Disclaimer: Yeah, not mine.

A/N: OMG you guys, I am so So SO SORRY that I haven't posted sooner! I had to get over my writer's block, and then school, and blah blah blah. Please forgive me, and I hope I haven't lost anybody because they got tired of waiting! That would make me cry. A lot. Anyway, I wanted to post the next two chappies together, but I don't have 24 written and I'm going away this weekend. I absolutely refused to leave you guys hanging any longer, so I decided to post now but I gotta make it quick.

Moving on, I always do some personal responses because I love everyone's reviews and I think each one of you deserve some of my attention. However, I'm a little pressed for time and I've heard this rumor going around that we're not allowed to thank people in our chapters anymore. What's up with that? Anyone have any info on this because I'm confused. Why would it matter? Still, I don't really want to get in trouble…so I guess we'll have to skip the PR's this time. I just want to say a wonderfully big thank you to all of you who read and reviewed, namely Lady Kathrin, HottDarkPrincess, M, Light in the Shadows (a new reviewer, YAY!), Fortune Zyne, BW-girl, exemery, RawRebel, etherealfire (OMG, you are totally right about that lowly thing; I feel like an idiot and I almost did cry! I'm so sorry:( I feel like I've let you down!), and Manson (Australia? That's awesome! Sucks about the creek though.). I want to give a huge HUGE shot-out thank you to SilverFlover and Remember! You guys are so great! I wish I could say more, but I want to get this posted ASAP. You all totally rock my world and I can't thank you enough for reviewing and sticking with me! Thanks for all your support!

Okay, wrapping up now. Here is chapter 23 for you all. Most of you wanted to start with VH and Co, so I did, but it doesn't stick with them for long, sorry. I just can't get enough of Drac; forgive me! Alright now, without further ado, CHAPTER 23!

Chapter 23

"Do you really think that will work?" Carl asked incredulously when Van Helsing had finished detailing his plan to the others.

"You don't seem to have any better ideas." Van Helsing retorted.

"I wasn't implying anything!" Carl said, throwing his hands up in defense. "I was just surprised that it could be so simple and logical."

"I realized we were thinking too hard, making the problem seem more challenging than it actually is."

"It's challenging enough still, thank you very much." Sylvia commented. Carl nodded in agreement.

"True, there's no denying it." Van Helsing admitted. "I didn't say this would be easy. But, you're forgetting: we're back in our time now, back in the past to you three. Nothing has changed here. The old rules still apply, and there isn't one single thing Dracula or even the Devil can do about it. We can do this. We just need to have faith in God, and in each other." The other four brightened, their faces shining with new determination and strength. What Van Helsing said made sense of course. The solution was really very simple.

Dracula woke me some time later, for I had again fallen asleep, and we rose up out of his coffin together. Gently alighting on the floor, Dracula swept his arm open, encompassing the entire castle. "Would you like a tour of your new home, my dear? You've never properly seen all the rooms." I smiled and nodded, my curls bouncing slightly. Why not, I thought to myself. It's not like I had many better things to do, and I felt like doing something. "Wonderful. Let's begin then." The door from his bedchamber to the passage beyond opened with a gesture from him, and we began walking out and down the long corridor.

"This of course," he began, "is my room. The whole castle is mine, technically, but I spend most of my time here in this wing. Here," Dracula pointed to a door, "is my study. And there, my library." He turned and pointed to another door further down the hallway. Though I would have liked to have a look at the library and see the ancient and fascinating books that undoubtedly lay within, he steered me in the opposite direction toward a pair of large glass double doors at the end of the hall.

Upon reaching the doors, he pushed and they gently swung open. A light breeze was blowing, and the sun had just set over the horizon, casting brilliant but quickly fading reds and golds across the sky. I gasped at the sudden beauty I had not expected to find here, where it seemed the snow and ice never abated. In front of us was one of the long stone walkways that extended from one of the tower's castles to another. Great stone basins filled with oil had been lit, and the walkway was illuminated by these gigantic torches.

When I had caught sight and recognized where we were, I smiled, remembering the scenes from an all-too-familiar movie I had watched in what seemed like another lifetime. I pointed out to the walkway and turned to Dracula. "Now is the perfect time to ask something I've always wanted to know about this castle. Ever since I've seen the movie I've wondered about this and no one would know better than you." Dracula turned to me expectantly, anticipation for what I would say dancing in his eyes. "What is the point of these walkway-things?" I asked rather exasperatedly. "I've thought about the idea of having these, and the whole thing seems utterly ridiculous. They look incredibly dangerous, and completely superfluous. I mean, can't you just fly, or materialize somewhere else in the castle? Why would you need these silly things? They are an accident waiting to happen. In fact, accidents have already happened. Why are they here in the first place? Who's bright idea was this? Do you realize how easy it could be to come out here, slip on the ice, and fall to your death? And besides all that, they're just plain ugly." I finished my small tirade and gestured to the other lit walkways visible on either side of us. "Other than for committing suicide, I don't see their usefulness." These stupid walkways had always seemed like a bad idea to me, and I'd always wanted to ask someone why they were there. I took a deep breath and gazed back at Dracula, waiting for his answer.

