Hans was asleep when I opened the door to his bedroom. He was a cute little boy, no older than seven. His hair was the color of fresh cut straw, like his father's had once been, but he had Uta's sweet features and dark lashes. Hans didn't even stir when I sat down in the rocking chair by the window, staring out across the sunlit yard.

I didn't feel like moving, even when I saw Hans stir, opening one bleary eye.

"Vampire." He sprang into action immediately, grabbing the sharpened stick he had carried in the forest and plunging it into my chest with surprising strength.
I stared at him blankly.

"You father said to behave. He's getting the undertaker." I said softly, pulling the stake out and transforming the hole into mist. "It'll take a lot more than that to kill me."

Hans stared at me with an endearingly stubborn expression that he had gotten from Augustijn, though it looked much more terrifying on the latter.
"Why is papa getting the undertaker." He asked, picking at a bandage on his cheek.

"Don't pick, you'll open it up." I said, looking back out the window. I didn't want to tell him. I didn't want to tell myself.

"Who died, Vampire?"

I shook my head. "Hush. Go back to sleep."

I could smell Dante's remains downstairs. I wanted to go outside, to run away from it all, but a single sobering thought kept me rooted to the spot; my entire life I had spent running and hiding from things that threatened me, hurt me, or scared me. And that had killed Dante.

Now, more than ever, it was deathly important for me to stay and fight. I had to do things right from now on, but I, as certain as the sun rose and the stars fell, couldn't do it on my own.

Hans was looking at me, his sea-grey eyes watching my every move. He wasn't about to back away until he got the answers he wanted. I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at him.

"Dante was attacked by that other vampire last night." I said softly. "And he passed away from the injuries this morning. We did all we could to save him. I'm sorry." I opened my eyes, swallowing my sorrow as much as I could.

Hans looked at me, his face stricken. "Why?"

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I looked at the boy. "Because everything has to end sometime. Dante had to go sooner than expected. It's just the way things are."
Now, I never have been terribly talented in dealing with children, and when Hans burst into screaming sobs, I found myself clasping my hands over my ears in annoyance. It wasn't his fault, really, and he looked exactly how I felt, but a vampire's hearing is startlingly sensitive, and his screams would have been piercing to humans as well.

"Please! Don't do that!" I found myself clasping my hand over his mouth to muffle his screams. I could smell a vampire coming closer to the house, coming with the scent of Augustijn and Uta.

I felt something slimy against my hand and realized that Hans was licking me, trying to get me to let go. Tears and mucus were streaming down his face onto my cold, pale hand. I had never seen a human behave like this before, and I felt somewhat repulsed, but on the other hand, I felt a degree of respect for his display of emotion.

"Stop. It." I said impatiently, letting go and wiping my hand on my skirt. "That's disgusting. You stay up here. Your parents are coming back, and I need to go talk to them for a moment."

Without waiting for a response, I left him, running down the stars and through the kitchen, passing Dante's body with a tinge of pain in my chest.
The Van der Zanden's looked bewildered as I crossed the garden to meet them, trampling their peas and carrots.

Between them was a man well over six foot, dressed head to toe in cheap, tacky black robes. His greasy hair was pulled back into a mousy blond ponytail and his eyes were pale and rather Germanic in shape. He was repulsive to me by all degrees, wreaking of Lillith. I was certain that The Van der Zanden's weren't aware, even with their vast experience as vampire hunters. This man was an early stage vampire. I had already seen red. She attacked one of mine, I would kill one of hers.

His faint, pink eyes looked startled as I ran towards them. He could certainly see me, but I was moving far too fast for him to counter.
Without any word or warning to the Van der Zanden's, I struck, sinking my teeth into the man's filthy neck.

The Undertaker's blood was repulsive, stale, like bad meat, but it was blood, and far more fulfilling than anything I had ever drank. Augustijn tried to pull me off of him, but by the time he intervened, I had drained the stranger of blood.

He lay on the ground twitching, and I wiped my mouth, feeling ill. Augustijn slammed me against the ground, his gun pressed to my throat.

He was ready to behead me.

I hadn't expected my unlife to end so quickly, especially now that there was so much to do, and yet here Augustijn was, his full weight on my chest, and he was going to kill me.

"Augustijn!" Uta was pulling her husband off of me as the undertaker's body collapsed inward, seemingly rotting before our eyes before turning into a pile of dust.
Augustijn heaved a sigh of relief, uncocking his gun and getting off of me, pulling me up after him.

"That was close, Integra."

XxX

Everyone avoided the kitchen like it was infected with disease. I charged myself with writing a letter addressed to Anna, care of her parent's address in London. Augustijn was kind enough to leave me in the privacy of his study. I didn't cry, I was surprised by this. I certainly felt like it, but it hardly seemed like a productive thing to do, especially after so many weeks of doing absolutely nothing.

I felt disgustingly sober as I sat there, trying to find the words to finish the letter. I found myself frequently standing up from the desk and pacing around the room. At noon, some men came and took Dante's body away on a stretcher. He was to be taken to London and buried in Highgate in a plot that belonged to me. It was a beautiful plot, with trees, a few, old-fashioned headstones near it. Young women liked to picnic on the open lawn nearby it; it was perfect for him, he would have loved it.

