chairman was right, she is driven by her need to protect her son. If he had kids then he would understand her urgency. Most in the Guild didn't understand her though because it was rare for anyone to have kids of their own. It was usually better that way. Less reasons to act irrationally. She didn't envy them though. She would have never become a slayer if it weren't for her son and she was damn good at it.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Mina called.

"Sorry to bother you," a young blonde woman entered the room carrying a file. "I just wanted to drop this off. It's the test results you asked for."

Mina took the file and looked over it. It was a file on a vampire they had recently brought in. She had requested the creature be given a psychological evaluation.

"Thank you, Chloe," Mina said. "Please let the lab know they may begin their physical experiments."

Chloe Branaugh had joined the Slayers Guild as a psychiatrist only days after she finished school. Her perfect grades and past relationship with the Dracula family made it a no brainer for Mina to accept her.

In training, she wasn't the most efficient in a combat situation, but when it came to understanding the minds of murders and finding their weaknesses she was invaluable.

Chloe turned to leave.

"Wait," Mina said softly. "I would like to talk to you… about the Draculas."

Chloe's eyes widened for a second, but her expression quickly changed to curiosity. "I haven't seen them since I was a kid."

"I know," Mina said. She offered Chloe a seat across from her desk. "But you know about what happened to my son. You read the file, correct?"

Chloe nodded, "I have."

"Based on your past friendship with Vlad, and what you read in those files, what have you observed about Vlad's personality?"

"Why do you ask?" Chloe wondered.

"I'm just trying to understand him," Mina explained. "It's been months and we haven't been able to locate any members of the Dracula clan."

Chloe may have once been friends with the Dracula heir, but that was when she was an ignorant child. Based on what she heard, part of her never wanted to see him again, but she was too curious. The other part of her wanted to see him again so she could study him. The person she knew would have never become a killer. She just couldn't see it.

"Well, as a teenager he seemed fairly normal, all things considered. Awkward, hard headed, and had I not known he was a vampire I wouldn't have been able to tell," Chloe said. "At least in the beginning. I only knew because his sister and father made it very obvious. He adapted well to being a student though. As far as I knew, he had perfect grades all the time."

"What about when he wasn't in school?" Mina asked.

"Well, those were the times I would be a bit concerned. He used his hypnosis abilities a handful of times and I saw it myself. He never seemed all that bothered that he was doing it although he claimed he hated anything to do with being a vampire. His feelings on that seemed to be conditional."

"Can you explain?"

"Well it may be because this was a bit personal that this was a red flag to me, but I once saw him hypnotize my brother just to date a girl they were both interested in. The whole situation was just silly, but the point is he seemed fine with having vampire powers if it was convenient to him."

"So what do you make of that?"

Chloe sighed, "Well he was a teenager then. All of us are so unsure of who we are and Vlad just had more to deal with than a human would. Back then, I tried to not think too harshly of him, and even Ingrid sometimes because I knew their father."

"This is why I like you, Chloe." Mina smiled. "Most slayers can't even begin to think of vampires as human, let alone have sympathy for them. But you can and that helps us to understand them better."

"You are the only one who thinks that is a positive thing," Chloe smiled. "Most think I love the creatures, but far from."

"Do you believe Vlad should be slain?" Mina asked.

"Of course," Chloe didn't hesitate. "He may have emotions but he's still a killer."

"Would you be able to do it yourself? Slay him?"

Chloe took a lot more time to answer the question, "If any of my fellow slayers or family were put in danger, I wouldn't hesitate to do so. I can't say it would be easy though… I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Mina scolded. "I appreciate your honesty. I highly doubt it would ever come to that anyway."

Chloe wasn't sure what to say.

"So what do you think of him now? After reading the file?"

"I'm not sure exactly," Chloe said. "I feel like I'm missing a lot of details, but from what I understand he seems to have developed a strong loyalty to his family. That's not what I would have expected from knowing him before."

"Really?"

Chloe nodded, "He seemed to care for his family, but if he could get away from them he would. Again, many teenagers were that way, but he was different. He tried many times to become human. He understood that meant possibly being disowned and not seeing his family again. That didn't seem to bother him. Of course that theory was never really tested as he never succeeded. He did care if they were ever hurt though."

"So why does his loyalty to them now surprise you?"

"I never thought he would kill for them," Chloe said. "That's just extreme even for him. That's why I'm confused. I get the slayers attacked them, and that in his mind getting revenge by killing 50 slayers was protecting them."

"Maybe that's just the monster part of him," Mina said. "Pure instinct."

"With all due respect, I don't think it's that simple. Even when studying feral cases, there is always a reason for them. Even if it's irrational. Vlad's family lived through the attack. It doesn't make sense why he would seek immediate revenge and respond so… violently."

Anything about Vlad's mother was classified, so that included her death. Mina decided to move on from that.

"We figured Vlad is still with his family even if the evidence may show he's acting alone on these attacks on slayers. These attacks are all around Europe so it's difficult to figure out where they are staying. Do you have an idea of where they could be found?"

"I don't," Chloe admitted. "I'm sorry."

Mina didn't think Chloe would know where to find the Dracula's but she might still be helpful. "I'm putting you on this case. I want you to study the files more closely and you will meet with me regularly. I also need to fill you in on a few details that were left off the record."

"I have time to discuss this now if you like," Chloe offered.

"How about tomorrow," Mina said. "I have to visit my son tonight, but the day after would be better."

"Jonno is still in the hospital right?" Chloe asked. "How's he doing?"

"Better," Mina smiled but her eyes revealed her uncertainty. "Since he woke up from his coma he's slowly gotten his strength back, but he's not been able to walk on his own yet. You should come by sometime. I'm sure he would love to talk to a friend."

"I will," Chloe promised.