Nicola watched as her master left the room. He was going to feed. This she was certain of and it would give her some time. Quickly she picked up Arene's limp body and laid her gently on the bed. The girl's pulse was starting to get stronger again.

Nicola sat in a nearby chair and waited. Soon she would have to try and wake this Arene. As she had drunk the girl's blood everything had come back to her. She knew what had happened but now she didn't know what to do. She wanted to help Arene and the others but she loved her lord. That was not part of his spell. She had been his back when she hadn't known he was even real. She couldn't leave him. Arene would want to try and destroy him but she couldn't let that happen either. She was his bride and had to protect him. Why was everything so complicated?

Nicola stood and moved towards the bed. She leant over the form lying there and, grasping Arene's shoulders, shook her carefully.

"Arene, wake up!"

Arene heard her friend's voice calling out to her from the darkness and opened her eyes. She looked up and saw Nicola standing over her, shaking her awake. She smiled.

"Nicola.... you remembered." A tear came to her eye as the two girls embraced. "I thought you had forgotten everything."

"Not everything," Nicola said, happy that her friend was okay. "I'm just happy I didn't kill you."

"So am I," Arene smiled and rose from the bed, still a little weak, but she was able to stand with Nicola's help. "Come on, we have to stop Dra-"

"No!" Nicola said sharply. So sharply it almost frightened the other girl.

"What do you mean?" Arene asked, wondering why her friend would be acting like this.

"I love him, Arene. That is not a part of the spell," Nicola confessed. "I will help you protect the others.... but I will not let you kill him."

Arene stared hard at the other girl, her heart also torn in two. She wanted Dracula destroyed, but her friend's love was at stake as well. Knowing this might not be such a good idea, she nodded in consent.

"All right. If that is what you want... I understand. But I won't let any harm come to you as well, even if it means my own death."

Nicola nodded and the two headed for the stairway. Nicola let go of Arene and pointed upward. "The old laboratory is up there, you might be able to find something. I know he's planning to take all the girls up there. I will go to him and tell him you have died. Be careful."

"All right. You too."

Arene nodded, hugged her friend and started up the stairs.

"Wait!" Nicola called.

"What?" Arene asked, turning around.

"Just then... you reminded me of someone. Someone my master knew... from a long time ago. Someone who...."

"What?" Arene asked.

"Nothing, go." Nicola said as she spread her wings and began to fly to her master. But something still worried her. Was it possible? Was that one of the things Dracula was keeping from them. Could Arene possibly be the descendant of........Van Helsing?

She flew upwards outside the walls of the castle till she sensed Dracula's presence and entered a nearby window. She transformed back and stood in front of her master.

"She is gone," she said, smiling sweetly.

"Good," stated Dracula as he clasped her in a tight embrace. "Nothing can stop us now, my bride. Soon we and our daughters will be together and we shall all live forever."

"Our daughters," questioned Nicola, trying not to appear too eager for information.

"Yes, the other girls downstairs. They will all become vampires before the night is out. But you, my bride, your love for me was so strong that I chose you to be their mother." He gently stroked her cheek and Nicola could tell that he really did care for her in someway, even if he couldn't feel love.

"What of that girl, Arene," she asked carefully. "Did you have any plan for her before she realised what was happening?"

"She is the last of her blood line," Dracula explained slowly. "The blood of Gabriel Van Helsing flows in her veins. To have conquered her would have been a triumph indeed but it is no matter since she no longer figures in my plan."

She had been right! Nicola began to worry. She was sure now that Arene would save the others but at what cost? She would not allow her lord to be hurt. She decided to keep this information from Arene. If the other woman knew the truth she might change her mind about letting Dracula live.

"How long before we begin?" Nicola questioned a moment later, feeling her lord's questioning gaze upon her. She had been silent too long.

"A few hours, not long before daybreak," he answered as he tightened his grip around her waist. "We have some time, my bride."

This said he leant in and claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss, which Nicola eagerly returned. Together they disappeared into the darkness...