Greetings and salutations! Thanks everyone who review last time. I would really like to thank Snips95 who helped me out a bit on this chapter. I hope that you enjoy!

I own Anastasia, Anya, Constantine, and Rose

Marishka would not leave her room for the next few days. Even Verona was unsuccessful in getting her to set a foot over the threshold of her door. She would spend hours trying to get her to come out of her room. Aleera, on the other hand, would sit in Dracula's study for hours, watching him pace back and forth on the ceiling. The lack of attention that she was receiving was annoying Aleera to no end. She decided that Verona and she needed to figure out a way to make things normal again, at least as normal as it could possibly be for a family of vampires. She then came up with an idea that the two of them put into action the next time they were all together.

Aleera waited till one night when the four of them had all gathered in the library, Dracula fervently flipping through pages of an old medical journal, Verona quietly reading in the chair adjacent to his, Marishka quietly looking into the fire, and Aleera sitting on the other side of Dracula, playing with her hair. The room had an awkward silence for the longest time. The only sounds that could be heard were the flipping of pages and the crackling of the fire. All this made Aleera bored out of her mind. She let out a long sigh, which only Verona seemed to hear. She gave Aleera a small glance up from her reading. Once the two made eye contact, Verona made a very small nod, which Aleera returned.

Aleera looked over at Marishka, who didn't seem to take any notice in her previous reaction to her boredom.

"Marishka, do you think you could help me for a moment." Marishka slightly turned and looked over her shoulder at Aleera.

"What? Something that little Aleera can't do by herself?" She replied back in a teasing manner. She knew that Aleera hated to be talked to as a child, even though she was the youngest. Aleera stuck her tongue out at her.

"I was going to ask you to help me with putting my hair up the way that you usually do, but I guess not now." Marishka let a small smile come across her face. She had not done so in such a long time. She then walked over and stood behind Aleera.

"First, I need a brush. Do you have one with you?"

"Aleera, I think you left it in my room, from the other night. Why don't you and I go get it?"

"Can't I get it myself?"

"There are some things in there that are personal and that you don't need to get into, so I would rather you didn't." Verona said sternly back to her.

Marishka quietly sniggered and shook her head. She knew that Verona didn't have anything to hide; she just didn't like to have Aleera out of her sight because she still didn't trust her completely. Dracula noticed his bride's sudden change of mood, which lightened his spirits a little.

"Aleera, go with your sister. It is her room after all," he said to his youngest bride. Aleera began to pout and then turned to Verona.

"Well, aren't you coming?"

"Of course, besides, you can't get in without the key," which she was dangling between her fingers. Aleera scoffed and walked out of the room; Verona followed her with a small chuckle, leaving Marishka and Dracula in the room alone.

Once they were out of the room, Verona looked around for Aleera who was a little ways down the hall. She quietly walked over to her.

"You know you would have made a terrific actress," she said once she came up next to her.

"I know."

"Now you're just being conceded."

"Shh! I want to hear what they are saying." Verona just rolled her eyes and the two of them quietly listened intently for any noise that might come from where their master and sister were.

Once the doors had closed after Verona left, Marishka became very nervous. The last time that she and Dracula were alone, he had tried to make amends, but she was still scared of the wrath that might come down upon her. Dracula casually closed his book and set it on the table in front of him. When he turned around to look at Marishka, he noticed that she had started to very slowly inch away.

"Why don't you come sit? There are two open chairs next to me." Marishka quietly sat into the seat that was previously Aleera's. She did not move her eyes from the floor. Dracula slightly tilted his head and then brushed a strand of hair behind Marishka's ear. "You know I just occurred to me that I haven't really taken in your beauty in a long time." She glanced over at him and slightly turned her head towards him.

Dracula then let a small smile come across his face. Marishka couldn't help but smile back at him. She then latched her arms around his neck and started crying tears of joy.

"What's wrong my bride?"

"I'm crying because I am happy. I can't stay mad at you for long. I love you too much." She then laid her head against his shoulder. Dracula then leaned his head against hers. This is how it should be, he thought to himself, my brides needing me as much as I need them.

Verona heard the crying and was unsure of what was causing them; all she knew was that they were coming from Marishka. Aleera was the first one to the door, and right as she threw it open she saw Marishka and Dracula in a tight embrace. Aleera couldn't help but grimace a little; even though she was happy to see that Marishka and Dracula had made amends, she wished that it was her receiving passionate kiss after passionate kiss from Dracula instead of Marishka. Verona on the other hand, was rather happy. Her family was back to the way it was before, plus she had grown accustomed to seeing her husband kiss his other brides, which Aleera was still having trouble with.

