Serana stood in the drawing room. She stared at one of the many bookshelves. Her red eyes scanned the spines of the books stored on the shelf in front of her. She frowned as she studied. It was clear that she was looking for something. She pulled a book off the shelf, she studied the cover. She opened it and read the first page. She wrinkled her nose in refusal. She snapped it shut and slid it back on the shelf.

She scanned the shelf again, looking for another book that might give her the answers she needed. She picked up another. She opened it and looked at the title, closed it and replaced it back onto the shelf. She moved onto the next shelf, glancing at the spines on the shelves. It seemed that there was nothing on here that could help her this time. She sighed and looked away from the masses of books on the shelves.

She was about to leave when the roaring fire caught her eye. She looked down at it and smiled as she remembered what happened in this very room, all those years ago. Her eyes fell upon the rug that was used and she smiled again. A flashback of them getting amorous on the rug in front of her flitted through her mind. Her eyes glowed and she smiled as she reminisced. Something caught her eye and pushed these thoughts from her mind. It was a black book. She picked it up. The title read, 'The Immortal Blood'. The very book that her husband read before convincing her to turn him into a Vampire.

She opened it and began reading the contents. It was a little more helpful than the ones she had picked up from the shelves previously. However, it was still less than unhelpful when it came to helping her with her research. She passed the page about werewolves and was studying the part about Vampires. She reached the last page and was about to close the book in defeat when she noticed the last sentence.

'The centuries of war can be ended by the blood of my enemies.'

She read and re-read this sentence over and over again. Each time she read it, she became more and more confused. She began to get a headache as she tried to understand it. She closed the book with a snap and carried it with her. She knew the one person in the Castle she was going to ask about this. She turned on her heel and walked out of the drawing room carrying the book under her arm.

She descended the stairs gracefully down to the Great Hall. At the large table sat her husband and her two daughters. She watched them as she passed. Stefan was teaching the two girls how to write. Something that had learned by himself growing up. The challenge was made even more difficult because both Lucinda and Valeria were left handed. The great hall was silent but for the sound of scratching quills and the clinking of ink pots.

Stefan looked up to see Serana coming up behind him. She placed the book on the table, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply.

"Where were you sneaking off to?" asked Stefan.

"I need to speak to mother," replied Serana. "I need to ask her about something."

Stefan looked down at the book she placed on the table. He recognised it and picked it up.

"I owe this book a lot," he said flicking through it. "Without it, we wouldn't be here today."

Serana smiled and kissed him again. He was certainly correct on that fact.

"How are our aspiring writers doing?" she asked looking at the girls.

"Badly," informed Valeria throwing down her quill. Serana and Stefan glanced over to her writing. It was a poorly written scribble with smudges all over the letters where her hand had smudged the wet ink.

"That's not that bad," said Stefan encouragingly. "You just need to take it easy. Write slowly."

Lucinda has finished her manuscript. Although she had written slower, it was far more neater, with less smudges. Her writing style was vaguely reminiscent of Serana's, loopy and much more feminine in style.

"How does she do that?" asked Valeria pouting in a way that was identical to her mother whenever she was annoyed about something.

"Take it easy sister," said Lucinda repeating Stefan. "Write slowly."

Stefan chuckled. She looked at her father and smiled. Valeria screwed up her messy manuscript and lobbed it into the fire. Her archer training and Vampire blood meant that her aim was perfect. She then picked up another piece of paper and stated all over again. Serana looked at Stefan again.

"Good luck honey," she said kissing him in farewell. "I'm going to pay mother a visit."

Serana picked up the book and turned to leave the Great Hall.

She entered the courtyard and approached the moon dial. She turned the crescent moon to it's proper orientation. The ground shuddered as the moon dial moved to reveal a set of stairs. Serana descended them to the under-croft of Castle Volkihar. This would take her to Valerica's alchemy lab.

Perhaps the most noticeable part of her journey through this part of the Castle is how it had been returned to its former glory. The cobwebs had been removed and the architecture had been repaired. The collapsed walls had been repaired and the windows had been re-glassed. She looked around and marvelled at Stefan's handiwork. Before, she couldn't enter this part of the castle without Stefan to keep her company. The ruins made her feel uncomfortable but now she could walk through with no fear.

She reached the top and found a large dining room. It was immaculate. The table was neatly laid out. The stone gargoyles had been removed and replaced with several of Stefan's old suits of armour. In this room a suit of glass armour and a suit of Orcish armour complimented the room. She passed through it smiling to herself as she walked. The cape of her armour billowed in the light breeze and her circlet glinted in the moonlight shining through the large windows. A huge fire burned in the grate bathing the room in warm, magical light.

Valerica sat in a small sitting room off the great hall. She was immersed in a book with a goblet of blood potion sat on the table next to her. She was unaware of Serana approaching her.

"Mother," said Serana as she approached her.

Valerica looked up to see her daughter standing over her.

"Serana," she said smiling and closing her book. "What brings you to my part of the Castle?"