Standing in the small village church, Victoria let her hands dangle in front of her, her fingers laced together as Boris and Velkan spoke with the Cardinal Rallow. The Cardinal had been called away from important business in France because Boris Valerious had asked him to come and help him. The two went way back from when Boris had asked the church for help in destroying Dracula. The church had told him that there had been nothing that could be done, yet Rallow had come out to visit them.

And now he had returned after Boris had pleaded and explained the situation to him.

Victoria could feel Rallow watch her with an intense stare, the red robes he wore a stark contrast to his bright blue eyes and light blonde hair on top of his head. She was silent as he occasionally watched her with intrigue.

Velkan moved over to his wife once he had finished speaking with the Cardinal, his hand moving to wrap around the small of her back before he bent down to kiss the top of her head. She was silent as she leant against Velkan, inhaling his familiar scent as her eyes closed and she did her best to remain strong.

"Victoria," Rallow's voice suddenly spoke and Victoria detected a small hint of a Spanish accent. She remained mute as he dared to offer her his hand for her to take.

She took hold of it and his other hand took her free hand before he sat down on the front pew in the church with her. She looked down to where his fingers ran over her knuckles.

"There is evil inside of you, my child," he informed her and she looked to him with a worried glance. "I can feel it. The possession he has over you is strong."

"He says that he used to know me," Victoria declared, telling the Cardinal everything that she knew. "He claims to have known me from a past life, but how is that possible? I…sometimes…I remember what he speaks of. It is odd. It is almost as though I was alive all those years ago."

Nodding, the Cardinal didn't seem to think that her story was odd or wrong. She kept mute then, her hands still inside of his as she took her time to inhale deep breaths to try to calm herself.

"No, it is not odd," the Cardinal promised her. "Reincarnation is not uncommon. It has perhaps happened to you, but I can feel the pull of evil from you. He is pulling you towards him, but you are strong. You have to be strong enough to stop him from taking you."

"But sometimes I worry he has not possessed me," Victoria said and Velkan looked away, struggling to look at his wife as she spoke to the man of God. He didn't know if he wanted to hear what she had to say. He didn't want to hear her worry, but he could not stop himself. A part of him knew that it was wrong to continue listening. It would hurt him, but he could not stop himself from doing it.

"I worry that I am turning into who I was," Victoria declared to him. "I worry that I am becoming the person from his past."

Nodding, the Cardinal seemed to agree with what he was hearing from her. He took a deep breath and dropped Victoria's hands from his grip, his gaze looking at her with a deep intensity as she struggled to remain coherent and understanding, tears slowly staining her face as she turned to look at Velkan, seeing the pain on her husband's face at her words. She stood up and moved towards him, daring to reach a hand out to him. He took hold of it and managed a rueful smile through the tears that threatened to spill down his face.

"Did you ever have these memories before you came here?" the Cardinal continued to question her.

"No," Victoria answered honestly.

"But you came here from England?"

"Well, yes," Victoria nodded in agreement.

"Why here?" the man asked, turning in the pew to face Victoria where she stood in the aisle with Velkan as Boris remained silent, his hands on his hips as he listened to the pair of them speak. "If I may speak frankly, my child, there were many other places you could have visited…places without danger…yet you came here."

Victoria closed her eyes as Velkan nodded in agreement.

"It seems odd," the Cardinal spoke.

"Very," Boris agreed.

"I think that it was not a coincidence," Rallow told her. "I think that it was fate. I think that there is a pull to him that you cannot control. I understand the fear inside of you. Dracula is a monster created from the deepest flames of hell. Your…attraction, shall we say, needs to be banished, yet I do not know if I can do it."

Velkan shook his head then, extending an arm as he shrugged his shoulders and looked around the church. "Surely if anyone can help her it is you. You are a man of God."

"That I am," Rallow said. "And I am willing to try and help you by any means I can."

"An exorcism?" Boris questioned and Victoria felt her grip on Velkan's arm increase then as the word was spoken. Velkan bent down to press his lips to the top of her head as she closed her eyes.

"Exorcism are commonly used to banish evil," Rallow agreed. "Yet, if Victoria is not being possessed, but merely acting on her memories, then I fear it may do her no good."

"But we must try," Velkan urged him. "We must try anything we can."