Dracula then looked over at the sound of the door opening to see his other brides. Marishka looked over as well as soon as hers and Dracula's lips had parted.

"Aleera, I thought you went to get a brush?"

"I decided that I was fine with my hair the way it was."

"I'm sure you did," she said teasingly back to her younger sister. She then got up from the chair and hugged both Aleera and Verona around the neck.

"Thank you," she said quietly to them, "I really needed that."

"We will discuss it later, but for now, I think that you have previous engagements that must be attended to," Verona said as Marishka relinquished her grasp on both of her sisters. Marishka then turned back towards Dracula. He then motioned for Marishka to rejoin him. Verona took that as a hint to leave, as did Aleera, but she was more reluctant to go. Once the two left, Marishka turned towards Dracula with a smile on her face.

"Honestly I am glad that they left. I hate to be interrupted during important business," he said to her.

"I know that all to well," she replied back. She then sat on his lap and reached her arms around his head. She then pulled the clasp out that was holding his hair up and tossed it behind her. When she turned around, she had a grin on her face and had let her fangs grow out. This was something new for her, and Dracula found that he liked it, a lot. He then let his eyes turn their icy blue, knowing that Marishka could not resist them. She then lunged herself at him and began to kiss his face as if her life depended on it. She was very careful to make sure that her fangs did not ruin his perfect face.

In the middle of her frenzy, Marishka accidentally made two long gashes across his cheek. A small trail of blood started to emerge from the wounds, which are already starting to heal themselves. Marishka took her finger and wiped up the blood. She slowly licked it off her finger, savoring the taste. She then looked back at Dracula.

"You taste so good." He couldn't help but laugh. It had been a long time since he had laughed, and it felt good.

"You don't taste so bad yourself." She smiled at this, and then resumed their kiss, but this time with fangs in.

A year past and things started to get back into their normal place. The only thing that had changed was more threats upon them every time they entered the village. These threats were brought upon them by the new head of the Valerious family, Princess Anya, who was no longer a princess, but a queen. She had also gotten married and had started a family of her own within the past eight years. She had a son who was five and a daughter who was two. Anya made sure that her children never left the palace walls, for she had seen what Dracula's brides could do to children and she never wanted them to ever come in contact with them. She especially didn't want them within reach of Aleera. She had grown a special hatred for the youngest vampire bride over the years; in fact, it had started the night that her brother became a werewolf, almost fifteen years ago.

As soon as Anya came to the throne, Aleera had hoped that every time she would fly into the village she would be able to repay Anya for the scar that she had given her all those years ago, but each time she was nowhere to be found. The only time that Anya would ever allow her family to leave the castle was during the day, and that was when the sun was shining bright and when she was with them.

Aleera's hatred grew immensely over the years, driving her even more insane, which the other brides did not think could possibly happen, but somehow it did. All that she could think of was letting the princess's blood run down her throat and what joy she would have in torturing her to get it. The others started to question if her new obsession was something to be concerned with. Dracula only thought that it was the anxiety that she had built up while waiting for their children to live, and that if he didn't do something soon, his other brides would follow in her footsteps and become as unstable as Aleera was starting to become.

Dracula decided to surprise his brides one night with a present that they couldn't refuse. He had sent a servant to each of their rooms to bring them to him. He kept a straight face as his brides approached him.

"Good evening my dears."

"Good evening," they all chimed in. Aleera was trying to stay still, but found that she never could when she was near her master; she longed to feel his touch but knew that now was not the time, at least not yet. Marishka had a look of curiosity upon her face, for she had not been in this part of the castle for so long. Verona kept a straight face, she knew that she had to set an example for the younger two and had to keep her composure.

"You know that I have been doing much research for about 200 years,"

"Yes," Aleera said as she started to lean in closer. Marishka still didn't know what he was planning on saying, but Verona thought that she had figured it out, and it showed.

"You have finally found the cure!" Verona blurted out, she knew that she should hold her tongue, but the suspense was killing her. As soon as she had said it, the other brides had started to become giddy with excitement.

Dracula knew that they would expect him to say that. "No, unfortunately I have not found that yet." His brides' expressions of joy quickly turned to dread and disappointment.

