Days Later

Moscow, Russia

The sky was a constant grey, covering the normally bright sun.

Despite the cool temperament despite the springtime season, Buffy walked down the cobbled street eyeing the book shop as she passed it.

It's been nearly a week since arriving in Russia in search of the Slayer, Buffy nearly instantly found her. She was a young girl, sixteen years of age Buffy estimated. She was a sweet looking girl, attractive face. She had long dark brown hair and bright brown eyes. She didn't look like much of a Slayer, then again, Buffy did not appear as threatening either.

The Slayer wore a colourful outfit with a tall bonnet headdress. She did not appear to come from wealth though she did not look poor.

Entering the bookshop after the young girl, Buffy stuffed her hands into the fashionable muff hand warmer made of bear fur.

"Могу я помочь вам, мадам (May I help you, madam)?" The bookshop keeper appeared in front of Buffy, interrupting her from stalking the girl.

"Нет, спасибо (No, thank you)," Buffy smiled politely. It was one of the few Russian sentences she had picked up a few last few days.

Bowing his head, the shopkeeper walked away.

Buffy frowned, darting her eyes around the area she had last seen the Slayer walk to.

"Извините, мадам (Excuse me, madam)," Buffy whirled around to see the Slayer standing in front of her. She wore a small polite smile, "я хотел бы получить эту книгу. Извините за досягаемость (I would like to get that book. Pardon my reach)."

Easily hiding her sinister smile, Buffy stepped aside and watched as the young sixteen year old picked up a book placed on the table.

"Sweet pea,"

Buffy's head snapped to see Cole standing in the doorway of the bookshop. She glared at him annoyed by the interruption.

Cole crossed the short distance to her and grabbed Buffy's hand at her side into his own. "We must be going, dear."

Frowning, Buffy felt confused about why he was tearing her away from the Slayer.

She caught the girl looking between herself and Cole with peaking interest.

"In a moment, darling," Buffy's voice was venomous with aggravation.

"Now, sweet pea," he tugged her closer to him and pulled her away from the Slayer and the books she had been browsing. He forced her hand to wrap around his elbow as he exhorted Buffy out of the bookshop.

They walked a little further down the street before Buffy rounded the corner stepping into an alleyway.

"What hath gotten into you? Why did you dare interrupt me?" Buffy demanded to know as she angrily glared at the half-breed demon.

"She was suspicious of you." He told her.

Buffy did not believe his accusation and scoffed, "Ridiculous. I did nothing to draw attention. It was you who ruined it."

"She was eyeing you. I watched her. That Slayer could sense that you weren't human."

Angered by his watchful eye and her own failure of realising she was about to be found out, Buffy pursed her lips together and stepped away from him. With her hands on her hips, Buffy turned away from Cole and took a deep unneeded breath.

Cole frowned and looked to the street keeping an eye to see if the Slayer had tracked them down—which she had not.

Facing him again, Buffy stopped and stood in front of him. Overcome with frustration at the situation and the feelings she was developing for the half-breed, Buffy chewed on her lip, before taking a step forward. Her hand cupped the back of his neck pulling him downward to meet her lips.

Surprised by her sudden kiss, it took Cole a minute to sink deeper in the kiss. He opened his mouth, welcoming her tongue as it slipped into his mouth. Cole had waited nearly a week and a half to hold this beautiful woman in his arms and kiss her.

Holding her face between his hands, Cole felt addicted by the coolness of her mouth and the softness of her lips.

Her hands wrapped around his wrists when she gently broke the kiss and opened her eyes to look at him. By the look set in Buffy's green eyes, Cole realised that she wanted the kiss as much as he.

He could almost see the wheels of her brain crank as it thought. For all of the stories about the vampiress and the rumours about her impulsive behavior, he had learnt that she thought long and hard quite often.

She was meticulous. Every word she says… every smile she gives… every life she takes; there was a long thought process that came before it. She defined the old adage, 'a method to the madness'.

Finally sharing a kiss they had both been longing to share, it seemed hard to stop now.

Cole took her hand that was at her side and gently pulled her back to him. He wrapped an arm around her back and caught her lips in another kiss. This time, Cole had been ready for the kiss. It was a passionate kiss, filled with desire and curiosity.

