Many apologies for the long delay.

--

"You can't tell me the truth."

"I did. I know you can't possibly comprehend it, but I did."

Alex woke with a start, sheets and bedclothes falling around her as she gasped for air. She couldn't stop dreaming it. And never the good things, always the horror, the fear. The accusations. Kicking her legs over the bed she padded quietly down the stairs and into the kitchen, pouring a glass of water. She looked at the time. 3:18. She needed to sleep.

Taking her untouched glass of water Alex curled up on her comfortable sofa, turning on the television in hope of keeping her mind from drifting back to god knows where. At least there was television on all night. Not for the first time she wondered if Rupert could help her. If he would help her. Tomorrow, she told herself, also not for the first time. She'd call him tomorrow.

–

The blindfold didn't help. Galvin strained against whatever was binding his wrists. No good. His ankles were tied tight as well. He wondered where he was and really hoped Luke had got away. And that he was planning to get him out.

–

"Molly! Hurry up! We're going to be late!"

"Coming mum!"

Alex shook her head. She'd been back to work for a month, but she still couldn't seem to get back into a routine and Molly was always late for school. Alex had even been called down to discuss it with the headmaster. She wasn't even working any cases yet, just reviewing some that had come up while she was on leave. But today she wasn't going to the office. She hadn't been able to get in touch with Rupert and in desperation had called Mina Harker. She just wanted to nightmares to stop.

"Molly!"

–

"But if I ever hear you repeat that I'm gonna have to stamp on your pretty little head."

He needed the screaming to stop. He couldn't listen anymore.

"A quick reminder, Drakey. I am one of the good guys and you are on my side."

"This'll never be my side."

But more than that he needed to wake up. The dreams were worse.

Alex. What is this?

–

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me Ms. Harker."

"Please, Alex, I've told you before. It's Mina." She sent her housekeeper for tea and sat across from Alex on a low sofa. "Now what can I do for you?"

"It seems silly now to have come all the way over here. I could have just asked you on the phone." Alex laughed nervously. "I've been trying to reach Rupert for a few weeks, but I haven't heard back from him. I suppose I've been a bit worried that something might have happened to him." Alex watched as worry flickered across Mina's face, just for a second.

"Oh, of course. Rupert's been out of the country for a few months. He took Luke to Europe for school and some training. I suppose he didn't expect to hear from you or he might have said something." She was nonchalant, but Alex sensed something was wrong.

"No. No, I suppose he didn't." Alex couldn't stifle a disappointed sigh. The nightmares were getting worse. And they were more than nightmares. Every night it felt like she was there, again, living the same moments over and over only to wake up in agony, not knowing where she was. If she was still home.

"Is there something else?" Mina asked as the tea arrived. "Maybe something I can help you with?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

–

When Rupert finally regained consciousness he was surprised to see sunlight seeping through cracks in the boarded up windows. He managed to look around the room. It looked like more than a shack, but not much more. The walls were wood planks, probably stone on the outside. There was a wooden door in the far corner of the room that probably led to another room. But where was he?

Pain crackled through his skull as he tried to lift his head. Could he even remember what happened? He and Luke were chasing a pack of vampires, not very bright ones but there were a lot of them. In retrospect it might not have been the best idea. Where were they? Albania? Montenegro? He's lost track at some point, then they'd been separated. He remembered being grabbed by the pack, shouting all the time for Luke to get away as far as possible. Then he lost consciousness, although he didn't remember how.

Slowly he became aware that the pain in his head reached into his entire body. Time to take stock, Galvin , if you're still alive you can get out of here. His shoes were missing, but he was still wearing jeans. His shirt was torn open, the sleeves in ribbons hanging off his shoulders. For the first time he noticed that both of his wrists were heavily bandaged.

He was still contemplating the unpleasant possibilities when the door in the corner creaked open and a very tiny, very old woman came through. She was carrying a basket and a bucket and looked surprised to see him awake. Her brow furrowed as she took the few steps necessary to reach him.

"Hmm."

Rupert tried to open his mouth, to ask her who she was, what had happened. His mouth was so dry he couldn't whisper.

"Shh. Wait." He watched her reach down, fumbling in her bucket for a small jug. "Water." She held it up to his lips and he drank. "Not too much, you will just retch it up." She took the jug away.

"Where am I?" he managed to croak.

The old woman began unwrapping the bandages on his wrists, avoiding looking at him. "Mountains."

"Albania?"

She shrugged. "Close enough."

"Close enough. Great. That's helpful." His throat burned when he tried to talk. She'd finished with one and he got a good look at his wrist. He suspected what he'd see, but it was still a shock. Bite marks. Vampire bite marks. And more than one set. Shit. "How long have I been here?"

"Three or four days, I think." She was native to the area, he could tell, but her English had almost no accent. He wondered how old she really was. "They did not tell me you were here right away."

"They?" He knew the answer.

"The pack. They will be back tonight." She looked up at the light, streaming weaker thought the window. "A few of them anyway. They know better than to feed too much."

