Marishka found Aleera beside Verona in the corner of the street outside the Village.
------------"She said she wants to talk to you.
Aleera thinks in her options very carefully. And finally she makes a decision.
------------"I don't want to talk to her again.
------------"Think about it. Maybe this is your chance to make her understand.
------------"She will never understand. She will never listen to me and she will keep her hopes alive. She must never see me again.
------------"I think that is a great idea little sister.
------------"I saw my father died because of me; I don't want to see her died for me either. Let's go home, we have finished here.
------------"Good. We will stay away from her if we see her in the village
------------"That is a promise.
------------"Thank you sisters. Let's go.
The brides fly away from the village. But Vera is still waiting for her daughter alone in the dark alley. The hours pass and she still waiting, but finally the truth hit her hard in her heart, her daughter will not come, and something tells her that she will never see her again.
Vera walks back home with her heart in ruins. Aleera had abandoned her, she will never see her again, all her hopes are dead, and she will be alone forever. In Castle Dracula, Aleera speaks to the night: "The darkness is my home and the master is my life. Holy Night, please listen to the last request of my soul, listen to the remains of my human feelings; help my mother to forget me, kill her hopes of recover me, give her the chance of a new life, she have a lot of years ahead, the youth has not abandoned her. She can start again without me, please, give her the strength and the courage to go on with her life without me. And please, give me that strength and courage too".
After that night, the people of the village never knew what happened to Vera, they never saw her again.
Vera decided to stay away from the rest of the world; she was enclosed in her home, that little world where her memories are her only company. The years pass slowly, and with the pass of the time, the hearts of Vera and Aleera are changing. The pain of Aleera is being transformed into bitterness, in rage, in desires of punish the world for her dark eternity, and eternity that she hates and loves at the same time, because her master is her life and the darkness is her home. But when she is alone, the grief is the same. Aleera has a hole in her heart and that will never change.
60 years later, Vera is almost 98 years old. Her house of wood and stone is almost in ruins, but she remains there. The hope of see Aleera one more time have keeping her alive. She is old as her memories, old as her past. The baby clothes of Aleera are fading, but her mind is clear and alert, her memories too.
One night, Aleera decides to go back home, she wants to know if her mother is dead or alive. When she arrives, all that old pain returns. The ruins of her home are the ruins of her heart. Aleera enters the house and all is a complete disaster, everything is old and damage. She sees a light in one of the rooms, her mother's room. She walks toward the room and enter. Her mother is there, lay in the bed. Old, alone and ill. Aleera approaches very slowly and sit carefully beside her mother who is sleeping peacefully. Aleera remembers her mother's lullaby and start to sing it.
"Sleep now my baby, my darling, don't cry, here in my arms you have nothing to fear, I am always near".
Vera wakes up very slowly, but when she sees her daughter sit beside her, she feels alive again.
------------"Aleera!
------------"Shhh, calm down mother, I am here
------------"Finally… you came. I though that… I would leave this world without… the blessing of see you one last time.
-------------"Please forgive me mother, I should have never accepted Dracula, You are alone and ill… and all is my fault.
-------------"Listen, my beloved daughter. The day of your birth, was the most beautiful moment in my life, I have no regrets, because you made my life so wonderful. Dracula made you eternal; he condemned you to a life of darkness, but he did not kill your human soul.
-------------"But it's dying. I am feeling thin, empty.
-------------"I had a dream last night; I prayed to see you again and tell you.
-------------"Calm down, please.
-------------"You must be careful in the years to come, in the centuries to come. I saw a man and a woman in my dreams. Both are stronger, both are hunters. The man is a murderer but also a holy man. The woman is a Valerious, the strong column of that family…
-------------"Mother you need to rest…
-------------"Let me finish! I am dying Aleera, let me finish, let me help you this time.
-------------"Go ahead.
-------------"I saw that woman, killing you in my dream
-------------"Forget that nightmare mother…
-------------"It was raining, and it was dark…
-------------"Mother, please…
-------------"Oh, Aleera, you look like the last time I saw you, Dracula made your beauty eternal… I owed him that. He keeps my darling girl beautiful forever.
-------------"Your life was ruined because of me.
-------------"No, it was not your fault, it was mine. I remember that night very well, I sent you, alone, to the store for bread and milk, I knew the danger but I sent you anyway. And you never returned like the girl you were. I could never forgive myself. But God is good Aleera, and He, in all His mercy, is giving me… another chance, to see you, to speak with you, to say goodbye.
------------"You will have that blessing mother, your pain will end. But I, I cannot die; I have an eternity to remember, an eternity lo love and hate. I will destroy families, hearts and I cannot help it.
-------------"No one is eternal, every curse has an end, is only a matter of when. I saw… I saw it in my dream. Your time will come; your end will mark the end of the darkness. And I… will be there, waiting for you.
-------------"No. If I die I will not see you in the other side. I belong in hell and you belong to heaven. You are the only pure person in my heart, the only person I love, you are a wonderful mother, you still loving me in spite of knowing that I… that I was a vampire, a murderer. You never hated me, you fought for me, and you had the courage to face Dracula for me. I love you mother, I will never forget you.
-------------"I love you too my baby. I will be always by your side, even when you can't see me.
Vera begins to feel a strong pain in the chest. Aleera worries and try to help her.
-------------"Mother, you need a doctor!
-------------"No, no, stay! If you go to the village for help they will kill you!
-------------"They fear me I can use that!
-------------"No! Stay, please, stay with me. Let's sing your lullaby, maybe the song helps me sleep.
-------------"All right.
Aleera and her mother start to sing. In time, only the voice of Aleera can be listened. Vera is falling in to a deep sleep, in a sleep that she is not going to awake. The sun arise in the east, Aleera must hide until the night comes. She spent the night with her mother and now she is trapped with her. Is good that Vera's room is in good conditions and the sun cannot enter. Aleera runs to close the windows. Vera is in a deep sleep, is that what it seems. Aleera approaches to her mother and sits beside her.
Will Continue...