Victoria wanted to disagree, but she knew that the men were speaking sense and they had to try something. She did not wish to be bound to Dracula, but she did not wish to undergo an exorcism. She had read of the history of them. She had read books on how people used to suffer or lash out. Would she do that? She doubted it, yet she had never thought that she would cry out Dracula's name when in the throes of pleasure. The problem she found was that she didn't know who she really was.

…..

Laying on her bed, Victoria took a deep breath as she waited for Rallow to return to the room with his cross after being shown to his guest chamber for the evening. Velkan sat on the side of the bed, his hand cupping her cheek tenderly as his other hand held hers and rested on her stomach.

"If this does not work-"

"-We must not think like that," Velkan responded to her.

"But we must," Victoria said. "Because if this does not work then I worry for us, Velkan. If I cannot stop…I do not want us to drift apart…I love you. I always will."

"Hush," he urged her, shaking his head as he wiped the tears falling down her cheeks. "I will never ever leave you," he promised her. "How could I do that to you?"

"Because of everything," she responded. "Because I cannot promise that I will always be how I am right now."

"No," Velkan said defiantly. "We shall find a way to solve all of this. You have to stay strong, Victoria. I know that you can do that."

Nodding, Victoria said nothing as she heard the door open and Boris walked in with Rallow following behind him. The Cardinal nodded to Velkan and the Gypsy Prince stood up before bending down to kiss his wife on the top of her head. He brushed her hair back before standing up and nodding to Rallow.

The Cardinal nodded and Victoria took a deep breath before closing her eyes, wondering if this would work.

…..

His sleep had been interrupted by the feeling of sudden pain. He yelled out loud, moving from the frozen position he had been in as his noises echoed the stone hallways. He continued to scream, the pain in his chest too much as he considered what was happening to him. But he knew within moments. It was her. His grip over her was being forced away. He was being taken from her. Yet it did not matter. She was slowly remembering the past and her memories were stronger than any possession he held over her.

Yet it still ached. His control was slipping. But how? How was this possible?

Ignoring the pleas of Marishka and Verona, he left the place he called home, ignoring any pain he felt as he went. He had to get to the Valerious household to find out what was happening. He arrived in a matter of moments, peering into the window where his Victoria was.

The sight of her on the bed was visible, a man in red stood over her and holding a cross above her body. She was shaking and trembling, sweat dripping onto her forehead and down her neck. Boris and Velkan stood on the other side of the bed and Dracula sneered at the sight. They were trying to banish him from her, yet they did not realise that his possession only spanned so far.

"You fools," Dracula snarled before smashing the glass in the room.

The three men startled as Victoria went still, the Cardinal stopping his exorcism on her as he dropped the cross in fear. Victoria remained still as Velkan bent down to grab hold of her, picking her up with haste and cradling her body against his as Dracula looked to the men.

"Do you think that this will stop the inevitable from happening?" Dracula demanded as the Cardinal reached for the cross, yet Dracula grabbed hold of it, screaming in momentary agony as the metal cross turned into nothing but flamed in his grip.

"You demon," Rallow hissed at Dracula.

"As you say," Dracula snapped back. "Yet it is not me you all fear. It is her."

Velkan shook his head. "You cannot control her anymore, Count."

"I do not need to," Dracula assured him. "She will come to me. She will remember. You all know, yet you attempt to stop her."

"Leave her be," Boris demanded from Dracula. "She will never be yours."

Dracula chuckled then, but gave a dramatic bow before turning back towards the window. He had no need to argue with them. He knew. He knew that Victoria would come to him soon enough.

"Vlad."

The sound of his name on her lips was so sweet to him. He stilled his movements and turned around to see her still in Velkan's cradle. She had her eyes open and she was looking straight at him with nothing but longing. She pushed herself away from Velkan as the boy lowered her to the floor to stand, but he kept his hand on her arm to stop her from leaving him.

"Victoria," Velkan spoke her name, pleading with her not to leave him as she took a step forwards.

Yet her gaze remained fixed on Dracula as she watched the Count and he watched her back. Stepping forwards, the Count offered her his hand, his intense stare not once leaving her.

"Come with me, my love," he spoke in a hushed tone. "Let me show you things you have never seen before. Let me have you, just as you had me. Give yourself to me, Victoria."

Everyone went silent in the room, too tense to move as they watched the young woman, unable to believe what they saw as she pressed her hand into the hand of Count Dracula.

…..

A/N: Let me know what you think!