I did mention there wasn't an update schedule for this didn't I? There was meant to be a backstory part to this chapter but it got a little too long, so I cut it off and will be posting it as the next chapter in a day or so after I've edited it to fit the chapter formats.

Gilbert appears on camera, looking as sleep-deprived as he has been for the last few videos, dark circles under his eyes. Evidently, the nightmares have not stopped. After a moment of deciding what to say, Gilbert finally speaks: "So, Erzsebet came up with this, and I have to agree that all the evidence seems to point to it...There's no other way to put this but; Arthur's a vampire." He grimaces at how ridiculous his words sound. "Before you all call me crazy, I'll tell you that Roderich has already done that." Clearing his throat, he straightens his back; mimicking Roderich's pitch and posture. "He's not a vampire! Vampires don't exist! He's just a light adverse octogenarian with extreme haemoglobin deficiency and really good skin!" He drops his voice back to normal with a grin. "That's exactly what he said, word-for-word. And you've got to admit it probably sounds even more ridiculous than our vampire theory." Gilbert becomes serious again. "At this point I should probably tell you all how we arrived at the theory." He gives a run through of what happened at the library, describing to the best of his ability the photos they'd abandoned in their haste to escape. "Now, you may be wondering what my plans are, seeing that I'm probably in line to be the next victim of a vampire. Well it's not plain 'run', because Erzsébet has come up with a plan to trap and question Arthur… by using me as bait. I don't really like that idea, but it seems like the best bet at this point." He concludes the sentence grimly and with resolve. "So the plan is goes like this: seeing Arthur's suddenly being friendly to me, I should start being friendly back and take the opportunity to invite him to one of the weekly parties in the woods that the former Zeta leaders hosts without university permission. It's a controlled situation for an easy abduction, except that Erzsébet will also be attending the party with some of her Sisters, in her words: 'bearing the crass advances of the Zetas' in order to rescue me before I get killed or pod-personed and detain Arthur for questioning." Gilbert pauses to let his viewers take that information in. "I know it sounds risky, but I wouldn't have agreed to it if I could have thought of anything else." He takes a quick glace behind him at the door. "Arthur's going to be back anytime now, so wish me luck. See you in the next update – that is; unless there isn't one." His attempt at humour falls flat and Gilbert quickly and awkwardly shuts off the camera.

Heart racing the entire time, Gilbert uploaded what could possibly be his last video. He'd taken a risk by waiting until morning to record the video, but having weighed the other risks he'd be facing soon enough, Gilbert had decided he'd needed some sleep. Not that he'd gotten much; with the disturbing repeating nightmares he kept having. It was still very early in the morning – just before seven – but from the surveillance videos, it was clear that Arthur was anything but consistent. He sat back down on his bed and pulled one of his prescribed texts from his bag; if he had to act natural, he might as well get some work done. After trying to concentrate on a page for what felt like an age, Gilbert checked his phone to find that barely two minutes had past. Groaning, he threw the book down before picking it back up, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it of all thoughts of impending doom. He opened the textbook again with a sigh, forcing himself to sit still and take in the words on the pages – even if their meaning refused to stay in his mind.

Finally the door to the dorm opened, and Arthur entered, looking surprised to see Gilbert awake.

'You're up early,' he stated, voicing that surprise.

'Couldn't sleep,' Gilbert yawned, looking up from the book. 'Thought I'd do my readings instead.'

'Are you still having nightmares then?' Arthur walked a few paces closer to peer at him.

Despite the urge to turn away from the scrutiny, Gilbert shrugged instead.

'I'm sure it's just stress,' he lied. 'I have a quiz coming up soon.'

Arthur snorted and turned away, losing interest, and started to search the area Gilbert had last hidden his stash of muesli bars.

'You looking for one of these?' Gilbert asked, waving a muesli bar he'd fished out from under his bed at Arthur.

Arthur looked at him suspiciously.

'It's not expired or anything,' Gilbert assured. 'Well not yet anyway. There was a quick sale at the supermarket and I bought too many.'

It was only half a lie, and Arthur seemed convinced.

'Thank you,' he took the muesli bar with some bemusement and put it into his bag. 'Well, as much as I'd like to stay and talk, I have somewhere else I need to be right now.'

'I guess I'll see you later today?' Gilbert called, but the door had already closed behind him. 'Or maybe not.'

Great. Did Arthur know what they'd figured out about him? Surely he had no reason to, and Gilbert certainly hoped not. Quashing a suddenly urge to message Erzsébet in panic, he took a deep breath and decided to just go for a run before class.