I stayed in the shadows of the curtains as I watched them leave. Dante's scent lingered in the house, carrying with it the very essence of sadness. He wasn't gong to come back, and I was choking up again.

I turned back to the desk, my shoulders slumping as I forced myself to conclude the letter. Once I had finished and sent the cursed thing off via owl, Augustijn came in to talk with me for a while, asking me what my plans were from here on.

I didn't know, and under his scrutinizing stare, I found it difficult to formulate a plan. My judgment was clouded by sadness and grief, and an undertone of anger, which manifested itself as a dull buzzing feeling.

"It's okay to ask for advise, Integra. No one will think ill of you." Augustijn said softly, his Dutch accent making his words seem just a little bit softer. "Nor is it a sin to ask for help. You are not all-powerful, you will need help."

"Thank you." Was all I could say as I stared at the endless piles of books. Dr. Van der Zanden's study brought me back to Dumbledore's office from the 1940's, all of the unanswered questions that seemed to rise like bubbles in water.

"I…we need your help, Doctor." I said quietly, leaning on my elbow and looking at him through tired eyes. "You see, before I left, Anna and I were putting together pieces of a puzzle. But we were groping blindly in the dark, much like we are now."

"I can assure you, Integra, we are many things. Blind in the dark is not one of them." Augustijn said with an undertone of the utmost confidence. "I will tell you what I know, and you will tell me what you know, and together, we will illuminate this puzzle. At the core, that is what the Illuminati are."

"I keep thinking back to something Dante said when I first met him." I said slowly. "He said he wondered about the beginnings of vampires. I wonder that, too. I didn't care before, because I didn't think it was anything that would effect me, but now…I have a feeling that…this would all be explained if we knew more about it."

"Ah, Integra, that is something that even the light of Illuminati could not shine upon." He said, withdrawing his pendant from the folds of his shirt and lifting it so the light caught the jade at the center of the all-seeing eye. "It boils down to individual faith, but I can tell you, Integra, that the Truth of Lillith is becoming more and more evident as time passes."

"Lillith." I said, sitting up a little straighter in the wingback chair, recollection hitting me. "Dante's mother, Signora Luchia. She said the name 'Lillith' before she died…Lillith was there when the Count was Turned." I clasped my hand over my mouth, spotting the strange look on Augustijn's face.

"That is certainly intriguing, if not disturbing. Lillith, according to The Book of Enoch, was the original bride of Adam. Created not of or by him, but with him. She was, in every way, his equal. But when Adam refused to acknowledge this, she grew angry, and for the sin of anger, she was cast from the Garden of Eden."

"How is this relevant to vampires? Why would Signora Luchia bring this up?"

"They have fallen from the eyes of God; Lillith's spirit wanted to avenge the wrongs committed on her by the world, so she began to drink the blood of the children of Adam and Eve, and eventually, the blood of her own Children of Darkness. She became a demon in and of herself. As for Dante's mother, the Signora, I do not understand why the name Lillith would be significant to her. Lillith is a little-known legend in the wizarding world, but I am aware that there was a conflict in Italy, concerning the Sanguarians."

"I was informed that the Illuminati had been contacted. In fact, they pursued Dante and I into Northern France. That scar on his hand was caused by an attack on us in Italy."

Dr. Van der Zanden went quiet, adjusting his tie, his lips curving downward in a frown. Was it just my imagination, or was he feeling a small degree of guilt?

"In any organization you will have people who…start rifts, petty political issues and ridiculous feuds start wars that can break up an organization. I am Illuminati, my father and my father's father, and his before that have all been Illuminati. And so will be my son. An organization as old as the Illuminati has many factions, like the Gormagon and the Freemasons.

"Some believe in upholding the knowledge of the ages, some believe in ridding the world of all abominations against God. Like religion, one man's interpretation of purpose can start an entirely new sect. Recently, some of the more military-minded members have taken it upon themselves to destroy all vampires, regardless of political affiliation. Getting the go-ahead from the government is a way to legitimize the bloodshed. And the money fuels their legitimacy." He looked at me fully, dropping his hands to his thighs. "I admit, I was sympathetic to their cause until I came to Hogwarts. I understand now that humans and vampires can co-exist in a peaceful state, and that vampires can be a great asset to both Muggle and Wizard society, and without a doubt to the Illuminati."

I nodded, frowning slightly and brushing a stray strand of hair away from my face.

"I'm relieved that…you understand we are not all evil."

Augustijn laughed nervously. "Let us hope that it does not get me kicked out of the Illuminati."

I nodded, forcing a smile, but suddenly feeling terribly sad. He was putting his entire career and family on the line just to help Anna and I. Dante died a horrible death because of my cowardice, and Anna was in danger. So many lives were upset just because of my existence…

"What are you thinking, Integra?"

"I was thinking about Lillith." I lied, looking him in the eye.

