'Soy Latte with an extra shot and one sugar.' Dick placed the tray of coffees on the table in front of Babs. The red head reached for her mug and brought the hot beverage to her lips with a smile.

'Thanks.' She said, placing the mug back on the table. 'So, this is nice. We've haven't hung out in ages.'

'I know, I'm sorry, I've had a lot going on.' Dick looked sadly down into his own coffee, lacing his thin fingers around the mug.

'Night time problems?' Batgirls eyes looked sympathetic. The last time they had been sat like this, Dick had been fighting with Batman, weeks later he had run away. She worried about him now that he was back, the last thing she wanted was for him to disappear again.

'No, nothing like that. Family problems. Turns out Christine is my birth mother.'

Babs proceeded to spit out her coffee onto the table in front of her. Dick handed her a napkin and watched her mop up the spillage. He waited for her to finish, letting the information sink in. He was getting used to filling people in on his messed up life and as funny as it sounded, each time he said it out loud it became easier for him to digest.

'You're kidding me...but does that mean you're a...?' The redhead looked so confused, tossing the wet napkins back onto the tray.

Dick shrugged, taking a sip of his own drink. He looked around at the other people who were sat at the tables outside the coffee shop. Each group of people were talking amongst themselves, conversations about normal everyday things, when they finished their coffee they would go home and live out their normal lives. For a moment, Dick envied them. He couldn't even remember what a normal day felt like.

'So what does this mean?'

'We don't know, we're waiting it out to see what happens. But I don't want to talk about that anymore. For the next hour or so, I want to just forget.' He smiled at her, the cheeky smile that she had seen on his face since she had become Batgirl. It was Robin's grin. But she also knew that that grin wasn't real, it was a mask in itself to hide the pain that he saw on a daily basis. But for his sake, she didn't pry and for the next two hours they sat and laughed about topics with no importance.

As they talked the sky darkened and a shadow began to creep in front of the sun, sending the city into an eerie darkness.

'Oh, yeh.' Said Babs, looking up at the sun, shading her eyes with her hand. "I forgot it was the eclipse today.'

The shadow moved slowly until it was covering the sun completely. The two friends felt a weight sit itself down in the seat next to them. Dick's eyes widened in fear when he turned to see who it was.

'Good afternoon Little Prince.'

'What...how?' Dick stuttered.

'The eclipse is beautiful. Don't you think?' Said Van Helming, his red eyes watching Dick intently. 'Alas, it will not last for long. So you will come with me now, or in approximately 60 seconds, everyone within this block will be dead.' He stood and gestured for Dick to follow him.

The 17-year-old's eyes were wide with fear. He quickly looked to Babs, who was caught between fear and confusion. Before standing he looked up at the vampire.

'I want your word that no one will be harmed if I come with you.'

Van Helsing placed his hand over his heart.

'You have my word.'

Dick stood, his hands gripped into fists to stop them shaking. Babs reached out and grabbed his wrist. Dick looked down at her gently.

'Wait here until the eclipse is over, then contact my Mom.' They both looked at the man, but he seemed unfazed by this. He was confident. This scared Dick to his core. If this man was not afraid of his parents then what was he afraid of?

The two departed from the coffee shop. People around them were still talking, drinking their coffee and watching the sky, unaware of how close they had come to death and how their lives had been in the hands of a terrified 17-year-old boy. They went around the back of the street and approached a Land Rover with blacked out windows.

'Get in.' Said Van Helsing, opening the door for the boy.

Dick hesitated. If he could just stall them until the moon moved from the sun then he would be able to get away. But the vampire seemed to know what he was thinking.

'You have until the count of ten before I order my men to move in. Everyone, including your little friend, will be dead in moments.'

Dick got in the car.

The interior was black leather and expensive, it was the sort of car Bruce would like. At the other end of the back seat sat a woman in red with sunglasses covering her eyes. Her long blonde hair was braided down her shoulder and nearly reached her waist. Dick slid into the car, when the door slammed behind him he pushed himself as far away from the woman as possible. She smelt of death.

The car hummed to life and they pulled away on the road, heading towards the bridge out of the city. Dick could feel his chest tighten, watching the woman, he tried to swallow down his panic attack. The blonde finally acknowledged his presence, she looked over at him, lowering her glasses and showing her red eyes.

'Don't panic little one. It's not like we can kill you.' She smiled to herself as she turned back to the front. 'Yet.'

Dick felt sick. His birthday was in a week. In a weeks time, they would be able to kill him. He was going to die. They were going to turn him.

'Lucy.' Van Helsing warned.

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and went back to looking out the window. Van Helsing, who was sat in the front passenger seat, turned to look behind.

'Ignore her, Little Prince.' He said, his own red eyes glaring at the woman.

'She's right though. You are going to kill me, aren't you?' Said Dick, terrified of the answer, but his anger at the fact he was being kidnapped made his voice strong.

Van Helsing said nothing and instead turned to face the road. Dick looked at each person in turn and then glanced out of the window. They were a few blocks from the bridge and were now in direct sunlight. It was now or never to make his escape. Taking one last glance at the vampires, he grabbed for the door handle, throwing his weight into the door, bracing himself for the descent to the road. But nothing happened, his shoulder collided forcefully with the door, jolting him and causing him to accidentally bite his tongue. But the door remained closed.

Lucy began to laugh, reminding Dick of the Joker.

'Did you really think we wouldn't lock the doors.' The woman gasped through her giggles.

Dick glared at her as he rubbed his shoulder. His tongue was bleeding and he could taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.

'You're Father thought he could outsmart us as well.' The blonde muttered.

Dick glared from the corner of his eye, not sure where she was going with that statement.

'He thought he would be able to save himself and those he loved. He ended up with a noose around his neck, hanging from a tree in the town square.'

