Anna was walking in the middle of a forest. Her sword knocking against her leg provided a comforting weight as she walked, not really knowing where she was going. She heard a branch snap behind her and she turned around quickly to see who was there, but there was no one, only trees and silence. She kept her eyes peeled as she started to turn around, but again she heard the same snapping sound. So again, she turned around, still nothing stood behind her. She was about to turn around again when an arm encircled her waist and a hand was clapped over her mouth. She tried to get away, but her captor only held her tighter, pulling her flat against him, his lips grazing her ear.

"Fancy meeting you here" She knew that voice anywhere, it was Dracula. He softly nibbled her earlobe. "And without your little boyfriend."

She flinched as he ran his lips down her neck, terrified he was going to bite her, but unable to move, she used the only method of defence she could. She raised her right leg and slammed it down hard of Dracula's foot. He let her go instantly, howling in the pain caused by her boot heel.

He suddenly rushed at her, aiming several punches to her chest. She was confused, but tried to get away all the same. She managed to block one of his hits, but only to have him push her backwards, which sent her literally flying into a tree trunk forty feet away. She howled in pain as she crashed down to the ground, all the bones in her body feeling cracked or broken. He returned again, but this time she could not deflect any of his attacks on her upper body.

"I expected more from you Anna." He laughed evilly.

She lay flat on her back on the leaf-covered ground. She breathed heard, trying to get back her breath, but again, he started at her. She forced herself up, only to be knocked straight back down. A small stream of blood running from her hair line and her lips. Anna found herself once again being thrown into a tree trunk. She lay motionless on the ground for a moment, before sitting up and leaning on the wall for support.

She looked around her, but Dracula was gone. It was the dream. She was seemingly trapped here. She would wander around for a few hours, confused and lost, but then he would come back, beating her with everything he could muster. Once even raping her. All throughout that torture she could hear Gabriel and Carl somewhere in the real world, panicking and begging her to wake up. She felt a presence in the back of her mind that she assumed was Gabriel, and when the dream was empty, like now, she could feel a warm sensation around her, like someone was wrapping their arms around her, and she could feel gentle kisses on her forehead, and a soft, comforting voice belonging to a man she longed to save her, telling her that he was going to get her back.

Outside dream

Anna had been stuck in her dream for three days already now, and Gabriel stayed with her whenever he could, never wanting to leave her alone. Carl kept on testing her responses, but they were growing weaker and taking her longer to respond. Gabriel ate his meals at her side, slept with his arms wrapped around her, protecting her when he could not watch her, and he talked to her, wanting to be there when she woke up. Rachel and Carl went through theory after theory to figure out what was causing them, but they had no definite answer until Anna had cried out for Dracula to leave her alone during a particularly bad dream.

Day four and again Gabriel was by her side, he ran his hand through her dark curls and down to her cheek, stopping there and rubbing it gently with his thumb. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something, anything, to get her to wake up. It had been so long since he had heard her voice do anything accept cry and moan, he longed for her warm touch, her kiss, her embrace. He was truly addicted to her, and because he had left her, Dracula was going to destroy her. He couldn't live without her. He closed his eyes and spoke soothingly.

"I won't let him win Anna. I won't let him kill you. I love you so much, and I always will, you hear me? I love you. Please come back to me." He kissed her knuckles again, but when he gazed at her face, she was still asleep. He sighed and held her hand with both of his, stroking her face once again, hoping it was keeping her calm.

"I love you too."

Gabriel's eyes flew open and met Anna's tear filled ones. She threw his arms around his neck once again, while Gabriel wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He called out for Rachel and Carl, who were waiting coincidently in the corridor.

"I thought I was going to lose you." Said Gabriel, and kissed her on the cheek.

"I was wandering around in this forest and then I heard you calling me, you brought me back from that nightmare." She was crying again, and he let her, he let her release the pain she had endured in her mind. When Carl and Rachel rushed in and saw a distressed, but awake, Anna, they cheered in celebration. Her waking had signalled a weakness in Dracula's plan, that they had caused by a ceremony the Vatican held the previous evening in honour of Anna.

Anna sat in Gabriel's lap, small enough in her position to look like a tiny child, telling him every detail of the dream. What Dracula had done to her in the worst times, and the less painful ones, it sickened him, but he sat, calmly rubbing her back, and listened to her every word. Every single detail of the dream was expelled from deep inside her soul, making the load of fear that had settled on her chest weigh less and less. When she finished pouring out her soul to him, he kissed her on the top of the head

"Do you feel better now?" he asked, nuzzling the top of her head softly "He's not going to hurt you anymore I promise." There was a soft silence between them, which Gabriel took as an opportunity to glance over at Rachel and Carl, who had taken seats beside her bedside. Carl looked at him with a knowing glance, showing that it was all right, Dracula had been weakened.

But Anna's head was still filled with the torment of what Dracula had done to her. Despite her headstrong approach to everything, her only reprieve from her dream was in Gabriel's arms. He had come back for her, he had given up his job, and his life, just to be with her. Although she still felt ill and weak, his presence eased her pain, and when she could feel his strong arms around her body, she had a feeling that every thing was going to be fine.