"Ah, we have digressed, haven't we?" He took a deep breath, crossing his knees. "There's a discrepancy in the legend; Lillith's sin was wrath and pride, but so were Adam's. Why would a God, being as just and merciful as claimed." I noticed his tired eyes raise to a small cross mounted on the wall. "Why would he cast out one child, but not the other?"

"Parents play favorites, maybe the God of the legend isn't as merciful as they claim, or maybe the legend is just that; a legend."

"That is what I thought, initially. But, and you will not like this, Integra, when I fought the Count as a young man, I found out something about him. You know as well as I do he was a perfect gentleman, good or evil as he was. He, like many gentlemen, would gladly oblige one in a story, even while doing battle. Thinking I was to die, he told me of how he became a vampire."

I felt my hand begin to tremble, my body now surging with excitement and frustration. I knew this story already, to a degree, but I wanted to hear it from someone else.

"Wallachia in the 15th century was not the Romania we know today. It was wracked by war and soaked in blood. There was not a single tract of land that wasn't bathed in the blood of the Turks or the Walachians. When he was a boy, Vlad was sent to live and study under the Turks. Under their care he was tortured, beaten, and raped. Upon his return to Wallachia, he was betrayed by the Boyars. His father was slaughtered and his older brother was brutally tortured before being buried alive. His younger brother, Radu, was the one who sold him out, all for the favor of his lover, the Sultan of Turkey. "

"He told you all of this?"

Augustijn shook his head. "No. All of what I am telling you came from the history books. The next part is what he told me; that, after suffering the utmost betrayal of his men, he was approached by a beautiful woman, who proposed to him great power at a heavy price."

"Lillith."

"I can only deduce it was her... Out of desperation, he accepted. Needless to say, he became very nearly undefeatable, as do most of Lillith's children. You see, he was born of vengeance. Lillith hates the world of men, and very nearly hates the world, therefore any havoc she can wreck keeps her amused. She's Eris."

"And why would Lillith wish to go after Dante? Just more chaos to amuse her?"

"The nearest I can tell, to draw you out and gauge your power. Until you stood up to her in the end, Dante had a chance at continuing on the earth as a vampire. He was the bargaining chip against you."

I sat back in the chair, closing my eyes. As much as I didn't want to, I knew I had to hear it.

"But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Haven't you figured it out by now, Integra?" He asked, standing up and beginning to pace. "A Faustian bargain cannot be broken; Lillith didn't give Vlad his kingdom without a price: and she has apparently come to claim it."

"But Dracula had others…I'm certain of it."

"But none he loved as much as you." Augustijn said, turning with such passion that I found myself jerking backwards in shock. "You look surprised, Integra!" He laughed.

"Stop." I hissed, clenching the arms of the chair with such ferocity that my fingernails nearly punctured the upholstery. "Don't you think that it's bad enough… I could have done something…"

"Don't think you ever had a choice, Integra. In the long run, your actions were much better than the alternative. Saving your honor as well as Dante's…" He trailed off, his eyes staring out the window. He shook his head, sitting back down and looking at me appraisingly. "You're the most powerful vampire in the British colonies. I don't know if it's by occupational default, or by your talents. I think that's why Lillith singled you out, and your vampire lineage is certainly not anything to sneer at. You need to hunt down Anna. We don't have much time to make an educated decision. She will be safe if you are by her side and you will be safest beside hers. I believe that together, you two have the power to confront Lillith on a grander scale, or at least find a more effective solution to the problem."

I stood up, crossing my arms over my chest, my stomach twisting into knots from excitement and frustration. Each moment that passed was keeping me from Anna.

I leaned against the window sill, my back resting against the heavy brocade curtain. "Then, I guess I should go find Anna. I'll start in London and work from there."
"How are you going to find Anna in London? Not only does the Ministry think you are deceased, you can't risk being seen."

"I don't know. I honestly don't know. I'll go down to London with Dante's body and from there…I have her parents address, but Anna may have moved out, I don't know. I wouldn't put it past her."

Augustijn nodded. "The train leaves in an hour. Uta, Hans, and I are all going for the funeral.

"Then you told the authorities it was a vampire attack?" I asked, resting my fingertips against my eyebrow.

"I had to. I told them it was the undertaker. He's been a problem for the young women of Hogsmead, and Dante is…was well known around here for his chivalry." He stood up. "And what better to draw information on vampires out of the Ministry than a member of the Illuminati?"

"What are you thinking?"

"The Ministry is asking me to replace you. I'm taking the job. I'll notify the Illuminati that you are not to be touched, and that you're planning on stopping Lillith. No doubt there will be a few glory hounds out there that will try to stop you for their own benefit, but having a hundred Illuminati after you is nothing like having a thousand."

I fell silent. I had never said anything about stopping Lillith. I was not by any means powerful enough to counter a vampire of her caliper, but that didn't mean that I didn't want revenge.

On top of that, I couldn't let Anna get caught in the crossfire between Lillith and I, and no doubt, she would.

Lillith had already killed Dante because of me.

XxX

A/n: Herein our heroin falls prey to guilt...

Oh hey look, it's a Tuesday Update! Thanks for the review on my last chapter. It much appreciate it :)