A/N: Thanks for reading.

I'm sorry it's going to be so long, I've never written a fic so long.

Does anyone want me to condense it down or would you rather I left it as it is?

Chapter 22: Ancestral

Vlad landed silently with Erin close beside him she swayed slightly from side to side. She'd never flown that distance before.

They'd stopped a few hundred yards short of their destination. Vlad had been keeping a close eye on her as she flew, he could see she was growing weaker and weaker. He didn't want to put their baby at risk.

Erin found the dew-covered ground fascinating as she tried to concentrate on it, take her mind off the way her stomach was churning from the flight. She felt like she was a mortal again, this is how flying and speeding used to affect her.

"Erin?" Vlad asked quietly, Erin waved a hand in the air trying to show she was okay a split second before the contents of her stomach were on the grass beside her.

"The baby obviously doesn't like flying." She quipped quietly. She wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve before standing back up fully, her stomach tightening from heaving causing a tugging sensation and a wince of pain. "It'll go." She assured him, she could already feel it receding. Although she'd discovered that there was no such thing as morning sickness, it was all day and night sickness instead.

"We're almost there," He whispered to her. She lifted her head up and gasped.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Along the horizon a tall building was silhouetted on the top of a hill, the full moon behind it seemingly bigger than anything Erin had ever seen before. She was surprised, she'd expected the castle to be in a similar state to Stokely but it was nothing like it. The castle – there was no other way to describe it – was intact. She shouldn't have been surprised considering the school was in perfectly good condition.

The ancestral home of the Draculas was an impressive sight for all to see.

The outside had a mediaeval flare to it, but it was clear to see that it had been modernised in sections as the centuries went on. There was something akin to Stuart design and an annex on the left had side reminiscent to the Renaissance.

The castle was derelict and dark. Not a single glimmer of light shone through the windows to the outside world.

The height of the building was impressive, it must have been at least the same height as the crumbling, turret of Stokely Castle.

Around the entire castle was a high wall, obviously too keep anyone unwanted out. There was a narrow gap that was filled with iron gates, the hinges of which were marked with gargoyles.

Thick, ancient, heavily foliaged trees surrounded the base of the hill, the village was nowhere near the castle, it was cast in the building's shadow instead. As if it was designed that every time any Transylvanian looked up they would remember that the castle housed something to be feared, knowing Vlad's ancestors that was probably the reason for it being placed there. It showed the power they had over the people.

Erin shivered as she realised that the tall, healthy, fir trees around her were the witnesses to innumerable slaughters. It was part of Vlad's family 'legacy' that was difficult to remember at times. Vlad saw her reaction and knew exactly what she was thinking.

"There's a path." Vlad whispered to her with a small, sad smile. He hadn't walked this way for years.

He gestured to a narrow track that had been created from the 'peasants' walking to and from the castle. It hadn't been crafted out of bark, stones or tarmac.

He laced his fingers with Erin's and began to pull her up the narrow path to the castle gates.

Their feet slipped a few times but they managed to keep upright. They knew their jeans were being caked with mud and pine needles. Vlad could feel the dew seeping into the bottom of his trousers, spreading the dampness throughout his legs.

Vlad suddenly ground to a halt as something appeared from the shadows. He froze but Erin hadn't noticed he'd stopped and slammed into his back knocking him forwards. Vlad flailed his arms as he tried to regain his balance.

By the time he'd regained his balance, the shadow had vanished.

"What is it?" She asked softly, looking around in the darkness trying to work out why he'd stopped.

"I thought I saw something." Transylvanians didn't come out at night, they knew the consequences of they did. Not that it happened anymore but a few millennia worth of fear was hard to ignore. He shook his head, he must need some sleep or something. "Probably a hell hound." Vlad whispered, hell hounds were common around this area.

"Like Zoltan?" She only knew one hell hound and he was quite 'tame'.

"Worse." He told her, hell hounds as their name suggested came from Hell. They were born out of pure evil and didn't know the meaning of mercy. Once they had a target they didn't stop. "They attack anyone they come across, vampire, werewolf, slayer breather even their own kind. They don't care. Stay close."

Erin nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist as he pulled her closer to him. He pressed a kiss to her temple as they sped up in their pace, the quicker they reached the top the safer they'd be.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

It hadn't been clear from the base of the hill but on top of the wall were long iron poles, jutting outwards towards the village. Erin went to touch one before noticing a strange substance at the base of the poles. She went to touch it but Vlad pulled her hand back.

