… Simon stood in the coffin room in disbelief, staring at the corpse of his assistant on the floor. He could not believe that it was all happening again.

"Steven" he said to the guard next to him "How did Justin get the access code to get into the vault after hours?"

"He must have copied it from somewhere" the guard replied, scratching his head "I know for sure that I did not let him access anything. Does your daughter know the access codes? Surely she might have told him something"

"There's no way Garnet would know the codes" Simon said, shaking his head "I am positive that I am the only one that knows the access codes. Even my wife wouldn't know the codes to get into the vault."

"Shall I get rid of the body, sir?" the guard asked Simon, understanding what he was to do, according to the policies his employer set into place when he took over for Matthew Van Helsing.

"Please do" Simon said with a weary sigh "I'll be going to my office now. Don't hesitate to get a hold of me if you need me"

"Yes sir" the guard said, obediently picking up the dead body of Justin McCartney as Simon left the premises.

'Great' Simon thought worriedly as he climbed the winding staircase back to the main foyer of Carfax 'What am I going to tell Mary? We have to protect Garnet as well'

Reaching his office, he opened the secret opening hidden in his desk to reveal his mentor's journal. Silently praising himself for keeping Abraham's things around, he began to flip through the pages for a solution to his predicament.

As he absently flipped through the pages, he recalled the day Garnet was born.

Mary sat up in bed, cradling the quiet baby in her arms. A great tenderness fell upon Simon as he gazed at his new daughter.

"Simon" Mary said, fighting back tears as she held Garnet closely to her chest "I fear for our daughter's safety, especially if he escapes"

"You mustn't worry about such things, Mary" Simon assured her, sitting at her bedside "He is locked up and sealed for good. He will never go near us ever again"

"I shall not worry about my safety much longer" Mary said, gazing at their daughter "My visions and nightmares stopped when I became pregnant with her. We have to protect our daughter; I fear I passed his blood onto her. I do not want her to go through the same things I did a few years ago."

"Mary" Simon reassured her, stroking her dark hair lovingly as Garnet slept peacefully in her arms "I will never let him near you or our daughter. This I promise you. She will never grow up with having to face those nightmares and visions that you had."

"Fat load of good that promise was" Simon muttered under his breath as his mind returned to the present "Mary is going to be very upset when she hears that he has been released again"

He knew exactly what his wife would say to him when he told her about the man they desperately kept locked away was now free again.

"Mary will harp on the visions she used to have again" he whispered to himself as he stared at Abraham's journals "It's a small wonder that Garnet doesn't suffer from them as well, especially if she is bound to him by his blood"…

… Garnet stood in her bedroom, putting the finishing touches on her outfit. Something about going out to Eternal that night made her feel uneasy.

Then again, she had been feeling uneasy all day…it was an unfamiliar feeling to her.

"It was the dream" she whispered to herself, as she applied lip gloss. "Then seeing him in my room. It's just dreams. There's no need to feel uneasy!"

Before she could continue her talk with herself, she heard the familiar knock at her French doors and went to let Serena in.

As usual, Serena flounced in, wearing one of her scandalous outfits. Her long chestnut brown hair hung loose in smooth ripples down to her lower back and she was heavily made up.

Sometimes, Serena's clothing choices made Garnet wonder how old her friend was trying to act like. It was amazing to her how Serena put maturity into her looks, but acted like a spoilt teenager.

"Seriously, Garnet!" Serena complained, taking a look at the modest floral dress and denim jacket she had selected for the evening. "Are you trying to attract a man or a swarm of bees?"

"What's wrong with my outfit?" Garnet demanded, looking at herself in the full-length mirror. "I rather think I look stunning in it!"

Sighing dramatically, Serena flounced into Garnet's walk-in closet and came out with a less modest outfit that was out of Garnet's comfort zone for that night.

"No way I am wearing that tonight!" Garnet exclaimed, eyeing the skimpy shirt and skin-tight pants. "I want to enjoy myself, not get raped!"

"Live a little, Garnet!" Serena insisted, shoving the outfit at her. "I doubt they'd let in someone dressed like a librarian!"

Garnet knew she would never hear the end of it if she didn't go along with Serena's suggestion. She didn't want to spend her time at Eternal, listening to Serena drone on and on about her willingness to be mediocre when she could be a knockout. In the 20 years that they'd been friends, she'd learned to allow Serena small victories.

Taking the outfit from Serena's outstretched hands, she quickly shed the dress and denim coat and put on what her friend had picked out with a sigh of resignation.

As she gazed at her reflection in the mirror, she suddenly found herself in the embrace of the man of her dreams and she let out a little gasp.

"Garnet!" she heard Serena's voice in the distance as she stood with her dream man in what seemed like a faraway place.

"My beloved" he said in his deep, softly commanding voice while he pressed her close to him.

Garnet's eyes widened at his choice of words before she shut them, willing the image away.

She felt a new pair of hands upon her, giving her a panicked shake.

Her eyes flew open and she could only see Serena standing in front of her, a concerned expression upon her face.

"Garnet, what the hell?!" she exclaimed, sighing in relief at the clarity in her eyes. "You scared me. You looked like you were in some sort of trance."

"I…I'm fine" she managed to reply as she put on her black corduroy jacket over her new outfit. "Let's go!"…

…He watched the two girls descend the staircase as he stood in the shadows. The dark haired girl was in the lead, chattering about how they needed to find men.

She had a vague resemblance to Mary's lusty but easily seduced friend Lucy Westerna. While Lucy was moderately beautiful, this other girl reminded him of the painted ladies of the night he'd used as his personal blood bank back in Victorian London.

He then got a clear glimpse of his bride as she followed her friend down the stone stairs. She was even more beautiful than she had been when he'd visited her in her dreams. There was no artifice to her at all and he felt his blood coursing through her veins.

There was no doubt about it…she was his future bride. He let them move several paces ahead of him before silently starting his pursuit…