Tavern: Room

Naked and laying flat on her back with her hands over her head as Cole worshipped her body with open-mouth kisses, Buffy sucked in an unneeded breath.

Cole moved lower down her body until reaching the center of her body. He ran his tongue over the skin of her smooth and golden thighs. He teased her as he kissed all around her pelvis before lowering his mouth over her quim.

The needless breath caught in Buffy's throat. She squeezed her eyes closed and let out a moan as Cole's tongue manipulated her lethally strong body.

Foolishly grinning, Buffy purred and gripped the bottom of the bed frame. The half demon spread her lower lips with two fingers and slipped his tongue between them, lightly flicking her clitoris before closing his lips over her swollen nub and sucked hungrily on it.

Buffy cried out and arched her back, putting her hands on the feathered mattress above Cole's head. He slid his tongue inside her, savoring the taste of her nectar.

Cole softly bit down on her clit and pushed Buffy over the edge into climax. She moaned loudly, uncaring about the over tavern guests that could hear her throat the walls. Her body jerked uncontrollably as Cole lap up her juices.

When she stilled, Cole slid back up her body, settling between her legs.

Once face to face, they kissed again, Cole slid his cock into her moist center and released a breath, savoring the feeling of her perfect body surrounding him.

He felt the need to pinch himself. Never in his life did he think that this would ever happen. He was in bed with the great Lady Elizabeth, Quod Spiritus Sanctus (The Beautiful Demon), and the soon-to-be Slayer of Slayers.

She was everything that he always thought she would be. Brilliant, beautiful, brutal, clever—there weren't enough words in the dictionary to describe Buffy Summers.

He had seen her once before.

In California in nineteen twenty. They were in the Hellmouth. Buffy and her mate, Angelus were guests at a party hosted by the Triad.

Many upper-level demons, including the Source and the Master stood in a long line to shake Lady Elizabeth's hand. She was known amongst her demonic peers as a sort of the unofficial Queen among the demons. It was well-known that she was the favorite of their King, the fallen angel, Satan himself Lucifer.

Cole did not shake her hand. He was not able get close enough to her as she was swarmed by the demons.

Since learning about his demonic heritage, Cole had begun extensive research when he had first stumbled across the written legend of Quod Spiritus Sanctus (The Beautiful Demon). He became a great admirer of the vampiress and had even developed a crush.

But now, Cole had to remind himself that this was real. He was in bed giving the woman he's sought after for years great pleasure.

He buried her face into her blonde mane and breathed in her floral scent, intoxicated by her beauty.

Cole managed to maintain more control as he pulled almost all the way out of her before roughly slamming inside her to the hilt. Buffy cried out and bucked her hips, but Cole didn't heed her, setting a slow pace until his own desire would no longer permit it.

Soon, they were slamming against each other in an animalistic frenzy, completely caught up in their passion.

Digging her fingers into Cole's shoulders, a shiver of orgasimic pleasure washed over her body.

She opened her closed eyed and her back arched, tossing him a sultry smile. Cole thrusted inside her and reached a hand between their bodies to manipulate her clit with the pad of his thumb.

She found herself in orgasm again, but this time Cole was coming as well, spilling himself inside her dead body. Cole collapsed on top of her and kissed her shoulder as his body relaxed.

Buffy held a hand against his cheek and threaded her fingers through his short dark hair. She liked the feel of his bristoled hairs covering his handsome face. She rather liked this man, much more than she had prepared herself for.

Deep inside her soulless dead body filled with wicked darkness, Buffy felt something light peeking through the blackened depths. She felt something for this half-breed. It was strange and yet, paralyzingly terrifying.

Buffy pushed those thoughts away from her mind and covered his mouth with her own, blocking out anything that was beginning to resemble as human.

Later

Laying in the feathered bed, under the thin bed sheet that barely covered their naked bodies, Cole twirled a yellow strand of Buffy's long and luscious blonde hair around his index finger. He studied the strands of hair with in-depth fascination.

"I do enjoy you, Mr Turner," said Buffy in a state of bliss.

Cole comically frowned. "Why, Lady Elizabeth, I think we are far past such formalities, wouldn't you agree?" He asked, running his fingers over the soft skin of her shoulder.

Buffy rolled onto her stomach to look at him.

