Victoria didn't know how much more she could take. She had found herself perched on the edge of her chaise longue, dressed in her nightgown as she waited for Anna and Van Helsing to return. The conversation she had with Vlad was still echoing in her mind. How had they both reached this stage? How had they both turned into the people they were today? Being with Vlad was impossible. Victoria longed for it. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered how they used to be. She remembered exactly how they were together.

But as the night passed, Victoria realised one of two things could have happened. Either Vlad had stopped Anna and Van Helsing, or they were simply taking their time. Victoria didn't know what it could be, but she had no intention of sitting around and waiting any longer. Changing into a simple gown, she found her boots and pulled them onto her feet, moving with haste towards the stables to find a horse.

Once she had saddled the horse, she climbed onto it, moving out of the grounds and towards the dirt track. She rode hard, wondering if she could still follow the tracks from earlier in the evening. She kept her eyes on the dirt, knowing full well that the horse hooves in the dirt had to have been Anna and Van Helsing. She followed them as far as possible before she realised where she had arrived at.

Looking up to the castle, Victoria closed her eyes. She remembered it from her last time there, yet she had no idea how to get into it, nor did she know how she had truly reached it. Castle Frankenstein was eerie and deserted. It was enough to make Victoria wonder if she should go in. Climbing from the horse, she walked slowly towards the vast building, knowing full well that Anna and Van Helsing would simply not have knocked on the front door.

Where could they be? Were they even here? Victoria didn't know. All she knew was that she felt an overwhelming desire to move into the castle, knowing that Velkan might be in there. But he would be there too. Vlad would be there and she wondered if he had made his decision. Would he save Velkan? Does he even care for him?

Before Victoria could even move any further, she felt a hand on her arm. She startled and almost yelled, but a hand over her mouth stopped her from making any sound. As the person spun her around, she let out a deep breath at the sight of him and relaxed, her hands going to his shoulders as he pushed her backwards until her back made contact with the wall. Letting her hands continuously run over his shoulders and his neck, her eyes searched his face.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded from her and she kept hold of his cheeks in her fingertips. "Victoria, what are you doing here?"

"I needed to find out what was happening," Victoria said to him and she felt his hands take hold of her waist. "He came to me tonight and he admitted he had a cure. I asked him to save you."

"Victoria," he whispered her name in an almost disbelieving tone as he held onto her. "He…he will never let me go. Do you not see? He will never save me…so long as I am alive then he knows that he cannot be with you. He knows that you would never go back to him."

Victoria shook her head. "I asked him," Victoria said in a soft tone. "I begged him, Velkan. If I can talk to him-"

"-No," Velkan said with a shake of his head. "Victoria you cannot go in there. He is angry…furious…the children he had with his brides have died. One of the brides has been killed by Van Helsing. I cannot let you go back in there."

"I need to," Victoria said with haste. "I need to talk to him."

"No," Velkan said once more. "He has sent me to find Anna and Van Helsing. I can only hold off on his order for so long, Victoria. Please…just go back home…go back and take care of the child inside of you."

"I cannot," Victoria said, feeling a sense of fear rise up inside of her as she spoke to him. "I cannot go home and sit by idly while everything risks their lives. I know that I have a child to think of, but I cannot watch."

"Victoria," he complained her name in a whisper, bending down until his forehead pressed against hers. She let her hand roam over his cheek, feeling the dirt that clung to his skin as he began to convulse, his body shaking as she closed her eyes and a silent tear fell down her cheek.

"No," she whispered. "Please…no…"

"Run," Velkan demanded from her, pushing his body away from her, despite all of his instincts. He backed away, heading towards the woods as Victoria stood by and watched him, unable to move as he backed into the trees and the moon began to peer from the clouds.

Victoria moved with haste, beginning to run away, but she didn't get far. Bumping into another body, Victoria looked up, her eyes widening as horror took over her face. She tried to move away, willing herself to run, but she didn't get far. She yelled in pain as the woman in front of her took hold of her by the wrist, her grip tight and strong as she twisted her wrist above her head.

"You," she hissed and Victoria felt her blood run cold at hearing her speak to her in such a manner. "The master's one true bride."

"I am not his bride," Victoria responded.

The dark haired bride continued to hold onto Victoria's wrist as she marched her forwards, moving her towards Castle Frankenstein.

"You will be one day," she said and Victoria almost felt the need to roll her eyes. "Master always gets what he wants and Master wants you."

"Master?" Victoria echoed. "Have you listened to yourself? Have you heard what you sound like? Do you think that he loves you? Do you truly think that he loves you?"

Victoria felt the grip on her arm tighten as she was pushed into the castle and she heard a loud roar come from it. Fear rising through her body, she looked around before she saw him enter the deserted foyer. His fangs were bared and his face looked like that of a monster as the bride holding her released her and Victoria fell forwards, her hands stretched in front of her to stop her from landing on her stomach.

