Disclaimers: Van Helsing doesn't belong to me, this is just a story based on the movie. The plot and OC's are copyright to me. There will be a prequel for this up soon. Please enjoy!

Note: Please don't be worried about the slight, very slight crossover appearing here. They have barely any part in the story and it just seemed fitting that Alexis would come into contact with them in London (and it makes for a great prequel idea).

[blah, blah] – Romanian

blah, blah- thoughts.

Thanks so much for all the reviews!

Chapter 1:

Transylvania:

After Anna's funeral, Carl managed to convince Van Helsing that it would be in the best interest of everyone if they were to catalogue everything in Dracula's castle – especially the books – with the hunter as back-up in case any other nasties were still around. The Order would come and collect everything later. The mirror-doorway became passable after the death of Dracula and it was decided that at least one of them would be in the house and the other would be in the castle. Carl was mostly reading the books and Van Helsing was brooding as he snooped around.

Truth be told, Van Helsing wanted to stay a bit longer anyway to savour the memories he had of Anna. He still had no memory of the things Dracula spoke of, but he believed it to be best that such things stay forgotten.

It had started to snow almost immediately after Anna's funeral and it had gradually turned into a snowstorm. After three days it was still going strong. There was no way that they would have been able to leave and cross the pass through the mountains. So they stayed.

Ten days after the death of Dracula, there was a knock on the front door.

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London, ten days earlier:

She tried again to sense the world around her, but nothing came to her. It was a silent, dark world through the eyes of a human.

Neither the silence, nor the weakness frightened her as much as the feeling of emptiness inside her. Her father had always been there, always had she felt him, knew where he was, felt his love for her – but now, there was nothing. An endless wave of nothingness, fear and loneliness threatened to overwhelm her and she did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.

Earlier:

Watson was looking out a window in one of the guest bedrooms in Lady Roman's mansion. He had been awake most of the night, watching over the young woman lying in the bed. His detective friend left earlier to pursue a case they were working on and now he was alone with the strange young man that was the servant of the Lady. The poor man was frantic when he was called to come to his mistress's bedside. He didn't look too well, he was very worried about his mistress and didn't sleep at all the night before.

There was quite an uproar after Alexis collapsed on the dance floor: people thought she was poisoned (there was a number of such murders over the past few months), but Watson assured them that she had only fainted. He sighed, actually he wasn't sure what was wrong with her, so he insisted that she be in one of the guestrooms close to the front door, in case something else went wrong.

"I still have no idea what happened to her, she just collapsed. But she seems to be only sleeping now. I'm worried about her, she's been... preoccupied lately, and a few days ago she didn't look well at all. I hope she's all right."

He turned away from the window, "Perhaps there is a chance for breakfast?" He asked Igor. The servant nodded, glad to be able to do something useful.

As Watson waited, he found himself looking at the girl in the bed. With her pitch-black hair and, beneath her closed lids, deep blue eyes, she was superbly beautiful... Very polite, helpful and many would say a good person, but there was something about her, hidden depths in her eyes that made him shiver sometimes. Something dark had happened in her past. However, he believed that everyone had the right to a second chance to life and that she was here in London for that very reason.

The poor man had no idea how wrong he was.

Soon afterwards Igor placed a modest breakfast on a small table in the room, close to the window. Watson was about to take a bite of toast when they heard a scream behind them like that of a damned soul falling into hell. They were frozen in place, then Igor jumped up and rushed to the bed. Alexis had her face turned upwards, screaming. Watson felt an instant of pure terror at the look on her face. It was the look of a soul that had no purpose left, damned to be alone for all eternity. It only lasted a moment. Igor ran to her side and slapped her so hard she fell onto the floor - he would have done anything to stop that terrible sound.

The spell was broken. The doctor ran to the bed as Igor was helping the young girl back onto the bed. She was clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

[Oh, gods, he's dead, he's dead, the master's dead!], she sobbed, not paying attention to the doctor, probably not even knowing that he was there.

[He's dead, my children, they're all dead!!]

Igor became very pale and still. This was bad. His mistress was close enough for him to feel her heartbeat. It was getting worse by the second. A heartbeat meant that she was human again, or as human as it was possible for her to be.

The master was dead. He couldn't believe it. He and his family had served the master for centuries and now only the young mistress was left, all the others were dead too. An idea was trying to make itself known to Igor, but he just couldn't place a finger on it.

