4 months later...

Kate loved working in this small diner, hidden away from the world. The townspeople were kind and no one questioned her about her past, not even the owner Amelia, an older woman with a kind smile.

She told everyone her name was Smith, to distance herself from the unsavory Van Helsing name. In the short travels she found that Van Helsing was a name even known among humans, and not in a favorable light. She only wished she could remove that connection from her own blood.

"It's been almost 4 months since you came here, my dear,"Amelia said to her as they were closing the diner, taking a moment to wave at the last of the diners leaving for the evening. "Don't you miss your family?"

"I don't have a family," Kate said, as she refilled the sugar containers for the morning. "It's just me." It was true. As far as she was concerned, the Van Helsing family was no family of hers. She was alone.

Amelia glanced at her from the corner of her brown eyes, a knowing look. Amelia always had a way of looking at her that make Kate feel as if she could read her soul.

"I'm pretty sure that isn't true," she said before turning back to wiping down the counter top. "Sometimes you get this look in your eyes as if longing for something more, or someone."

Kate blushed as she continued to fill the containers. "There is no one," she said firmly, even as Dracula's face filled her mind. She knew that it would take a long time to get over Dracula, but that was all she could do.

Kate didn't notice when Amelia's gray hair started to change to blonde, or that the wrinkles on her face started to smooth out. She was focused on her task, trying to remove Dracula from her memories.

It wasn't until she turned that she noticed that the elderly Amelia had transformed into a younger Amelia. She gasped and dropped the sugar container she had been holding, spilling sugar across the floor.

"Amelia?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes, my dear."

Kate didn't understand. If Amelia was a monster her Van Helsing warning system would have alerted her to her presence. She didn't feel it at this moment. So just who was Amelia? "What's going on?"

Amelia stepped forward until she was only a few feet from the other woman. "Kate Van Helsing." Kate gasped at the sound of her real name. How did Amelia know? "I have been waiting to see you for over 100 years, ever since your great-grandfather stepped into my cave that fateful night."

Kate narrowed her eyes before the realization washed over her. "You're the Ancient being that cursed my family," she said in shock. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Amelia laughed. "At the time, Ludwig wouldn't have called it a curse, but an advantage. He would be rolling over in his grave if he knew that his descendant thought it a curse instead."

"But, because of this 'gift' you gave him, Dracula lost his wife, his true love."

Amelia nodded. "That was unfortunate, but necessary." Amelia didn't look saddened by that thought, which only angered Kate.

Kate narrowed her eyes. "Necessary? He lost the woman he loved, grew to hate humans and the Van Helsings. Live his life all alone! How is that necessary?"

Amelia smiled, unfazed by Kate's anger. "Dracula already distrusted humans before his wife was killed. Martha, his wife, and himself planned the hotel idea long before she was killed. He built it as a tribute to her, to protect the child he had with her. His daughter, Mavis."

Kate felt her heart break at those words. No wonder the hotel was so beautiful, it reminded him of his wife. He forever would live in the hotel that he built for Mavis, to protect his love's beautiful child.

"She should never have died," Kate said softly. "Dracula deserves happiness."

Amelia smiled before stepping forward and placing a hand on Kate's shoulder, drawing the woman's eyes to her own.

"I once told Ludwig that his path of hatred would lead here," she said. Kate blinked. "You are in love with Dracula."

Kate took a step back. Thinking it herself was one thing, hearing it out loud was another. "I...I..."

Amelia raised a hand, stopping the woman from speaking. "I knew that one day it would happen. As I told Ludwig on that faithful day. 'One of your own will yield to Dracula and lead to the...'"

"Destruction of the Van Helsing line," Kate interrupted. "I've heard this story a million times since I came into Aunt Caroline's home."

Amelia smiled. "Yes, and you are the one I spoke of. You yielded to Dracula by keeping him safe and going against your family, because you love him."

Kate took a step back. "But I will not be the end of Dracula or the Van Helsings. How could I?"

Amelia lifted her hands and held them out to Kate. Kate looked at the woman's hands. A flash and suddenly an orb appeared in the woman's hands. "Watch, the fate of the one you love should you do nothing."

Dracula's face appeared in the orb before her and Kate gasped. His eyes were narrowed and he was glaring at someone. The orb swirled and showed a different view.

Dracula was standing in front of Mavis, who was holding a baby, Johnny and Dennis. He was glaring at the entire Van Helsing family, armed with monster hunting gear.

She watched her Aunt Caroline lift her weapon and fire stakes at him. Dracula was able to dodge the first stake, but not the second. It hit him in the chest and he fell to his knees.

"No!" Kate whispered before reaching out towards the orb. Her hand went right through the orb, but the image didn't vanish. Dracula's eyes looked up with wide surprise before he fell to the ground.

Kate fell to her knees, tears falling from her eyes, but she didn't make a noise.

"Kate."

She looked up at Amelia with red-rimmed eyes. "How do I save him?"

Amelia smiled at the girl.

"There was a reason you were born. When Ludwig asked me for the ability to defeat his enemy, I saw you in the future, standing by Dracula, against his enemies. You were a Van Helsing that would love him, who would give him what he needed. You are the only one who can stop his death at the hands of the Van Helsings.

"In Dracula's possession is a ring, one that you provided to him."

Kate blinked. "His wife's ring? What about it?"

Amelia lifted her hand and showed her another orb. In it, Kate watched Dracula tell a black haired woman holding a baby to hide and he would take care of this. Her eyes widened as she realized that this was Dracula's wife. This was the day she died.

She hid the baby before a man moved at unreal speed. From portraits around Aunt Caroline's home she recognized the man as Ludwig Van Helsing. He sneaked up on the mother before stabbing her with a stake. She screamed before falling to the ground. The castle was burning.

The image flickered to the ring in Ludwig's case, the ruby sparkling. Inside the ruby she blinked as she saw a woman's face appear inside the ruby. Dracula's wife.

"Martha, Dracula's wife, has part of her power trapped within the ring." Kate looked up at Amelia with wide eyes. She lowered her hand and the image faded away. "Only a Van Helsing who was in tune with her feelings could harness it to defeat the Van Helsing family. The love she felt for her husband, a mutual love for the vampire, Dracula."

Kate's eyes widened. "Martha and I could share power to save Dracula from death?" Kate started to breath heavily before she jumped to her feet. "I have to go!"

She started to run around the counter when Amelia grabbed her arm and held tight, forcing the girl to look back to her. Her eyes were firm as she spoke to the young Van Helsing woman.

"Be warned child, for this path comes at a price. The only way to truly save Dracula and his family is to eliminate the entirety of the Van Helsing family. No one can be left behind."

Kate didn't hesitate. "The Van Helsing family has killed enough monsters, it ends with me. I will not allow another Van Helsing child to be born to harm Dracula or any other monster."

Amelia's eyes widened as she looked at this Van Helsing girl. Her straight red hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and her emerald green eyes were glowing. She understood what would need to be done, Amelia just didn't expect her to accept that so quickly. Interesting...

She released the girl's arm and watched as she wasted no time running out the front door, tossing the apron as she went.

Amelia looked at where the young woman had disappeared. Perhaps Kate's feeling for Dracula were stronger than she originally anticipated? Love was often unpredictable.

She waved her hand and cleaned the diner quickly before walking out the front door. She placed a closed sign on the door before locking it behind her and walking away.

The citizens of the town would be disappointed tomorrow when they were unable to get into the diner, but Amelia had to be there to see how this all played out.

How far would Kate Van Helsing go to save Dracula, a vampire?