"But, I have found something that will help all of you till a cure is found." He then motioned to the door that was behind him. Now all of his brides were confused, if it wasn't a cure, then what could it possibly be?

Dracula then opened the door slowly to reveal a girl who was fast asleep on a couch, with her head propped up on the arm rest of it. Aleera was the first to react.

"Another bride? How could you possibly think that this would help us while we wait for our children? Do we mean so little to you that you went and got yourself another bride?"

She had lost it. Aleera could not control the rage that was pulsing through her body. Her eyes had turned their dark pink and her fangs had elongated. She then turned towards the girl to kill her, but was stopped as Dracula grabbed her by the arms and pulled her back. Aleera struggled to get free from his grasp.

As she was squirming in his hands, Dracula had to raise his voice so that she and the other two could hear him over her screeches of frustration and anger. "She is not going to be my bride!" Once he said this, Aleera had instantly stopped. She retracted her fangs and her eyes slowly went back to brown.

"Then why is she here?" Marishka asked in a quiet voice.

"As I was going to say, before Aleera jumped to a conclusion," He turned towards Aleera who knew that she had done wrong and immediately looked down at the ground, "she is not going to be my bride, but our daughter instead."

Verona and Marishka looked at each other, then at the girl, then at Dracula, then back at the girl. Aleera was just glad that there wasn't going to be another bride.

"How do you expect us to find her as a daughter? We have just seen her for the first time, besides we don't know anything about her." Dracula knew that Verona had a point.

"You have time to learn everything about her."

"I'm sure that will go great, 'Hi, I'm your new mother and I don't know anything about you.'" Marishka had chimed in.

Dracula then pulled a small vile out of his pocket. "Look familiar?" Verona and Marishka instantly knew what it was and shook their heads yes. Aleera, having been asleep the last time that they had seen it, knew nothing about it.

"What is that?" she asked.

"This, my dear, is what is keeping her asleep. You should know it affects because that is how you got here."

"How much did you give her master?" Marishka asked with excitement in her voice. Dracula was pleased that at least one of his brides was happy about their new daughter to be.

"More than you gave Aleera, about six drops, so she will sleep for a few days which will play to our advantage."

"How so?"

"After we have found out what we need to about her, we will wipe her memory so that she will know nothing of her past and will see us as her family."

"There is one problem with that," Verona said, "Who will be her mother?"

Each of the brides then started looking at each other. Verona thought that she should be, because she was the eldest and had waited the longest. Marishka thought that she should, because she was capable of showing more feeling than the other two. Aleera wanted to because it would be something that she and Dracula could have that the other two wouldn't be able to.

"That will be for her to decide."

Each of the brides looked at each other, hoping that they would be picked over the others.

"Why don't we go see our new daughter?" Dracula then motioned for them to enter the room. Verona was the first to enter, followed by Aleera and Marishka who were trying to peer over Verona's shoulder. Dracula was the last to enter, and he quietly closed the door so that none of the servants would disturb them. Verona sat on the edge of the couch, while Marishka and Aleera sat on the floor next to the girl.

As they got closer to the girl, they noticed that she was younger than they originally expected. She looked to be no more than twelve. Her hair was a dark brown that complimented her already pale skin. Verona moved a stand of hair out of her face, and as she did so looked at her daughter-to-be.

"She is very beautiful, isn't she?" Verona stated. Marishka nodded in agreement, while Aleera simply stared at the girl with no visible emotion on her face. She looked at her sisters, then back at the girl. She still wasn't sure if this girl could ever be a daughter to her.

"Yes, my dear, that is part of the reason why I picked her, was because of her natural beauty," Vlad said to his eldest bride.

"Master, do you at least know her name?" Marishka asked. Dracula looked down at his bride and then back at the girl. A small smile came across his face.

"Her name is Rose." He gently laid a hand on Marishka and Aleera's shoulders. He knew it would take time for his brides to get used to the idea of having an actual child after so many years of disappointment.

"Rose, I like it very much," Verona said. She turned her head slightly while looking at the girl. "Aleera, what do you think?"

Aleera had not said a single word since she entered the room. She had stared at the girl the whole time without ever blinking. When she heard the question, she was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Yes, it is a pretty name, but her name alone will not make her my daughter."

"Oh come now Aleera, you will have to give her a chance. Besides, you know nothing about this girl, and she may not have to be your daughter," Marishka said after Aleera's harsh comment. Aleera only crossed her arms and continued to stare coldly at the girl.

