Victoria was still bed ridden while the ball raged on downstairs. She had no idea what was happening, but Anna had been taken from her. Anna had promised her that she would be fine. She had assured her that she would get through this. Of course, it didn't matter for Victoria had no chance of escaping. She was trapped in the room under Vlad's orders. He had demanded for her to rest until she was well enough to leave. Of course, he had done everything in his power to persuade her to stay, but she had been adamant that she wanted to leave.

She wanted to go home to England. She wanted to escape. Vlad had wondered if she would come back eventually in a different body. Would she continuously be reincarnated and sent back to him? Was this way to be tortured? A part of him suspected that he was. He had forced Anna to attend the ball with him, but he didn't particularly enjoy her company. As he danced with her, he imagined having Victoria in his grip. She loved dancing. She adored it. She was a great dancer too, along with being stunningly beautiful.

Vlad had passed Anna off to one of the other vampires, knowing that it wouldn't be long before Van Helsing made his move. But his concern was not on him at that moment in time. Instead, his gaze found Igor's as he tried to catch his attention. Moving to the end of the ballroom, he looked to his minion as he spoke in a hushed tone, trying not to attract attention.

"She is insisting on seeing you," Igor spoke. "She is also very persistent."

Vlad nodded his head and swept from the ball, hoping that no one noticed him. He moved with haste to the staircase, rushing up the steps and entering the bedroom. Victoria was dressed in a loose fitting gown, the dark blue a contrast with her pale skin. She was stood up, her cheeks pale and her hair a mess on the top of her head.

"We need to talk," she said.

Vlad arched his brow. "What about?" he wondered from her. "I thought that you had said all that you had to say? You want to go back to London, do you not? You have no intention of staying here, do you?"

"Vlad…" she trailed off, looking down to the ground as tears built in her eyes. It was then when she looked back up, her gaze meeting his as she wondered what she was doing. "I don't know what to do."

Moving towards her, he sensed an opportunity to get closer to her. She was feeling vulnerable, he could see that much. He swept towards her, his hand moving to cradle her cheek as tears fell down her skin, marring it and staining her pale flesh.

"Do not cry," he urged from her. "Victoria, tell me what it is that troubles you."

"Everything," she said and Vlad suspected that he should return to the ball, but he could not think of that. He could not think of anything other than keeping Victoria safe, needing to stay with her and comfort her. It was what he wanted to do. He had to do it. She was the only thing of main importance right now. She always had been, but he just didn't know how to tell her that. Moving slowly, he dared himself to wrap his arms around her waist, holding onto her tightly as she let her head rest against his shoulder, her own arms going around his waist.

"I feel so lost, Vlad," she said to him. "I just feel like I don't know what to do or where to go. I…Velkan…the babe…they have both gone and it is my entire fault. I couldn't look after my babe and I couldn't protect Velkan. He went-"

"-What happened to Velkan was not your fault," Vlad informed her. "I was too late to give him the antidote. It all happened too late. Just like everything…you coming back to me…me not being able to save you. All of it happened far too late and ruined us. It all ruined us and I do not know what more I can do, Victoria."

"There is nothing we can do," Victoria said, clinging tighter onto him as he burrowed a hand into her hair, pushing her towards him as she closed her eyes, her cheek well and truly squished against his shoulder. "Everything has changed since those years ago. We both know that."

"But what is it you want, Victoria?" Vlad wondered from her. "What do you truly desire?"

Squeezing her eyes even more tightly shut, Victoria felt a moment of soothing pass through her as he stroked her hair slowly and lovingly, the motion tender as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I want…I want the past," Victoria whispered. "I want what we could have had, but we both know that is not possible. We have been through it so many times in the past that we just can't keep going through it."

"Then what are we to do?" Vlad wondered from her.

Pulling back, she peered up at him. "I don't know, Vlad," she admitted. "But I know that I don't have the strength to go through this anymore…but Velkan…he is in purgatory right now and that kills me because I know that there is a chance our babe might be with him. It is all because you live."

Vlad arched his brow. "You know what has to happen for him to leave purgatory, Victoria."

