It had been days since that little incident in William's corridors that she had last seen Brendon. Even though he was the one that bit her, and was, well... annoying, she couldn't help but worry about the poor guy. Those words William spoke as they left were almost haunting. Was Brendon really going to get punished after what he did for her? She did feel a bit responsible... but of course, he didn't have to do what he did.

Was what he did a form of compassion towards her? It was odd. It really didn't seem like he'd be one to be a hero and save the damsel in distress. Yet that was exactly what he did: he saved her from becoming a new unfinished piece of Picasso in William's collection. It wasn't that Lauren was ungrateful. Sure, being a vampire wasn't the path she wanted to take for her life, but being killed in that violent way really wasn't her favorite option, either.

Yet again, what she had been going through ever since the 'no blood' order was torture, too...

Most normal people would go crazy after all the time spent in the dreary dungeon she was in, but it finally started to happen after days passed with no blood. Her throat screamed for her to attack something, anything, but it was merely impossible. On the odd chances she was visited, she'd remain silent for the remainder of their time. Once when Ryan visited, she was surprised by an observation he made... Apparently, her eyes had started to glow. According to him, a vampire's eyes have been found to glow right as they drink blood, which was news to her. However, this had been the first time he'd ever seen a night walker's eyes glow from lack of blood. She couldn't of agreed more to that last part, though. Lauren was growing so insane from lack of blood, that she even attempted to attack Ryan. Growling, she pounced at the man, but was only brought back to the wall from the chains restraining her. That sudden blow caused her to look at him with new eyes, which became fearful.

"I'm so sorry, Ry..." she exclaimed, pulling her legs up to her body and hugged them tightly, "I dunno what's gotten into me."

His hand twitched to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder, but he knew better. She seemed back to normal, but a hungry vampire could do just about anything in a split second. Instead, he gave her a feeble smile. "I do. Anyone, even humans, can go crazy from lack of food. It's just worse for us... it's the only thing we ever truly crave."

"I hate it..." Lauren whispered, curling up on her side as she looked straight into her new friend's eyes.

"I know, I know." Ryan replied, kneeling down to her level. "I didn't like it, either. I still don't, when I really put thought into it."

She propped herself up, just enough to give Ryan her attention. "What happened? I mean, if you want to tell me..."

"It's fine," he replied with a small grin, "It's been about thirty years now."

"Seriously? I didn't realize that vampires were around for that long..."

"It's just like the legends say, Lauren. It hasn't been just decades, but centuries. Of course, there are very few vampires still around that are over four hundred and fifty, since it was a bit more common in the older days to have vampire hunts. Those select ones that made it, though, are the most looked up to creatures of our kind. You know, like a king would be for a kingdom."

"Who's the oldest vampire, then?"

Ryan smiled at her newly found curiosity, and continued, "It's pretty hard to keep track of these kind of things, but I have a good idea on who it is. Right now he lives in Russia, and his name is Vlad."

Lauren merely gazed at him with an agape mouth, and her head slowly tilted sideways. "Vlad as in... Vlad Dracul? Dracula?!"

"Exactly." he replied, his smile widening.

"Didn't he live in like, Romania or something?"

"All people travel..."

"But in history books, I mean, they all said that he died and-"

He started to laugh again, "Well of course. It's said that he was decapitated in battle, but that wasn't him. The history books also said that the movie Dracula was based off of him, but he was merely human, not a vampire at all. They got that partly right... In fact, he's said to be the first vampire."

By now, Lauren was back to sitting cross legged, and let out a low whistle. "Wow."

"Now you said you wanted to hear about me, right?"

"Oh, whoops!" she replied with wide eyes, before putting a hand over her mouth. "I keep interrupting, hm? I'm sorry, continue."

"Well... I was somewhat of an accident. My sisters and I were out for dinner, and it was the first time I had seen them in a few months. I was off at college here in Chicago, my other sister Valerie was starting her freshman year at a college in New York, and Hailey was just about to start high school. Valerie volunteered to come back to Illinois on her break to take care of Hailey while our parents went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. The two girls came up to Chicago so they could get some shopping done, and called me up so we could all be together. Anyways, we were walking back to my apartment, and that's when I saw William for the first time

"He was... so strange. We ignored him like we would any other stranger that passed us in the streets. My other sisters didn't notice how he turned towards us, nor that certain gleam in his eye despite his emotionless face. I saw him reach toward my sisters, though I didn't know which one... and I didn't care. All I knew was that I was the big brother, and I needed to protect them. That's exactly what I did. He was so fast, and he got so close to grabbing them. I got in just in time for him to swipe me away and bite me instead."

