Chapter 6

Weeeeeee lots of chapters to post. I've had to write a lot in this one because of what I'm using it for. But more will be coming soon for the other stories I promise. Plus...I'm in a bit of a writers block on some of them while this one is flowing nicely. enjoy!

The bleeding finally stopped. A thin layer of the dried blood keeping the rest of the flow in her body. Elizabeth was tired. But along with her exhaustion she felt pure horror. She was disgusted at Victor's actions, and she was frightened. He promised to never harm her, yet he did. Victor had stepped out earlier for heaven knows what reason. And he had stepped way out of line.

Forget protection! She thought in her head. The word of a Vampire is about as good as an inch of yard. Completely and utterly useless.

Her hand still held the side of her neck and shook ferociously at the memory. The dark tones of the room mixed with her fear, making her shrink into the corner. Elizabeth held her knees close to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible.

I want to leave. She thought to herself as her hands refused to stop shaking. Squeezing her eyes shut, she began to cry. She couldn't handle the terror anymore. She hid her face in the nook of her arm and ungraciously allowed the horror of what had happened pass through her being.

"Elizabeth?"

She jumped, her arm whipping out from its position to fight whoever was in front of her. Victor's hand caught it at her wrist. He looked at her hand carefully and noted the trembling. His soft gaze turned to her trepidation stricken eyes. Gently setting her hand down, Victor kept his eyes trained on hers. Reaching out, he tried to express comfort, but she flinched away, causing him to draw back.

He found no use in explaining in further detail from before, so he stood from his position next to her and walked a few feet away. Elizabeth refused to move.

"I'm sorry." Victor said, his back to her. All he could do was apologize. "I am so sorry… for going against my word, for ruining your life, for everything."

His hands began to quiver from the anger he had for himself and his father. Victor suddenly felt the sensation of being pulled back then falling to the ground by a powerful force. It took a short bit to register in his mind that Elizabeth got up from her position, grabbed his shoulder, and punched him to the earth.

"You're just like everyone else." Her voice rang in his ears in a low pitch. "I was going to try to trust you," She grabbed the collar of his shirt, and held him up. "But now I know for certain that I never can."

She quickly let go of his shirt, causing his head to drop. Victor groaned at the pain as he pushed himself up on his elbows. He saw her march over to the window, cross her arms, and glare at the dark scenery.

Well, she's back to normal. He thought as he rubbed his jaw. One upside to being a Vampire, even though it hurts, there are no bruises.

Pushing himself up to a standing position, he spoke. "I don't expect forgiveness."

"Good, because you're not going to get it."

The next evening arrived too quickly for Elizabeth. Before she really could prepare for it, she was at the dining table of Vlad Dracula. She was sitting to his left, and across from her was her husband. Vlad beamed at her, showing particular interest to the two holes that were healing on her neck.

"I am grateful that you would join me this fine evening." He said as he took a sip of blood from his crystal glass. "Elizabeth, my dear, I am certain you will love Erick's cooking. He is a fine chef, and has gotten even better through the centuries."

As if on cue, Erick entered holding a platter of food, covered by a metallic dome. He elegantly placed it in front of her and lifted the lid. The display of her meal seemed like a piece of art as she took in the sight of a four course meal.

"For starters." Erick began explaining. "We have Flemish Beef Stew with French Sour Dough for dipping. A small garden salad with Blue Cheese Dressing. For the main course I prepared a Sirloin with roumalade sauce and mashed potatoes with a beef gravy."

He bowed, and Elizabeth could say she was thoroughly impressed. Before she could start Erick continued to talk.

"I hope it is to Mistress Elizabeth's liking. I asked Master Victor what sort of delicacies you enjoyed."

Victor coughed on his drink right as Erick stated that. Grabbing a napkin, he wiped his mouth as he glanced at Elizabeth. Her eyes showed no emotion, but she smiled to Erick, completely acting as if she was fine with him.

"No wonder it's a mixture of cultures." She joked.

Vlad leaned forward on the table. "Elizabeth?"

She turned to him, showing he had her attention.

"Would you like some fine red wine?"

Erick began to turn to go get the wine, causing her to panic slightly. "Ah, no." She waved her hand. "Thank you, sir, but I don't drink."

"Oh," Vlad replied. "You and Victor are more alike than I thought. Well then, Erick, go get Elizabeth some of the best Sparkling Cider we have."

Erick nodded, bowed, and then left them. Elizabeth sat in silence as she waited for Erick to return. Things were awkward between the three. With Vlad constantly staring at the wound on her neck, and Victor not making eye contact with her, she didn't know what to do.