"Feed too much? What does that mean?"

"They want to keep you alive! The longer you live the better for them. That is why I am here." She must have read the confusion on his face. "There are not many people in the mountains. It is better to make one last a long time. I come in after they have finished and tend your wounds. I would expect tonight they will not be very interested in your wrists."

"Guess they like a hearty meal, eh?" This was not good. If they weren't feeding on his wrists it would be his throat. Or his femoral artery. Shit. At most he had another two nights, maybe three. That was if they didn't bleed him dry tonight. "So, uh, no chance you want to untie me, is there?"

She was kneeling next to him and looked up, her smile tired and aware. "You know I cannot."

"What's the deal? You keep me alive and they leave you alone?"

She looked away again. "Something like that."

"Nice work." He watched as she cleaned him up, at least as much as she could manage. She handed him a second jug, half full of amber liquid.

"Drink this."

"Hope it's scotch." He drank. It tasted like treebark. "What was that?"

"It will dull the pain a little. It is all I can do for you."

He nodded. It was better than nothing. "Can you tell me anything? I'll get out of this on my own power, but anything you can tell me..."

She shook her head. "You will survive, or you will not. There is nothing I can do either way, Rupert Galvin." She stood, gathering her things into the basket and bucket.

"Wait. How do you know my name?"

"The son of Charles Galvin?" Her mouth twitched a little. "You are known."

"The son of – what? How could you know my father?"

"I suppose you were young." She looked at the window. "It is getting late. They will return here soon." Her expression was resigned when she looked back at him, nodding. "If you survive the night, I will tell you." She stopped and turned when she reached the door. "She will be happy you are awake. Be careful."

"Be careful," he muttered. "I'm tied to a fucking chair."

–

Alex poured a second glass of wine and curled up on her sofa. Molly had finally gone to bed and she needed to think. Mina had tried to be helpful, but she didn't know where Rupert was, or when he would be back. And even though Mina insisted there was no way Alex would return to her alternate reality while she was asleep, she hadn't been able to help her with the nightmares. And she wouldn't go so far as to tell her that it would never happen. That some day she might not find herself back there. They just didn't know enough about what actually happened when someone time traveled, if that was even what had happened.

But none of that really mattered. What she wanted was Rupert. She wanted him to tell her she wouldn't go mad, she wanted him to protect her, to keep it from ever happening again. She needed him. Just to be with him.

–

Galvin sat in the dark and waited, just the noise of the mountains to keep him company. Inside it was pitch black, outside there would at least have been the moonlight to give him some bearings. It was disorienting. He took several deep breaths. He was terrified.

He didn't know how long it had been, but when they finally came into the room he felt them before he heard anything. Cold flesh against his skin.

"Least you could do is say something." He grumbled.

"You're awake! How nice." Her voice was low.

He couldn't tell how many there were. There were hands on his legs, on his arms. He gasped as teeth sunk into his upper arm. "Shit." His body clenched involuntarily, but it could have hurt worse. Thank god for tree bark.

Galvin sat helpless as one of the vampires moved over him, settling on her knees in front of him.

She giggled. "I like it when you're awake." She drew a razor sharp fingernail across the corner of his mouth and he felt blood spill over his chin.

"Fuck." He swallowed.

"This is more fun." She sunk a sharp tooth into his lip, swallowing the blood as it flowed out. His brain felt fuzzy, he was losing consciousness...

"You and me, Bolls, we're a team. Fighting the rot together."

He gasped as she released him, his fists clenching. She laughed and bit him again and he felt the pressure on his heart as it beat faster, as she sucked harder, drained him...

"How would you like to grow up knowing your daddy tried to blow you to kingdom come?"

Oh god. The visions wouldn't stop. They were coming one after the other after the other...

"You know all that stuff you were saying earlier? About letting you in?"

"Please," he heard himself beg. "Please no more. I can't see any more."

"It's all about timing, this life."

She stopped and he felt her lick the blood off his chin. "Beg me to stop" Her voice was husky. "I love that. I might even let you live." She stopped at his throat and he could feel her teeth aim for his jugular, poised to puncture him. "Tonight, anyway." He couldn't stop himself.

"No, please." He swallowed as one tooth broke skin. "I'll beg. Anywhere else." Her nail sliced down his chest, blood trickling slowly at first, her teeth pulling aside his flesh, her tongue lapping up the droplets.

"I'm doing this without you. And you dare to get in my way, I swear to God I will kill you."

His head swam. Any moment and he'd lose consciousness. He never wanted to wake up.

"What's happening! Make them stop. God. Please. Make them stop!"

She sliced open his jeans, tearing the fabric away from his thigh. "Since you asked so nicely." Her mouth moved lower, her teeth sinking into the large vein in his leg. When the visions stopped he almost thanked her. But the screaming took over.

–

"Galvin. Are you alive?" The old woman's voice sounded like it was miles away, but he managed a grunt. "Good. I can feel you breathing. Strong. You should live another day."