"What is it?" asked Cole.

"I can't be sure," said Buffy, quizzically eying her lover. "I have this… peculiar sensation inside of me," she gestured to the chest. "I don't know what to make of it."

Cole began to laugh.

Frowning with annoyance, the pout plastered across Buffy's face sunk further. "What art thou laughing at?" She demanded to know. "I command you to tell me at once."

Cole continued to laugh.

Slapping his chest, Buffy grew more frustrated. "Cole!" She playfully slapped his chest. "Tell me this instant!"

Pushing the hair from her face, Cole lifted his head and leaned forward, covering her mouth with his own.

The kiss lasted for some time, as Cole took his time to savor her taste.

"What you are feeling are in fact feelings," said Cole, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Buffy frowned with surprise. "That's unthinkable."

"Don't look so stunned, Buffy. You were once a woman with great feelings."

"I am no longer a woman, sir. I am a demon."

"You're both," said Cole with a smirk. "You're a beautiful woman and you are a beautiful demon." He sat up in the bed as Buffy crawled out of it to retrieve Cole's smock white shirt from the floor. She covered her slender body with the oversized shirt. "Deny it all you want, Buffy, but you are capable of having feelings—despite your demon."

Buffy lifted her hair out from underneath the shirt and faced him. "And you presume that these 'feelings' are for you?—Impossible."

"You do have feelings for me, just like how I have feelings for you." Cole ran the bad of his thumb over her cheekbone. "We're good together."

The vampiress shot the half-demon a withering glare.

"You wouldn't be so defensive if it weren't true," smartly said Cole as he adjusted the feather pillow behind his back.

Releasing a needless breath, Buffy pursed her lips together and said, "Say that it is true. Say that I 'feel' as you put it, something for you. It's not love. You need a soul to love."

"Every demon that was once human has remnants of their human soul. You have remnants, Buffy. Before turning, your soul was… good."

Frustrated with this conversation, Buffy pushed her hair from her face and released a heavy sigh. "Fine. I admit it. I do have feelings for you. But they do not mean anything except that I enjoy your company and that's all. That is all I'm capable of," firmly said Buffy, resolute in her stance on the matter.

"Not true." Cole shook his head as he turned to the nightstand to light the candlestick.

"Well, it is." Buffy rolled her eyes.

"No, Buffy, no. That's simply not true." Cole blew the small matchstick flame out.

Defensive, Buffy grew more agitated. "Don't presume that thou canst tell me what is and what is not."

"I'm not telling you anything. I'm simply stating a fact."

"And the difference?"

Cole tossed his lover a small smile and held out his hand for her to take. "Touché." Begrudgingly, Buffy crossed the short distance towards him and took his outstretched hand. Cole continued as he pulled her back into his arms. "I realize that as the great and all powerful beauty that is Quod Spiritus Sanctus (The Beautiful Demon), it's difficult for you to come to terms with being wrong but, firmly, I state, despite your demon you are able to feel. I think you do and I also think it terrifies you."

"You are entirely wrong, sir." Tightly pursing her lips together, Buffy wanted to to get out of his arms, but he only tightened his stronghold around her

"Am I?" asked Cole, as his hand cupped the back of her neck and drew her close to brush his mouth against hers for a brief kiss. "Then why haven't you pushed me away? The answer is simple, it's because you have feelings for me." Cole's hands tightened around her as she tried to break free. "No, Buffy, look at me."

Buffy lifted her gaze to his face.

"I have feelings for you, too," he admitted. "Feeling something a bit humane doesn't make you less of a demon. In fact, let me tell you something, Buffy, it doesn't." He told her. "It only makes you better—a standout. There are plenty of demons out there that'll kill for the kill and nothing else, but, not you. You're different. You kill for pleasure. You kill for anger. And the way that you kill depends on your emotions. You feel, Buffy. You feel very deeply—I'd even argue that you can hate just as well as you can love."

"Preposterous," said Buffy, turning away from her lover to look out the window to the bright full moon lighting the black night. "I can never love you—or anyone."

"Who said anything about loving me?"

Buffy glared at Cole with a look mixed of surprise and annoyance.

Cole foolishly smiled at her. He took her hand and pulled her back into his arms, covering his mouth over hers.

