A/n: Chapter Three is here. Unfortunately, this semester I probably won't have a lot of time to work on it. I'll try my best.

This chapter is really explanatory. Not too much action going on, but it's informative. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is the property of Beth Fantasky. Belonging to her, I respect the rights attributed to the site and to her work.

Chapter Three

Halfway to the house we met my foster parents, my father with a shotgun and my mother with an aluminum baseball bat. While handy in dealings with mortal creepers and criminals, they can hardly stand up to a fully-grown vampire.

"Jessica," my mother rushed to my side, throwing an arm around my shoulders, practically yanking me away from Lucius, "Are you all right, dear? Mindy's up at the house, she's practically in tears-"

My father, his shotgun leveled at Lucius' chest, cut her off, "Jess, who's this?"

Looking over my shoulder at the dark-haired vampire, I gave the formal introduction, such as I was taught to give as a hostess. Just to be a bit of a pain, I gave a small curtsey.

"Mother, Father, may I present his Highness, Lucius of the Vladescus? Highness, my foster parents the Packwoods."

He reciprocated with a much more formal bow of his own, showing off his skills as a courtesan. Extending his hand to my father around the shotgun, he said, "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Packwood. You have a lovely agricultural center here, and a pleasant family." He met my eyes with a smirk, shaking my father's hand. I glanced down at my feet before swinging my eyes up at his approach. My father had lowered the firearm, and was now permitting Lucius to come near my mother and me, his hand out to greet my mother. I recoiled from his hand, torn between wanting to protect the woman who had half-raised me and wanting to get away from the vile man in front of me.

"Mrs. Packwood, you are as lovely as the newspapers had shown you seven years ago." At his words, her face drained of color, a hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"Mr. Vladescu, why don't we continue this conversation inside?" My mother reclaimed her grasp around my shoulders with the hand not covering her mouth and steered me back towards the house. Lucius followed behind her, and my father behind him.

[|…|]

Settling onto the couch in my foster parents' living room, Lucius sat down beside me, much too close for my comfort. When I tried to sidle across the cushion farther from him, his arm shot out around my shoulders, effectively staying me by his side. My mother, still in slight shock, sat down in her armchair by the empty fireplace. My father, on the other hand, approached us on the couch, the shotgun in front of him again.

"I understand that you're rank is impressive in your country, but this is my house, and you'll not restrain my daughter in any fashion. Release her." He glared at the vampire prince holding me close to his side.

With a dark smirk, Lucius slowly withdrew his arm from around me, lightly running his hand across my shoulder blades and through the ends of my hair.

"I mean no disrespect, Mr. Packwood."

I hurriedly slid from the couch and relocated to the seat on the other side of the fireplace, where my father usually sat to watch TV. The man himself sat down heavily on the other end of the couch from the vampire.

"Now, I suppose you'd like to know how I found my dear Antanasia?" Lucius glanced around at my mother, whose chin rested on the palm of the hand still covering her mouth as she leaned forward in her chair, my father, who kept the shotgun leveled across his knees, and at me. I practically trembled in anticipation and no small amount of fear.

"Please. Tell me where we went wrong. I feel so terrible that I have failed Mihalia…" my poor foster mother murmured against her fingers.

"You mustn't blame yourself, really, Irina," the infernal smirk was still on his face, because he knew, "I'm very good at what I do. I was trained in tracking specifically for this occasion. I knew that she had been smuggled out of the country, but there was such an uproar the night of her disappearance that no one could figure it out. You see, a mortal actress, the biggest thing out of Romania, disappeared that same night. There were copious amounts of blood in the woman's flat and the vampire families had to go through the ranks to see if one of their own had been involved in the supposed murder. I had come across articles on the subject when doing preliminary research on Antanasia's disappearance.

"Curious as I found the occasion, I dug a little deeper. And what do you suppose? Irina Ranghmir's body was never found. However, a Lena Gregarion boarded a train to Rome that night, about an hour after the "attack" at Ranghmir's apartment. And in a matter of days, an Elena Gregory was traveling from New York City on a train south to Philadelphia with who she claimed was her niece, a ten-year-old girl named Jessica.