"What do you think you are doing, Aleera?" Vlad's voice rang out, rage evident.

"I found her in the grounds," Aleera responded. "She was with the Valerious boy."

"You do not touch her," Vlad snarled. "You do not go near her or speak to her. Do I make myself clear?"

Before Victoria could ask what was happening, Vlad had taken hold of her by her lower arm roughly, spinning her around and forcing her to move further into the castle. Looking around, Victoria tried to prise her arm from his grip, but she failed miserably. It was only as they moved to the staircase did she hear Aleera.

"Is it true?" she demanded from him and Vlad stopped moving, turning to peer down to her. "You claim that your heart is hollow. You say that you feel nothing, yet you lie. You lie to us. You use us. Your heart does belong to another. It will always belong to her. It may not beat. It may not work. But it is not ours."

Listening to the woman beneath them, Victoria almost felt her chest lurch at hearing her words. She looked to her, eyes wide and brows arched on her forehead as Vlad also looked to her, but his gaze was not as soft. It was not as pitiful. Victoria didn't know what he was thinking, but she suspected he was not impressed.

He said nothing. Instead he ignored her and Victoria felt a part of her ache. Moving up the staircase under his grip, Victoria soon found that they had come to a room in a dark corridor. Pulling the door open, Vlad pushed Victoria into the room and she almost stumbled from his forceful approach.

"You need to let them go," Victoria said before Vlad could even seethe at her for being foolish and putting herself in the path of a werewolf. "Vlad, you need to let them go."

Vlad arched a brow, stumbling for words, but thankfully Victoria continued talking.

"You are breaking their hearts," Victoria said. "Did you hear what she said to you downstairs? Did you hear the hurt in her voice? If you do not love them then do not treat them like this."

Vlad arched a brow. "And how is the way I treat them any different to the way you treat Velkan Valerious?" His demand took her off guard this time. "You do not love him as you love me, yet you give him false hope. You give him hope that you could."

"It is not the same," Victoria said. "I feel something for Velkan. I just do not know what is it."

"And it is very much the same for me," Vlad said. "Yet you tell me to leave them. You tell them to let me go. Do you enjoy acting hypocritical, Victoria? You have always been a high class socialite, but I never thought that you acted like them."

Victoria seethed then. "What are you trying to say?"

"What do you think I am trying to say?" Vlad demanded of her. "You act like a spoiled high society girl. You constantly make things difficult. You tell me you love me, yet you refuse to be with me because of Velkan. It is not that difficult, Victoria. If you love me then be with me. Stop making excuses."

"I am not!" Victoria roared back, both of them coming to chin for another time that evening. "I cannot hurt him like that. He deserves so much better than me, but he, for some unknown reason, loves me. He loves me and I cannot hurt him."

"Yet my brides love me and you expect me to hurt them?" Vlad demanded back. "How much longer is this going to go on for, Victoria? Velkan Valerious will never be me. You will never love him. Admit it to yourself."

"I do!" Victoria yelled, her hands flailing by her sides as she roared at him. "I admit it every day. I know it is true. I know I will never love him like loves me. I want to let him go, but how can I? How can I when he is the way he is?"

"You stay with him out of pity."

"I stay by his side out of loyalty. I stay with him because I care. Just because I do not love him does not mean I will abandon him. I want him back to how he was."

"And if that happened would you leave him? Would you admit the truth?"

Victoria turned away once more. "Things are not that simple."

"And if we could make them simple?" he asked of her. "What if they could be this simple?"

"Then yes," Victoria said with a shrug of her shoulders. "If I were not pregnant…if I were not married…if Velkan were safe…then yes, things would be different. What you are does not bother me, Vlad. I blame myself for what happened to you. I blame myself that you felt the need to change into what you are."

"Then I will cure him."

Furrowing her brows, Victoria wondered if she was hearing correctly. He swept over towards her, taking her cheeks into his fingertips and looking her in the eye.

"When he returns then I will cure him. This is what I wanted, Victoria. I wanted you to come to me. I wanted you to realise that we are meant to be together."

"And the child I carry?" Victoria asked. "Vlad, it is a Valerious."

"Let us worry about that another day," Vlad said to her. "Let us find a way to work through that another time. For tonight…come with me…let it be just you and me…I will take you away. We can be just us. We can be how we were."

Victoria let her lips smile at the thought. "Do you think that possible?" she wondered of him. "We need to come back to reality eventually, Vlad."

"Eventually," he echoed, "but not tonight."

Moving to press his lips against hers for another time, he let his hands move to take hold of her waist as he kept hold of her. He felt his eyes close as soon as she began to reciprocate. Perhaps, for once in his life, he might have something he longed for, just this one time.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!