I couldn't concentrate on reading anymore after William's departure. My thoughts kept strolling back to him, to what he had said. Luckily, the shop got busy fast, and I was called to help serve the clientele while Mr. Turner took over the till.

I was doing quite well until the last half an hour of my shift, when tonight's play in the theatre was just starting, and the shop emptied itself of its last customers.

Anne approached me then, asking questions about William and my reasons for not wanting to give our relationship another chance.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I tried to answer her patiently, explaining my reasons without revealing anything about my other life, and my husband, the only man I truly loved. I couldn't tell her any of the things I had told my other friend; Anne wasn't Lia.

Inevitably, her questions turned the volume of the relentless trickle of thoughts and worries about Vlad, which I was trying to keep down at least during the day, back to maximum.

In the end, I left the shop feeling upset and anxious, which only made the headache I had all afternoon worse.

When I got off the bus in Barnes, I was on the verge of despair. Walking down the ill-lit, empty lanes leading to my house, I finally stopped fighting my tears and let them flow down my cheeks freely. There, they mixed with the cool drops of the autumnal drizzle, brought under the large hood of my coat by the chilly wind, making me shiver.

I had never felt this unhappy before. I missed Vlad terribly, and despite the child, his child, growing inside of me, I felt alone. Cast away and abandoned... And I wasn't sure I could do this all alone, without him at my side.

"I need you," I whispered to the wind caressing my face, my silent tears morphing into audible sobs. I needed his strength and his courage so great that it would suffice for both of us forever.

What if you'll never see him again? My subconscious asked the question that had been haunting me ever since I had left the castle, growing more insistent as the days passed.

My now confirmed pregnancy made everything look so much more complicated. How was I supposed to go back to Bran next Halloween, trying to reach him again, not knowing what I would find on the other side this time around, with our baby in my arms? The child would be, hmm... five months old? Could I ever risk going back with the baby? What if something went wrong and...

I stopped in my tracks suddenly as I was about to turn around another dark corner, realising two things at the same time -- I wasn't supposed to walk home this way, Lia was right, these lanes were far too dark and creepy. And I wasn't on my own.

Someone was definitely with me, watching, hidden in the shadows shrouding the tall stone garden walls that lined both sides of the lane. Whoever it was stood motionless, perfectly invisible to my eyes, but I could feel their presence.

I scanned the seemingly empty darkness cautiously, my skin crawling, finding no one. The faint rustle of a pile of fallen leaves, being swept into a whirlpool of quick motion and blurred images by the increasing wind in a distant corner, under the only lamp post, made me jump.

"Hello?" I called, voice shaking, trying hard to sound braver than I felt. The light flickered, threatening to go out and leave me in complete darkness. "What do you want from me?" I asked, speaking louder to make sure my voice would reach the stranger despite the faint howling of the wind.

As there was no response, I resumed my walk after a few moments, quickening my pace gradually and reaching my house running.

Relief flooded my body, pushing all the fear away when I found Mum at home. I couldn't stand to be alone in the large, old house right now.

"Are you all right, honey? How was your day?" Mum called from the living room.

Luckily, she didn't come to greet me in the hall, giving me time to compose myself.

"Fine, Mum!" I called a bit too loudly, my voice sounding hysterical in my ears. She didn't seem to notice, though.

I removed my coat and shoes, then carried my bag into my room, not wanting Mum to notice the baby shoes. After changing out of my damp skirt quickly, I walked in the bathroom and washed my hands and my tear streaked face, avoiding looking in the mirror. Seeing myself look as I felt, upset, scared, and exhausted would not help me.

When I got back downstairs, I found my dinner laid on the table in the kitchen. Mum was already back in the sitting room, watching television.

I ate, not really noticing what was on my plate, still shaken after my walk. Don't think, just don't think about anything now, I repeated to myself, while trying to free my mind of all thoughts, about Vlad, the baby, and whoever was following me home... I was too tired of thinking.

When I finished eating, I put my empty dishes in the dishwasher and went to say goodnight to Mum, finding her on the phone with Julian.

She gestured to me to wait, so I sat down on the sofa next to her, caressing Lily, who was pretending to sleep on her lap. She didn't need my company now, when she had Mum, the little traitor.

"Don't plan anything for Friday night, " Mum said when she put the phone down. "Your father confirmed he will be home for dinner, so we can celebrate your birthday then. My little girl turns twenty-two only once." She beamed at me, wrapping her arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer and kissing me on top of my head, taking me by surprise. I still wasn't used to this... closeness, coming from her.