The way Ryan looked off into space, it made Lauren realize that it just might be the first time he talked about that event to anyone else. She swore that he could see his eyes glistening slightly... Ryan cleared his throat, and went on, "Of course the whole thing scared my sisters, and since I was already being dragged away to be this man's lunch, they did the only thing that they knew I wanted them to do: run. Surprisingly enough, William didn't go after them and kill them. He let them go... and after he decided NOT to finish me off and let me join his group, he sent Brendon to go and erase their memories of vampires. Instead, they were sent home and given a call that their dear brother had been killed in a car accident."

"I got to experience what it was like to be a ghost as it looked at it's family in mourning, except I was still solid. No one had to identify the fake body, because the car accident had destroyed 'my face' so much, I was unrecognizable. So they went with 'my' dental records. I watched over my funeral... I saw my parents break, and my siblings cry. Now that I had become this, though," he grabbed at his collar, referring to his undead self, "it was for the best."

"Valerie got married to a lawyer, and gave me two nephews and a niece. Their eldest already has two kids, and the middle child has one on the way. Hailey became an actress, has already been divorced twice, but is now also happily married and has two daughters of their own. Her eldest just had a child, as well."

"Oh wow, Hailey Ross is your sister? I saw her in a couple movies... she's really good." Lauren brought up with a smile.

"She is, huh?" he replied with the first smile in minutes, yet this one was more endearing. "I watch over them when I can, and have only been caught once... but by Valerie's youngest. It's always better if a child sees you than an adult. They do have a better sixth sense than anyone, and their imaginations can go wild. Valerie pushed me off as another imaginary friend when her daughter told her of me."

"...Why are you on William's side, then?" she asked, her eyebrows scrunching together, not comprehending the situation. "I mean, you poor dear, having to go through all of that... wasn't he the reason why you had to go through all of this?"

"Sure," he admitted, "but something much worse could've happened. No matter what, one of us would've been attacked by William that night. I'm lucky that he allowed me to be the one. Or instead, he could've finished us all off. Not only did he not kill me and let my family go, but he gave them a less traumatic experience to remain in their memories. Since then, he's left my family alone. When I turned, he took me in and taught me things I wouldn't of picked up on my own."

"But-"

"I don't think you can understand just yet, Lauren." Ryan said simply, "It's not only that. See, when you get bitten by someone, they become... I don't know. It's so hard to explain. It's not like I want to be William's spouse, but I love him. I think I did ever since he first sank his teeth into me, even though I tried to deny it. Like the Dr. Frankenstein of the monster itself."

Lauren tried wrapping her mind around it, but was quickly disturbed when the door of her own chambers flapped open, and there, plain as day, stood Brendon. Besides his scarily straight, stone-like face, he appeared almost out of harm. The sight of him made her sigh out of relief. "Brendon, you're okay," she exclaimed, getting up slowly. "I'm so sorry..." Her words were temporarily cut short when Brendon's hand suddenly flew out from behind his back, and a glistening bottle of blood awaited her.

"William sent this down, asking how you were and if you changed your mind yet."

Her mouth twisted into a frown. "That's it?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

"I dunno..." she looked down at her feet, "I just... are you alright?"

"What do you want me to tell William?" he grumbled.

His attitude made Lauren growl right back, "That I'm peachy, thanks. And the answer is still the same damn thing."

Ryan finally spoke, with almost a pleading voice, "Lauren... Remember earlier?"

Of course she did, and she felt horrible about it. "I can't let him win, Ry!"

"What would be worse: becoming a monster, or being his lover?"

"I-..." she fell silent, letting her teeth stroll over her bottom lip lightly. She could just lie about it, but for how long? When would William realize that something wasn't right? Above that, after her little incident, there was no way that she'd ever be left alone out in the open again. Lauren had to do something, though... Before she could change her mind, she quickly grasped the bottle and pulled the cork out with her teeth. Through it, she hissed, "Doeth thath ansther yo questhion?" and spit the cork towards the stairs. Strangely enough, Brendon did nothing but nod, and retreat back up the stairs and out of sight.

"What's with him?" she asked, swishing the bottle around. "I said I was sorry, and tried to talk to him, but he just ignored me. That seems just so... un-Brendon-like... So are you going to tell me the truth?"

"What truth?"

"Ry... you know what I mean! Something happened... William doesn't seem the one to give out empty threats."

"I didn't like it, it was horrible, but it had to be done..." Ryan muttered suddenly, a twinge of sorrow in his voice as he said so. "William... he-. He attacked Brendon's heart."

"What?"

His eyes darted away, his mind obviously deciding whether or not he should really say. Finally when he landed upon an answer, he took in a deep breath. "Remember when you came at me? Those chains were the only thing keeping you from trying to attack me. Brendon, he... wasn't so lucky."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Brendon was trapped in a place like yours, too, without blood. At his breaking point, someone was put in the room with him. By time he came to and realized what he was doing, it was too late... He killed his daughter."

Her eyes widened, her mouth open from the shock. "He had a daughter?"