5 Months Later

Russian winters seemed endless. The cold winds felt like piercing spikes stabbing your face as you walked outside on the roads of Moscow.

After months of studying the young Vampire Slayer, Buffy had made her presence known to the girl. Buffy savagely taunted and went to great lengths to sever every chord with this Vampire Slayer.

The girl's breaking point was when Buffy killed the family livestock and painted the Slayer's home in its blood. She ripped out each of the livestocks eyeballs and dropped them at the doorstep with a note which said: Дьявол наблюдает за тобой (The Devil is watching you).

The deeply religious family had begun to point their fingers at their daughter, just as Buffy wanted. Soon the Slayer's parents called in for the Russian Orthodox priest to come and perform an exorcism on their daughter.

Buffy knew that she could defeat the Slayer at any moment but a part of her did not want to. The chase gave her a rush. She thoroughly enjoyed devising new ways of mental torture. Compared to her Sire, Buffy was getting much better at it. She didn't need the Romanian magics, no, Buffy believed that all that she needed was a bit of imagination.

Antipova Residence

In the dead of the night, a group of Russian Orthodox priests walked up the gravel pathway to the small wooden house. Smoke from the fireplace came out of the chimney.

A man and his wife stood outside the door, their arms around another both seeking comfort and protection from the biting cold.

"Господи спаси и сохрани (God bless and protect)," said the Russian Orthodox bishop, as he crossed himself with his thumb and bowed his head.

"Спасибо, отец, за столь короткий срок (Thank you, Father, for coming on such short notice)," Dmitry Antipova said as he greeted the priests. "Пожалуйста, пожалуйста, войдите. Моя дочь Мария в своей спальне. Пожалуйста, будьте осторожны, она... обладает огромной силой для кого-то ее размера, возраста и пола. (Please, please, come in. My daughter, Maria is in her bedroom. Please, be careful she... has great strength for someone of her size, age, and gender)," explained Dmitry. "Демон внутри нее становится сильнее. Ей нужен этот экзорцизм (The demon inside of her is getting stronger. She needs this exorcism)."

One by one the four priests entered the small country home, lastly coming up from behind the group of men was a woman dressed in a black apostolnik.

Dmitry held out his hand and eyed the nun for a moment when one of the priests turned back around. "Дмитрий Антипов, это сестра Елизавета. Она нам поможет (Dmitry Antipova, this is Sister Elizabeth. She will assist us)."

"Отлично. Добро пожаловать, сестра Элизабет. Пожалуйста, войдите (Very well. Welcome, Sister Elizabeth. Please, come in)." Dmitry respectfully bowed his head and held out his arm for the nun to enter the home.

Designed as an Russian Orthodox nun, Buffy lifted her chin and bowed her head as she entered the home. She held her hands into her front sling pocket under the black gown. A rope wooden crucifix hung around her neck.

Following the priests into the back bedroom, the yellow candlelight bounced off the walls and flickered over their faces.

Buffy walked in tow of the group and darkly smiled as the others walked on down the hallway.

Maria's Bedroom

"Мать! Отец! Выпусти меня! Пожалуйста! Прошу освободить меня! Я буду в порядке! Я буду святым! (Mother! Father! Let me out! Please! I beg you to free me! I'll be good! I'll be holy!)" Shouted Maria from the bedroom.

Bound on the bed by iron chains, she wiggled and pulled trying to break free.

"Пожалуйста! Пожалуйста! Выпусти меня! Я буду в порядке! Я буду в порядке! (Please! Please! Let me out! I'll be good! I'll be good!)" Maria cried.

Thunk! Bang! Crash!

Maria stilled in the bed. Her eyes and head snapped to the closed bedroom door when she heard the sounds of a struggle. A woman's scream ripped through the entire home.

"Мать (Mother)? Отец (Father)…?"

Terrified, Maria tried to pull on the chains wrapped around her wrists, desperate to make herself free.

The bedroom door latch forced Maria to pause.

She fearfully breathed heavily to whatever was behind that door.

Slowly the wooden door pushed open. Maria's eyes were glued to the door for a moment before trying again to break herself free.

A dead body was thrown in the bedroom and landed on the wooden floor with a hard thud.

"Здравствуйте, Мария Антипова (Hello, Maria Antipova)."