Right. Let's see how long this unusually sweet behaviour of hers will last once I tell her that I'm pregnant and not getting married to William, as she has been hoping ever since we started dating.

"Fine Mum," I said, pulling away from her and standing up. "I've got an awful headache. I should go to bed."

"Good night, Samara," she said abstractedly as I made for the door, lost in reading a text she had just received, a content smile playing on her lips. Maybe she wasn't in love with this Julian as yet, but she was definitely headed that way.

After taking a quick shower, I searched my bathroom cabinets for a box of painkillers, I couldn't stand the migraine anymore. I found two different boxes of them, and after skimming through the instructions, threw them both angrily in the bin. None of the two was suitable during pregnancy.

I got in the bed, with the headache so bad that it was making me wince in the strong light of my reading lamp. Switching it off, I reached for my phone to check my messages. There were two from William, and I deleted them without reading. Then I replied to one from Lia. Apparently, Anne had told her about William coming to see me in the shop, and she was burning with curiosity.

'I'll tell you tomorrow.' I typed, feeling too tired to have any kind of conversation at the moment. 'You must give me some of your pills, my headaches are awful, and I have nothing I can take at home. Good night.' I finished, then switched the phone off and put it to charge on my nightstand.

I curled under my quilt in the most comfortable position I could find; my copy of Dracula pushed safely under my pillow, the tiny shoes, now unwrapped, in my hand.

I dreamt about Vlad. The dream was so clear and realistic that it remained with me perfectly even once I woke up. I didn't have to struggle to remember it, I could just replay it in front of my eyes like a paused movie and put it on repeat as often as I wanted... Just that I wouldn't handle it, I realised with a pang at my heart, my eyes filling with tears at the memory. I missed him so much...

In my dream, I saw Vlad writing at a wooden desk in a dark chamber, or rather a cell, poorly lit by a moving light of a single torch mounted high on the wall. I was looking at him through thick iron bars, crossing a small window carved in a massive wooden door. Somehow, like a ghost, I seeped through the closed door and joined him on the other side, looking around me curiously.

There was no other furniture in the small room apart from the desk and the simple stool Vlad was sitting on, no fire on the hearth to banish the cold and humidity emanating from the damp stone walls. The place was gelid.

I shivered, looking down at my bare feet, wrapping my arms around my body clad only in my grey cotton t-shirt finishing mid-thigh, which I had put on before going to bed. My breath came out as a loud exhale as I shuddered, misting around me in a freezing fog.

The silent whispers of the quill scraping the parchment stopped suddenly, as Vlad noticed my presence. He looked at me and stood up cautiously, as if he was afraid he might scare me away.

"Samara... " he said softly, his eyes wide with surprise as he approached me slowly. "How did you get here, my love?"

"I don't know," I whispered, rooted to the spot, shocked that he could see me, waiting for him to come closer. "Where are we?"

He scooped me in his arms as soon as he reached me, holding me tight. "You'll freeze..." he said before I wrapped my arm around his neck, pulled him down, then sealed my lips to his.

He kissed me back deeply, passionately, making me feel desperate for more. My right hand, now travelling down his left arm, came to a stop at something bulky under his sleeve, a bandage!, making me remember his injury.

I pulled away, saying, "You're hurt... I saw you..."

"I'm all right now," he said, carrying me over to his desk.

He made me sit on top of it and stood between my legs, his hands on my hips, so close that I could hear and feel his soothing, erratic heartbeat. Only now I fully realised just how much I had missed him. The immensity of the feeling took my breath away.

Following his look that strolled over my strange and unsuitable attire, I noticed his eyes pausing on the periwinkle baby shoes I didn't realise I was holding in my left hand, now resting on my thigh.

He looked up at me, a bewildered look in his green eyes, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"I love you," he said, cupping my face in his hands.

"I love you," I echoed just before he kissed me.

Then I could hear a strange, unexpected sound, a rustle of a key in a lock.

"Don't go..." Vlad begged, his voice laced with despair, even as everything started to dissolve around me.

"I don't want to," I murmured with difficulty, still breathless from the kiss.

But he couldn't hear me anymore. I was back in my room filled with pre-dawn tenebrosity, lying in my bed, now cold as if it had been empty for hours.

I shuddered, burying my face in the pillow to muffle my sobs.

You mustn't cry. The tears are useless, they will solve nothing. Just think about what to do next. I tried to reason with myself.

When the first daylight finally brightened the grey sky, I pushed myself up, holding on to the tiny pair of shoes as if my life depended on them, while I talked myself into braving another bleak day alone.