"Dad wanted to keep slayers out and keep us in." Vlad had often sneaked down to the village when he was younger, anything to escape the oppressive nature of his gran.

Erin seemed to understand immediately and yanked her hand back as if it were on a piece of elastic. It was blood stained around the bottom of the poles.

"I don't think anyone was impaled on them, maybe a few birds or animals thanks to the peasants below." Erin hit him across the back of his head for using the demeaning term. She glared at him. "Sorry." He muttered, he was repeating something his father had said years ago, he hadn't thought to change it to breathers.

Erin turned to view the landscape of the country, "It's beautiful." Aerials and mobile phone masts didn't pollute the countryside, it looked like something taken from a paining. "Why did you leave?" She'd never thought to ask him why, she just knew he had left in a hurry.

"Dad had a little misunderstanding with the village elders."

Her eyebrows raised in disbelief, if the Count was involved it was worse than a simple misunderstanding. "A 'misunderstanding'?"

Vlad gave a shrug, and looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a tip of his head. She really should be able to work out what his father did. "He drained them."

"Ah." Erin understood now, it was obvious really.

Vlad turned back to the daunting doors in front of him. They seemed taller than he remembered for some reason.

The door creaked worse than ever before as he opened it, scaring away the natural bats that resided in the nearby forest. Erin spun trying to locate their imminent attacker before realising that it was only bats.

Vlad entered the castle slowly; it had been empty for almost eight years.

Erin jumped as her feet crunched on the broken glass littering the floor, covering the worn carpet underneath like snow in winter. The wallpaper was mostly intact unlike the school, a few pieces were peeling off but there really wasn't that much damage. The ceilings were high vaulted, like their home and the school. It was completely different to Stokely.

"This is where you used to live?" Erin asked softly, looking around amazed at the grandeur of it.

Vlad nodded, "The Dracula family home for over one thousand years. It had to be rebuilt once or twice after the vampire wars but bits of it are from the original building."

Erin trailed her hand along a dust-covered table, feeling the grim between her fingers but she didn't care. She reached a solid silver candelabra and lifted it up, marvelling at the weight – or lack of it. As a breather this would have weighed her down. She was amazed that it was still here, that it hadn't been looted.

This castle was huge; larger than Stokely and larger than the school, maybe not as large as their home though. When Vlad was a child this place must have seemed as big as the world. She couldn't imagine growing up in a place like this although looking around it, it seemed that Vlad didn't have toys as such he had to grow up quickly.

Vlad clicked his fingers, he was dreading seeing the cobwebs and the damp that infiltrated his nostrils but he couldn't remain in the dark for much longer. The candles immediately burst into life but Vlad realised that there wasn't much of the candles left, they would have an hour or two before the candles burned out.

The light wasn't very bright but it outlined the furniture, nothing matched, it was from a variety of eras – Tudor, Georgian, Victorian – there wasn't really a system to it.

Everything looked like it had been left in a hurry, it had of course. Plates and goblets were scattered across the table, Vlad traced patterns in the dust trying to avoid the memories that assaulted him from that time.

The doorframes had long, deep grooves cut into them – clearly from a sharp object like a pitchfork for example, and they had dark scorch marks from flaming torches.

Erin tugged at the drapes, feeling and seeing the grey cloud of dust that burst forth from the thick, heavy brown material that she suspected was once red. With effort she pulled the drapes closed, if they didn't close them now they'd forget and this castle didn't have the UV coating on the glass that their windows had.

Something flew past Vlad, lodging itself in the wood of the large mahogany cabinet. The handle wobbling backwards and forwards. If Vlad had been another inch forwards he would have been impaled on it.

It was far too big to be a stake and much too sharp. Neither of them had thought to check the castle for unwanted visitors.

A voice called out in the darkness. There was no way to tell if they were alone or not, Vlad personally didn't want to take the risk with Erin being pregnant.

The voice sounded young, younger than Vlad and Erin by a few years at least. The heavy accent breaking through the air. "Stop right there, Dracula!"

TBC

A/N: What do you think?

Does anyone want me to condense it or do you want me to leave it as it is?

Thanks for reading.