Von Krolock sat and stared at the floor. He was exhausted yet he couldn't sleep. He had slept so little in the couple days since he had been brought to the barn and what sleep he did get was poor and so broken he had lost any sense of whether it was day or night. He couldn't even remember how many days he had been there. The little bit of cow's blood Liliana had given him had been enough to settle his hunger pains and a few minor scrapes had already healed but Cristian, Peter and Ivan had done so much damage that his entire body ached constantly. His back still burned from the whipping, the burned cuts on his chest from the silver blade were still very tender and he was certain some of his ribs had been fractured.

He knew he should want to find a way to escape but all the time he spent awake his mind kept wandering to Anneliese. If he made it out alive it would only be to return to a life he had hated, a life he had avoided for thirty years causing his sister and son to take care of him as if he were a helpless child. Instead of wanting to escape, he was wishing they would take their cruelty too far and finally kill him.

"Have we changed our mind this evening?" Von Krolock looked up to find Cristian and his friends standing in the doorway. "Are you going to tell us now where the other vampires are?"

"No," was all he said. The three men advanced upon him, one holding the branding iron, one holding the whip and another holding the silver razor. Von Krolock covered his head with his arms and closed his eyes.

-.-.-.-.-

"Papa! Papa!" Herbert squealed as he ran down the stairs. Von Krolock swept his little boy into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I am so glad you are home, Papa!" Herbert's voice was muffled by Von Krolock's cloak. "I have missed you terribly!"

"I was only gone for two days," Von Krolock chuckled. He gave his son another squeeze before setting him back down on his feet. He handed the butler his cloak then knelt down so he was eye to eye with his son. "Were you a good boy for Nanny Elsa?"

"Yes, Papa." Dimples formed in Herbert's cheeks as he smiled widely.

"Promise?" Von Krolock leaned forward and tilted his head down slightly. Immediately Herbert did the same so their foreheads were touching and he kissed the tip of his father's nose.

"I promise," he whispered with a giggle.

"Good." Von Krolock kissed one of Herbert's chubby cheeks then stood up to retrieve his bag. "I've brought you a surprise." Herbert stood beside Von Krolock to try and look inside the bag but even on his toes his head barely reached above his father's hips.

"What is it? What did you bring me?" He asked.

"I brought you a sack of peas."

"Peeeaass?" Herbert crinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue. "I hate peas!" Von Krolock bit the inside of his mouth to keep from smiling.

"What do you mean you don't like peas? I thought you loved peas!"

"Peas are yucky," Herbert said with a frown.

"Oh dear," Von Krolock sighed. "Well, if you don't like peas then I guess the only thing I have here to give you is..." He paused for a moment and watched as Herbert began to grow anxious, hopping from one foot to the other.

"Come on, Papa! What is it?"

"Well..." He looked down at the object in the bag. "I am not sure you will like it. I was going to give it to Nanny Elsa because I thought you would have been happy with the peas..."

"Papaaaaa!" Herbert whined and pulled on Von Krolock's waistcoat. Von Krolock pulled the present from the bag and held it out before the child. Herbert's eyes grew so large at the sight of the bag of marbles it seemed they took up half of the boy's small face and Von Krolock couldn't keep from smiling. Herbert threw his arms around Von Krolock's legs and hugged him. "I love them, Papa! They are perfect! Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Von Krolock combed his fingers through Herbert's golden blonde hair. "Why don't you take these to the playroom and try them out?"

"Can you play with me? Please?" Herbert asked, staring up at his father. Von Krolock sighed as he looked over at his satchel filled with documents that needed to be read and signed but when he looked down at Herbert again he smiled.

"Of course I will play with you." Taking the boy's small hand in his they walked through the castle up to Herbert's playroom. Von Krolock removed his jacket and waistcoat and after removing his shoes, he sat down on the floor where Herbert had already dumped the entire bag of marbles.

"Look at this one, Papa. Look how pretty it is." Herbert held a marble against the sunlight that flooded in through one of the high arched windows.

"Yes, that is very pretty. Can you tell me what color it is?"

"Red. And this one," Herbert dropped the red marble and picked up another one, letting the sunlight shine through it, "is green."

"That is right," Von Krolock said gently. He held up one of the marbles himself and asked, "What color is this?" Herbert looked at it closely.

"Yellow. That was Mama's favorite color, isn't that what you said, Papa?" Von Krolock smiled sadly.

"Yes it was. Yellow, just like the color of your hair." He ruffled Herbert's hair and the boy giggled.

"What is your favorite color?" Herbert asked. Von Krolock skimmed his fingers over the little balls of glass until he found the right one. He held it up and Herbert smiled. "Blue! That is my favorite color too, then!"

"It is, is it?"

"Yes," Herbert said as he climbed into his father's lap. "Since it is your favorite color it is my favorite color as well because I want to be just like you." Von Krolock wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly, resting his cheek on the top of his head. "I am so happy you are home again. I love you, Papa," the child whispered.

"And I love you, Herbert," Von Krolock whispered back.

-.-.-.-.-

"Is he dead?" Von Krolock's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Peter's voice. A few tears slipped from his eyes as he became aware of the fact he was not sitting with his son in his sunlit playroom, but was chained up in the dark, cold barn being whipped and burned.

"No. I'm pretty sure you just knocked him out," Ivan said. Von Krolock realized they hadn't seen him open his eyes so he closed them again and remained still.

"Von Krolock!" Cristian shouted. He gave the vampire a firm nudge with his foot but Von Krolock didn't move. "Well I guess that is it for tonight. Come on, let's get out of here." Von Krolock heard something drop beside his head but he waited until he was sure the men were gone. When he finally opened his eyes he saw that one of them had left a few dad rats for him to feed on.

He tried to sit up but his vision grew dark and the room began to spin so he lay down again and waited for the dizziness to pass. When it did he pushed himself up again, slower this time, until he was sitting up. He picked up the rats which looked to have been crushed by the strong jaw of a rat trap. He thought of the dead cat and wasn't sure if he could stomach the rats but he didn't know if Liliana was going to bring him more to eat or not. She had told him she would but how could he know if he could trust her? He only had himself to rely on. He bit down into one of the rats and drained it quickly of its sour blood before moving onto the others