A/N: Ok Chapter 10. I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go with this one. Feel free to send me some ideas on how you'd like this story to continue.. if you'd like this story to continue. Otherwise I'm just playing it by ear and seeing where my muse takes me Flicks her shiny little ball-o-inspiration through the window

Gathering her few items, at least the ones that still meant anything to her, in a leather sack Morriquinne left the dark fortress of her vampire lord. Her pale demon form gracing the sky, an angel from hell itself. She found leaving her former 'master' more difficult than she had ever imagined. She assumed it was simply the fact that he was all she had left tying her to her former mortal life. Short as that time span had been, it had formed the being she had become even through the manipulations of Vlad Dracula. But the flame haired beauty did not look back, not this time. She would not give him that satisfaction.

She had been greatly tempted though, when he had entered her private chamber with such a face of penance, such that a creature of his kind could have. Tempted to remain at his side, forgive all his past sins he had committed, especially the ones against her. She wasn't sure why… something about the demon that had held her captive for so long swayed her.

Sighing softly, she continued her flight, wanting to beat the dawn and reach her destination as quickly as possible. The tender vampiress didn't even know if the manor still stood. Very quickly after her change Vlad had brought her to the warm shores of France. His hopes were to distract her from her depression and the changes in her physical form. Vlad had given her the large home as a "Wedding Present". She could remember that night very keenly… Vlad had been so very tender with her that night, drawing her through the threshold of the near palace by the hands, his demeanor very much a newlywed wanting to impress his youthful bride. She had sighed when he showed her the foyer and the grand ballroom. She had simply shrugged when he gave her a tour of the bedrooms, showing her the large four room suite that was to be hers. She only showed a glimmer of emotion when draw into the library, new leather volumes adorning its shelves. Three full walls of faery tales… he had taken great pains to suite the home to her liking.

Morriquinne could remember the feel of his cold hands running along her shoulders, his lips brushing her neck. At that time she had always flinched when his mouth came anywhere near her tender throat… mortal fears still gripping her. She silently wept at the memory of him pulling away from her, his sorrowful sigh filling her ears after all these long years. She cursed herself, he had sent her away… he wanted this, she wanted this too, then why did she feel as if her long dormant heart had been rendered in two.

Shaking her head, she landed silently at the gates to her wedding gift. It was well kept… he had made sure it survived even though they hadn't visited the home in nearly two decades. Morri wasn't sure if it was wise to enter a home that was only hers through her previous master's charity. Sighing, she pressed the gates open and walked through the well kempt courtyard, it was a chance she'd just have to take. She couldn't tear herself completely from him… not yet. Even now, she could feel his mind reaching out for hers, seeking her forgiveness and her return home.

"NO! That is not my home…" She chocked banishing the memory from her mind. If she was not welcome in this manor Dracula could very well come and evict her himself. She was unsure why she wanted to invoke his wrath… specially so soon after his volatile tantrum in their formerly shared crypt.

As she stepped through the threshold of her summer home, the gentle vampire could sense no living being had dwelt there for sometime… not even a caretaker. Growing tense she looked around, thinking she may be in danger of someone of her own kin having kept this place. But nay, no other vampire was to be found.

Thoroughly confused Morriquinne made her way through the abandoned halls, crying out in pain as she passed a oil portrait of her with Dracula. Dropping to her knees she held her abdomen as a cold stabbing pain spread throughout her body from the hard knot at her center. There was no logical explanation for this, she knew it was not her jilted lover's doing, she knew what his painful manipulations felt like. Stabbing pain was now blossoming behind her eyes, though she could not see she knew they glowed bright violet and her fangs were long, somehow she was being exposed for the vampire she was. Shrieking in furry she writhed on the ground, her vision going hazy. Looking up she could see Vlad over her… no perhaps it was simply the portrait… Before she could decide which, the blackness overtook her sight and the pain she felt stopped, her body had gone numb… as had her conscious mind.

She could feel his body against hers, it was dark… she couldn't see. Why couldn't she see?

'I'm a vampire… I can see anything I choose.' She thought to herself, an almost haughty thought.

Shifting she looked in the basic direction of what she assumed was her vampire lover's face. She reached for him in an effort to wake him from his slumber. When her hand brushed what should have been his cheek, it met a hard brittle barrier.

'BONE!'

Her eyes widening, she moved to push the coffin open, but the tomb's lid was too heavy for her to lift.

"No, this isn't real… Vlad!" She was nearly screaming. As she moved frantically, in the coffin, she could her his bones snap beneath her, his soft tunic turning to dust beneath her slight weight. She cried out grasping at the dust beneath her, the remains of her lover.

"Vlad please! This cannot be!"

She shouted his name over and over. She was more concerned with her seemingly dead husband than escaping the tomb she was in. Beating at the coffin floor she sobbed

"No, Vlad you're not dead… you cannot die…. You cannot DIE!"

Pain blossomed in her tiny fists spreading up her arms and her body. Everywhere the pain touched it was if her limbs had turned to stone. Then she felt it, she was crumbling into dust as her lover had beneath her….

She awoke from her nightmare, her eyes wide and somehow a light sweat dotting her undead body. That should have been impossible she knew, but her mind simply concentrated on the fact that she was not trapped in a tomb with her dead husband.

"T'was only a dream" she murmured to herself, glancing around her.

She was still beneath their portrait, on the carpeted ground in the hall. Lifting herself up onto her elbow, she glanced around… the hall was undisturbed. Looking up into the oil painting she frowned as she gazed into Vlad's lifeless eyes.

"What curse have you woven over me?"

She tenderly stroked the painted cheek of Vlad Tepes Dracula, as if it was really him. How could she possibly mourn the loss of a man that had treated her as a prisoner in a gilded prison? She tore herself from that portrait, she'd remove it when she awoke from her slumber. Any remnant of her previous union with Prince Vlad she would remove. Her mind, if not her stubborn heart, was determined to break whatever spell…. curse… he had placed upon her. She no longer needed him, in face she was no longer a fledgling vampire. Morriquinne was very self reliant on her vampiric powers, she had grown accustomed to her strength, speed, and inhuman stealth. Yes Morriquinne Aidwren would survive without her Vlad.

Sighing softly she willed to her undead spouse's mind, "Forget me Vlad, find a bride worthy of your energy and affections."

With that she closed her eyes, concentrating as best she could on severing the connection between their minds. No easy feat. But at least she could distance herself from the anguished cry he in turn sent to her. She could still feel him searching for her whereabouts, perhaps she could keep those secret for at least a little more time.

But for now she had more important matters to tend to, discovering who exactly had kept HER home in repair in her absence. Perhaps they would be an ally, if not she needed to dispose of them quickly before they led Dracula right to her doorstep. But first she needed rest, the sun was soon to be up and she needed to find peace in the dark bedroom before she gave into her daytime coma. She could not insure her safety if her sleeping vampire form was found in the grande hall.

A/N: There you have it. Please R&R!