Arthur wasn't in the dorm when Gilbert returned from classes, nor did he return before Gilbert decided to go to bed. A feeling of dread sat in the pit of his stomach, and it wasn't much of a surprise when he had another nightmare.

He was flailing in an ocean of blood, desperately trying to keep himself from going under as waves crashed against him, filling his nostrils with metallic liquid. Something grabbed at his ankle and he struggled to pull himself free.

'No! Let go of me!' he cried before he was dragged under.

He woke up panting and drenched in cold sweat. He caught a flickering from the corner of his eye and sat up to see something looming in the window of the room. Was he truly awake, or was he stuck in yet another creepy dream? Gilbert fumbled for his lamp. Light washed through the room and revealed Arthur sitting on the windowsill, holding a lighter in his hand.

'You're back,' he rasped, fighting back a hysterical laugh. So there hadn't been a monster in the window. Or perhaps there was. But at least it was one he knew.

'I've been in here for a while. You had another nightmare?' Arthur didn't look away from the window, flicking the lighter on again.

'Yeah,' Gilbert admitted; it wasn't as if he could easily deny it. 'What are you doing up so late?'

'Stargazing,' came the distance answer. 'As much as the earth changes; the stars always remain, always the same. And we are nothing in comparison – our lives are meaningless, so short and insignificant.' Finally he turned to face the room. 'Come take a look.' He said before Gilbert could make a Lit major quip, sliding over to make room on the sill.

Gilbert moved in a trance like state to the window, he couldn't be certain if their plans had been blown yet, but if they hadn't this could be his chance to set them into action. The window wasn't big, and he was acutely aware of how close they were as he sat down next to Arthur in order to look up towards the sky. It was an unusually clear night and the stars shone like pinpricks, cold and bright against the velvet darkness of the sky, stretching in a patchwork as far as the eye could see. Gilbert gasped involuntarily with awe and Arthur grinned.

'What did I tell you?'

Despite the smug tone, Gilbert detected that Arthur was sharing something personal – that he'd let his guard down. This was his chance. He almost felt bad, it seemed like he was betraying some sort of momentary trust, but at the same time, Arthur was likely plotting for something sinister to happen to him. So Gilbert smiled back and hoped it didn't look too forced.

'They are pretty amazing,' he agreed. 'Do you think the sky will still be this clear tomorrow?'

'Maybe,' Arthur frowned, not following. 'Why?'

'I'm just wondering what the stars will look like from the woods. The Zetas are throwing another party there and I thought I'd go and de-stress for a bit. Hey, you want to come?'

'Someone needs to tell the Zetas that they were disbanded years ago,' Arthur said an amused shake of his head.'

'So you don't want to come then?' Gilbert asked flippantly, acting as if the plan Erzsébet had come up with hadn't hinged on this. 'I mean I was just being friendly, seeing as we sort of started off on the wrong foot as roommates and all.'

'I never said I wasn't interested.' Even with the lamp on, the room was still dark and Gilbert couldn't quite read Arthur's expression. 'I think I'd like to come.'

Gilbert faked a yawn to hide his feeling of success.

'I think I'll go back to sleep now,' he mumbled. 'Goodnight.'

'Goodnight,' he heard from the windowsill as he pulled his covers around himself.

Erzsébet was in his room when Gilbert returned from classes the next day. With the nerves he had over their plans that night, he'd been a wreck all day – losing track of what lecturers were saying and answering the wrong questions when called upon in tutorials. He almost yelped when Erzsébet stood up from his chair, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw it was only her.

'What are you doing here?' he demanded, trying not to think of his embarrassing display mere seconds ago. 'I have things to do!'

'Like what?' Erzsébet retorted, raising an eyebrow, her lips curved in malicious amusement. Underneath the left sleeve of her three quarters shirt, Gilbert could see the scab from where the folder had cut her arm that night in the library.

'Like psyching myself up for the party!' Gilbert's voice betrayed his rising hysteria. 'I just really don't like the idea of being bait.'

'But you had no better ideas,' Erzsébet replied dismissively. 'Look, I'm here to talk about the party. I took the liberty to go talk to Lili and Kiku today – and they're worse than ever. We need to find out how to get them back to normal, so no getting cold feet. Also both of them are planning to go to the party tonight and I couldn't talk them out of it so I've asked some more of my Sisters to come and keep an eye on them. All you have to do is make sure Arthur goes to that party and lure him away from the crowd. Which shouldn't be too hard.' She added with a knowing expression.

