Valentina sat beside Nicholae and watched him slip in and out of consciousness. He was as whte as a sheet. To her, it was obvious that he needed blood.
But whenever she suggested it to him, he'd only turn over to the other side and mutter some nonsense like all he needed was rest.

For a vampire, he wasn't doing a good job of vampiring.

Now that he was resting she had time to think about her reaction and actions.
She'd called him Cole! What was this now? Where had the stupid nickname come from?
She repacked her brain and yet not a single answer was forthcoming.
And seeing him like that had done scary things to her inside. Valentina knee how she was supposed to have reacted to his returning home wounded and out of it.
She should have done a little Native American dance around his body like she'd figured out how to release her picture from his desk, and so long Nicholae and his damned room.

But did she do that? Did she take her freedom? No.
Instead she stayed behind and helped an immortal get better. He was immortal! For crying out loud, he could have heard himself.

'You could have healed yourself. And I could have been gone.'

She was extremely tempted to throw one of his pristine pillows at his handsome face. How dare he look so good?

In her internal complaints, she hadn't heard Niko come in.
'Papa.'

'Niko, darling. He's only resting. He had a very stressful day at... uh..'
stressful date where?

'Work.'

Niko frowned at her with pouted lips.

'Don't give me that look young man because I'm telling you the truth.' She tried to cover up her lie with an nervous laugh. When that failed to lift his mood, she gave him a frown which mirrored his.

The look on his face when he looked at his father broke her heart.
'Can I get a hug?'
If his expression hadn't done it, that question definitely did.
Without thinking she went to him and gave him a hug. She didn't care if she was spirit, in fact when she went to him, she didn't think at all.
Her heart simply called to Niko at that instance and it only felt right to give hold him.

And she was able to hold him. No explanation was necessary to explain the phenomenon.
She was hugging the child, and she appreciated being able to touch another human being.

'Cole... uh I mean Nicholae is going to be alright. I promise, all he needs is some rest.'
And blood.

She gently pulled the boy away from her bosom.

'Could you send for a human servant to bring some blood?'

The boy happily nodded, happy that he had something to do.

'You know the deal. I'll hide and when he or she brings the goblet and you collect it.'

Like a good little soldier, he did exactly as she ordered.

'You aren't my babysitter.' He told her as he proped his father up.
'Are you firing me?' She playfully asked. Her voice sounded cheerful, but her mind was in turmoil.

Something was wrong with her.
She looked down at her hands and tried once more to grab the goblet filled with blood.
Nothing.
Yet it had only been moments when she'd touched Niko.

'I'm not firing you. But I truly wished you were. You don't treat me like I'm invisible or like I'm some weird invention.'

Valentina sent his her sweetest smile.
She couldn't understand how anyone could dislike Niko. It was only possible if they didn't have a heart.
'Well then kid, I'm here 24/7. Tell me when, and I'll sneak into your room.'
She gave up. 'But first this cup.'
She explained when he gave her another one of his looks. Where did the boy get them from?
'I'm queasy around blood.' She added, 'Remember?'
'Yes, I do.'

Niko had to eventually leave after a while.  He said it was a secret practice session Nicholae had organized.
So that left Nicholae and Valentina alone yet again.
The sun was going down awakening the other residents in the manor. That meant more chance of her getting discovered and exorcised. She reluctantly got up and hid inside the closet.
No more bathrooms for her. The last time she hid there, she'd had the wild dream.
It was all the bathrooms fault.

She found a little hideaway in the closet where she could meditate on her life/spirit choices.
Upon meditation she'd found the answer.
Stockholm syndrome. She was starting to care for her captor and Stockholm syndrome was the only plausible explanation for why she would love a murderous bastard who had an awesome child. Yes Niko too was the problem. The boy had humanized the demon.
She groaned and laid on the plush seat in the middle of the suits section of the closet.
She closed her eyes to meditate on the solution.
She inhaled the familiar scent that soothed her and before she knew it, she was asleep once again.

There was a man in her dream. Touching her, kissing her. Making love to her. Her heart burst with a love so sweet, she prayed that it never end. In the dream she was a flash of fangs in the darkness, but she wasn't afraid.
She directed her shrouded lover towards her neck and tensed for the fantastic feeling that was yet to come.
She flinched slightly at the sharp pain in her neck.
She gasped for breath, jarred awake from the disturbing dream.
She sat straight up, finding that once again, she was in the dimly lit room.

'I wanted to see you, you look beautiful.'
Her eyes scanned the room and found the speaker.

She wanted to speak, but her throat wouldn't work. It was as dry as sandpaper.

'I wasn't going crazy.'
But his spurt of laughter said otherwise.

He stepped closer towards her with his hands up in an unthreatening manner.