Recognising the whispering lispy voice, Maria slowly turned her tearful eyes back to the door where she saw the vampiress that has been taunting and torturing her for months. It was because of this demon that her parents learned that she was a Slayer and locked her inside of the bedroom, binding her to the bed, and praying to God to released their beloved daughter of the demon inside of her.

Removing the squarish apostolnik from her head, Buffy shook out her golden tress and tossed the black veil aside.

Maria watched as the vampire then removed the rope crucifix from around her neck and threw it to the ground.

Buffy stepped over the dead body as she walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. She reached out her hand and pushed Maria's dark hair off of her face and smiled as the girl tried to move out of Buffy's reach.

"Я узнаю твою кровь, Убийца. Я сделаю твою шею своей чашей ... и напьюсь (I will know your blood, Slayer. I will make your neck my chalice... and I will drink deep)."

Maria's eyes tearfully widened.

Running the back of her bloody fingers down Maria's cheek, Buffy smiled. "И где-то там (And somewhere out there)…" Buffy pushed the teenage girl's hair off of her neck, exposing her skin, "... Позовут еще одну девочку, и я найду ее, и все отниму у нее, как я сделал для тебя (Another little girl will be called and I will find her and I will take everything away from her, as I had done for you)."

Maria's bottom lip quaked with terrified fear. Though she did not understand the strange language the beautiful vampire was speaking, she understood the tone of her soft voice and Maria knew that young life was over.

Mockingly, Buffy motioned her hand as a cross over Maria's small body and said, "Об Отце и Сыне и о Святом Духе. Аминь (Of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen)."

Buffy took a fistful of the Slayer's hair and pulled the hapless girl towards her then seized her neck with a violent bite.

The Slayer gasped in pain as her young life drained away.

Buffy listened to the sounds of her blood stop pumping through her body. She continued to drink the Slayers powerful and intoxicating blood until there was not a single drop left.

Standing in the doorway, watching the violent display, Cole smiled as he watched the vampiress with complete infatuation.

He dropped the dead priest in his hand and crossed the short distance to his vampiric lover.

Running his blood stained hand over her smooth golden skin, Cole wondered if he had ever touched anything so angelically soft before.

Buffy ripped her fangs from the Slayer's neck and leaned back as Cole's hand slid from her shoulder and over her chest to cup the side of her face. Buffy tilted her head back and welcomed his kiss.

Cole's human form morphed into his demon, Belthazor as the taste of the Vampire Slayer's blood twisted his senses bringing out his demon.

Slipping her bloodsoaked tongue into Belthazor' mouth, she listened to the demon's growl with a widening smile.

"Hast thou ever heard the saying that the blood of a Slayer is the most powerful aphrodisiac of them all? Here, now, have a taste, darling." Buffy held up a bloodsoaked finger to the demon's lips and watched as he seductively sucked on it. He released a moaning growl of pleasure.

Belthazor grabbed the back of Buffy's head, tilting her head back as he roughly crushed his mouth to hers. Buffy eagerly responds, pulling at his black shirt. The demon's strong and muscular arm wrapped around Buffy's back, holding her close into him. He began to lay her down over the bed beside the Slayer's corpse locked in each other's embrace.

Later

Peeking through the closed heavy wool curtains was the sunlight of the Russian dawn rising in the horizon.

After hours in celebration of Buffy's great victory, they decided to stay in the warm cabin lost in the snowy farm lands outside of Moscow.

They had since tossed the Vampire Slayer's lifeless body onto the ground and took over the bed as they made love for another time.

Lying on her stomach, burying her face into the feathered pillow, still feeling the high of her kill, Buffy opened her eyes to find Cole staring back at her.

Tenderly, Cole pushed her long blonde hair off of her shoulder. He shifted closer to her and brushed his mouth over the back of her shoulder.

"I knew this was going to happen," said Cole as he combed his blood stained fingers through her long mane.

Buffy cheekily raised a brow. "That we'd be in this position? Of course. How else doth one celebrate a victory?"

Chuckling, Cole shifted closer to her, shaking his head. "No, I mean killing the Slayer. I knew it was going to happen. Just like how I know the next Slayer that you will kill won't be for seventy-one years."

"Such a long time in-between. I wonder why?" Buffy said, not thinking too seriously on the subject.