'How do you even know that?' Gilbert asked with scepticism.

'Aren't you the next victim?' Erzsébet responded serenely with a question. 'If anything, he'll be trying to get you away from the crowd.

'Now,' she said decisively. 'I have to go coordinate the Sisters who are coming with me tonight. You have fun psyching yourself up.'

Gilbert stared at her until she left the room.

'I really hate you sometimes,' he muttered after the door had closed.

He spent the next few hours shifting from place to place in the room, picking up a book and attempting to read it from time to time. He was sitting at his desk, staring a worksheet he had yet to start, when Arthur returned to the dorm. As usual, Arthur was dressed completely in black and spiked leather bands adorned his wrists. What was unusual however; was the bottle of champagne and the two glasses he carried. He smiled as Gilbert whirled around in his chair, shutting the door behind him. Gilbert eyed the bottle and glasses in his hands.

'There's going to be alcohol at the party you know,' he said, hoping his nerves didn't show in his voice.

'If you really want to see the stars in the woods, do it on a day when there isn't a party with a giant bonfire going on – it just ruins the view.' Arthur murmured, sitting down on his bed and expertly pouring the champagne. 'No, I thought we could just look at the stars in here.' He handed Gilbert a glass.

'A-alcohol isn't allowed in the dorms,' Gilbert couldn't stop himself from stammering.

Arthur chuckled.

'Surely you've broken rules before,' he took a sip from his own glass. 'You did keep posting inflammatory videos after you were told to stop.'

'That…was different,'

Gilbert checked his phone, cursing mentally as he remembered it was dead. He'd being planning to charge it before his talk with Erzsébet. Instead he wheeled himself towards his laptop, hoping to send a message to Erzsébet about this hitch in the plan.

'What are you doing?' Arthur put his hand over the lid of the laptop as Gilbert made to open it. 'Didn't you say you were trying to de-stress?' He asked teasingly.

'Ah…yes,' Gilbert replied weakly as he was spun in his chair away from his lifeline.

'That's better,' Arthur said appraisingly as he sat back down opposite Gilbert. He took another sip of his drink. 'They served champagne at the first party I ever attended.' Arthur divulged, swirling the pale liquid slowly around the flute.'

'You make it sound like that was a hundred years ago,' Gilbert said nervously with a laugh. At this point he was downright terrified and he was sure it showed.

'It feels like longer than that,' Arthur stared into his glass, seemingly too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice Gilbert's discomfort. 'Like a bright light far away, seen from underwater.' He looked away to offer Gilbert a smile. 'Ah, I sound like a nostalgic idiot tonight.'

'It sounds like a nice memory,' somehow Gilbert managed to speak without his voice quavering.

Arthur hummed but didn't answer, lost in thought again. Gilbert used the silence to try to even out his breathing.

'You haven't been keeping your charm with you,' Arthur stated after a while.

There was no accusation in his voice, but still Gilbert squirmed. How could Arthur possibly know?

'Uh…' he started.

'You probably don't like the idea of carrying a rabbit foot around, but it can't stop your nightmares unless you do it.'

'I'll make sure to do that later then,' Gilbert mumbled, not voicing the doubt he had that he'd even make it out of the night alive and sane.

Arthur shook his head and set down his champagne, before looking Gilbert up and down. Gilbert's mind screamed at him to run, but his muscles remained frozen in the chair.

'Look at you,' he mused, more to himself than anything. 'Entirely too tense, so young and naïve. I really should know better. What am I even doing?' He shook his head again.

Under normal circumstances Gilbert would have asked if he'd just been insulted, but given the dire straits he was currently in, he kept his mouth shut. Arthur got up and walked around to Gilbert's side, leaning onto an arm of the chair. He brushed a hand into Gilbert's hair and Gilbert felt the cold metal of the wrist cuff spikes press briefly against his cheek. Then Arthur began to lean downwards.

This is it, Gilbert thought, I'm going to die or at the very least get brainwashed. Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck, and his breathing sounded loud to his own ears.

Neither of them heard the door open.

'What the hell are you thinking!'

Gilbert had never been so glad to hear Erzsébet's voice. Arthur's head snapped upwards and towards the door, but it was already too late. Erzsébet had crossed the room, and after apparently punching Arthur in the arm, she shoved him away from Gilbert. Arthur tried to push her back, but Erzsébet was faster, moving out of the way and causing Arthur to overshoot and hit the ground. Arthur picked himself back up and attempted another attack on Erzsébet, only managing a motion that sent him toppling backwards onto his bed, clutching at his arm. It was now that Gilbert noticed the large hypodermic needle in Erzsébet's hand.