Everyone was dead, except the mistress. How was that possible? He looked at her, crying in his arms. She should be dead too, since she was a vampire, but she just turned back to the way she was before...

That was the key. He frowned as he tried to remember the story his father told him about the true child of Dracula... After Dracula made his bargain with the Devil, he returned to his home, to his young wife. No one at that stage knew that he had been murdered and become something more than human, since he was still changing. Not long afterwards his nature was discovered and he was banished through the mirror-doorway.

A child was born to his widow. Everyone was sure that the baby was conceived before the change, but they were wrong. The little girl was human in many ways, but so very different in others. She asked her mother strange questions about a snow-covered castle in the clouds and the man that lived there. People thought that she just had an active imagination, but her mother and her grandfather knew better and they were afraid.

When she was five years old, her father came for her.

Igor was sure he knew what was happening. His mistress was changed into a vampire when she was old enough, but she was part vampire anyway to begin with. Now, after the master's death, the created vampire in her was destroyed, but the part of her that was human/proto-vampire remained. Her human part was keeping the proto-vampire alive, even after her father's death.

Alexis had calmed down a bit and Igor gently wiped the tears away. [Mistress, mistress is still alive], he consoled her, [mistress should have died too, but only the vampire died, the human part still lives].

Those words only sank in after a few moments. She was still alive, against all odds. Then she too realised... She was of his blood and still alive...

[I can bring him back], she whispered, [Igor, you're right! I can bring him back again! He doesn't have to stay dead, I can save him!].

The tears were forgotten, the pain and loneliness faded into the background in the light of this new revelation... and Igor was happy – he figured something out all on his own.

At last she looked around her and frowned in confusion, "Where am I? Why are you here, Doctor?"

"Are you all right? You screamed loud enough to wake the dead."

Shivering slightly, she said, "Just a nightmare", and wrapped her arms around herself.

He wisely decided to leave that alone.

"You collapsed last night, do you remember?" he asked kindly. "We brought you back home..."

"This is a guestroom, mistress, the doctor thought it best..."

"I didn't know what was wrong with you, I wanted to be able to go for help quickly if needed", Watson finished.

Alexis nodded, slightly involved in her own thoughts. She hadn't felt like this in centuries, I wonder if I still remember how.

"I'm fine". Slowly she swinged her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Swaying slightly, holding on to Igor, she walked to the window. "I'm fine", she repeated. The doctor didn't look convinced, but she didn't care.

"Igor, I want you to book passage across the channel as soon as possible. Pack what we will need." Smiling, she said, "We're going home."

As Igor made to leave: "Oh, Igor", she said sweetly. He turned towards her, he didn't like the way that sounded.

"Yes, mistress?"

"You hit me", she whispered dangerously, as she turned to face him.

He gulped: "Yes, mistress, sorry mistress."

For a long moment she just stared at him and then smiled.

"You're the only one I have left now, we're going to need each other if we're going to do this."

"Yes, mistress", he said, relieved, and scurried out.

"Doctor", she turned to him, he noticed, with all of her confidence back, "thank you for your help..."

"You're leaving?"

She frowned at the interruption: "Yes, I'm going home. It's something I've been putting off for far too long... Perhaps we can discuss this after I've changed? I'll see you in the drawing room", she said and brushed past the bewildered doctor.

Back in her room, she leaned on the closed door and gave a shuddering sigh. This is going to be a very forbidding enterprise without her vampire abilities, but perhaps not as hard as she feared. Concentrating and holding out her hand, a flick of her wrist lit all the candles in the room with a flare.

Perhaps this wasn't going to be that difficult after all, she thought with a smirk, at least I was spared my magic.

Emboldened with this good fortune, she went about changing out of the uncomfortable ball gown - Igor wasn't bold enough to do so as she slept. As she went into the closet, a movement in the corner of her eye startled her. It was her reflection – something she hadn't seen in over four hundred years.

[Father, I will get home and bring you back to me], she vowed as she looked at her reflection.

AN: I know I promised the journey, but this chapter just didn't want to be finished. Next time, really, the journey back home.

AN2: The whole human/proto-vampire thing will be explained further as time goes on.

AN3: Yes, the Igor of Dracula died, this is Igor, his son, serving Alexis. They're all called Igor - it just makes it easier to remember, allbeit a bit confusing sometimes.