"Hooray. If tonight is anything like last night I hope they kill me."

She gave him a questioning look. "How much do you remember? No one usually remembers."

"Enough." Rupert watched her empty her bucket and basket. "Do you have a name?"

She held the water jug to his mouth, scowling at the loose skin that had barely begun to heal over on his lip. "What did they do to you?" she mumbled under her breath. He just shook his head and drank. "Well, I will do the best I can."

Again he watched as she worked. This time she took handfuls of what looked like yellow mud out of her bucket, covering each of the fresh bites from the night before with a generous amount, then covering it with a bandage.

"What is that?"

"Something to help." She indicated his wrists, which looked remarkably well healed under the circumstances. "I used this on them. If you survive you will not be too badly scarred."

"Thanks." He closed his eyes as the cool mud brought some relief to the prior evenings wounds. "Name?"

She took a short breath. "Marta."

"Marta." He nodded. "Thank you."

"It is why I am here."

"Of course."

He let her finish in silence, content to know he might have some chance of surviving another night. He had hesitated in asking her about Luke before because he wasn't sure he could trust her and didn't want to set anyone after him if he had managed to escape. But after what had happened he had to know.

"Is there anyone else here? Maybe not in the house, but nearby?"

Marta looked up at him, shaking her head. "Not that I am aware of. I have only you to care for."

"It's just that...last night. I heard someone screaming."

"You are the only one here, Rupert Galvin. If you heard screams, they must have been your own."

He winced. "It's very possible." At least they didn't have Luke. "But not very manly."

She laughed then. A real laugh. "You are alive. You are man enough, I think."

"Maybe." He tried to smile, but his mouth hurt. "Yesterday. You said you knew my father. I don't understand how that could be. He died twenty-five years ago."

"Your father was also a hunter of the half-lives, Galvin. And he is known. As are you. Well," she indicated her surroundings, "not by these vermin. They are too young and stupid to know much of anything."

"My fath-?" He shook his head. "My father was a construction contractor."

Marta looked at him as if he were a child. "Of course he was not. Do you think you came to this life by accident? This is just as much your destiny as that Van Helsing brat you seem so eager to protect."

"You know about Luke?"

"The mountains are full of demons. You do not have to be one of them to know what is going on in their world."

"And you still won't let me go?"

"That is not my choice." Marta had finished dressing his wounds and was packing up her things. "I will be back at dusk to remove the bandages. Be careful tonight. She will want your neck."

"Thanks for the warning." He scowled.

"Wait. I have another question."

She turned and looked at him. "The visions?"

It was unsettling how much she knew. He nodded.

"They are caused by the medicines. When the animals drink your blood it amplifies the effects. But they will pass, eventually."

"What are they?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

She shrugged. "Memories, the future. Some other time. Who knows?"

He had to know. "Whose are they?"

"Whose what? Memories?" He nodded. "They are yours."

"No, no. They can't be mine." It wasn't possible.

"They are. One cannot have another person's memories." She turned again to leave. "But I would not worry too much, Rupert Galvin. I think it is not your time to die."

–

There was nothing to do but wait, and wonder what the hell the old woman was talking about. His father? How could he not have known? He remembered some travel when he was very young, but by the time he started school they had settled in Indiana. His father still traveled on business, but not too often. Did he ever do anything that seemed odd? Not that Rupert could remember.

But he hadn't been fond of Jay, Luke's father. Rupert had gone to Notre Dame on a religious studies scholarship, and he'd brought Jay home for the first school break. When Jay had invited him to England for the following summer his father had opposed it completely. So he got married instead. But when Charles Galvin died the following November, Rupert was free to follow Jay anywhere. And he did. And it cost him Maggie. In the end it cost him Jay as well. He would have to ask Mina if she knew about this...hell, she had to know. And she kept it from him all these years. Bitch.

Rupert was still trying to make sense of what he'd been told when he heard a crash in the other room. He looked up. It was still daylight, it couldn't be the vamps. He held his breath as the door to his prison opened.

"Have you had enough fun? Are you ready to go home yet?"

"Luke!"

Luke took two steps and knelt to untie him. "Keep your voice down. They won't hear, but there are human guards not far." He sliced through the knots binding Rupert to the chair. "But I think they've passed out drunk."

"How did you find me?" He couldn't believe it. Maybe he wasn't such a stupid kid after all.

"You're definitely getting too old if you let these stupid creatures nab you. They're not exactly stealthy. They made a huge mess and left a wide trail. I just needed to get some supplies before I came up here." He indicated the bandages. "What happened."

Rupert threw an arm over Luke's shoulder. "They had me for dinner."

"Sounds like fun."

"It wasn't. How're we getting out of here?"

"I have a jeep down at the bottom of the mountain. But we'll have to walk down. Can you make it?"

"Got no choice, do I?"

"Nope. We're a days drive from a hospital." Rupert started to object. "Not taking no for an answer. Let's go."

--