This is one of those chapters that kept me from publishing for so long. I wanted to figure out some better dialogue and situations, but they just were not coming to me. For the sake of moving on, I will do so. I feel like this accomplishes what I need it to to move the plot along. I would appreciate any feedback to help me in the future.

"So I figured we could go check out this new restaurant down the street," Chloe tied her shoes. "That way we can have a few drinks and neither of us needs to drive."

"Sounds good to me," Robin said.

Robin's phone vibrated from his jacket pocket. "Why don't I meet you downstairs. I can lock up."

Robin answered the phone as soon as Chloe closed the door. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Ms. McCauley. Is this Robin Branagh?"

"Yes! You got my message."

"I did, but I'm not sure how I can help."

"This might sound weird, but I was just wondering if you knew a guy named Vlad," Robin said.

"Vlad Count? He was a student of mine. His father owned the school I worked at, but it's closed now."

"I heard it closed," Robin was relieved. He finally found a lead. "How long did you know them for?"

"A few years. Can I ask how you knew him?" Ms. McCauley sounded suspicious of him.

"We were classmates when he lived in Stokely. I'm just trying to get in touch."

"I see. Well I'm not sure where they are now. I haven't heard from the Counts since I left my job there."

"That's ok. You've been a great help."

"I hope you find him. Vlad was such a smart kid, but his father was always so intrusive when it came to his school work."

"Thanks. Have a good evening," Robin hung up and smiled. Tomorrow Robin would be going to Garside Grange to see if he could find a clue on where the Dracula's had gone. He thought about telling his sister, but figured he would keep it a secret for now. She would only try and stop him from going.

XXX

Vlad knocked on George's door and waited for her permission to enter. When invited, both he and Ingrid walked in.

George sat on her bed playing with the ears of her teddy bear. She once told Vlad her mother gave it to her when she was 6. Even after all the torn and resewn stitching, she could never part with it.

"You alright?" Vlad asked.

George nodded, but refused to look up.

Vlad sat on the bed with her. "Ingrid said you wanted to talk."

"Yeah," her voice cracked from the crying. "Why did you lie to me?"

Considering all the difficult conversations Vlad had to be part of that night, he really wasn't wanting to beat around the bush anymore. Thankfully, George was normally straightforward and easy to talk to.

"It's not exactly easy to tell my little sister that I've been hunting breathers."

Ingrid stayed in the room on George's request but remained silent leaning against the closed door. "Ingrid said you can't help it. That you can't drink soy blood anymore."

"Well she's right, I can't."

"But why kill people? Can't you just kill animals or maybe drink the bottled stuff?"

"It's not that simple," Vlad said. "Animal blood and stored blood only helps with cravings and gives a little strength. Blood from humans sustains us a lot better."

"You said you went years without it though," George's eyes were red, but she looked unable to cry anymore.

"Yes, but all that time I was never really healthy. It eventually caught up to me," Vlad said.

"Well...do you… do you enjoy it? Killing people?" For once George struggled to ask a question.

George wasn't making it any easier to talk to her, Vlad thought.

"Well… I'm not disgusted by it," he admitted.

"Those innocent people, don't you ever think about their families? If they have kids?"

"Sometimes," he continued, being honest. "But I can't afford to think that way anymore. Besides, most of the time I'm dealing with slayers. They aren't so innocent."

"So, what about me?" George asked. "I'm human, but you protect me."

"Sure, but we're family," Vlad said.

"I guess," George looked back down at her bear.

"Look, I don't want you to worry about all of this," Vlad said. "I know that none of this is right, but I'm going to do what I have to. I just don't want to lie to you about any of this anymore."

"I don't want you to either," George said. "It's just all really confusing."

"What is?" Vlad asked.

"If you kill people and I know about it, doesn't that mean I'm an accessory to murder? Isn't that just as bad?"

"Well now you are getting into the complicated questions, but no I don't think so. You are just living here. You have no part of anything I get tangled up in outside of this house, and we can keep it that way. We can still play video games, I'll teach you Romanian, and I won't ever drink blood around you. If you ever do have questions though I won't lie anymore."

George finally smiled, "Thanks. That sounds good."

"Good. There is something else I need to talk to you about though," Vlad said. He told her about his dad forcing him to leave Romania with Dracu for a little while. The news didn't seem to upset George too much. It did mean she wouldn't have to be around Dracu for a little while.

"That's ok. I can hang out with Ingrid," George grinned. "We need sister bonding time."

"Great…," Ingrid was sarcastic. "You come into my room uninvited though you'll be spending an afternoon polishing my boots."

George laughed, assuming it was only an empty threat.

"So how about we skip the lesson tonight," Vlad suggested. "Piers just downloaded a new game. Maybe since neither of us played before there will be a more even playing field."

"You'll still find a way to cheat," George taunted.

"I've never cheated, you just need to get better," Vlad laughed, happy to see George acting herself again.

"Ingrid, you watch and let me know if he's cheating," she said.

"Since when do you tell me what to do?" Vlad could see Ingrid was trying to look annoyed.

"I won't bother you for anything for a whole week," George offered.

"Vlad, don't let me catch you cheating," Ingrid quickly snapped up the deal.

"Fine then," Vlad said. For once he was going to miss being around his family.

XXX

After dinner that night, Robin made the excuse that he needed to see a client about a design he was working on to get away from Chloe for a couple days. He drove to Garside the next day.