Erick returned with a crystal glass and a bottle of Sparkling Cider. He quickly and elegantly poured a glass full, and placed it on the table, just above her meal. She nodded her thank you then looked back to her husband, who refused to make eye contact with her.

"Please eat, Elizabeth." Vlad said. "Victor and I have our meals."

He lifted his glass filled with some victim's blood and took another sip. She wasn't all that hungry, but it would be rude to refuse. Lifting her fork she started with the salad. With that, tension between the three began to subside.

Elizabeth paused for a moment. "What did you mean that Victor and I are more alike than you thought?"

Dracula laughed slightly. "Before I turned Victor into a Vampire. He refused to drink any drink with alcohol."

Elizabeth took a quick glance towards Victor, he kept his eyes down. "So he used to be human?"

"Oh yes, my dear. Sadly, Vampires are unable to have children of their own. Victor was a baby when I adopted him, and one of my lovely brides took care of him." He smiled to his son.

She nodded in understanding.

"Of course." Vladimir continued. "I had to leave him with a bride I knew wasn't going to kill him. So I left him with Mina."

"Mina?"

"Yes, the former wife to Johnathan Harker." He continued. "Lucy was killed, as depicted in Stokers book, but Mina successfully transformed, and was able to stay sane. I took her in after the change, gave her a home. She was like a mother to Victor." He took another swallow of his drink. "Victor never knew his birth parents. I found him abandoned. I knew he was different so I took him in."

"But if I recall correctly," Elizabeth jumped in. "You technically were killed in Stoker's story, Mina never turned into a Vampire, and he didn't exist." She gestured toward Victor.

"Yes," Vlad explained. "But Stoker did that to let the world think I was simply a fictional character. Do you know how the world would be if all humans knew that we existed?"

He leaned towards her, ready to hear her opinion. Elizabeth thought for a moment, making sure to choose her words wisely. Even Victor listened carefully for her judgments.

"It would pretty much be divided in half." She started.

"Very good." Vlad replied.

"Half of the world would love the Vampires because of the literature nowadays, especially since Twilight." She gained another nod from Vlad. "But the other half would see Vampires like most hunters and try to kill them off."

"You understand this well, my dear." Vlad smiled at her, proud that his son married such a smart woman.

"What happened to Johnathan Harker?" She asked carefully.

"I killed him." Dracula didn't hesitate. Her eyes widened at his statement. "While Mina was changing, I took the opportunity to make sure she would be mine. If my memory serves right, your family took the name Harker for your normal lives to honor him, correct?" She nodded. "Well, fun fact for you. Alucard… is Dracula spelled backwards."

She thought for a moment and understood. She knew her history according to the Van Helsing's past. But this was a first to learn it from a different point of view. Because of the conversation, she had lost her appetite. She had eaten part of the stake and mashed potatoes while listening to Vlad, it was amazing, but now she couldn't continue.

"I'm sorry." She picked up her napkin and placed it to the side of her plate. "But I need to be excused. It was delicious." She said the last part to Erick before walking out the door.

Vlad smiled once again before drinking the last swallow of his drink. He watched satisfied as Victor soon followed and went after his wife.

Victor quickly caught up to Elizabeth but slowed down and said nothing. Elizabeth stopped abruptly, never turning to look at Victor.

"This is why I hate your father." She said, but gained no reply from her husband. "He has no regard to human life and just takes it like his next meal."

"Elizabeth…" Victor finally spoke, but he couldn't continue.

"How old were you?"

"What?"

"How old were you when he took your humanity and made you a monster?"

He hesitated. "Twenty-one."

This caused her to turn around with bewilderment on her face.

"He thought that twenty-one was the perfect age to turn me, I could physically handle it, and it was the prime age to stay."

"Did you have a choice?"

"No." he took a deep breath. "He saw me as an heir to his kingdom, if he were ever killed. He wanted me to continue where he left off. But after Mina was killed by some hunters, he had to make sure that I could live up to the potential I had been given."

Elizabeth looked down at the ground, she was trying hard to understand several things. Everything she learned during her life made Vampires look like bloodthirsty monsters, which some are. But by the point of view from the Vampires, she saw that they created their own society where they depended on the lifeblood of humans.

"You and your people are monsters though. Taking the blood of humans by force, it's sickening." She glared at him.

He shrugged. "Some Vampires do that, such as my father. But what you don't know, in fact, what most Hunters don't know, is that there are some humans that know of our existence and willingly donate a little of their blood when they choose. It's like a form of blood drive, they only give up to two pints and then they are done for a while. That where I get my supply."

Elizabeth didn't say anything, but she still thought about all the new things she learned. She still had the same opinion as before, but now she had a deeper understanding about the men and women she was raised to fight. It's better to know your enemies than to fight them blindly.