No, no no, Erinna whimpered as she woke up to a skull numbing, nerve wrecking headache.

Not again, she pleaded silently to the powers that be. Elves were not supposed to be bothered by human ailments like that yet there she was, nearly reduced to tears by the most painful headache of her existence.

She felt like a demon had borrowed into her head and was now using her skull as a drum.

"Kill him..."

"Kill him..."

"Kill him..."

For seventeen years Erinna had had no idea what these voices meant but after all the events of the past weeks, she did not need anyone to tell her who it was she was supposed to kill.

"He's a liar..."

Not wanting to disturb Vlad and wanting some form of escape from the pain which was getting worse as the voices got louder, booming and thundering in her head; Erinna scrambled off the bed, almost falling to the floor in the process.

"A murderer...."

She crawled under the bed and curled in a foetal position, her head in her hands and began chanting the rhyme her father had taught her when she was a child as she rocked back and forth.

Not that they left her, not this time. Usually the rhyme would have muted the haunting formless sounds but this time there was no escape. The noise in her head was so loud and painful that it brought tears to her eyes. She had to get out of there.

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Waking up to an empty bed was not an occurrence Dracula particularly appreciated. He listened for her movements, trying to locate her but after a couple of seconds, it was obvious his bride was not in the their chambers. Giving up, he gave an annoyed growl and fell back against the covers with a sigh.

Always so stubborn, always wanting to challenge him when all his orders existed for the sole purpose of protecting her.

Hopefully she had had the sense to take guards. He cursed himself for taking off the spells and protection that had guarded the room, preventing Erinna from leaving without his express permission. It had been done as a gesture of good faith.

The door opened, Alex bursting into his room, followed by an alarmed Alexander. Since it was very rare to see these two walking together without one trying to tear into the other, Vlad knew whatever news they carried was grave and important.

"Where's Erinna?" That was his first question as he tried to keep away the ominous dread tugging at him.

"I passed her sometime ago. Is she sick?" Alexander asked.

Something akin to fear enveloped him; a feeling both foreign and unwanted.

"What do you mean is she sick? She was fine a couple of hours ago."

"I saw her going outside and asked if she wanted to play chess but she didn't appear well and was rather sharp with me, even Alex when he tried to tag along. And you know Erinna is never rude to anyone. It's been an hour and she still hasn't returned."

"You imbecile; why do I even keep you around? Why am I only being told of this now?" Dracula cursed getting out of the bed and teleporting to the closet to get dressed.

He was yelling at Alexander but most of his anger was directed at himself. How could he have let his guard down like that? Had he actually thought that with his nightmares gone he could have normal sleep like other vampires, relaxing and neglecting to protect the one person in the world who meant everything to him?

Erinna's presence in his life had depleted his nightmares, giving him a little reprieve from his demons and allowed him to sleep without being haunted by past events well out of his control now.

The rarity of an undisturbed sleep had lured him into a fall sense of security, making him comfortable when he should have been vigilant, especially when someone seemed to be trying to take away what was his every time he turned his head.

"She said not to wake you up."

"And you listened?"

Alexander looked down. Vlad shook his head in disgust.

"Did you see which direction she went in?"

Alexander shook his head.

"I am not punishing you, you're going to do that yourself. Go to the dungeons and whip yourself until I send someone to tell you to stop."

"But_"

"Did something in my tone imply I was looking for suggestions?"

"I just- you don't want me to come with you?"

"I'm taking Alex."

He snapped his fingers and the lion joined him. He paused just as he was about to teleport.

"Did she say something else?" He asked.

"Something about her head hurting."

"Elves don't get human illnesses."

"I don't know about that but something must be really wrong. She seemed rather out of it."

He frowned, cogwheels turning in his mind.

He couldn't guess for the life of him what was wrong and naturally he assumed it had something to do with their argument. Should he have heeded her request concerning Derek?

There was no time to analyse everything though, he needed to find her. Without further ado; he teleported both of them out of the room.

The first place he checked was the creek because for some bizarre reason, Erinna seemed to like spending her time there. Alex who was used to playing with Erinna was pouting, still sour from being snapped at.

"She didn't mean it, my boy," he assured the lion and ruffled its thick mane.

A quick glance at the creek showed that his bride was not there.

Next stop then.

He went to Miya's house but Miya who kept human hours and cared not for the vampire timetable was only annoyed he was waking her up at midnight.

Getting more puzzled, The Count walked back to the castle so he could check the surrounding areas. She couldn't have strayed far. They were walking back from Miya's house when Alex suddenly caught Erinna's scent.

Alex followed the scent, leading Vlad to the edges of the forest. She couldn't have gone in there could she? Dread settled in the pits of his stomach as he saw where they were headed.

He quickly strode into the forest, her scent growing stronger with each step. And just as he had suspected, her scent hit him full force, overwhelming him the moment he reached the exact place where this had all begun.

It was the place that Diana had slaughtered her whole coven and cursed him to two thousand years in a coffin and dying at the hand of his own mate. He didn't even want to know how Erinna had found the place.

But he couldn't see her yet.