"You'll be plenty occupied in those years with other things."

Buffy shifted to lay on her side to face him. She propped her elbow on the pillow and held her head in her hand. "How dost thou come of such knowledge?"

"I haven't been honest with you," admitted Cole.

Patiently, Buffy pressured him to continue on and say whatever it was that he had to say. "What haven't you been honest about?—Don't tell me you're not actually a demon but a well-dressed merchant of sorteth." She laughed. "I've seen all of you, Cole Turner. There's not much else that you can hide from me." Buffy ran the backs of her fingers over his bristoled cheek.

Wearing a playful smile across his face, Cole took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "No, no, I'm not a merchant." He lowered his gaze to their hands, watching their fingers dance in their entanglement. "I'm not from here."

"Neither am I—No, self-respected person would choose to live in this barbaric land with these savages." said Buffy, expressing her true feelings for the motherland she had been in for the last five months with her half-demon lover. "Soon we'll be out of this wretched place and back in high society."

"What I mean is I'm not from here." Cole told her carefully. "I'm not from this time. I'm from the future."

"Oh?" Buffy's brow rose high up her head surprised by the sudden turn of events. "How far into the future?" she asked with a playful smile.

Cole did not return her smile. "The new millennium. The year two-thousand."

The smile on her face slowly fell as her eyes widened. "Oh." The time her lover hailed from seemed like thousands of years away. "How did you come to be here? By that look on thy face, something telleth me that you did not intend to come here at all—Not even for the Grand Rite."

Rubbing the back of his neck with slight embarrassment, Cole's cheeks blushed, which made Buffy softly smile with amusement. "It was an accident actually. A miscalculation. I was on assignment for the Triad to kill three sisters—The Charmed Ones. But I didn't go back far enough into the past and then when I saw you—The Beautiful Demon, a Goddess amongst us in the Underworld… I couldn't bring myself to leave. I had to meet you."

"Meet me?—A Goddess?" Buffy looked bashfully away, unable to imagine anyone wanting to travel through time to meet her—especially not a man as fine as her lover Cole Turner.

Cole frowned, finding it odd that Buffy was so astounded to hear these truths about her in the future. She will be a very respected demon and she will be a very feared demon as well.

"In my time—the future, your name is infamous." Cole told her as he took her hand and traced the lines of her fingers with his own. "Lady Elizabeth, the Childe of Dracula, The Slayer of Slayers, Quod Spiritus Sanctus (The Beautiful Demon). And then I met you and…" His hand lifted to gently caress her face. "I've gotten to know you…" the pad of this thumb touched her pouting bottom lip, "... and I've never been so glad to have made a mistake. Now, I fear I won't be able to go back."

"Why?"

Cole kissed the back of her hand and flicked his gaze to her face. "Because, I'm in love with you, Buffy." Buffy's expression remained neutral as she listened to his affection proclamation for her. "I can't leave now… Not after everything. But I know I can't take you back with me. If I did, the repercussions would be irreversible. You would've never accomplished everything that you will. Nor will you truly become the demon that you're destined to be. I wanna stay and be with you—"

Buffy silenced him by holding his face in her hand and pulled him closer until their noses touched. "—Kiss me." She whispered, only inches from his mouth.

Unable to hold back a second longer, Cole crushed his mouth against hers, desperate for her to understand his love for her. His tongue forcefully entered her mouth as Buffy's arm hooked around his neck, bringing him even closer until the half-demon was on top of her once more and settled between her legs.

Next Morning

A new morning sun rose from the horizon.

Cole's face twitched in his sleep and he became acutely aware of the biting freezing temperature in the room.

The fire had long since gone out.

Opening his eyes, Cole reached out his arm to wrap it around his undead lover when he realised that there was no one beside him.

Now fully awake, Cole lifted his head to find a note on the pillow beside him.

Looking around for Buffy. Besides the bodies spilling into the bedroom from the hallway and the two bodies near the bed, Cole was the only one left.

"Buffy?" He sat up in the bed and reached for his pants and shirt lying on the floor.

Getting out of the bed with the note still in hand, Cole moved around the small home in search of the vampiress.

Opening the front door, Cole was greeted by an overcasted grey sky. He looked around the property from the porch and noticed the tracks of a carriage in the snow.