'Don't panic.'
And that's exactly what she did.
She used the first spell that came to her mind. And invisible hand flipped him thrice in the air and then threw him at the wall.
She winced from the pain in her body.

His laughter brought her attention back to the bigger problem.
'I should have seen that coming.' He said

He sat up against the wall with his arm propped on one knee while his other leg was stretched out.

From his new spot he sat there and stared at her. For minutes, he just sat there and looked at her as if he hadn't seen her before.

As... as if, he couldn't believe that the spell had worked.
So was he going to kill her now, or would he torture her first.

'You must be ... uh thirsty. I mean, you would have to be, you haven't had any real food since, the time...'
His voice broke at the end of his sentence.

Unfortunately at the sound of water, Valentina forgot about him.
But as she tried to grab the cup, she was all thumbs, Like she'd forgotten how to use her fingers.

She was too caught up in her struggle that she didn't know when Nicholae stood up.
She growled in frustration and slapped the cup to the ground but Nicholae caught in just in time.

He poured the clear liquid into the cup and handed it into her impatient hands.
It was on her third cup of water that she wondered if she had happily ingested poison.

Slowly she set the cup on the erected table on her side.
'It's not poisoned.'
He informed her after he read her expression.
But he didn't force her to drink anymore.

He moved up unto the altar she sat on to get closer to her, obviously to strangle her.
'I'm going to touch you. I won't hurt you. I swear on our l-' he cleared his throat and thought better of his words.
'I swear on my son's life.'

He gently yet firmly held her in place as he checked her eyes. From no where he pulled out a light and inspected her as if she were in a doctor's office.
When he was finished, he caressed her face and she rubbed her face on his soft hands.
It was very official, she'd lost all control of her body.
Whoever's body this was should come get theirs.

'I can see the battle in your eyes. You don't know whether to trust me, but your body does.'

He leaned in.
'Do you know how long I've waited to see you like this? And to hold you?'

Keep waiting, she wanted to say.

His other hand joined the first in cradling her face.
Then he kissed her ever so softly on her forehead, as if she'd break if he applied any kind of pressure.

Move away. Push him. She told herself, but her body wouldn't listen.
Maybe it was because her orders were without a backbone because it melted away with the tender kiss.
She felt a tear drop on her hand. She looked up to discover that the lone tear belonged to him.
Her disobedient fingers wiped it away even when she screamed at it not to.
'Now Valentina, I'm going to kiss you. Just. a. Little.' His voice grew smaller and his eyes zeroed in on their prize.
Valentina was frozen in place. She didn't want the kiss and on the other hand, she didn't not want it.
Her body was giddy with anticipation, like it knew something that she didn't. A memory that belonged only to the body but had been stolen from the mind.
His lips sparked a series of electrical explosions in her body.
She wanted to pull away, but her body wouldn't let her. It was as if Valentina had been thrown into the back seat and someone else was driving. A different version of herself.
A dumber version, obviously.

She wouldn't admit that she thoroughly enjoyed his lips touching hers. Tugging and gently sucking on hers.
Her lips parted to allow his hesitant tongue entry.

Heaven truly existed and Nicholae was given her a tour.

She didn't even notice herself climbing into his lap. Her attitude portrayed a starving woman.
And his was that of a parched man whod finally tasted water.
It was safe to say that they were both eager to be in the other's arms.
His hands caressed her body, pulling her closer while her fingers combed through his hair.

And again it was as if she was relieving the short dream she'd just had. But the dream wasn't complete. It was missing one last thing.
Nicholae's wonderful mouth showered light kisses along her throat and rested a tad longer at a throbbing vein.
His mouth returned to hers and their tongues resumed their delicious dance.
Valentina wiggled in his lap, not entirely satisfied with this simple make out session.
She worked her tongue against his canines, luring them out.

'No.' He panted. 'You're not thinking clearly.'
She wasn't listening because she pulled him down for another kiss and grazed her tongue.
He jerked back as if he'd been slapped. Yes, she could see the desire in his eyes, the hunger for her blood.
Valentina was playing with fire. But she said the words anyways.
'Bite me.'
She pushed away her sleeve and guided h to her neck, as she did in the dream.
Nicholae, he did hesitate. But only for a brief second and then he punctured her skin.
The sharp pain was short lived but the pleasure and the rush was all worth it.
But the bite open the flood gate to something else.
A flood of foreign images rushed at her.
Pictures that made no sense to her.
She slowly lifted Nicholae's head and looked at him.

'Whah?'
Then everything went dark.
She was once again in the closet, but she wasn't the same Valentina.

She waited for Nicholae to come back.
He silently entered the room. She didn't allow him to utter one word.
'Let me go.'