He smiled at me, then laughed. Shaking his head, he stared at me in wonder. "Andrea, you never cease to keep me amazed and entertained. What little joy I can experience you have given me, just by you being in my presence. How I love that mind of yours!" He stepped closer to me. "To answer your questions...I don't really know. I have often wondered myself, and I must agree with you. They do seem rather pointless. I was imprisoned here not of my own choosing, nor was I allowed to design my prison, as you can imagine. As for being ugly..." He shrugged. "That's a matter of opinion. As for falling to your death, I pity those who must still fear it. And I also envy them." Dracula whispered this last sentence, and his eyes became cloudy and unfocused. He suddenly looked tired, like he hadn't slept in years. But then he glanced at me and snapped back to his cool, aristocratic self again. "And as for suicide," he continued, " if I ever notice you wallowing in depression and then discover a suicide note you've left, I will know where to find you." His eyes sparkled with humor. I smiled back, though somewhat sadly.

"Ha, as if suicide were an option for me anymore. Such an attempt at death would have no affect at all." And as I truly realized the position I had put myself in, I began to truly understand Dracula as I couldn't before. It wasn't the pain of constant living, for neither of us did anymore, it was the pain of never dying. To know that you would spend the rest of eternity awake, stuck in this purgatory of neither life nor death...it was difficult knowledge to cope with. I suddenly envied my friends, who still had the promise of peace in death, and an end to the tiresome sufferings of life. What had I really given up? What had I lost? My mortality? No, it was much more, much worse than that. What horrible eternal existence had I sentenced myself to?

I stood gazing out across the wide expanse of Dracula's castle and at the fading light in the sky, my brooding thoughts turning my mood suddenly somber. Dracula came and stood next to me. Turning, I put my hand on his shoulder, and he must have read my thoughts in my eyes.

"Now you know," he said softly. "Now you understand." We stood together in silence a moment longer, then Dracula once again snapped out of his despondent reverie. "Yes, my dear, these things do seem rather, well, stupid, but they can have their uses." A devilish grin crept onto his face, and he picked me up about the waist and began twirling me around. The wind whipped my curls back from my face, and I couldn't help but laugh. But my laughter suddenly turned to a cry of alarm when I realized that Dracula had let go of me and I had sailed over the edge. Looking upward I saw his face rising farther and farther away, and I realized with horror that I was falling, that Dracula had once again dropped me from a dizzying height. I opened my mouth to scream, but before I could, I heard Dracula's voice in my head.

"Relax, Andrea. You can't die, remember? Now, did I give you wings or not?" It dawned on me that Dracula hadn't meant to kill me, and I quickly transformed. Beating my wings, I pulled out of the vertical dive and swooped underneath the stone walkway. Rising, I came level with Dracula, then continued upward, shrieking with glee. I will never get over the experience of flying. Dracula let out a cry of his own and launched himself off the walkway as well, transforming into his hell-bat form and joining me in the air. We dipped and soared around each other, partners in an aerial dance making up the steps as we went along. Part of me was elated; I'd never had so much fun, but part of me refused to let me forget Van Helsing and my friends. Almost without realizing it, Dracula and I made our way around the castle to the main entrance. Landing on the ground in front of the large front doors, we transformed back into our human forms.

I stood, panting, trying to catch my breath. "Vladislaus, it was rather evil of you to scare me like that." I tried to glare at him, but ended up dissolving into laughter.

"You have to admit, you've never had so much fun. How's free falling without the troublesome notion of death?" Dracula asked wryly, grinning at me.

"It's pretty awesome." I said, reliving the feeling.

"Well, enough games. Your tour is far from over, dearest. Here, obviously, are the front doors, though I believe you've seen them before." I nodded.

"Obviously. But, really Vladislaus, 'enough games'? As if you ever stop! You don't know the meaning of that phrase."

"Ah, well, there is much you have yet to learn about me. Continuing on..." Dracula's eyes danced with amusement at toying with me.

As much as I might've liked to, I couldn't put Van Helsing, Carl, the girls, and where I'd left them out of my mind. As we walked toward the massive doors, I wondered if we'd find them inside, or if they had gone somewhere else. I had no way of knowing. Some deep, inner part of me still called out to Van Helsing, could still sense his presence. Probably just the Anna inside me again, I thought bitterly, reminded once more that Van Helsing most likely did not love me for me, just for the bit of Anna I had inside. Angry, and I suppose a bit jealous of someone I could never hope to compete against, I moved closer to Dracula, wanting the comfort of someone who did love me for who I truly was. Dracula's arm snaked around my waist and pulled me closer to his side, but a startling thought occurred to me. Did Dracula love me, or was it just lust and the fact that I seemed to amuse him, like a new toy? Since when did Dracula ever really love at all? Was I not really loved by either of them? My upsetting thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the front doors swung wide, revealing the vaulted, high-ceilinged entrance hall. Lit torches lined the walls and the polished, black marble floor reflected the dancing flames.

"This is, of course, my grand entrance hall. But, since we have been here before, I propose we move on. Left, or right, my dear?" Dracula asked, looking at me expectantly. Before I could open my mouth to speak, however, Van Helsing stepped out of the shadows at the far end of the hall.

"Neither, Dracula. You're staying right here."

CLIFFIE! Muahahaha! Oh man, guys, this is it. Next chapter the final confrontation! It's all going to be over soon. How sad is that? But, I have started writing another story that will keep me occupied for a while. It's a Harry Potter fic set in the Marauders' era. If any of you are interested or like reading those fics, I'll let you know when I'm gonna post it and stuff.

Anyway, can any of you guess what VH and Co are planning? I'd love to hear what you guys think! Oh, and sorry about that line referring to God in the beginning there; I hope I didn't offend anyone. If so, I'm very sorry, I just thought it was a VH thing to say…he is the Left Hand of God after all. Okay, I think that's all I have to say for now. I'll try to post again soon, sorry again for the wait, and please review! I'll even let you yell at me for making you wait a month. Later much all you fantastic people who seem to enjoy my story so much! You rock and I luv you all!

Gem