Mina's pov

The travel lasted for about 12 hours, during which Vladimir showed us a video

"A historian friend of mine has prepared this video that explains the most important events of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21th century. I think is very important that you, my ladies, learn what has happened in the past 115 years in order to understand the modern world"

With my sisters, I watched with interest the three hour long video. A part of me marveled at the advances of the technology described on the video, or the social progress of women in modern society. However, I felt mostly repulsion from most of the things the video showed.

War, genocide, totalitarian regimes, the 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history. Before it, number of victims in any conflict could be counted as hundreds or thousands, but now the numbers were in millions.

For the first time in my life I saw erzsebet wept, as the video showed images of the Nazis concentration camp, and how an entire race was led to extermination

"My God" was all I could say when the power of the atomic bomb was shown. It seemed that most of the advances that has been created by humanity have been applied to war

"And they call us monsters" Laura managed to say.

I finally understood what happened to the British Empire, and I could not help but shed tears as I saw London bombarded by the German air force. "Was any of my friends still alive?" I wondered "Jonathan, Arthur, Jack, quince" my thoughts went with them.

However, there was also hope. I saw images of leaders and scientist such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Einstein, and others that brought the best of humanity

The beginning of the 21th century was not as bloody as the 20th century, but there were still many horrors. Terrorism, intolerance, drugs.

"They seem so loss" Lucy commented on the younger generations. Technology seemed to have replaced human contact.

When the video was over, Anastasia commented to us "I don't know if I will ever adapt to this modern world…we are relics of the past, when the world was much simpler"

Erzsebet put a hand on Anastasia shoulder and said reassuringly "Don't worry, we still have each other and I'm sure we will adjust"

The rest of the travel went without any incident. We would occasionally look out at the window, marveling at the sight and the mere fact that we were flying.

"You know" said to me a Nervous Laura "This is the first time in my life that I go outside Eastern Europe. The only lands I know Is Austria, Hungary and Romania.

"Well" I answered "I only traveled outside England once, when we were chasing Dracula from London to Transylvania, and I didn't see much of the foreign lands"

Lucy added "I just can't believe we are actually going to America" for a moment she seemed lost in a memory and continued "I wonder if Quincey's descendents live there".

When we arrived at what Vladimir called "L.A. International airport" and got out of the jet, my vampire senses were overwhelmed by all the lights, noise and activities. All the people seemed to be in a hurry and moved fast. I stared at my sisters and they seemed lost. Lucy and I were accustomed to the life in London in the late 19th century, but that did not prepare us for this.

We fallowed Vladimir into a black vehicle that was parked outside the airport "This vehicle is a limousine" he explained to us "And don't worry, our driver belongs to my clan so you can confide in him"

"Look at the buildings" said Anastasia as the vehicle drove into the city

"They are called Skyscrapers" Vladimir explained to us as we ventured further in the city.

"How many people live here?" asked Erzsebet, she seemed very impressed by the size of it, and I couldn't blame her. I remember that by the end of the 19th century, London and its suburbs, with 6 million people was by far the biggest city in the world. Yet it seemed little in comparison.

Laura asked "Is this the biggest city in the world?"

Vladimir laughed and said "L.A., and its surrounding area, has a population of some 15 million people. And no, it's not biggest city in the world, it's not even among the top 10. At the moment the capital of Japan, Tokyo, with some 34 million, holds that position

It was very late at night, but there was so much activity on the streets, and so many artificial lights, that it seemed as if it were daytime.

"Our destination is a manor located on Holmby hills" Vladimir said "Is very isolated and has a magnificent view over the rest of the city".

After a while we reached our destination. The first thing that came to my mind, when I saw the manor, was the English countryside for it was built in a British style.

As if reading what was on my mind, Vladimir smiled and said "Its an 18th century English manor. It was brought here in the 50's by my father"

We entered the manor and I could sense the ancient air surrounding us. My sisters seemed to be relieved we were not going to stay in one of those modern looking buildings.

After we left our belongings in the rooms, Erzsebet said with a smile "I don't know if you feel the same, but this trip has left me kind of hungry"

She stared at the driver and Vladimir and asked with a smile "I don't suppose there is an isolated forest nearby where I could find some local villagers"

The driver laughed and said "Well, the closest forest is just north of the city, on the Los Angeles national forest, but I think any park within the city might just do as well"

We all agreed to go but Vladimir warned us of something

"Be very careful not to gain too much attention. Also, you must know that other supernatural forces have come to the city in the past few days"

"What?" I asked, surprised by this revelation.

He stared at us all and said "I don't know if Lord Vlad told you this, but there are other powers in this world. Some of these forces are older and more powerful than the magic used by lord Vlad to create vampirism. Most of these powers have been dormant or have not interfered with humanity for a long time"

Erzsebet said "In all my years with him, he never told me that. Why do you think these…powers are back and coming here?"

Vladimir scratched his head and answered

"I suppose it's because of the aliens. Some of these powers were charged by the creator to rule the earth before the coming of men. Now forces outside earth are coming, and we don't know if they represent a threat. You must understand that these powers and old magics are earthbound, so they have no way to know or interfere in what is happening in the rest of the universe"

We left the manor with these thought in our minds "What was out there besides vampires?" I wondered, and the famous Shakespeare quote "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy" sounded very real