Author's notes

In my stories I like to be very specific, so I will give a little background on the characters, from the oldest to the youngest. I also have a mental image of the characters, but of course each reader can imagine them however they like.

Erzsebet Batory. Born on August 07, 1560, Became a vampire on October 11, 1582. My mental image of her is actress Phoebe Cates in the 80's

Anastasia Dolingen. Born on December 12, 1782, became a vampire on September 12, 1801. My image of her is actress Jennifer Connelly when she was in her late teen years

Laura Karnstein. Born on June 09, 1837, became a vampire on July 15, 1855. I imagine her as an older version of actress Anna Sophia Robb

Lucy Westenra. Born on January 03, 1877, became a vampire on September 20, 1896. I imagine her as actress Muriel Baumeister, who played Lucy on the film "Dracula's curse"

Mina Murray. Born of September 05, 1877, Became a vampire on April 30, 1897. I imagine her as Winona Ryder on the Coppola's film

Mina's pov

I saw as John scratched his head "This is going to be difficult to explain. I assume you already know that the earth is not the center of the universe…"

In the next two hours, while his students slept for it was very late at night, John gave us an explanation on how there were planets outside our own solar systems. He talked of galaxies, number of stars in a galaxy, number of galaxies in the universe. That in some planets, like our own, there was life"

I couldn't help but think how vast the universe was, and how little and insignificant we were in comparison. Vampirism itself seemed now of little importance compared to the titanic forces John spoke of. Supernovas, dark energy, black holes and other things which only filled my mind with more confusion

"I feel young again" I heard erzsebet exclaim when he told us the age of the universe. She seemed more confused than the rest of us, and I couldn't blame her. She came from a time when most people thought the earth was only a few thousand years, and was the center of the universe. Now, faced with vastness of creation, she seemed as if her few hundred years as a vampire were nothing in the grand scale of things.

She Noticed that I was staring at her, and smiled "We all have much to learn" she said

"And there is life in all those planets" asked an impressed Lucy

"No" said John. "There has to be very special conditions for life to exist. The planet can't be to far from its star, or to close. The solar system can't be to close to the center of the galaxy, or to far away. Also there are no conditions for life on irregular galaxies, which are the most common type, and elliptical galaxies. The truth is most planets on the universe don't have a friendly environment for the development of life, but the universe is so vast that there still could be millions of civilization out there. In our own galaxy there are hundreds.

Finally, after he finished his explanation, John went to sleep. The sun was coming up, but I didn't feel going back to my coffin. I had slept too much already and I wanted to go out and see the world, but we decided to wait for our guest to wake up.

Later that day, when our American guests awoke, the servants of the castle brought a late breakfast for them. My sisters had gone outside the room to talk to Adrian Lupescu, and tell him of our intentions to go and see this new world. I was left alone to tend our guests

"The sun is up" said Mary "I thought vampires could not go out in sunlight"

I couldn't help but laugh at this "We are indeed nocturnal" I said "And the sun does bother a little and takes away some of our abilities, it also makes us very sleepy"

Later, my sisters returned with Adrian and he said to the Americans "We are ready to take you back to Bucharest"

We hypnotized everyone, making them believe that they had taken a detour to the Carpathians and spent a few days in this castle.

As I watched them go, Lucy stood by mi side and said "I am going to miss them, they were an interesting group"

"Yes" I replied "A part of me feels sorry that they will not remember us for what we truly are" I confessed.

Anastasia approached us and said "I wish we didn't hypnotize them" she stared at us and added "I don't know if you feel the same, but after finding out that we are not alone in the universe, I feel closer to humanity. We may be dead, but these are our people in a universe full of strange beings"

For the rest of the day, we visited the castle with Adrian as our guide. He explained the changes that had been made on it over the years. The castle itself preserved its old feeling, however it was adapted to modern technology

"Those are security cameras" he explained as I noticed strange objects on certain parts of the roof. He seemed to notice our blank stares, and explained "It records anything that happens, and also sends images of what's happening to a control room"

We took out time to know the personnel that worked for us. Most of them seemed unafraid of us, but there were a few who barely contained their nervousness.

"I really wish people wouldn't be afraid of me" I thought

"You must be careful" Adrian said "Only those who work here at the castle are of my people's clan, descendants of the people who served lord Vlad in life and death. However, our organization has expanded its business all over the world, and those that work for us outside the castle don't know anything of vampires, or our true origins"

When the sun was beginning to set, he took us to our rooms in the private part of the castle

"You all have your original rooms, and your personal belongings have been preserved. We have added new sets of modern clothing for each, and also anything that modern technology has to offer. I will send maids to assist you in anything you need, including how to use the modern equipment. Also, we have a jet ready to take you to anywhere in the world"

"Excuse me?" I asked, not understanding his words

He stared at me in confusion and said "Lady Erzsebet told me of your plans to go out and see the world"

He seemed to realize something and added "Forgive me, my lady, but sometimes I forget that you are not yet familiar with modern technology" He took a pause and then explained to us what a "jet" was.

"And it could take us to England in just hours?" I asked, still having a hard time accepting this

He smiled and said "It's a supersonic jet, it can go to anywhere in the world in less than a day.

I can't help but think that our abilities seem now less impressive compared to what modern technology has to offer. We can levitate and float in the air, but not fly as humanity has accomplished. I cannot imagine the sort of technology the aliens posses to make those travels in the vast distances of space.

I talked to my sisters and we agreed to travel that same night. Erzsebet was the more excited about it. Laura had her doubt, but we convinced her.

"Perhaps" Adrian said "You could go with my father on a trip he is going to take in a few hours"

Adrian told us that his father was assisting, in two days, to an event in a city called "Los Angeles" in America. He said the event was organized by something called "the united nations" and the government of the United States of America, to welcome the first alien ambassadors

"My father, as head of one of the biggest corporations in the world, has been invited along with his family" Adrian explained us

I couldn't help, but feel my British pride a little hurt "Why is that event not organized in London" I asked "I'm sure such event should be organized by the British Empire"

Adrian smiled at me and said "I'm afraid, my lady, that you have much to learn on the history of the 20th century".

After we accepted Adrian invitation to accompany his father, he smiled

"Very well" said Adrian "I recommend, my ladies, that you change your clothes into something more…modern"

Three hours later, after I had taken a bath and changed my clothing, I stood at the company's private airport looking, with my eyes wide open, at the Jet.

The airport, as Adrain said, was not far from the castle.

"This is a small airport compared to public ones" he explained "And it's only used when My father, or I, have to travel for business"

His father, Vladimir, looked at us all and said "By the way, very good choice of clothing"

If I were alive, I would have blushed

"Actually" I said "The maid helped me make my decision"

Adrian asked "Did they teach you how to use some of the modern tools that are used everyday.

Laura extracted from her purse the…, what was the name again?, cell phone, and said

"Well, she taught me how to use this…thought I only have the numbers of my sisters. She also tried to show me how to use the….television and the com…computer. I guess I will have to practice more. Right now I'm just trying to get used to the cell phone"

Anastasia laughed "Well, I did learn to use the television. I even got a glimpse of other vampire movie. If I remember the name correctly, it was called The lost boys"

She stared at us and said "Believe me, we are going to have a hard time understanding the young people"

Adrian Laughed "That movie was made in 1987. Trust me; young people are even weirder now"

He handed each of us a document "Here are your passports" he said "A british for Mina and Lucy, Hungarian for Erzsebet, and austrian for Laura and Anastasia"