"It only took about eight months to discover all of this. At the time I was fifteen and very much interested in the political workings of the feud between the Vladescu's and the Dragomir's. No one seemed to know where my counterpart had vanished to, the heir to the Dragomir's empire. I knew that she had to have gone somewhere far. So I began researching, and in the end, came up with Elena Packwood as my best lead. Of course, there are such things as coincidences in this world, and to check I had some of the shipments out of the Dragomir estate tracked. One of the packages, having gone through several channels, ended up at the house of the Packwoods, of Pennsylvania, and I knew that this was the place where the lovely heir was hidden.

"When I knew for sure that this was the correct young woman, I had a surveillance team set up. It was… beneficial to me to know what I was up against. How much training she was receiving, for example, and if she were to become a strong ruler. I had teams reviewing the footage and giving me regular updates.

"One night, about a year after beginning the surveillance, I went down to the viewing room because I couldn't sleep. I began watching a live-streaming video and was completely taken in. At fifteen, my dear Antanasia, you were quite charming. And I must say that in the years since you've grown so much more beautiful.

"And so, my dear, I'm here in your lovely United States of America to return you to Romania, where you will become my queen."

He was so completely at ease in my own home, practically lounging in his corner of the couch. My poor foster mother had hidden her face and slightly shook with tears and my father's face was ashen at the thought of our family being constantly watched. He must have felt that he had failed, in some aspect, to protect us.

"Tell me, Vladescu, how it is that we're betrothed? I still have no evidence of this commitment, as I certainly have not agreed. My parents would never force me to marry someone I didn't want." I had to try to salvage what I could of my foster parents' dignity and get him the hell out of my house.

His smirk widened considerably, darkening in intensity. "Now, darling, here's where it gets a little… complicated. You see, a few months ago, I began working to unify the two families. As you can undoubtedly tell, your family and the people they protect were not exactly in favor."

"Because you're all heartless."

"Don't interrupt, my dear. It's not polite," he shook his head slowly, never letting the smirk slide. "When your parents refused, I took some liberties with the boundaries of the estates and made your parents guests at my manor for an indefinite period of time."

When people are about to faint, they gain tunnel vision and their ears sound like everything's underwater. That's a little how I felt when he dropped this particular bit of information. But it didn't last long. I was furious. I'm sure I went from green to red faster than a traffic light.

"You kidnapped my parents." I stood and was halfway across the room before I realized I had moved.

"In truth, they're the first prisoners of war. Right now it's a cold war, no bloodshed as of yet. It's up to you, my darling, to determine this. You can marry me, in effect freeing your parents and peacefully submersing your clan in mine. It would be very cordial. They would all become Vladescus, but could keep their own local governing bodies and whatnot. They would just be under my jurisdiction, rather than your parents'." He stood also, covering the distance between us. My parents also rose.

"And if I refuse?" I almost didn't want to ask, but I had to try to negotiate.

His hand barely ghosted over the ends of my loose hair, down my arm, before he looked me dead in the eyes and said, "Then they'll die, and all of your people will be subjected to my wrath. There will be a war."

I will say that at that moment, I died a little bit inside. There was only one solution. I had known that I probably wasn't going to marry for love. I didn't have illusions about that. But this man was detestable and an enemy of my family. I predicted that my married life would not be a happy one.

"Can I finish out my senior year before we return? I'd really like to." I asked faintly, my eyes on the ground.

Surprisingly softly, his hands cupped my cheeks and raised my face. "Anything you wish, my darling, as long as you're mine."

A/n: BAHHHHH. I'm working on it, I promise. I'm sorry it took forever to update. I have some hardcore classes this semester, haha.

If you have questions, let me know! AU stories are always a little teeny bit confusing, and I know I'm not the best author the world has ever seen, so let me know if you want to know something.