He continued following her scent until he caught sight of her legs. Her body remained partially hidden by the trunk of the tree she was resting against.

He teleported and stopped ten feet away from her, the fear that was gripping him forbidding him from getting closer and confirming his worst nightmares.

She was lying on the ground, huddled and unmoving, her usually fiery eyes closed and not giving a hint of whether she was still in that realm or not.

For the second time in his whole life as a vampire, his undead heart lurched. The first time was when she had been born and now the second time...No!

No, no, no it couldn't be.

Not today.

They had not consummated the bond, they hadn't even slept together. He'd made sure to do everything by the book; why would the heavens laugh at him like this?

"Erinna," he shook her. He had never wanted something in his life as he wanted her to just acknowledge that she was alive.

Her deathly pallor was scaring him and he hadn't heard her heart beat ever since he had arrived. What the hell was happening? Had her powers overwhelmed her?

Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead; he chanted under his breath, willing the words to be true.

Why couldn't they have taken him? Anger that he just wanted to spend on the nearest witch shot through him and he knew if something didn't give soon, by the end of the night, the world would have seen the biggest bloodbath ever recorded in history and he wouldn't stop there.

Like usual when he was angry, the weather went haywire. Lightning bolts flashed through the sky and a harsh wind tore the through the forest.

"Erinna open your eyes please, angel let me know you're alive," he begged.

Afraid of the results but needing to know, he strained his ears for her heartbeat again and at the sound of the dull thud; he fell back on his haunches, relief making his whole body shake.

Even more relieving was watching those green eyes that had taunted him and challenged him more times than he could count opening.

"Vlad," she whimpered.

He quickly moved, sitting on the ground and putting her head in his lap, stroking her hair soothingly.

"I'm here, what's wrong? Tell me what happened. "

"The voices," she said, her voice breaking.

"What voices?"

"They won't leave me."

Her lip trembled and he could sense the amount of emotion gathering in her but she closed her eyes, shutting everything in and only allowing one lone tear to escape her closed lids and roll down her cheeks.

"Love, talk to me."

"They always come towards my birthday. They keep telling me to kill you, that I'm wasting their powers. There's a chant that my dad taught me, usually when I sing it they leave me alone but tonight they won't go."

"That's why you left the castle?"

She nodded then winced at the action. Up close, he could see her clothes and skin were not damp from water, it was sweat. He took her hands and set them above her chest, rubbing them to restore her circulation.

"The pain isn't so bad here."

"The pain in your head?" He asked, remembering what Alexander had told him.

He would have expected to feel her pain with the growing strength of their bond. He usually felt her strongest emotions but right then, the bond was silent. It frustrated Dracula to no end. He wanted to help her, to take on her pain somehow.

Erinna took his hand and plastered it to her forehead which was burning. Her temperature scared him.

"They led me here tonight and somehow the voices are not so violent here. They're quieter. I don't know why."

"They provably wanted you to come here," he said grimly realising how numbered their days were.

The witches were there to collect.

"Why would they want me here?"

"Because this is the place I was cursed. This is the place where Diana sealed my fate."

"So the voices belong to the dead witches?"

He nodded.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"Nothing you can do."

"I was worried. Let's go back to the castle. You'll get sick here."

The temperature was too cold and the ground too moist.

"No."

"Erinna."

"They'll shout at me. They don't want me in the castle."

At a loss of what to do but needing to somehow make this all better for her, he manipulated the air particles around them, enclosing them with warm air. He began drawing soothing circles on her scalp with his fingers.

"Does this help?"

She nodded and closed her eyes. At times she would grip his hands forcing him to stop and he would know the pain was becoming more excruciating.

His heart ached, he wished he could do anything, anything at all to take away her pain and alleviate her suffering; suffering he knew had come because of him and his selfishness to keep her all to himself.

"Do you think we set off the curse?" He asked quietly.

"No. We haven't consummated the bond."

"But this is not normal."

"It always happens, don't worry."

How could he not worry? It was his fault she was in this situation. Couldn't he have chosen another witch to anger?

The Count was not one to ever regret his actions but right then with a writhing Erinna in his arms, he guessed he could have dealt better with the situation concerning Diana's husband.

Not that his two thousand years late remorse could change anything. The witch was having the ultimate revenge on him as she had promised.

"Do you want me to get Miya?" He asked, alarmed when Erinna's moans of pain became worse and more pronounced.

"Nothing she can do," she gasped.

"You want me to try to heal you?"

"It's not a sickness. We have the best healers in the whole world in Ellingsdale, none could provide a solution when my father consulted them."

So they sat there for hours with Vlad alternating to rub circles in her scalp and forehead. At midnight he sent Alex to go get some food for her from Leila at the castle but Erinna was in so much pain she couldn't even get it down.

As time passed, it got so worse that she was shaking and whimpering, sweat coming off her in buckets. The worst thing was that he couldn't do anything to make her feel better; she couldn't even hear him anymore, having withdrawn into herself.

Damn Diana, even in death she still managed to torment him. She had promised him pure hell and true to her word, the witch was delivering.