'Is that—?' he began.

'A syringe filled with elephant tranquilers?' Erzsébet finished for him coldly. 'Yes. Now shut up before I stab you with it as well. You didn't want to be bait, huh?' she ranted on. 'Did you really think you could trap him by yourself without any help from me?'

'It wasn't my idea to stay in here!' Gilbert protested. He quailed as he noticed Arthur glaring at him before his eyes closed. The anger he saw in them sent a shiver down his spine.

Erzsébet looked doubtfully at him as he pulled himself up slowly from the chair, gingerly stretching his legs in an attempt to stop the pins and needles.

'Whatever,' she said. 'It doesn't matter now that we've caught our vampire.'

She shut the door and shrugged off the backpack she was wearing ,pulling what appeared to be thirty metres of rope as well as a chain of garlic from it, clearly she'd come prepared. Erzsébet then lifted the unconscious Arthur from his bed and dumped him unceremoniously into the chair Gilbert had just vacated.

'Well?' she demanded as she began uncoiling the rope. 'Don't just stand there gawking at me; help me tie him up.'

Gilbert sprang into action, not wanting to risk Erzsébet making good on her threat to use the elephant tranquillisers on him as well.

'Jeez,' he remarked as he picked up the rope. 'This is heavy.'

'Industrial grade steel strengthened rope,' Erzsébet shrugged before continuing to deftly tie a knot with her section. 'I didn't want to take any chances.'

Altogether it took ten minutes to secure Arthur to the chair and for Erzsébet to check all of the knots. She then threw the loop of garlic heads over him for good measure.

'How long will it take for him to wake up?' Gilbert asked as Erzsébet admired her handiwork.

'Two hours, give or take,' she replied after a moment of thought. 'It's likely his system will get rid of it faster than a normal human's.' Gilbert didn't ask her how long it would take for a normal human to wake up, figuring he didn't want to know. 'If he doesn't want to answers our questions, I can always cart him down to the Bio lab and perform some involuntary experiments on him until he does.' Erzsébet added musingly.

'I'm sure it won't have to come to that!' Gilbert said hurriedly; the expression on Erzsébet's face at that moment was downright terrifying.

'Come to what?' Roderich asked as he walked into the room. 'Erzsi, we talked about this.' He said when he saw Arthur tied to the chair.

'Roderich darling, you know I wouldn't do anything that wasn't for the best,' Erzsébet replied coaxingly, a far cry from her demeanour just a minute ago.

Roderich didn't look convinced, and had just opened his mouth to argue with his girlfriend when the door opened again. A winded Summer Society member stood in the doorway, pausing to catch her breath.

'What is it, Angelique? Erzsébet asked, with some concern.

'We lost them, Erzsi,' the dark skinned girl gasped. 'We lost the airheads. Lily and Kiku are gone!' The red ribbon around her ponytail had come loose and she tugged it out, twisting it around her fingers anxiously.

'How did it happen?' Erzsébet questioned with patience that surprised Gilbert.

'I don't know,' Angelique wrung her hands. 'We noticed them walking off deeper into the woods and tried to follow them, but they just disappeared! Someone must have been calling to them somehow and snatched them before we got there.'

Erzsébet nodded, accepting the story.

'Call the rest of our Sisters,' she commanded. 'We're searching their rooms for clues.

'You,' she pointed at Gilbert. 'Are staying here and watching him.' She spat the last word out acerbically with a sharp gesture towards Arthur. 'Contact me as soon as he wakes up, I want to know how he managed this.

'And Roderich dear,' her voice mellowed out. 'You can come with me or stay with them, whichever you choose. Just don't try to stop me.' With that she swept out of the door, Angelique in tow.

Roderich looked over at Gilbert - who threw his hands up in a motion of defeat - then turned away to chase after Erzsébet.

'I guess it's just me then,' Gilbert muttered to himself, then took the opportunity to make a quick video update on what had happened.

Just over an hour later Erzsébet and Roderich were back in his room, filling Gilbert in on what they'd found. Well at least Erzsébet was – Roderich just sat beside her, looking as disapproving as usual.

'We found the same cards in their rooms as you did after Mattie disappeared,' Erzsébet confirmed grimly. 'And some odd stains on their pillowcases that I'm taking to the lab to analyse. Nothing else though. I just can't believe they were taken from under our watch.' She sighed and Roderich gently rubbed her shoulder. 'But I'm not giving up hope just yet; we'll just have to see what Arthur has to say for himself when he wakes up.'