Ryan nodded. "If Brendon were still alive, he'd be older than me. His daughter was two when he was turned, and when she was killed, she was almost forty. Like me, but about twice a year, he'd look over his family in secret. He had a fiance, too. Of course she remarried... but Brendon still loved them both."

"So he knew that it was his daughter he killed after he was done," she stated, her eyes now dead. Ryan merely nodded. "So even after all of this, you still love your beloved master. After all the horrible, horrible things he's done! What if you do something next, and you kill your sister, or your nephew!?"

"That's why I won't be dumb enough to go against him," he replied flatly, the first cold words she ever heard from him thus far. As she moodily drank her bottled blood down, a sudden loud noise upstairs was heard, causing Ryan to flinch towards the door. A shout of 'intruders!' was heard easily, even from down here, and without a word, Ryan fled up the stairs to help his comrades. As she sat there by herself, she became a bit confused. Honestly, she found it near impossible to sneak into a place like this. So what type of people were these intruders exactly?

Brushing it off, Lauren let Ryan's words ring in her head, and in turn, she grumbled random nonsense. How could they all just follow William's word like that? Poor Brendon... it's hard enough to know your child has been murdered, but by yourself, unaware of what you were doing until the very end? She could only imagine how he was feeling... It made her wonder if HE still, after all of that, loved his master like Ryan and probably all of his other little minions did. It all made her grow angry quick, and without thinking, she flung the empty bottle across the room where it smashed into a thousand pieces.

"Hey, Patrick, I think there's something down there too," a lispy voice exclaimed, just by her door upstairs. Automatically, Lauren cringed, her sharp eyes darting up at the door. Going as far as she could with the chains, she hid in the nearest corner, hoping that they'd not see her. Yeah maybe she was a little scared, but there wasn't much she could do while chained up. Even though it was strange, she stopped breathing... it being easier than it originally seemed, but still seemed so out of place. Just then, the door creaked open, and footsteps started to flood down the steps.

"Are you sure?" another voice, slightly deeper, asked. "I can't see anything here."

Couldn't see anything? Maybe these intruders weren't vampires, after all. Cause in reality, she could see them very well. The first one held a strange device, and appeared to be the tallest with a brown afro. The other had a gingery blonde look to his hair, which was covered with a trucker hat. He was the shortest of the bunch, being probably around three or four inches taller than she was, Lauren estimated. The next guy who was just coming down, just like the last, also had glasses. His hair was a brownish red, and pretty voluminous as well. He was the only one carrying a recognizable weapon: two small swords. The three were quiet as they scanned the room, before the voice from earlier, the man with the 'fro, exclaimed, "Positive, man. It was like... I dunno, breaking glass or something."

At that moment, the middle height man's shoe crushed the glass from her bottle, and he automatically stepped back, "Yeah here it is..."

Lauren's eyes traveled from over at that scene, straight up at the other two, and stopped in horror. The one in a hat was staring directly down at her, and continued to come closer. The man next to him watched his friend, and looked right in the direction he was heading, and his eyes also widened. "Whoa. Where'd she come from?"

She. Automatically, she backed up into her corner, her nails digging into the wall. "Stay back," she warned half-heartedly, thinking of what all she could do to protect herself. "I mean it..."

The hat man stopped right away, and oddly enough, knelt down to her level. "I'm not gonna hurt you." he told her assuringly, his eyebrows pulling up. He glanced down once, his pale hand tracing over the chains, and went back to look into her own. "...Are they keeping you prisoner here?"

Lauren dropped her hands slowly, but still remained tense. Maybe they weren't bad after all? Maybe they could help her... "Yeah."

"For how long?" the other one in glasses asked.

"I've lost track," she admitted, her face scrunching together, "I used to keep track, but ever since they stopped bringing down... erm, food... That was the only way I was able to, you know, know."

The man in front of her gazed at her for a little while, before looking back at the other two. "We have to take her with us. This is bad, even for the Dandies..."

"Yeah, man, but we gotta hurry. Pete'll be here soon... he can only hold them off for a little bit." The man with the machine came forward, and pointed it straight at the chain.

"Joe, the laser?" the man by her exclaimed worriedly, "We've only just started testing it again!"

"It'll be fine, Patrick," Joe assured him, and motioned for Lauren to move back a little more, before he zapped the whole chain into smithereens. The only thing left was the cuffs, to which Patrick told her, "We'll get them off back at the place, alright? Just come with us-"

"Time to go!" A voice urgently exclaimed, going at top notch down the steps. "What are you guys doing? We have to get out now!"

"We have an extra person we'll be bringing," Patrick replied, and helped Lauren onto her feet. "Can you carry her? You're the fastest."

Pete growled in frustration, before coming straight up to her, and stopped. His crimson-brown eyes widened, as did Lauren's, and his hand reached out to touch her cheek, as if she wasn't real. Pete took a sharp intake of breath.

"...Sis?"