By dawn, The Count was worried he was going to fry because he knew there just was no way he could leave Erinna there all on her own, not when it was his fault that she was being tormented in the first place. But the headache wasn't relenting.

He was tired of these games.

"Damn you Diana. I killed your husband, you hear that? I did it so if you want someone to come after, then come after me. She has nothing to do with this."

As if the witch could hear him, the headache got worse to the point a nasty fever broke out all over Erinna's skin.

"Don't even think about it. Every last witch, every last one of your kind; I'll hunt them down and torture them until no last shred of dignity will ever be associated with your lot . Then when I'm done I'll impale them and hang them up for the whole world to see, one in each city. Don't mess with me."

He was angry and the raging sky was proof of it. He had no qualms about carrying out his threat and Diana must have known it too because in that moment, she relented and the fever wore itself out.

Erinna gave one last sigh before falling into unconsciousness, making it possible for him too teleport them back to the castle.

Dracula commanded one of the servants to run his bride a bath and then quickly undressed her after the young girl had left. It didn't matter if the servant was female, Erinna's nakedness was for him alone.

He lowered her into the warm water, forcing his eyes to stay up and not linger on her smooth flawless skin or drop down to other more obvious parts of her youthful body. It was not the time.

She opened her eyes just as he lowered her into the bath.

"Where am I? What happened? Vlad why am I naked?"

"Back in the castle, I thought you could use a bath."

She frowned, obviously trying to recall and put together all that had happened.

"The voices, they're gone. Even the headache," she frowned, touching her temple.

"That's good. Do you think you'll be fine on your own?"

"I had a headache Vlad, it didn't suddenly make me paralysed," she said but softened the words with an indulgent smile.

"Ok, be quick here, we have things to discuss."

"Where's Alexander?"

Vlad stopped in his tracks.

Seeing the storm building behind his eyes, Erinna realized her error and quickly explained before he jumped to conclusions as he always seemed to do where his friend was concerned.

"I need to apologise, I was rude to him," she said.

"You can talk to him tomorrow," Vlad hedged, knowing where exactly Alexander was and the state he was in.

"No, he didn't deserve me snapping at him."

He sighed and went to the dungeons where sure enough, Alexander was still whipping himself. His whole body was wrecked with cuts from the lashes he was administering on himself. His clothes were torn and mangled with blood.

He was barely conscious, each successive pant being the only thing keeping him standing. The Count was satisfied.

"Go shower and come see Erinna when you're presentable," he commanded , not wanting to explain to Erinna why her 'friend' was in shreds.

"She asked for me?" Alexander marvelled, causing The Count to scowl at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I was just worried about her. How is she now?"

"Better. Hurry up, I want her to sleep. You can resume your punishment after talking to her."

"But I thought I was done?"

"You must have thought wrong then."

"I'm sorry man; I didn't mean to piss you off."

Vlad frowned at the expression.

"Anger you," Alexander elaborated.

"I know, that's why you're proving the extent of your remorse. Now hurry and do as I have commanded unless you want me to send Ingrid to complete your punishment."

"Ok, ok. I will, just keep that she-vulture's claws away from me."

When Vlad returned to his chambers, Erinna was dressed.

He opened the covers for her and helped her in.

"I can do it on my own Vlad, I'm not useless."

He cupped her cheek.

"I know. I'm not trying to patronize you, but it's the third time you've almost died this week. Allow me to appreciate the fact that you're still alive."

Erinna looked into his eyes for a moment then nodded.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked.

"I feel alright. The headaches happen everytime before my birthday. I just don't know why they were so intense this time."

"I have a theory," he bit his lip.

"Okay?"

Her green eyes turned up to look at him and for a moment he was lost. There was so much those emerald orbs projected and it wasn't just beauty. In them he saw love, kindness, determination, strength and the sort of resilience that either made or broke a person.

"Vlad?"

He blinked. What had he even wanted to say?

"The theory?" She smiled and by the teasing edge on her lips, he could tell she was fully aware of his distraction.

"You said the voices were intense this year and only got better the further away you moved from the castle?"

Erinna nodded.

"In Ellingsdale the voices were there just as a reminder of your mission but with your exposure to vampires, they are no longer there just to remind you. They are there to get the mission done."

"So it'll happen again unless I kill you."

"You're going to have to eventually do it, angel." He softly tucked her hair behind her ear.

She shook her head, "No."

It was not that he had a death wish and was begging for his demise but Vlad had already come to terms with his fate and needed Erinna to do the same.

He did not want her to be left with any residual guilt when she finally did what was to be done.

"Erinna-"

"Vlad I said no. I won't do it."

"There is no escaping prophecy."

Sometimes to be kind, one needed to be cruel and cold hard truth was what Erinna needed then. Sugar-coating would not save her in the long run. She needed to know that she had been destined to kill him and that he was fine with it.

"Do you know how much you sound like Mara right now? Why is everyone so keen to believe I will jump at the first chance I get to kill you? I am not a murderer, why won't you all stop trying to turn me into one?" She glared, anger rolling off her in waves.