Victoria could not begin to explain the anger she felt with herself as she lay in bed that night. He was all she could think about. He was consuming her every thought and she felt ill at the thought of it. If she closed her eyes she could feel the heat of his body pressing against hers, his hand cupping her intimately whilst his lips worked dangerously on her skin.

It sickened her to admit it, but she could scarcely deny it, especially when she awoke in the middle of the night, her skin slick with sweat and moans escaping her body.

How could she deny any of it now? How could she claim to be innocent? She just knew that she needed more answers. She needed something more and she knew that he was the only one to provide it for her.

Victoria slowly moved from her bed, wondering how she could even possibly begin to catch his attention. She could scarcely rush out into the dead of the night and wander the forests, waiting for him or his brides to take her. Besides, there were other creatures to consider, not just vampires.

She stood up straight and opened her window, looking into the night air as rain lashed down from the sky. She went about lighting the candles in her room, longing for some light in her room. It was only then when she settled down on the edge of her bed, her hands holding her face.

"I trust you have discovered the truth."

Victoria resisted the urge the let out a shrill yell in shock. She looked up and saw him stood there, leaning against the bedpost at the end of her bed. She took a few moments to crawl further down her bed, feebly attempting to escape him.

"What do you know?" Victoria demanded from him.

He took another moment to fold his arms over his chest before he moved closer to her, sitting on the edge of the bed whilst she rested against the headboard.

"I should ask you the same question, my sweet Victoria," he responded, noting how she made no attempt to escape from him this time. She kept still and silent, her legs pulled up to her chest as she did so.

She did not fear him like he had thought she would.

"What is it you have recalled?" he wondered, his voice soft and Victoria shook her head, looking over his shoulder, avoiding his gaze for fear that it would ruin her completely. She knew that this was wrong. She knew she should speak with Velkan and urge him to tell her that it meant nothing.

"The library," Victoria whispered, finally looking him in the eye and a smirk appeared on his face. "I...how is it possible? She looked like me."

"She is you," he promised her. "Tell me, was it the night I took your innocence from you? Was it the night you gave yourself to me, body and soul?"

Victoria kept silent. He assumed her silence was an affirmative answer, but he did not push her. He smirked before he slowly drew his body closer to hers. She kept still and stiff as he uncurled her body, his hands cold as he took her waist and she let out a sharp pant of breath. She could feel his cold hands through her thin nightgown and he watched as she didn't even bother to fight him. He wasn't even bothering to control her. No, he was simply using his powers of persuasion like he usually did.

"Who am I?" Victoria suddenly dared to ask and he smiled down to her, one arm moving around her waist as he rested on his side, one leg suddenly moving in between hers. He heard her gasp and he wondered how long it would be before he had her panting underneath him again.

"Victoria Hopkins," he whispered her name. "You were an English socialite travelling through Transylvania four hundred years ago when we fell in love. Our meeting had been nothing more than a chance encounter...a chance encounter which I would love to go back to..."

Victoria gulped; the sound audible as he moved his hand down her neck, feeling the blood which pulsed there. He closed his eyes, reminding himself that he could not claim her for his own. He would not do it against her will, but he suspected he would not have to wait long for that moment.

"I was part of the Holy Order. I existed only to eradicate evil. It was the life I had chosen. A life where I could claim no wife, father no children nor go against my decision."

"But...the library..." Victoria whispered and shivered as his cold hand roamed to the shoulder of her nightgown and he pulled the material down before bending down to press his lips against it, his hair tickling against her chin as he did so.

"I turned against that life for you," he whispered against her pale skin and she shivered as his tongue darted out from his lips, flicking against her skin. "Only to have the Order take you from me...they banished you...I demanded them to stop only for you to be snatched from me during a fight. It was straight after I had claimed you."

Victoria felt her eyes roll into the back of her head as he nibbled on her skin and she found herself unable to fight against his familiar touch.

"I tried to bring you back to life...I tried to do anything I could...but nothing worked...nothing until now...a man named Gabriel came to stop me. He killed me and I made a deal with the devil for eternal life. Eternal life in the hope that I would find you again one day," he concluded. "And now here you are."

He moved his mouth slowly from her shoulder to her neck, grinning against her skin as she angled her neck to give him better access. She panted underneath him as his hand moved from her waist, roaming her upper thigh.

"Do you know how ludicrous that sounds?" she wondered back from him.

He chuckled as she finally gained the strength to push his head from her, her warm hands feeling particularly odd against his cold skin. She looked him in the eye, knowing that she could not deny the fact that it was him who had been in her vision. She was well aware of that.

"Do you not see that I am right?" he wondered from her. "Can you not see that I speak sense? I am the one who you should be with. I am the one for you."

Victoria took a deep breath and shook her head, urging from him to move off of her. She did her best to push his weight from her body, but he took hold of her wrists and pinned them by her head, snarling as he did so.

"I do believe it," Victoria whispered. "I know it sounds foolish, but there is something inside of me which knows it is true...and maybe...maybe in the past you and...well..."

"You always were tongue tied," he whispered and she felt him kiss her on the neck again. "So innocent and pure..."

It was only when Victoria heard the door open did she feel her body stiffen once more. Dracula climbed off of her and looked to the door, the sight of the young Gypsy Prince making him smile in a sinister manner. Victoria sat up and straightened out the nightgown on her body as Dracula moved closer to Velkan like a predator hunts its prey.

"What in the name of God do you think you are doing?" Velkan snapped and Victoria reacted with haste, moving from the bed as Dracula laughed.

"I came to claim what is mine," Dracula said, his voice loud and clear.

"No," Victoria replied. "I am not a possession to be handed around."

Dracula watched as he moved to stand in front of Velkan, her hands behind her and holding onto his waist. Velkan tried to switch their positions, urging her to stand behind him, but she defied him. Her eyes remained stuck on Dracula and he hissed lowly as she remained tall.

"You believed what I spoke of," he reminded her.

"That was four hundred years ago," she replied. "I may...I remember nothing else apart from that night. That does not mean that I am yours. It means nothing today."

He felt something inside of him then. His anger mellowed and a lock of shock took over. How could she say that it meant nothing to her? How could she say that to him? How could she be so cold? He watched as Velkan finally stood by her side, looking for anything he could use to fight off the Count if he attempted to do something.

"This is not over, Victoria," Dracula promised her and he vanished from sight.

They both whirled around to see him stood in the corridor through the open door, his eyes wide and glaring. "I promise you that."