Cole frowned and read the note in his hand. In fine feminine penmanship, the note read:

Go home.

Buffy

The anger and his heartache in chest twisted as he reread the note again. Cole lifted his gaze from the note and stared out into the open land and cursed the vampire's name. Turning back into the house to collect his things, Cole punched the door in furious anger.

Carriage

The clops of the hooves walking across the solid ground and the rickety clinks of the wood rubbing the iron mechanics of the carriage were the only sounds filling the dreadful silence.

Inside the carriage, peeking out into the grey day, Buffy released an unneeded breath.

Melancholy, Buffy knew that this was the right thing to do. If she let this relationship go any further, Buffy feared that she'd lose herself.

The notion that she could possibly love sounded as ridiculous that she could feel humane emotions and it would benefit her.

She very much liked Cole, in fact, Buffy adored him but she knew they couldn't last any further then these wonderful five months together.

He needed to go back to his own time. Cole Turner didn't belong here—especially not with her.

Saddened by the loss, a single tear slipped down her cheek from the corner of her eye.

In that moment, Buffy made a vow to herself; she vowed to never open herself as she had with Cole to anyone else ever again. To never feel anything remotely human again.

Buffy brushed the fallen tear away.

She vowed to never need anyone and to use the power that Dracula had given to her for evil and for triumph.

Shutting off the remnants of whatever bits of humanity still lingering in her empty and dead body, Buffy repeated this vow to herself over and over until it was ingrained into her bones.

Transylvania, Romania

Bran Castle

Walking up the long steps leading straight into the remarkable castle, Buffy uneasily spun the diamond bracelet around her wrist before adjusting the long silk black glove up her arm.

As she came closer to the entrance door it opened, revealing the manservant, dressed in a white shirt and stockings with black buckle shoes. He wore a pair of dark maroon breeches, a waistcoat under a matching coat which had golden thread embroidery decorating the lapels and the cuffs of the sleeves. On top of his head was a white wig, which was tied back neatly with a ribbon.

"Doamna voastră, bine ați venit acasă. (Your Ladyship, welcome home)," said the Romanian manservant bowing his head as he greeted the vampiress.

Buffy did not acknowledge the manservet as she entered the home.

Immediately, Buffy was swarmed by the housemaids, removing her thick black cloak from her shoulders, the fashionable tricorn hat on her head, and the gloves on her hands. Behind her the manservant rushed with the other male servants to bring in the Mistress' luggage.

Buffy tossed her eyes around the ominous castle. She hardly missed the stone fortress, built on blood and bone. The tales of lives lost in the construction of the magnificent landmark would tell of the death remaining cloistered in the castle dungeons and echoing around the twisted staircases.

"Unde este stăpânul tău (Where is your master)?" asked Buffy as she pulled off another pair of long gloves up her arms.

"În salon, doamnă (In the drawing room, madam)," answered the housemaid.

Buffy coolly glanced at the shy housemaid and paused for a moment, listening to the blood pump in the girls veins, practically feeling the girls poor and frightened nerves.

Without another word, Buffy took into the direction of the drawing room. Holding her chin upwards as the unemotional guards standing at attention against the walls bowed their heads as Buffy passed them.

Drawing Room

A manservant opened the heavy wooden door of the darkened room, only lit by the flickering fire in the fireplace.

Buffy stood still by the door as it closed leaving her along with her Sire.

She could not see his face, but Buffy knew that he sat with one leg over his knee in the large red velvet chair sitting in front of the large fireplace.

After a minute, Dracula's hand rose into the air and waved, gesturing for her to come to him.

Buffy chewed her bottom lip and stoically crossed the distance to him.

When she reached the chairs in front of the fireplace, Buffy sat down.

Neither said a word. There was not a need to fill the air with words. Dracula was not angry at her disappearance nor did Buffy feel apologetic about it.

A manservant that had been standing off to the side in the corner approached the pair and bent down holding a tray of glasses of blood.

Both take the glasses of blood when their gazes briefly meet. A wolfish smile twitched at the corners of Dracula's mouth but it never fully reached his face.

In unison, Buffy and Dracula turned their eyes back to the fire and in silence, they sipped the blood in the glass lost in their own thoughts—Wondering what was coming next.