He wasn't surprised to see that it had been abandoned. He did come during the day though just to be sure it was safe.

He grabbed a flashlight from his car and wandered the empty halls. All he saw were layers of dust, abandoned papers and cobwebs.

The first two floors appeared to be the school. He made his way to the top floor towards the back of the building. It was very obvious this was where the Dracula's had stayed before. A couple coffins had been left behind along with some alchemy ingredients and empty bottles. Unfortunately, that was all he found. No clues to where they had gone.

He walked back downstairs and found an office. A large filing cabinet was pressed against the wall. He pulled on the handle, but it was locked.

"If it's locked then there must be something in it," Robin thought aloud.

He looked through the drawers of the desk, but couldn't find a key. He sighed, looked up and screamed.

In the doorway of the office was a teenaged girl wearing a school uniform. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

Robin held his hand to his chest trying to control his breathing. "I'm sorry I shouted. I didn't expect to see anyone here."

"Makes two of us," the girl smiled. The girl's dirty blonde hair was a mess and her clothes wrinkled.

"Do you live around here?" Robin tried to keep the conversation going. He suspected this girl was a vampire, and if he was right then he could be in danger.

The girl nodded, "Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for a friend of mine," Robin explained. "I thought I might find a clue to where to find him here."

The girl walked a couple steps into the room. "Why do you think you'll find a clue here?"

"He used to go to this school," Robin realized he was staring at the girl so he forced himself to relax to not appear rude.

"What's his name? Maybe I know him."

"Uhh…" the girl was looking him in the eyes and Robin was losing his train of thought. He quickly looked back down at the desk. "Vlad. Vlad Dracula."

The girl stopped advancing. "Ingrid's brother?"

Robin looked back up. "Yes, so you do know him?"

"Yeah, I knew him," she confirmed.

Robin smiled, "Can you tell me where I can find him?"

"If I knew that then I would be there already," the girl snapped. "Ingrid made me, you see. Then she abandoned me here while they all ran away."

"Why would Ingrid abandon you?"

"I don't know," the girl whined. "I guess she just didn't want me anymore."

"I'm sorry," Robin said. "But what happened here? This place is trashed."

"Slayers attacked us. I was the only one of Ingrid's to survive. After they were all dusted I ran and hid."

"And everyone just disappeared?" Robin asked.

The girl shook her head. "I smelled blood. It was coming from every direction. Once things calmed down for a bit, I ran outside. There was a woman lying there on the ground bleeding. I think she was Vlad's mom. Vlad was gone though and so were the slayers. I don't know where they went. I heard Piers say the woman was dead."

Robin was so shocked to hear what had happened that he didn't think to ask who Piers was.

"His mom? You mean Magda? If she were dead then she would have been dust right?"

The girl shook her head again, "No. She was a human. Vlad threatened to have us killed if we ever even looked at her or the girl."

Robin had so many questions, but no idea where to even start.

"Anyway, that was the last night I saw any of them here. The servant and breather came back to get their stuff, but I decided to stay hidden from them. I was hoping Ingrid would show but she never did."

"So I guess Vlad would probably be mad if I killed you right?" She sounded disappointed. "You are a friend of his?"

"Yes, we were friends," Robin said.

"Oh, would he know if something happened to you?" She was blatant.

Now was the time to lie. "I'm sure he would. He saved my life once."

"Wow, wish someone cared for me like that," she said.

"What's your name?" Robin asked, realizing he didn't ask before.

"Melody," she said. "And yours?"

"Robin."

The girl laughed, "I heard that name before."

"Did Vlad mention me?"

"Ingrid did. She used to complain about her brother a lot and you came up sometimes."

"So I'm trying to get that filing cabinet open," Robin pointed. "Think you can help me out? Maybe we can find them together."

Melody stared at the lock for a moment and then snapped her fingers. The drawers flew open and files scattered around the room. "I'm sorry. I struggle to control my powers."

"That's ok," Robin smiled. "I think it's pretty cool that you can do that."

Melody smiled back.

He picked up a few files and tried to organize them. He flipped through each one looking for the name Count. No sign of anything though.

"Figures they would have destroyed them," Robin said.

"Sorry," Melody sounded genuine. "If it helps, I know where Ingrid is some of the time."

Robin perked up, "you do?"

"Well, not exactly, but Ingrid is a member of the Vampire High Council. She would go to meetings all the time in Transylvania," Melody said.

"If you knew that, then why didn't you go there to look?"

Melody looked down at her hands. "After the attack, I'm afraid to leave here on my own. I don't want to die."

Robin shifted a little bit away from her. "I'm sorry." He wasn't sure what else to say about that. "Do you know where the Vampire High Council meets in Transylvania?"

"I don't," Melody admitted. "Are you going there?"

"I think I am," Robin smiled. "Thank you."

"If you see Ingrid, please tell her I said I'm sorry and I would like to be back with them," Melody pleaded.

"Of course," Robin said. "Are you going to be ok?"

Melody forced a smile, "Yeah, there are plenty of rats around here for me to feed off of."

Robin tried to not look grossed out. "Ok. Take care." He hurried out of the building and to his car before the vampire girl had a chance to change her mind.

He drove off the property, before pulling over and checking his phone for a flight to Romania. He had saved enough to afford a trip there, but going to a country full of vampires didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. He might need his sister's help.