'About that,' Roderich finally spoke up. 'Surely you can't just keep him tied up here. It's not legal. And even at this university, people are bound to notice sooner or later.'

'Honey, right now he's now only lead on what happened to Natalya and the others, and I sure as hell am not just letting him walk free. But I could always hide him in the Summer Society storage basements or take him to the Bio labs and claim he's a volunteer for an experiment.' Erzsébet offered.

Gilbert remembered the expression she'd had earlier.

'No!' he said a little too quickly; causing Erzsébet to frown at him. 'Uh… Erzsébet is right.' He amended rapidly. 'On the "we need him for information" part, I mean. And the best way to do that is if we keep him in here. Worst comes to worst you just blame me and I get expelled – which, in the light of me almost becoming a vampire victim tonight, doesn't actually sound so dire.'

'It'll be dire when they start your tribunal,' Roderich pointed out.

Gilbert shuddered, he'd skimmed over that part of the Student Handbook and really didn't want to think about it.

'Let's not talk about that part,' he muttered.

From the chair that had been rolled into a corner, Arthur began to stir. It was about the two hour mark from when the tranquilisers had kicked in, just as Erzsébet had predicted. The trio looked at each other, then before anyone could say anything, Erzsébet had gotten up from where she was sitting on the desk and pulled a roughly hewn stake from her backpack.

'Alright,' she said, striding towards the corner Arthur was in and drumming the stake dangerously with her fingers. 'How did you manage to make Lili and Kiku disappear when we had you in here?'

Arthur blinked groggily at her for a few moments, then his eyes filled with venom.

'Because I didn't do it, you dimwits,' he growled.

'Hey! These "dimwits" managed to catch you! Right Erzsébet?' Gilbert called out, the fear he'd felt only a few hours ago all but forgotten.

Erzsébet ignored him.

'And you expect us to believe that? You're a vampire, and we know it.'

Arthur exhaled deeply with annoyance, then changed tact.

'If I were really a vampire, would I just be here all tied up and proclaiming my innocence?'

'Well yeah, that's exactly what a vampire would do,' Gilbert retorted, ignoring the glare Erzsébet shot at him. 'That, and the fact that being dosed on elephant tranquiliser will keep you from going anywhere for a good few hours. Besides, we have like a week's worth of video documentation proving you're all sorts of supernatural… You really shouldn't have just laughed off my video making.'

Arthur glared at him but knew defeat when he faced it.

'Fine,' he hissed. 'So I'm a vampire. But how could I have possibly have done what you're accusing me of doing if I was here with you, before getting drugged?'

'Uh, an accomplice maybe?' Gilbert responded, despite the exasperated look Erzsébet gave him.

'Do I strike you as somebody who plays well with others?' Arthur demanded.

'He's got a point there,' Roderich conceded, looking from person to person in the room.

Erzsébet spoke again while Gilbert was still trying to think of a retort.

'If you're not the one taking students, why were you following them around at parties?' she pressed.

'I happen to be quite popular,' Arthur replied bitingly. 'Unlike some people, clearly. I happen to get a lot of invitations to parties.'

'But you admitted to being a vampire!' Gilbert exclaimed, once again ignoring Erzsébet's frustration at his interruptions. This was as much of his investigation as it was hers.

'But not a kidnapper!' Arthur shot back.

Erzsébet made to argue, but Roderich cleared his throat. Everyone in the room stopped to stare at him.

'You really should keep it down,' he suggested. 'We don't want to draw attention here. Or better yet we should just let him go.'

'We can't let him go!' Erzsébet hissed quietly at Roderich. 'We know he's a vampire, he even just admitted to it.' She used the exact same argument as Gilbert had used moments ago, silencing him with a sharp look when he started to complain.

'And that is quite simply insane,' Roderich sighed, pulled off his glasses and began to polish them. 'Really we should be taking him to Health Services or…or… the Counsellors. Really, what else can you do? Watch him every second? Starve him until he talks –?'

He broke off as he noticed Erzsébet's expression change. Erzsébet glanced at Gilbert, daring him to protest.

'That, Roderich my dear,' she said charmingly once she'd ascertained that there'd be no object. 'Sounds like a perfect plan.'

Erzsébet is terrifying enough as a human in the AU, aren't we all glad she isn't a vampire?

In case it wasn't clear - Angelique is Seychelles, she'll likely become a recurring character from this point onwards.