Dracula then looked out of the window that was on the far side of the room and noticed that the sun was starting to rise.

"We must leave now my dears come."

"Master may I stay with her for a little bit longer?" Verona asked. She had a small smile on her face as she looked down at the sleeping figure of her new daughter.

"May I as well Master?" Marishka asked shortly after.

Dracula pondered for a bit, and then said, "Fine, but if you do please at least draw the curtains. I don't need any of you killed over a foolish thing like sitting in the sunlight. Aleera will you be staying as well?"

"No, I am going to bed," she said as she gracefully got to her feet and left the room. They all watched as she quickly glided out of the room and out of sight.

"Sleep well my dears," Dracula said before closing the door. As soon as the door was shut, Marishka went and closed all the windows so that no sunlight could enter the room.

Once she was done, she turned around to look back at the girl. She slowly walked back and sat on the floor where she was before.

"Oh, Verona, just think, soon we will have a child."

"We have children already, but she is living."

Marishka looked at Rose and smiled. She knew that this girl would be a good addition to their family. Even thought she was dressed in the ragged clothes that the peasants wore, they could not hide her beauty. Marishka started to slowly stroke her hair. When she touched her hair, her hand barely grazed her skin, but the contact made the girl shiver, and Marishka withdrew her hand.

Verona noticed the small stir and looked back down at Rose. Oh I hope she picks me to be her mother, she thought to herself. My dream of having children has almost come true. Just a little bit longer.

"Do you think that Aleera will ever come to like her?" Marishka asked after a few minutes of silence.

"She will, it will just take her some time. She is still young and headstrong, but she will come around."

Marishka smiled at Verona and then looked back at the girl. The sound of her quiet and gentle breathing was music to her ears. The two of them sat there till the sun was almost up. Marishka was the first to get up. She casually yawned and turned towards Verona.

"We might as well get some sleep since she won't be waking up for a while."

Verona reluctantly got up as well. "I suppose you are right, but it's so hard to leave." A small tear started to form in her eye.

"Are you crying?" Marishka asked as she noticed her sister's hesitation to leave. Verona wiped away the tear, and turned to look back at Marishka.

"Yes, but it was a tear of joy. For the first time, in quite some time, I am happy again." The two then left the room and quietly shut the door, leaving their soon to be daughter quietly sleeping.

As the day went on, Anya, who had been busy for quite some time dealing with business of state, started to hear rumors of a missing girl throughout the halls of the castle. She then decided to go into town to see if these rumors were true.

Once she got to town, she started to walk around. When ever she passed someone they would always bow to her, but she didn't ever pay much attention to it. She soon got to the home of where the girl who had gone missing lived. She knocked on the door three times. A man slowly opened the door.

"Your majesty, please come in," he said in a very sorrowful tone. Anya slowly entered the house, and noticed that it was strangely quiet except for the sound of crying towards the back.

"So I take it that the rumors are true, your daughter is missing?"

"Yes, our daughter Rose, she is nowhere to be found. We have spent all morning looking for her in the village, but we have had no luck yet."

Anya placed her hand on her chin and started to pace the floor. This was very peculiar to her. "Where was she when you last saw her?"

"She was asleep in her bed, but when we didn't see her ever come down; we went up to her room and found it empty."

Anya stopped as soon as he told her this. It was Aleera happening all over again, and this time she wasn't going to let Dracula have another follower. She then turned back to the man.

"We will send out search parties immediately."

A woman then came into the room. It was obvious that she was the one who had been crying earlier. She wiped tears away from her eyes and then looked up at Anya.

"Please, bring my daughter back. Bring my sweat Rose back to us."

Anya put a hand on the woman's shoulder and said, "I will do all in my power to," and with that she left the house to go form search parties.

Later that night, villagers went throughout the forest with torches and pitch forks, looking for Rose. Anya was in the lead with a revolver with silver bullets and a silver stake. This ends tonight, she thought to herself.

So how did you like it? The name Rose is a little bit of a tribute to the second half of my name, which comes from Disney's Sleeping Beauty (if you still don't get it, go watch the movie right NOW!). I was torn between the names Rose and Aurora, but then I remembered that there were already a lot of 'A' names, so I went with Rose.

So who will Rose end up picking as her mother? Review with who you think it should be. If there is anything that you would like to see happen/ constructive criticism/ likes/ dislikes/ cries of outrage either review or send me a message.

~aleera-mistressofallevil