"I know," she said, moving to brush a strand of his hair from his face. "And that is why I am going to try and find another way. Vlad, I have no strength in me to hurt you…I am not Anna. I am still me. I am still the Victoria who loved you all those years ago…who probably still loves you anyway. I don't know. I just know that, while I want to run away from all of this, I can't do that. I owe Velkan that much."

"There is no other way, Victoria," Vlad told her. "Believe me."

"There is always another way. I just need to find it. All of the books in Velkan's home didn't have it, but there are lots of other books out there. There might be clues in other books that no one has looked at yet…a way for both of you to break this. I can't deal with this. I can't just run away. I thought that I could, but it would be wrong."

"Would it?" Vlad wondered of her. "Victoria, I confess, if you told me right now that you would come back to me then I would want you in a heartbeat. I always will…but…you cannot do that. You will not permit yourself to do that."

"How can I?" she wondered from him. "It would be wrong, Vlad. It would be so wrong."

"Perhaps not," he said to her. "Perhaps this is what is supposed to happen? I made a deal with the devil to come back. You just so happen to find yourself reincarnated and drawn back to the very place where we fell in love. Perhaps this is fate, Victoria?"

She said nothing in response to him. Instead she remained mute, biting down on her cheek as Vlad stepped forwards, his hand taking hold of her cheek. "Perhaps this is nothing but fate," he whispered again to her and she shrugged.

"I don't know," she said to him. "I just know that I need to find a way through this."

"So stubborn," he whispered as he looked down to her. "So very stubborn."

She nodded then, a small quirk of her lips. "Always," she responded in a small voice. "But I need to keep pushing."

Before Vlad could say anything else, a bang on the door distracted them. Vlad moved back from Victoria and opened the door to see Igor stood there. A smirk was on his face as he did his best not to look too gleeful.

"We have the creature," Igor said and Vlad smirked then. "And Van Helsing has shown up."

"Why is Van Helsing here?" Victoria enquired, moving closer to the door. "Vlad, what is going on?"

"Anna is free to go," Vlad said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Let Van Helsing take her. We have the creature and that is all that we need. So long as we have him then Van Helsing will come looking and then we will stop him."

"The creature?" Victoria continued to push as Vlad nodded at Igor and dismissed him, closing the door once again and turning to look back to Victoria as she held both of her hands in front of her, her eyes wide as she slowly realised what he was talking about. "I see."

"My brides want their children to live, Victoria."

"I know," Victoria said. "I still think it is wrong."

"I do not doubt it, but you are not changing my mind, Victoria. Nothing is going to change my mind."

"Van Helsing isn't going to stop, you know that?" Victoria said to him. "Anna and Van Helsing will come for you and while I care very little for Van Helsing…I have grown fond of Anna. I know that she is also fond of Van Helsing."

Vlad arched a brow as he heard her. "What are you asking, Victoria?"

She let out a deep breath she had been holding in. "I am asking you to spare Van Helsing and Anna," she said. "When they come, I want you to spare them. Just don't kill them. Anna has been through so much. She is the last of the Valerious's…the final one…and if she dies then you know what happens."

Vlad nodded. "I am not seeking her out to kill her," he said. "She will die one day or another. However, if she continues to try to kill me then I will retaliate, Victoria. Do not think that I will not."

"Then let me come with you," Victoria said. "If Van Helsing and Anna are working together then they will be after you. I should go with you and, if I see them, then I will try to talk to her. I will try to tell her that I am thinking of a plan."

"You wish to come with me?"

"Only to stop them," Victoria said. "I cannot come with you because you think that I am…well…I want us to be together. I am not promising you that, Vlad. I am not making any promises. The first thought I have is trying to break the curse."

"As you wish," Vlad said, more excited by the thought of having Victoria back with him and not leaving for England. He held his hand out to her and she looked at it cautiously. Slowly, she slipped her fingers into his and moved forwards and closer to him. He said nothing further. Instead he bent down, kissing her on the forehead. She closed her eyes as he made the contact, biting down on her tongue.

But now he had her back. Vlad would make her see that he was the one she should be with. He would be certain of it.

….

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