Dick tensed. This was the first time he had really heard about his real Father. Christine had mentioned him but had never really gone into much detail. She had never divulged how he had died.

'I suggest not trying anything like that again. Unless you want to end up in an unmarked grave as well. Only you'll still be breathing.'

They sat in silence for the rest of the journey.

oOoOoOoOo

Christine stretched her arms above her head, cat-like. She could feel each of her joints straining, releasing the air that had gathered around them while she slept. Rolling onto her side, she reached across the king sized bed and picked up her phone from the bedside table. The electronic glow from the screen lit up the darkened room, the glare making her eyes burn. It was a little after lunchtime, she had been asleep for several hours.

She sat up, her tangle of long black hair falling down over her bare shoulder. She looked around the room, wondering what it could have been that had awoken her. The room was still and dark. The only light coming into the room was the thin line of sunlight, sneaking in under the thick blackout curtains. The house was also quiet.

She and Dick had arrived at Wayne Manor earlier that morning. Dick had gone out to meet his friend, leaving her time to catch up on some sleep.

She had not been sleeping well as of late. With Dick's 18th birthday just a week away, her nerves were shot. The nighttime hours were spent on guard, pacing. The daylight hours were spent lying awake filled with anxiety.

She sat a few moments longer, trying to decipher the tight feeling in her chest. It felt strange, almost like she was having a heart attack. Of course, she knew that was foolish, your heart needed to be beating in the first place for you to notice it suddenly stop. As she pondered, the room once again glowed with the light from her phone and there was a quiet buzz as it vibrated against the wooden bedside table. Looking over at it she noticed a name that had never called her before.

Bat Girl

'Hello?'

'Christine!' The girl sounded panicked.

'Barbra, what's the matter?'

'It's Dick!'

Christine's blood ran cold.

'They've taken him. They came out during the eclipse and they took him.'

The eclipse? Christine removed herself from the bed and went to the window, wincing as she looked up at the sun. There were still the tell-tale edges of the moon on the very edge of the sun. But that was impossible. The eclipse had never effected a vampires ability to walk in the daylight. They were creatures of the night, they should not be able to survive the day.

And yet the had. They had learnt for themselves how to control their vulnerabilities and they had used it. She clenched her hand around the phone. This was an act of war.

Suddenly she realised what had awoken her, the tight feeling in her chest. It was panic, sheer panic. But it wasn't coming from her, it was Dick. He was terrified.

'Where are you?' She put her feet into her boots and headed out of the door, listening to Babs's location, trying to work out where her son's kidnappers were taking him from the direction the young girl had seen them heading. When she hung up the phone, the next person she called was her father.

'Christiana?'

'They've got him. I don't know how, but I am going to rip them limb from limb when I find them.'

Then she called Bruce, explaining the situation and telling him to meet her at the coffee shop.

She was going to find her son and whoever took him was going to pay.

OoOoOoOoOo

The door was yanked open with such force that Dick almost fell out of the vehicle. Catching himself, he straightened, keeping his chin high. He kept his back against the car, casting his eyes around the place he had been brought to. It was a cave of sorts, but like the bat cave, it had been set up with electric lighting and a few home comforts that made the place just about liveable. If you could call its inhabitance living.

Van Helsing approached him, towering over the teen, almost twice his size. Dick was used to villains looking at him with hatred, contempt, even menacing. But Abraham's gaze held none of these, his look was almost pitying.

'I have done my research on you, Little Prince. I know your short life has not been an easy one. I also know that you have been thrown into this war unprepared.' He took a step forward and Dick pressed his back against the car.

'I had children once. So I know children should not pay for the sins of their parents. So providing you obey, no harm will come to you.'

Dick shook his head slowly.

'You realise my Mom is going to find me.' Again, the vampires lack of fear at this concept made Dick feel uneasy.

'I'm counting on it, Little Prince. You see over the last hundred years I have been researching theories. Methods in which I could take down the Dracula bloodline.' He smiled, bearing his shape teeth.

'My latest theory came after the death of your Grandmother. They never told you how she died, did they? My theory is after a female vampire has offspring a piece of her immortality and power is passed to the child. As the child begins to mature the mother is at her most vulnerable. Healing is slower, the need for fresh blood greater as is their susceptibility to death.'

Dick's eyes were wide with horror as he realised how well thought out their plan was. Not only had they chosen the perfect moment to kidnap him, but they had chosen a time in Christine's life when she was fragile. They were going to kill his mother.

'And Mina?' Asked Dick, barely above a whisper. What had happened to his Grandmother.

'She had her throat cut in the middle of a Transylvanian forest. No humans around for miles, not source of fresh blood. Without her healing ability, she died just as a human would have.'

'Only she suffered more than a human would have.' Said Lucy, coming to stand at Van Helsing's side. 'I should know. I watched her die. Just like I watched your father and how I am going to watch your mother.'

Dick's eyes flared purple in anger. 'Don't you dare touch her.'

Van Helsing glared at the blonde at his side before stepping again closer to the boy before him.

'In war, such sacrifices must be made. If you do not wish to join her Richard, I suggest you behave and keep those eyes to yourself.'

'You can't touch me.' Said Dick with the last ounce of his bravery.

'I cannot, you are correct. However, my associate, Christof can.'

A man stepped forward, bald and just as large as Van Helsing. But this man smelt different, he did not have the lingering scent of death surrounding him. This man was human.

'I meant what I said about treating you well Richard. But if you get in our way, we will kill you.'

A/N I'm crap and I know I'm crap! I literally hit the biggest writers block this this story and had no idea how to proceed. But I think i've got it going again. Let me know what you think in the reviewsor feel free to PM me! Thanks for reading, until next time. Karin x